This checkin to GC97WPR 7 BH reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
Distracted by the cattle eating their breakfast and the increasingly beautiful sunrise, almost forgot to look for this cache. Read the hint but still didn’t have a clue until I spotted something out-of-place in a field. Sure enough, it was the cache. Nice hide! TFTC.
This expedition also sees me using StreetComplete to update OpenStreetMap metadata. Here, I got to correct the “stile” to a “kissing gate”. Fun!
This checkin to GC97WPC 6 BH reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
Sunrise taking off in earnest now with reds and pinks on the horizon, and my spine – unhappy for sleeping in an unfamiliar bed last night – is enjoying getting a stretch from the walk, too. Stared right at this cache for a moment thinking “well that’s where I would hide it, but would the CO” before reaching to check and, yup, putting my hand right on it. Now on through the cattle field!
This checkin to GC97WP6 5 BH reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
I can see why the previous log moved this cache; pleased to see you be a good hiding place on the other side. Also pleased this wasn’t another nano! Light’s grown enough now to add a smiley selfie from the path. Greetings from Oxfordshire, and TFTC!
This checkin to GC97WN0 4 BH reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
Got carried away with my walk and briefly overshot this one: realised as I reached the quarry road. Turned back and found the cache in the third place I looked. Said hi to a rabbit and the horses, up and foraging for their breakfast in the early light, before moving on.
This checkin to GC97WM3 3 BH reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
This morning’s caching expedition just has it in for my back, I fear, with this one no exception. Nonetheless, a QEF in the first place I looked. TFTC!
This checkin to GC97WKD 2 BH reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
A nonprofit I volunteer with has, years ago, held our Christmas bash at the nearby Fairlawns Hotel. We haven’t been in several years and – even though we missed Christmas itself by a full month! – decided to return here this year.
I’m often an early riser, especially when away from home, and enjoy making the most of the first light with a walk. Last time I was here there wasn’t a geocache in sight, so imagine my delight to find that now there’s one right on the doorstep! Armed with a torch to fight off the renaming pre-dawn darkness, I braved the cold and came out to explore.
Found the obvious hiding spot quickly, but my sore back (Fairlawns’ mattress was somewhat softer than I enjoy!) made retrieval challenging! Still, a success once I was on my hands and knees! TFTC, and Merry Christmas I guess!
This checkin to GC8W7QW Forgotten Bridge reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
Out on a walk with the dog along the footpath nearby I elected to drop in on this cache for routine maintenance. But as I approached the GZ I learned that the footbridge that provided this cache with its home clearly wasn’t as “forgotten” as I’d thought! The council have been up here again and rather than just signing the log as they did last time they were on a mission to replace the entire bridge!
When they did this with the bridge that hosted GC90RH3 they gave me enough notice to remove the cache, but not this time: by the time the geopup and I discovered the “new” bridge the cache container was long gone. (It was a modified ammo can, so I might reach out and see if they happened to retrieve it during the demolition and can give it back!)
Ah well; it was a fun cache while it lasted.
This checkin to GC4ZAJ2 HMS Belfast reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
A quick find by the eldest child on our way to visit the HMS Belfast. TFTC!
This checkin to GC4ZMV4 Tower Bridge TB HOTEL reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
This checkin to geohash 2023-01-02 51 -1 reflects a geohashing expedition. See more of Dan's hash logs.
Muswell Hill, Piddington, Oxfordshire
I bundled the dog into the car and drove out to Piddington, a couple of kilometres North of the hashpoint. Cherwell Council advertise a circular walk that seems to circle from the village (which looked like a good place to park) up to Muswell Hill, the summit of which is near the hashpoint.
She and I walked through Piddington, past the church, and up onto the path. A soggy kilometre or so later we quickly discovered that this was going to be more-challenging than I’d anticipated. We quickly got bogged down in a flooded field and needed to double-back. With my socks already soaking wet and the dog in a similar condition, we found a different route that looped around the entire hill and through an alpaca farm (or were they llamas?), then we worked our way up the South face of the hill, over the summit, and down to the hashpoint. We got there at 11:00 UTC, took a quick look around and pulled the closest thing a dog can manage to a silly grin, and then hacked our way back (by road) to Piddington for the drive home and some dry clothes.
Also available on YouTube.
This checkin to GC9GKJA A Fine Pair # 1625 ~ Eynsham reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
Dropped by while cycling in the vicinity to replace the log book in the cache container. Hopefully this one will survive a little longer!
This checkin to GC9GKJA A Fine Pair # 1625 ~ Eynsham reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
Visited today after the recent log suggesting the container had been removed and the log dumped. Couldn’t find the log hidden anywhere, but the cache container is intact and in place (just missing a log book!). I’ll try to get up and hunt for the hidden log later this week, or else replace it with a new one.
This checkin to geohash 2022-12-05 51 -1 reflects a geohashing expedition. See more of Dan's hash logs.
Bridleway behind Cokethorpe School, West Oxfordshire, UK.
When I saw this hashpoint appear I thought to myself: that’s eminently achievable! I hoped I might be able to slip away from work for a lunchtime cycle to claim it.
But the gods of technology didn’t approve of my plan and turned my workday into a catastrophe of the kind that only a computer can, and the chance of taking a long lunch evaporated quickly. But fortune dealt me a second hand when the weather held off into the evening, and I instead opted for a post-dinner huckle in the dark out to this hashpoint.
I set out around 18:30, South through Stanton Harcourt then North up the adorably-named Ducklington Road. It took some time to sight the somewhat-concealed bridleway around the hill of Cokethorpe School. And then, another challenge – navigating by OpenStreetMap I missed my turning and went straight through a farmyard, and had to carry my bike over a fence at the other end. Turns out the map is wrong and I later found a sign indicating the true course of the bridleway; I’ll get that corrected.
I abandoned my bike for the final 50 metres, trekking through the thick grass of an unmown meadow to the hashpoint and arriving around 19:00. No panoramic photo today it’s too dark – but you get a silly grin.
Pleased with this fast expedition, I diverted on my route home to the Harcourt Arms pub for a pint of their surprisingly-delicious seasonal guest ale, Fairytale of Brew York, which genuinely tastes like stollen. There, I wrote up this expedition report, but I’ll have to get home before I can extract my GPSr‘s tracklog.
This checkin to geohash 2022-12-02 51 -1 reflects a geohashing expedition. See more of Dan's hash logs.
Just off the driveway to Appleton Cricket Club, South-West of Appleton.
I don’t know if I’ll be able to make it to this one, but if I can I’ll cycle over there on my lunch break or right after work.
The dog was making an attention-seeking nuisance of herself while I was trying to work today, so I wrapped up all the critical things I needed to do so I could take her our for a walk this afternoon to try to wear her out. I’m moderately familiar with Appleton – I have a regular cycle circuit that comes right through it! – but I’ve never been out to the cricket club and sports field, so I pointed the hashing hound in the right direction and let her lead the way.
At first it looked like this was going to be a successful expedition: the needle on my GPSr pointed almost directly ahead as I walked up the lane towards Appleton Sports Field. But as I got closer, I realised to my disappointment that the hashpoint was going to be about 25 metres into the adjacant field, guarded by a trio of bullocks. At 15:00 I declared the expedition a failure. The doggo and I completed an exploration of the lane and had a look around the sports field, spotted a pair of muntjack deer ambling around, and then headed back home.
I’ll be back in Appleton later today to buy a Christmas tree, so I’ll wave at the cattle as I go past, again.
My GPSr kept a tracklog; note that this was an “on the way” stopoff so the start and end point isn’t the same!
This checkin to GC9GTV3 Drive Slowly; Fox Crossing reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
Following feedback, I’ve tweaked the hint.
