Dan Q
This checkin to GC8R5WH NANOBLITZ Like a Rat up a Pipe reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
First place I looked, but I still squeaked with delight to see the cache container! There were many options for my stop-and-cache plan on today’s journey, but I’m already glad I chose here: these caches are awesome, and that’s coming from somebody who normally hates nanos. FP awarded.
This checkin to GC8R5V9 NANOBLITZ Power Point reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
On a geohashing expedition, between the 2022-02-19 52 -2 and 2022-02-20 52 -1 hashpoints, I decided to pull over and do a little geocaching. This first find was very easy – coordinates were spot on, and the container’s unusual design stood out to me. I love a good “concealed in plain sight” cache. TFTC.
This checkin to geohash 2022-02-19 52 -2 reflects a geohashing expedition. See more of Dan's hash logs.
Just off footpath near Kinnersley, Herefordshire.
I’ve a rare opportunity today to expand my Minesweeper grid by reaching a hashpoint in 52 -2. Also, to engage in my established tradition of “getting outside and exploring” on 19 February (in memory of my father, the most “get outside and explore” person I ever knew, who died ten years ago today while, you guessed it, getting outside and exploring).
I’ve booked some accommodation nearby with a view to seeing some of the Wye valley while I’m here.
It’s become traditional that I mark the anniversary of my father’s death with an outdoors adventure: he was a huge fan of getting outside and exploring the world (and, indeed, died during a training exercise for a planned expedition to the North Pole). Sometimes (e.g. 2014-02-19 51 -0, 2021-02-19 51 -1) this coincides with a geohashing expedition; today was one of those days.
I’d originally hoped to spend a long weekend on this, the tenth anniversary of his death, trying to clear two or three of my three unfinished corners of the minesweeper grid centred on my home graticule. This would have involved a possible quick day trip to this graticule followed by a camping expedition along the South coast to try to pick up the remaining two. However, it was clearly not to be: for a start, all of the weekend’s hashpoints on the South coast graticules turned out to be at sea! But even if that weren’t the case, I was hardly likely to go camping on the coast during the “red warning” of Storm Eunice! So I revised my plans and changed my expedition to find this hashpoint (still gaining one more part of my grid), then stay over in the graticule before possibly heading East for one or two more over the coming day(s).
I drove up to the village of Kinnersley and parked at (52.253611, -3.0975) in the car park of the Church of St James. From there, I walked up the footpath to the North, through three fields, until I reached the edge of the orchards near which I’d surveyed the hashpoint to be. The fields were incredibly muddy following the recent heavy rain. It soon became apparent that the hashpoint was on the near-side of the hedgerow and thankfully not in the orchard itself, so I walked along the edge of the hedge until I reached it at 15:45:07.
Returning to my car, I drove on to my accommodation, took a walk around the village, then pressed on in the morning to the 2022-02-20 52 -1 hashpoint!
My GPSr kept a tracklog of my entire two-day expedition:
I shot video of most of this expedition but don’t have time to edit it, so here are stills from the video instead:
This checkin to geohash 2022-02-08 51 -1 reflects a geohashing expedition. See more of Dan's hash logs.
Edge of a field, Kingston Bagpuize.
(Bagpuize is pronounced /ˈbæɡpjuːz/, by the way: bag-pyooz.)
This looks eminently achievable: it’s about half an hour’s cycle from my house: in fact one of my favourite evening cycle routes normally takes me to the nearby junction of the A415 and Appleton Road before I go the other direction along it, up the hill to Appleton then on to Cumnor. I’ve never been this way down Appleton Road.
At a glance, it looks like the hashpoint is alongside the road, over a dyke. Street level photography makes it look like it’ll be possible to jump over, and the hashpoint is probably on the “public highway” side of the tree line rather than in the field itself.
The challenge will be timing. My Tuesdays are hectic as I juggle work in the mornings and evenings with childcare in the afternoons. If I can get far enough ahead of my work (e.g. starting early on Tuesday) I can probably justify the cycle as part of my lunch break. Alternatively, I could come down for a spot of night-hashing after the children are in bed. It’s hard to commit to which time is best, but as I’m likely to be the only hasher there I don’t think I need to refine my plans any more than that at this point!
Made a quick run out here by car, as I was travelling nearby on an errand anyway. Had to be a flying visit because my partner needed the car after me!
Was able to pull into a layby within 60 metres of the hashpoint. It was at the edge of the field, just on the other side of the hedge, but a gap in the hedge allowed me to pop through for a quick selfie.
(only outbound leg shown, as after this I went elsewhere before circling back home)
This checkin to geohash 2022-02-01 51 -1 reflects a geohashing expedition. See more of Dan's hash logs.
Aurora Solar Power Plant, Eynsham, Oxfordshire.
Hashpoint looks like it’s close to the banks of Chill Brook, in the grounds of Twelve Acre Farm. There’s been a lot of changes to the land around here recently owing to the ongoing construction of a new solar power plant on this land.
Based on planning documents I saw when visiting a presentation about the proposed construction at South Leigh Village Hall last year, I believe the hashpoint is probably outside the new security fence that’s proposed. I’ve marked the anticipated location of the hashpoint on the diagram below:
Work-permitting, I plan to cycle out to the trailhead at 51.7774, -1.41957, lock my bike to the “public footpath” sign, cross the footbridge to the East, and trek out to see if the hashpoint itself is accessible. Not sure when I’ll find time, though: it’s a busy week for both work and home life!
I was really sceptical that I’d be able to make it to this hashpoint: with so much construction going on near the GZ and the fact that it seems pretty ambiguous whether the hashpoint would be inside or outside the fence. With no reliable maps yet existing of the area covered by this new power plant (the best I could find were planning documents, which did not have accurate grid references but instead used field boundaries as markers), I knew from the outset that it could go either way.
After dropping the kids at school I cycled past my house and on, through South Leigh and up to the start of the footpath that runs closest to the new construction. I locked up my bike and continued on foot, at least slightly awed by the scale of construction ahead of me: this new solar power plant feels pretty massive! Diverting along the edge of the new fence that’s been erected to mark the boundary of the Northernmost part of the site, I was delighted to discover that the hashpoint was very-definitely outside the site itself: fantastic! I reached the GZ at 09:20, then turned around to head back home to work.
I shot the whole expedition on video, which I’ve condensed to a 3 minute 19 second video you can watch below. Apologies for the wind noise.
Also available on YouTube (in 4K).
This checkin to GC1WXE1 A Road Anarchy A417 - Stand & Deliver reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
Not the first place I looked! Came out this way, this morning, to find the nearby 2021-12-22 51 -2 geohashpoint (it’s about two kilometres West of this GZ) and, during my return journey, noticed that this cache was close by. TFTC.
This checkin to geohash 2021-12-22 51 -2 reflects a geohashing expedition. See more of Dan's hash logs.
East side of Syde; side of a Syde Farm field.
I’m going to be going half way here anyway on an errand. Might as well enjoy a morning hike and expand my Minesweeper grid, if I can.
Given that I was driving half way from home to this hashpoint to run an errand anyway, I figured I might as well push the battery on the EV a little further. Coming over the graticule line would, if successful, expand my Minesweeper score, and as it’s such a beautiful frosty morning it seemed like great conditions for a bit of an explore.
I’d hoped to drive most of the way to the hashpoint and only walk a short distance, but I soon discovered that the nearest road is signposted as being for access to Syde Farm only (and is narrow enough that passing a vehicle coming the other way would be extremely awkward), so I parked up near geocache GC1WXE1 and hiked along a frozen bridleway to get closer to the hashpoint.
Reached the hashpoint around 10:15, turned around, and headed back, nabbing the geocache on the way. By the time I reached the car my hands were freezing and it was only as I returned my GPSr to my coat pocket that I remembered that I’d been carrying my gloves all along.
This checkin to GC5VKVN Walk by the Firehouse #4 reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
I first tried to find this cache back in 2018, but the cache container had been destroyed leaving only a fragment of it left. Today, as I was out on a lunchtime cycle nearby anyway, I decided to come and give it another go. I’d left my primary GPSr at home so I had to use my phone, which for some reason was declaring my position to be about 22m off target (and well into the fields, based on local aerial photography!) but my memory of the hiding place – coupled with a quick check of the clue – confirmed I was looking in the right place. I don’t know if it’s hidden higher up now or if I’ve just gotten shorter but it was a bit of a stretch to reach! SL, TFTC.
This checkin to GC9K2D0 The Footpath Wonder reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
Saw the notification pop up and thought this was an obvious FTF opportunity, so me and a geokid zipped out and mounted a search. After about 20 minutes of hunting we double checked hint cache details – only a D2/T1: maybe we’re not on form today. Or maybe something else is amiss: a brand new cache by a cacher with no finds and no (other) hides, with no description and no hint? Did this perhaps get published prematurely? We’ll come back later in the week for another go, but for now this one’s a sad-face for us.
This checkin to GC1E9YX Uninhabited Island reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
Geosense sent me straight to this one during a short visit to Stratford. Some fellow volunteers and I stayed at the hotel last night for our AGM and Christmas party and I couldn’t resist coming out to find this before heading back to Oxfordshire. TFTC.
This checkin to GC9EXXC Shady Seat on The Green reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
I was out on a head-clearing walk anyway this evening as I waited for my computer to catch up with me on some batch processing work, so I figured I’d check on this cache, which got a DNF earlier today. The cache is in its usual place and is healthy and ready to find… but the colours of some parts of the cache container might trick the eye when seen alongside all the recently fallen autumn leaves…
This checkin to GC8W7QW Forgotten Bridge reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
Took a late hike out here for a maintenance checkup before winter: make sure the waterproof seal is good etc. Really creepy to walk out here alone in the night fog, silent except for the occasional startling loud bellow of a rutting muntjack!
All is good here, and I was delighted to find in the logbook perhaps my favourite ever log entry in a geocache I own… it’s from the Oxfordshire County Council Countryside Access Team!
This checkin to GC54MFQ (Mac)Donald Where's Your Troosers? reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
Staying at the nearby hotel I came out last night to try and find this but quickly gave up rather than poke around in the gloomy night. I’d brought a torch for exactly this kind of purpose but accidentally left it in the car… and the car key in the hotel room!
This morning, though, was much easier. The hint object – which I hadn’t even been able to see last night! – was a great clue and I was about to find a root… I mean route… to it through the undergrowth. TFTC!
This checkin to GC9GKJA A Fine Pair # 1625 ~ Eynsham reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
Dropped by for a maintenance visit. All is well except for a discrepancy between the paper and online logs, which I’m following up with the cachers in question.
Update: I’ve verified that everybody who’s previously logged this cache online has found the cache and held the physical logbook, even if they haven’t signed the physical logbook.
This checkin to GC9GKJA A Fine Pair # 1625 ~ Eynsham reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
I like to check in on my new caches after about a week in the field to ensure there are no teething troubles with their hiding place/weatherproofing etc. All looks good here!
