This checkin to GC5QGGE RAPOEB 32 fase llarga. reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
A little further along this slightly-overgrown path and another quick find. Logbook has clearly been soaked and then dried out and is very hard to write on. TFTC, and greetings from Oxfordshire, UK!
This checkin to GC5QGG3 RAPOEB 31 fase llarga. reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
I walked down the path from La Secuita to #30 but was unable to attempt it while a man and his dog were loitering there. So I pressed on to #31, and quickly found it. The cache container must be very attractive to snails, because they were mobbing it! TFTC, and greetings from Oxfordshire, UK!
This checkin to GC6PF76 Benvinguts a la Secuita. La piscina. reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
Great cache, excellent container and hiding spot! After feeling around a few other places I soon worked out what I was looking for, and stealthily stretched to retrieve the cache. Two nearby men in a van and a lady walking her dog meant that I had to sit around and wait for a long time to return the cache to its hiding place, though! I’m glad I came early in the morning; the required stealth must become impossible later in the day.
Really cool cache, thanks for setting. FP awarded. SL, TFTC/GPA. Greetings from Oxfordshire, UK!
This checkin to GC6NY43 Benvinguts a la Secuita. reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
From the coordinates and the hint the hiding place is pretty obvious, but I can confidently say that it’s not there. 😢
Well that was pretty spectacular. 🤩
Of all the architecture with which the devil is (per legend) credited with the construction, L’Aqüeducte Romà de les Ferreres might be the most impressive.
Nice work, Satan.
This checkin to GC6603 Taragonna Aquaduct reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
Quick and easy find while visiting this amazing monument with my family. A hot and sweaty jog to the GZ and soon the cache was found. TFTC!
This week, I’m living in a villa on a vineyard about 9km North of Tarragona, on the East coast of Spain.
A large part of our choice of location for this trip was, of course, the total solar eclipse that’s expected this evening, whose path of totality just barely passes over this spot before disappearing somewhere over the Mediterranean.
26 years ago, almost to the day, I blogged about witnessing the 1999 solar eclipse from Paris, where we were fortunate enough that Europe’s cloudy conditions on that day broke just in time for a midday totality and a proper “diamond ring” occlusion. I’m not confident I’ll ever see an eclipse quite so spectacular again in my lifetime, but I’m hopeful!
Obviously the eclipse is a primary deciding factor in our location this summer, but this family holiday’s about more than just seeing the sun vanish and hoping that it comes back out again.
I’ve been out geocaching a lot on the mornings, for example, as is my way when visiting any foreign country! I’ve enjoyed taking advantage of being a naturally earlier-riser than most of my family, coupled with the cooler morning temperatures, to explore the hills and forests of this region. And look: I found my thousandth ever geocache!2
The one downside3 of our accommodation is the lack of connectivity. There’s no wired Internet here, and the hilly location and stone walls make acquiring a reasonable cellular signal… challenging.
Anyway: it’s beautiful and bright (and scorchingly hot!) out here, and I’ve got my fingers crossed for clear skies in eight hours’ time. Here’s hoping!
1 Without clouds in the way, the prettiest pictures of sunsets occurs just after this point, of course. I’ve spared you seeing a photo of an unoccluded sun, which – depending on the brightness fidelity of your screen – you’d possibly need to wear special shades to look at anyway?
2 I know, I know: I’ve been geocaching for sixteen years – I “should” have found more than that by now. Well, I’m pretty laid-back about the sport, and often only target caches with a reasonable number of positive reviews or that are otherwise interesting to me. I’m not so-interested in making the “number go up” as I am in exploring interesting places and seeing cool things.
3 Or is it an upside? It’s certainly keeping my focus on the world around me and away from screens!
This checkin to GC65QKN Benvinguts a Mas vilet dels pins reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
I spent a while looking at the obvious host, then checked the hint and moved to a series of alternate candidates. It’s probably there, but not somewhere I could find! Eventually I felt too hot and too visible to passers-by and decided to quit. Maybe another time!
This checkin to GC8ZYPV AMAGATALL MAS CARGOL - Camps reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
I’ve been doing what remains of the Ruta Pels Volants del Mars De Salort series of took a diversion to find this cache. The impressive host didn’t need a hint – she’s pretty easy to find!
The cache container is absolutely excellent. Amazing camouflage! It’s a shame this is my 1001st find and not my 1000th because I’d have loved to make this great container my milestone! FP awarded.
Signed log and returned to its hiding place. TFTC/GPA, and greetings from Oxfordshire, UK!
This checkin to GC6QV1F #17 RUTA PELS VOLTANTS DEL MAS DE SALORT reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
A quick and easy find in a now-familiar hide and container format.
And while perhaps not as memorable as my walk through the abandoned olive groves to find the damaged cache GC6QTTM therein, this find was memorable fire a different reason: it’s my 1000th cache found!1
Struck a pose for a victory selfie to celebrate. FP awarded for the memories.
1 GCCOM might disagree with because it won’t count my finds on other geocaching platforms, but my record at danq.me/geo/stats is canonical.
This checkin to GC6QTTM #5 RUTA PELS VOLTANTS DEL MAS DE SALORT reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
It’s increasingly looking like this series might be in need of some love and attention. With numbers 3 and 4 completely absent and a nearly two year gap since 5 was last logged – coupled with my bad luck so far this morning – I wasn’t optimistic of a find here.
I enjoyed the walk, though. This long-abandoned, now feral, olive grove is tranquil and calm. And when I got to the GZ, I was delighted to see the “top” of a cache container, exactly matching one seen elsewhere in the logs, protruding from under a rock. Hurrah!
Unfortunately, that’s almost all that’s left of the container. I collected it up onto its host rock, along with several shards of what were once its body: a sort-of memorial to itself. Then I wrote the date and my name on the inside of the lid, declared this the closest possible thing to a “find”, under the circumstances, and left my little shrine alone. Will it ever be found again? I don’t know.
This checkin to GC6QTRY #2 RUTA PELS VOLTANTS DEL MAS DE SALORT reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
A second disappointing search with nothing to show for it. Maybe I didn’t finish waking up yet this morning?
This checkin to GC6QQXW #1 RUTA PELS VOLTANTS DEL MAS DE SALORT reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
A disappointing start to this morning’s walk. There’s an obvious host that I spent some your poking under without success, after which I turned to the trees to see if they could help. But no luck for me. Maybe on my way back to the car, time-permitting!
This checkin to GC9D4V6 29# CAMINS DE MONTBRIÓ (PARC SAMA) reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
A quick find after a visit to the gardens with my family. Sneaky container: I like it. We’d accidentally parked the car almost next to the cache! Greetings from Oxfordshire, UK, and TFTC/GLA!