Dan Q found GC9DV6A GST 60 – Squeezed into fence

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.

Dan standing by a gate, reading a geocaching logbook.

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Dan Q found GC9DV69 GST 58 – Bison behind the block

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.

Dan reaches behind a fence post.
A geocacher’s most-valuable skills include map reading, trail-finding, and rummaging around behind fence posts.
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Dan Q did not find GC9DV5M GST 53 – Newcastle West Station

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?

Geohashing expedition 2024-11-23 52 -8

This checkin to geohash 2024-11-23 52 -8 reflects a geohashing expedition. See more of Dan's hash logs.

Location

Field East of Newcastle West

Participants

Plans

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).

Expedition

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.

A road through a field and towards a river bridge is deeply submerged under fast-flowing water.
Yeah… I don’t think I’m gonna chance that (especially in a rental car!).

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.

Dan reaches behind a fence post.
A geocacher’s most-valuable skills include map reading, trail-finding, and rummaging around behind fence posts.
Dan alongside a replica of a flying boat called Yankee Clipper.
Hey look, I found a flying boat.
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Dan Q found GC2BY40 Pallas Castle

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!

Dan and his mother smiling in a field. Dan is holding a banana.

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Geohashing expedition 2024-11-22 53 -8

This checkin to geohash 2024-11-22 53 -8 reflects a geohashing expedition. See more of Dan's hash logs.

Location

Field East of Abbey, Ireland.

Participants

Plans

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.

Expedition

Snowy roads.
Driving conditions were sometimes suboptimal, but okay.

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.

Random dog we met along the way.
We met a surprising number of dogs out, alone, “taking themselves for a walk’. Like this one.
Dan driving.
Our rental car did a pretty good job.

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).

Abbey Community Centre, plus a car.
Parking was plentiful in Abbey.
Sign saying The Lazy Wall.
We still don’t know what makes this wall “lazy”.

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.

Dan walking down a road.
We anticipated there being nowhere closer than Abbey to park and get to the hashpoint, so we spent most of our time on foot.

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.

GPSr showing 106m, snowy overgrown field ahead.
Very close…!

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).

Snowy field.
View from the hashpoint.

We reached the hashpoint at 11:24.

Dan and his mum grinning.
Obligatory silly grins.

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.

Pellas Castle.
The castle was a wonderful diversion on our way back.

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.

Dan raises his arms in victory.
Success!

Tracklog

Map showing our driving route.

Map showing the walking part of our route.

Download tracklog.

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Dan Q found GC34G3G Coventry – Hertford Street

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!

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Dan Q found GC656RM Church Micro 8564…Ducklington

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!

Geohashing expedition 2024-11-14 51 -1

This checkin to geohash 2024-11-14 51 -1 reflects a geohashing expedition. See more of Dan's hash logs.

Location

Field East of Ducklington, West Oxfordshire

Participants

Plans

Not certain, but might be able to make this one!

Expedition

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).

GPS receiver in front of a field. The compass points deeper into the field and the screen reports that the destination is 32 metres away. Sheep are (barely) visible in the field, in the distance.
So near, and yet so far…

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!

Dan and his dog on a footpath with a field in the background.
Sad-face Dan and dog, near the hashpoint.

Tracklog

Map showing a walk around Ducklington, including out to near a field to the East and back.

Download tracklog.

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Geohashing expedition 2024-11-10 51 -1

This checkin to geohash 2024-11-10 51 -1 reflects a geohashing expedition. See more of Dan's hash logs.

Location

Barnard Gate, where the A40 cycleway briefly diverges from the main road.

Participants

Plans

After brunch, I reckon I can get to and from this hashpoint… Tron-style!

Expedition

I planned a slightly circuitous route to this hashpoint in order to make a Tron achievement possible. I got my bike lightcycle out of the garage, checked the brakes and tyres, and set off in the opposite direction of the hashpoint! My thinking was I could cut up Tar Lakes Road to Cogges Farm, join the A40 cyclepath at Witney, follow it all the way to Barnard Gate, and – after passing through the hamlet and hopefully the hashpoint – turn _back_ along the opposite side of A40 (for the section that doesn’t have a cyclepath) and then cut through South Leigh to get back home.

Dan setting off cycling along a country road.

My first hazard came just three minutes out of my door, where a motorist failed to give way to me at Stanton Harcourt Roundabout, entering the junction even though I was already half-way across it from the other direction. They had to slam on their brakes to avoid smashing into the side of me, and I’ll admit I may have sworn at them at least a little as they pulled guiltily away.

The Tar Lakes road remains a delightful route from Stanton Harcourt to Witney, which I’ve enjoyed cycling many times. It was a little busier than usual, perhaps because it’s Sunday and folks were off to and from the fishing lakes along its path to do some angling or to walk their dogs, but it was still a fast and easy journey. Reaching Cogges, I turned back towards the hashpoint and joined the A40 cyclepath which, I hoped, would bring me right through it.

Roadworks ahead.

Approaching the hashpoint, I was concerned to see that the road was closed ahead, but a sign reassured me that it was still open to pedestrians, so I dismounted my bike. This also provided an excuse for me to slow down and pay attention to my GPSr as I counted down the metres. I got within the circle of uncertainty at ~3m away, as I leaned over the dyke that separates Pear Tree Cottage’s garden from the byway.

GPSr within the circle of uncertainty (shows 3m).

I snapped the regulation silly grin selfie at 14:44.

Dan smiling, wearing a cycle helmet, holding a GPSr by the side of a narrow road, with roadworks in the background.

Photo taken, I then had to continue to push my bike all the way through the roadworks: the fastest way home would have been to turn around, at this point, but I didn’t want to be robbed of my shot at the Tron achievement, so I pressed on.

Back the way I came.

At the far end of Barnard Gate I determined that cycling back along the A40 without the benefit of a cyclepath was perhaps a little too dangerous (especially after my scare earlier), so I adapted my route to instead head East towards Eynsham, crossing the main road at the Evenlode pub to get onto Old Witney Road, through Eynsham, and back onto the road home.

Presssing on.

Returning home, I made sure to cut the corner short as I turned into my driveway so I didn’t cross the path I’d taken as I’d initially exited, an hour earlier. A successful trip, and a fresh achievement!

Tracklog

Map showing the journey described above.

Download tracklog.

Dan Q earned the Tron achievement by reaching and returning from the (51, -1) geohash without crossing his own tracks on 2024-11-10.

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