Dan Q found GC7JRT4 Preston Docks – Oh Buoy!

This checkin to GC7JRT4 Preston Docks - Oh Buoy! reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.

What an excellent cache container! I immediately spotted it but then disregarded it when I couldn’t see an obvious ingress. My sister Sarah, though, whom I’m visiting in Preston, tried touching it a different way and soon discovered how to get at the cache. Log almost full – space only for one or two more entries.

Excellent cache. FP awarded. TFTC.

Dan Q found GC2Y9HV One-Eyed Willie

This checkin to GC2Y9HV One-Eyed Willie reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.

Found with my mother and sister while visiting Preston on my way back to Oxfordshire after helping my partner’s brother move to Cumbria. Spotted part of the retrieval mechanism right away and soon the cache was in hand. TFTC!

Sarah, Doreen and Dan at Preston Docks.

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Dan Q found GC8K8MH Mind your head

This checkin to GC8K8MH Mind your head reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.

Found as a quick cache-n-dash while in the vicinity. One developed a pretty sharp eagle-eyed for caches over the years, and I was able to spot this one from my parking spot (pictured) before I even got out of the car! TFTC.

Car in car park with a large arrow pointing at it.

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Dan Q found GC6WMEW Stodday + back No11 – above the canal

This checkin to GC6WMEW Stodday + back No11 - above the canal reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.

Broke my journey up the M6 to find the 2021-08-29 54 -2 geohashpoint, which was deep in the brambles alongside the towpath about 90m South East of the cache location. On the way back up to the road, quickly stopped to find this cache. SL, TFTC!

 

Geohashing expedition 2021-08-29 54 -2

This checkin to geohash 2020-08-29 54 -2 reflects a geohashing expedition. See more of Dan's hash logs.

Location

Towpath alongside the Lancaster Canal

Participants

  • Dan Q & Robin (dragalong)

Plans

I (Dan Q) am driving my partner’s brother Robin from near Oxford to near Penrith on this day, so I expect to pass close by this geohashpoint on the M6 twice; at around 13:00 going North then about 15:00 going South. It looks like there’s on-street parking on nearby Ashford Avenue (N 54° 1.71′, W 2° 48.370′), so I’m thinking we can pull over there, walk to Deep Cutting Bridge, follow a path about 700m Northwest down into the canal cutting, then follow the canal back Southeast to the hashpoint. Robin’s never been geohashing before, so we’ll see what he makes of it.

The biggest risks to this plan are likely to be (a) if we run late setting off, hit traffic, or are otherwise delayed then we may have to cancel our plans in order to stay on-schedule, and (b) based on local photos it looks like the towpath floods and/or gets incredibly boggy in wet weather!

Expedition

This all went pretty-much to plan. We parked on Ashford Avenue and walked to the bridge, then onto the long path down. We soon got bored of this trail and took a short-cut down the cutting slope, then proceeded back under the bridge while Robin told me about how he rowed along this stretch of canal during his recent Lands End to John O’Groats journey.

On the other side of the bridge we discovered that the hashpoint was about 25 metres up a steep bank covered with thorny plants. Not wanting to be defeated at this point, Robin boosted me up onto the bank and I scrambled painfully through the brambles to reach the hashpoint, which coincided with a tree overlooking the cutting.

Returning to the car we stopped by geocache GC6WMEW, from whose GZ one can just about see the tree that marks the hashpoint. We added a “The Internet Was Here” sign to the gate at the path down to the towpath and continued our long journey North-and-back-again.

Tracklog

My GPSr keeps a tracklog:

Tracklog map showing a journey from Oxfordshire to Cumbria via a hashpoint in Lancaster, then on to Preston.

Photos & Video

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Dan Q found GC2X86M Travel Bug Hotel – Charnock Richard Services North

This checkin to GC2X86M Travel Bug Hotel - Charnock Richard Services North reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.

I’m spending the day helping my partner’s brother Robin move from Oxfordshire to Cumbria, then heading back South to Lancaster to try to find the 2021-08-29 54 – 2 geohashpoint before finally heading to Preston to visit my family. In short, its a day with lots of roads! We stopped at the services to let Robin empty his bladder and I took the opportunity to make an easy find of this cache. TFTC!

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