Dan Q
This checkin to GC9DV9E GST 61 - Cow shit reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
My mother kindly volunteered to be the one to put her fingers up a cow’s bottom… I mean… to find and retreive the cache at this location! TFTC!
This checkin to GC9DV6A GST 60 - Squeezed into fence reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
Very quick find. Spent some time trying to retreive the cache container before deciding that it’s probably supposed to live in its hiding place and instead we just retrieved the logbook! Good hiding place! TFTC.
This checkin to GC9DV69 GST 58 - Bison behind the block reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
Second place we looked. Nice easy find. Liking these slightly bigger tubes! TFTC.
This checkin to GCAP5TV GST 59 - Wired PET reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
Gave up after a short search. No sign of this one that we could see.
This checkin to GC9DV67 GST 57 - Greenway sign reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
Instant find! Exactly where I first looked. Log slightly damp but still usable. TFTC.
This checkin to GC9DV66 GST 56 - Pet tube in tree reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
After a brief search on the wrong side of the path, we eventually spotted the correct host and – after a running leap, pictured – soon had the cache in hand. TFTC!
This checkin to GC9DV65 GST 55 - Bridge reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
QEF for my mum and I on our walk. Not well hidden – was visible from the path. Replaced as found. TFTC.
This checkin to GC9DV63 GST 54 - Train Signal reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
Found after a short search. We tried playing with the signal but it’s rusted solid. SL, TFTC. Greetings from Oxfordshire and Lancashire, UK!
This checkin to GC9DV5M GST 53 - Newcastle West Station reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
We were heading to the 2024-11-22 52 -8 geohashpoint as part of a geohashing holiday but floods breaking the banks of the River Arra blocked our way so we parked up in Newcastle West to attempt to find a few geocaches instead. Despite the hint and previous logs, our search found nothing. Maybe gone?
This checkin to geohash 2024-11-23 52 -8 reflects a geohashing expedition. See more of Dan's hash logs.
Field East of Newcastle West
On the second full day of our geohashing tour of Western Ireland, we’ll try to drive to somewhere close to this hashpoint (maybe up towards Knockaderry?) and see if we can walk to it (and if it’s accessible when we get there).
This part of Ireland’s been under moderate snow cover for several days, but overnight that turned to rain and as it warmed up early in the morning, the snow rapidly melted and poured down into the valleys. The River Arra burst its banks in several places, and our first, second, and third attempts to find places to cross it to get closer to the hashpoint were foiled by floods (too deep and fast-flowing to safely ford) and closed roads.
After seeing several fields of about the altitude of our target also deeply flooded, we opted to give up on this expedition for our own safety! Instead, we went geocaching in Newcastle West and then went up to Foyle where we visited the museum of maritime history and learned about the history of the flying boats that were stationed there in the inter-war years.
This checkin to GC2BY40 Pallas Castle reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
My mother and I are visiting the area in search of virgin graticules for geohashing purposes. This morning we set out for the 2024-11-22 53 -8 geohashpoint and found it down in a disused pasture down in the valley, then we decided to celebrate by seeing if there were any nearby geocaches to find, too!
Bring the only cache in the area (!) and at a castle (who doesn’t love a castle?) we figured it’d be worth a go. By the time we’d found a bridge over the river and walked up the winding road up the hill, we were ready for our lunch, so we explored the castle grounds while we ate our sandwiches. Now, re-energised, we were ready to find the cache!
We quickly found the tree from the description, but 5 to 10 minutes hunting didn’t reveal the cache’s hiding place. We checked the hint, but it didn’t help: none of the things around here are what the hint describes, for a strict definition of the word! So we started checking the old logs. Somebody mentioned finding the cache around 7 metres from the coordinates, and that was helpful: we followed the nearby wall about that distance and quickly spotted a solid hiding place. We had to clear a bit of leaf litter to get to the cache, but soon we had it and were signing the logbook.
Thanks for bringing us to this excellent location. FP awarded. Greetings from Lancashire and Oxfordshire, UK!
This checkin to geohash 2024-11-22 53 -8 reflects a geohashing expedition. See more of Dan's hash logs.
Field East of Abbey, Ireland.
When my mother proposed that we take a holiday together somewhere, and that I could choose the destination, I started by looking at the Geohashing Expeditions Map.
Where, I wondered, could I find a cluster of mostly-land graticules (“square” degree of latitude and longitude) in which nobody had ever logged a successful expedition? I’ve been geohashing for ten years now and I’ve never yet scored a “Graticule Unlocked” achievement for being the first to reach any hashpoint in a given graticule.
So this week, we’re holidaying on the West coast of Ireland, doing a variety of activities that take our fancy and, hopefully, finding a geohashpoint or two in previously-unexplored graticules!
Looking at the nearby hashpoints, we decided that this was our best bet. An hour and a half’s drive from our accomodation to a village near the hashpoint and we might be able to make the rest of the way on foot.
My mother’s never been hashing before, but unlike most people I’ve told about the hobby she didn’t turn her nose up at the idea so she was happy to accompany me on this unusual adventure.
We drove to Abbey, which turns out to be a delightful village, and parked outside the community centre (where my mother was able to use the bathroom).
Then we switched to foot, walking along the banks of the stream and following the road to the East, towards the field where we’d hoped to find the hashpoint.
A quick survey around the outskirts of the area suggested that it was, indeed, in what had once been an active pasture but had been abandoned and disused for many years. The grass and brambles grew high and were caked in snow, but we hopped the gate and pressed on for the final hundred metres.
We made the right choice: the hashpoint was just barely inside the disused old field, and we were able to get to it with only slightly wet feet and without disturbance (except for some kind of nesting bird that was unhappy to see us, and some kind of medium-sized mammal – possibly a fox – that ran away as we approached).
We reached the hashpoint at 11:24.
Flushed with success at this relatively easy victory, we continued our walk to a nearby dairy to see if they’d sell us some cheese (their farm shop was shut), and then crossed the river and climbed the nearby hill to find the fantastic geocache at Pallas Castle.
Circling around from the hilltop to return to the car, we drove back home, completing our expedition (hashpoint, cache, and all) in a little under 7 hours.
This checkin to GC34G3G Coventry - Hertford Street reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
The rest of the family and I are visiting for my youngest’s birthday to do a handful of fun activities. Geocaching didn’t make the list, but that wasn’t gonna stop me finding this QEF while putting our swimming stuff back in the car before we eat our lunch. Thanks to the hint, this was in almost the first place I looked. TFTC, and greetings from Oxfordshire!
This checkin to GC656RM Church Micro 8564...Ducklington reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
The dog and I came out to Ducklington today for a spot of geohashing, in search of the 2024-11-14 51 -1 geohashpoint. After a walk around the fields to the East we had to give up on that expedition (for reasons that’ll be described in my geohashing log) so we decided to console ourselves with a hunt for this nearby geocache, instead.
Solving the first part was made harder when I failed to read the description properly and started counting letters in the sign, rather than the plaque, but once we’d corrected that mistake we were on our way.
At the GZ there was a clear trail that looked likely, but the dog took some coaxing to join us. As soon as I was at the coordinates (feeling like I was hiding in a bush!) and followed the hint instructions the cache was an easy find. TFTC!
This checkin to geohash 2024-11-14 51 -1 reflects a geohashing expedition. See more of Dan's hash logs.
Field East of Ducklington, West Oxfordshire
Not certain, but might be able to make this one!
The dog and I drove out to Ducklington, parking near the church, and walked out to these fields. Unfortunately the hashpoint turns out to be 33+ metres into a field full of sheep. That _might’ve_ been the kind of trespassing I’d have been willing to consider, were it not for the combination of the amount of pedestrian traffic (a whole platoon of birdwatchers, armed with extra-long camera lenses, and every dog walker under the sun!) and the fact that I had the dog with me (who’d have to have waited unhappily outside the field: not taking her _into_ a field of sheep, even by only 33 metres).
Instead, then, we took a pleasant walk around Ducklington and found the GC656RM “Church Micro 8564…Ducklington” geocache, so it wasn’t entirely a wasted trip. The dog’s come home and zonked out in her basket after a decent walk, anwyay!
