Day: 13 September 2021

This checkin to GC6H7HD Zoology reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.

Having succeeded at my primary goal for the evening of finding the challenging sibling of this cache, Herbology, I realised I probably had just enough time left before sunset to find this one, too, if I got a move on. As I ran along the path and rounded the corner to the field at the edge of which this cache is found, though, I was in for a bit of a surprise!

I’ve joked to my partner that the deer in South Leigh seem to be suicidal, based on the frequency with which they will leap out in front of my car or bike on the rare occasions that I pass through the village (I’ve avoided hitting any so far, but they keep trying to make me). Well today it was my turn to narrowly avoid being run over, as a pair of large deer rushed out from the field and almost bowled me over! Perhaps now they’ll understand how startling it is to almost end up ploughing through a living thing and avoid jumping out in front of me? Or perhaps not.

In any case, I quickly found the cache’s hiding place once I’d crossed the field, and I could have probably done it 10 minutes later if I’d needed to… but probably not much beyond that; once the sun was gone my eyes wouldn’t have been up to it! As others have noted, this cache is in need of repair: I’m pretty sure it once must have fit the theme of its siblings but right now it’s a cracked, open shell, miraculously still dry enough inside to sign the log but that’s probably only a matter of time. :-(

Anyway: thanks to the CO for a fun series and a delightful, if frantic, walk some of these Autumn evenings. TFTCaches!

This checkin to GC6H7JG Herbology reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.

I get precious little time for geocaching lately: between work, childcare, household and volunteering commitments it’s a challenge to squeeze in a quick expedition here and there. That’s doubly-true as the days get shorter: after finishing work, feeding the children etc. it’s already starting to get dim, and caches that I know will be more-challenging to find – like this D4.5! – become a race against time.

A fortunate side-effect of my unusual living arrangement is that I’m only needed for bathtime and bedtime story-reading duties two nights out of every three, and so when this evening achieved the hat-trick of me not being on bedtime duty, not being urgently needed for work in the evening, and the weather looking good, I leapt onto my bike to come and find this cache. I’d found its sibling Geology a fortnight ago without two much difficulty, but – knowing that Herbology would be much harder! – I’d planned to come out and perform a dedicated search for this and this cache only this evening. I cycled to South Leigh and then up the old Barnard Gate road, stopping at N 51° 46.366, W 001° 25.259′ to lock my bike to a wooden footbridge at the point at which a footpath crosses the road. From there, I jogged North up the path to find the GZ (bringing my front bike light for use as a torch, should the need arise).

I had anticipated that a search would be needed and had a few ideas about the kinds of things I might be looking for, but when after approaching half an hour I’d found nothing at all and had resorted to poking at candidate hiding places with a stick while I shone my torch around, I was worried that this expedition might be a bust. Swallowing my pride, I messaged the CO to see if they might be able to provide a further hint. Amazingly, they were not only online but able to give a hint that pointed me at exactly the kind of thing I ought to be hunting for… because it turned out I’d already moved the cache container while hunting elsewhere in its hiding place!

Upon returning this expertly-stealthy cache to its hiding place, I realised that I might just have time to find the third of this triplet, and so I took off at top speed for Zoology.