A marathon series in Cheltenham.

Well what a hectic week its been, I won't go into too much details but I have been in and out of Eye Clinic this week. I was due to either attend a camping event in Notts or take Ben to Butlins, however due to a bit of laser on Friday I was unable to drive.
Dave and Shan had been planning this day for a month or so and I said that I may go but it was doubtful, however with the kind offer of being picked up and brought back home, it was just the tonic I needed.

I set the alarm for 4.30am and was picked up at 5.30am and then it was off to Frankley services so the others could bag a cache.
Today there was Shan (the Griswalds n dogs) Dave (BaggieDave), Paul (Blokiebloke) and myself.

The Cheltenham Circular Caching Challenge

http://coord.info/GC3MVDB

The Cheltenham Circular Caching Challenge (CCCC) is a walk of over 26 miles with more than 100 caches to grab on the way.  The first half is quite hard going in places due to ascent and mud and the second half is completely flat. 
The trail starts and ends close to Cheltenham racecourse taking in some great views along the way.

We dropped Shans car off in Churchdown as a get out clause 3/4 of the way round the circuit and then drove on to some parking opposite the racecourse where the adventure began.

The Racecourse.

The first 5 miles were nice and easy but the next 7 miles were a bit up and down with a steep bit between miles 7 and 8. After mile 12 is was almost totally flat.

We had a big task today considering how many miles we had to walk and how many times we would have to stop to look for caches but as always there was lots of pranking each other and it was right from the off.

Dave was in contact with a couple of the c/o's beforehand and during the day.  He had agreed to do maintenance and replace caches that were definately not there.....We teased Dave a bit and made believe he was on the phone to an imaginary friend, I think in the end he pretty much believed it. Poor bloke!

On the up!

 

 

This bit ended the climb, we were shattered.

Most of the caches were easy to find but towards the end of the walk we did DNF a few but think it was possibly more down to our tiredness and lack of light.

Lovely blue sky

Further on in the series we bumped into the c/o DanDruff, it was very nice to meet her and we had a nice chat before finishing off this epic marathon.

Another excellent day in great company, smilies bagged was 112 by myself, but the others found more as I had already found some.

Concrete Jungle

A couple of days ago I had noticed my caching buddy Shan had posted a message on the west mids facebook Geocaching group regarding a meet up to do this new series.
So this Sunday morning at 5am (3.30am get up) we met up at the wrekin.

Concrete Jungle by nozi parker

http://coord.info/GC3QJK0

The Concrete Jungle is a series of 60 caches through Steeraway , Little Wenlock and Huntington, covering just over 10 miles.
I met up with B.B.B., BaggieDave, the Griswalds 'n' dogs, shropshire seekers and StevethemobileDJ. We parked up between caches 45 and 46 and made 45 our first cache of the day as we worked around in reverse order.

The first cache container was so heavy it made us wonder how Nozi had got them all in situ....it must've taken ages, from cache #44 - #36 on it was a long straight path through 2 woods to the road.

This one took us a few minutes to locate.

It was kind of straightforward down to about cache #11, going through fields and footpaths but after that boy did it change, in places it was make your own path there as the paths just couldn't be seen as I guess they hadn't been used for so long.

Amazing area.

Allun of the Shropshire Seekers had to leave just before the "jungle" experience, so he has all that to come .

No PAF required!

Overall it was a great walk with some really nice containers and the company as ever was really good.
I do have some great caching buddies.

---

After saying goodbye just as the heavens open I decided to grab a couple of driveby's on way home. Smilies bagged today = 62

Little Britain

This has been bookmarked for far too long and we finally came up with a date in February hoping that the weather would be kind to us.
So at 6am this morning Jules and Dave (BaggieDave) met at my house and we set off in the cachemobile of Jules and headed north up the M6.
We grabbed a McD's muffin and coffee at Congleton (or Congletoon in Jules case ) and then bagged a couple of drive by's on route to our destination for the day.

Little Britain by khoomfay

http://coord.info/GC31AMH

A series of 50 caches set over 12 miles of lovely hills. Terrain is obviously not easy going  and the route we took was almost 15 miles as we had to bag one or two extra.

At the parking coords we met up with caching buddies Lou (The Horde) & Shan and geopup Tia (Griswalds n dogs), we all got booted up and set off on our way.

Shan finds the first cache of the series....yay!

The start of the walk was ascending slowly for quite a distance and we could all feel the difference from walking mainly flat terrain lately. The views to be fair were absolutely stunning as we could see for miles and also the landmarks such as a lovely viaduct.

One of the best containers on the walk :)

Lovely scenery that I won't forget in a hurry.

The walk kept going up and up until around cache 9 and then path found its way to road where there was a lovely stream at the side of the road. We had already done a couple of caches on route at this time but we also made a diversion and view below is what we saw.

We may be strange hunting plastic, but look what we get to see!

We started to ascend again after around 3 miles and at getting on for around 7 miles in we reached a pub, where it wouldve been rude not to stop for a swift one...

Time for a swift one!

A lovely pic of Shan & Jules.

It was nice to stop at pub as we were almost half way round and almost at top of 2nd biggest hill of walk but we did start feeling a bit nippy so it was good to get back on with it.
We only had to climb a bit higher and then we had 2 miles of descent which pleased Lou especially as she hadn't had any sleep last night due to coming straight from work..

They are definately spoilt for views round here.

As we got lower it was pretty waterlogged in places and lots of mud but thats what adds to this walk, we were flying through the caches now and even managed to do a night cache that can be done in daylight by enabling the chirp to gain the coords.
There was also a nice pub down by the nightcache but we resisted on stopping again as the walk was just too good to stop again.

There were 2 more hills but not as relentless as first 2 but the 1 was pretty hard going and we stopped for a couple of minutes at top to get breath back.

The last couple of miles were actually flat much to the relief of the ladies and as we finished off walking around the edge of the reservoir we also took in the fantastically large bonus cache.

Jules about to sign the logbook for us all :)

Shan & Dave with the cache!

What a truly fantastic day we all had, it was certainly one of my favourite walks, definately recommended but do not take series lightly.

Total smilies in the bag today = 69

Hobditch Hunt

Another planned day out with Geo-buddies Tony (All-Weather-Cacher), Andy (Citrus-Lizard) & Shan (the Griswalds 'n' dogs). Today we met up to do a new series by Butttercup & Stormystorm near Ullenhall, we met up at just after 7am to a misty start.

Hobditch Hunt by Butttercup & Stormystorm

http://coord.info/GC3CTXW

Hobditch Hunt – a series of 40 caches  over a 9 - 10 miles walk around the Warwickshire countryside just north of Ullenhall.  Walking is mostly easy except for one short steep bank, the caches were well varied in size with some sneaky hides too.

A Misty start.

Tony and I parked up on a grass triangle at a road junction by cache #38 and made our way to cache #1 to meet Shan and Andy. Funnily enough we passed #39 & 40 on the way and it would've been rude not to look. We had no real problems at either but I think that was down to Tony.
As we arrived near path to #1 we could hear Shan & Andy on their way and then spotted geopup Tia, we all had Shanhugs and then began the trail.

A little bit brighter!

The caches on this series were varied in size from nano's to regular's. I enjoyed some of the nicely crafted ones and there we also some sneaky hides.
I think my faves were HH05 - Just another one,   HH28 - Meet her here? &   HH35 - Chicken Run
but saying that there were many other great ones.

Strange people!

Andy returns from bagging the cache!

On our way round we thought we may bump into some other cachers as this was a new series and just as we were arriving at HH22 - London Underground we bumped into Mike (HKMHill), we all enjoyed some geochat and a few photos together. Also just as we were finishing the walk/series we bumped into BaggieDave and had some more chat, it's always fun meeting people.

The gang with Mike!

At one point during the morning all 4 of us stripped down to just a t-shirt...fantastic for the time of year, a lovely sunny day too. It really feels that spring is beginning to kick in nicely.

Who needs fleece jackets on?

Just check my Oregon is ok!

Whilst doing this great series we also included the Wild Britain series by The Webbies , they were not too far away but they do need solving before you go out caching, there are 5 caches in that series. We also solved and included another cache which wasn't much of a diversion, again this was a cache by The Webbies named Happy Birthday Master Webbie!

All in all a fab mornings caching was had with plenty of mischief....mainly down to the Shanimal I might add!!!

We managed to bag 47 smilies

The Workout

---

After saying goodbye to everyone I met up with Jules to do a few caches on way home. First was a puzzle one which she had already solved.  Not on the Map! by Homer Trackers it was in an interesting location too and a great container. We then moved on to Southcrest Wood and picked up the three caches in there, one of them being named after one of my fave bands...Black Sabbath!
It was nice to grab a few on way home and add a few more to the tally

Total caches bagged today = 51

Chorley Circular

Myself and caching partner Jules of the Bedfords had planned to go and have an easy day caching around Stourport on Severn but while she was on the way to my house a nice circular of 33 caches was published.
As soon as she turned up I asked her if she was tempted and being the "Number Cruncher" that she is her eyes lit up, so I whacked the gpx files on to our Oregons and we headed off for Chorley near Burntwood.

Chorley Circular by andycpuk

http://coord.info/GC3CMNK

A 6 mile walk around the Staffordshire village of Chorley. The walk takes you along quiet country lanes and public footpaths. Paths are generally well signposted and are used regularly so can be muddy in places. You may encounter some farm animals along the way.

A total of 33 caches including a Bonus cache. The Bonus cache is on a short detour from the main route, you will find the co-ords for this one in a few of caches in the series.

We saw the cars of Allun (Shropshire Seekers) and Angie (Witch24) parked up by cache number 1 but we parked up by cache number 9 and then worked backwards through the numbers.

Another sunny day.

There were lots of varied containers on the series and some nice hides too, the walk was very nice with lots of nice scenery and the bonus of sunshine. We only had problems finding a couple of caches and even needed a PAF off Angie for one of them.
On the way round we bumped into caching partner Shan (the Griswalds 'n' dogs) & Allun (Shropshire Seekers), we spotted each other from a distance as they were doing the now famous Badger Dance.

Caching twins?

We had a good 20 minute chat mainly about how nice the series was and trips in the future. We then bid eachother goodbye for now and carried on.
It only seemed like 5 or 10 minutes later that Shan phoned me saying thank you to me for placing a fake cache which she found thinking it was the real one hehe, no doubt she will get her revenge soon.




Logbook from fake cache. "The Punisher" being the nickname Lou & Shan gave me.

A little later on as I was standing in the middle of the road with Jules, showing her a great feature to use on her new Oregon, we noticed a car approaching us which contained caching buddies Angie (witch24) & son Mike (a0004uk)...they also had in the car Ghost House Three, another cacher to have the pleasure in meeting.
We had quick geochat before another car forced their departure

We struggled at number 14 and had to PAF Angie which we were a bit gutted about as it was a great cache and then the next cache was in a fab area.

Loved it here.


With just a couple left now it wasn't long before we were back at car, to drive nearer the bonus....which we forgot about doh. We bagged that one and then went for number 32 which we had also missed, this was our favourite of the series and a great way to wrap up a brilliant days caching.


Total finds today = 33

Chorley Workout

---

TnT in Swindon area

Today had been planned for a couple of weeks now but due to some unfortunate new Lou (thehorde) had to pull out :(. So at 6.10am myself, Andy (Citrus-Lizard) and Shan (the Griswalds n dogs) left my house and we picked up Julia (the Bedfords) on the way.
We did one drive by on the way and as we parked up to do it the car temperature gauge ready -13 doh.

A shot from GZ of first cache of day!

Bagged our first cache of the day!

We moved on and made our way to our first planned cache of the day, which was Aragog's Lair . It was a D2.5/T4.5 which a couple of us needed towards our D/T grid. The only difficult thing regarding the cache was jumping over a narrow stream.

We did 4 drive by's on the way to the highlight of the day Cold War Cache....

Cold War Cache by mailboxmonty

http://coord.info/GC1782Z

I had this cache bookmarked for quite a while now and over the last couple of weeks we have all been planning a day down here. We parked up very close and GZ was within a stones throw.
We were all very excited and I personally was a little nervous too, but I needn't have been as it was quite spacious down inside the bunker. The cache itself was an easy find.
This really was a fabulous experience and highly recommended.

The cache.

Shan liked going down!

Mission complete!

We moved the car a short distance for the first series of the day.

---

The Quest for The Blowing Stone by The K9 Crew

http://coord.info/GC2WFRC

A series of 23 smilies with 1 of them being the bonus, where you need to take info from the lids of other caches in the series. The walk is approxiamately 5 miles long with mixed terrain. There are a few uphill bits to the walk but nothing too strenuous. There is one other cache on the route but this was disabled at the time.
There is parking for 3 or 4 cars near the first cache.

Lovely snow :)

We really enjoyed this series and had lots of fun along the way, we even had a break and made snow angels at side of one of the fields.
We collected all the numbers needed and it was great as they were repeated incase you couldn't find all the caches. We failed on one but have since discovered that it wasn't there. :(

At cache 22 we worked out coords for bonus and I then drove us all to somewhere that we knew was wrong. I had made an error in calculations but thankfully Shan had photos of them all and they took us to GZ and the stone.

The cache was a nice big one to finish off with, we then took some pics of us blowing the stone.

Shan doing Badger dance!

You can just tell, we'll be mates forever :)

Julia blowing the stone!

We bagged 22 of the 23 caches on offer :)

QBS series Workout

---

We got back to the car where we all had a bit to eat and Julia made us a coffee, I love how organised she always is :) Next on the list is another single cache, a multi named Splash and dash.


Splash and Dash by williewandering

http://coord.info/GC2XR9M

We parked up close to this one and were all smiling as we could see a bit of what was ahead for us, there was a medium sized pond with large rock type platforms running down the side of it....but they had gaps to jump over and one had eroded a lot so needed to walk across it or don wellies and wade through the water.

I managed to get over by balancing and Julia returned in her wellies, but it was Shan who found the well hidden stage one. We entered the coords for stage two and realised it was back and on dry land.

At GZ Andy made a quick find but we let Julia carry on searching for a while haha.

We really enjoyed this cache that had been recommended to me before we got here.

Job done!

---

We got back in the car all dry and then proceeded to bag 13 cache and dashes on the way to what was to be our final series of the day. After the last cache and dash and close to where we needed to be for the parking on the series we hit black ice on the road and slid towards another car that was sliding towards us. I managed to take foot of brakes and hit some deeper snow off the road which enabled me to brake and come to a halt phew!!!!
However we were now stuck and couldn't get car out. Thankfully Shan took to the wheel and we all pushed along with 3 - 4 other people. Thankfully that was enough to get us out so that we could turn around and go back the way we came to find somewhere else to park. It was a big diversion but thankfully we managed to get there in one piece.


The Chocolate Series by Cache and Cake Club

http://coord.info/GC2YAWH

The Chocolate Series  is a walk of 23 caches over a distance of  4 miles.

The series begins up on Hendred Down where there is ample free parking. The circular walk takes you over the Downs towards ‘Lands End’ then back up via the Isley Downs Riding Route where you will get some amazing views. The return stretch takes in Scutchamers Knob, here you will find an existing cache. Scutchamers Knob is an early Iron Age round barrow. If you are interested in Trig Points, then you will pass Fore Down pillar (S5826) just near Scutchamers. A memorial stone to Penelope Betjeman is the location for cache 17, the stone has been placed at an excellent view point.

We couldn't get to park where series begins due to ice on the roads going upto it, so we parked very close to cache 9. The series got off to a bad start as we couldn't find this one :( but we were soon celebrating as we found the next. The area around here really is fantastic with stunning views everywhere you look, it is very popular with walkers!

Stunning, everywhere we looked.

All the rest of the caches were very easy to find and lots were hidden at the bases of posts, however don't let it deter you as the walk really is fantastic.

We had another look at number 9 on return but still no joy, so we decided to move on.
Once at car we realised that unfortunately some low-lifes had broke into our car and stole Andy & Shan's rucksacks. It was on noticing this that the rest of the caches planned came to an end.

We bagged 23 out of a possible 24 smilies :).

Chocolate series Workout

---

I had to get in touch with my wife to let her know what had happened as where she works you have to follow set procedures when such an occurance happens, but none of us on 3 different networks could get a signal doh. I drove on and eventually Kate got through on Andy's phone.
I then reported the crime and we discussed maybe bagging a couple more smilies at the nearby services.... and so we did.


Well what a totally awesome day we had. It was very cold but glorious Sunshine all day, some great views, great caches and the greatest in company. :) :) :)

Todays haul was 68 smilies with 2 DNF's