Dan Q found GC54MFQ (Mac)Donald Where’s Your Troosers?

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!

Dan Q performed maintenance for GC9GKJA A Fine Pair # 1625 ~ Eynsham

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.

Dan Q performed maintenance for GC9GKJA A Fine Pair # 1625 ~ Eynsham

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!

Dan Q found GC944X7 Pop! Bang! Crack! Goes the Christmas Cracker

This checkin to GC944X7 Pop! Bang! Crack! Goes the Christmas Cracker reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.

The second of the caches in this series that I found in between errands, this afternoon, was probably the easiest, because the hiding place reminds me distinctly of one of my own hides! This one, though, enjoys some excellent Christmas theming, for which a FP is due. TFTC!

Dan Q found GC93YF2 O Christmas Tree

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I’d picked this one out as an essential for this afternoon’s “between jobs” hunt, because it completes my Solar System Wonders set. How pleased I was to find that through this cache a tree is properly – albeit sparsely – decorated. Thanks for this, my third and final cache of the day. I’ll be back to finish the series next time I’m around here with time to spare, I’m sure!

Dan Q found GC93W4C Twelve Days of Caching

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Having “solved” all the puzzles some time ago I’m picking away at finding the caches in this series a few at a time, starting the other week, every time I happen to be passing nearby. I felt a little overlooked by nearby windows this drizzly afternoon but I needn’t have engaged my stealth skills: the coordinates were spot on and I soon had the cache in my hand. TFTC.

Dan Q found GC6H7HD Zoology

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Having succeeded at my primary goal for the evening of finding the challenging sibling of this cache, Herbology, I realised I probably had just enough time left before sunset to find this one, too, if I got a move on. As I ran along the path and rounded the corner to the field at the edge of which this cache is found, though, I was in for a bit of a surprise!

I’ve joked to my partner that the deer in South Leigh seem to be suicidal, based on the frequency with which they will leap out in front of my car or bike on the rare occasions that I pass through the village (I’ve avoided hitting any so far, but they keep trying to make me). Well today it was my turn to narrowly avoid being run over, as a pair of large deer rushed out from the field and almost bowled me over! Perhaps now they’ll understand how startling it is to almost end up ploughing through a living thing and avoid jumping out in front of me? Or perhaps not.

In any case, I quickly found the cache’s hiding place once I’d crossed the field, and I could have probably done it 10 minutes later if I’d needed to… but probably not much beyond that; once the sun was gone my eyes wouldn’t have been up to it! As others have noted, this cache is in need of repair: I’m pretty sure it once must have fit the theme of its siblings but right now it’s a cracked, open shell, miraculously still dry enough inside to sign the log but that’s probably only a matter of time. :-(

Anyway: thanks to the CO for a fun series and a delightful, if frantic, walk some of these Autumn evenings. TFTCaches!

Dan Q found GC6H7JG Herbology

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I get precious little time for geocaching lately: between work, childcare, household and volunteering commitments it’s a challenge to squeeze in a quick expedition here and there. That’s doubly-true as the days get shorter: after finishing work, feeding the children etc. it’s already starting to get dim, and caches that I know will be more-challenging to find – like this D4.5! – become a race against time.

A fortunate side-effect of my unusual living arrangement is that I’m only needed for bathtime and bedtime story-reading duties two nights out of every three, and so when this evening achieved the hat-trick of me not being on bedtime duty, not being urgently needed for work in the evening, and the weather looking good, I leapt onto my bike to come and find this cache. I’d found its sibling Geology a fortnight ago without two much difficulty, but – knowing that Herbology would be much harder! – I’d planned to come out and perform a dedicated search for this and this cache only this evening. I cycled to South Leigh and then up the old Barnard Gate road, stopping at N 51° 46.366, W 001° 25.259′ to lock my bike to a wooden footbridge at the point at which a footpath crosses the road. From there, I jogged North up the path to find the GZ (bringing my front bike light for use as a torch, should the need arise).

I had anticipated that a search would be needed and had a few ideas about the kinds of things I might be looking for, but when after approaching half an hour I’d found nothing at all and had resorted to poking at candidate hiding places with a stick while I shone my torch around, I was worried that this expedition might be a bust. Swallowing my pride, I messaged the CO to see if they might be able to provide a further hint. Amazingly, they were not only online but able to give a hint that pointed me at exactly the kind of thing I ought to be hunting for… because it turned out I’d already moved the cache container while hunting elsewhere in its hiding place!

Upon returning this expertly-stealthy cache to its hiding place, I realised that I might just have time to find the third of this triplet, and so I took off at top speed for Zoology.

Dan Q found GC6FD6N Cumnor Minions – Norbert

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A quick almost-CnD on the school run. I’d love to come back and do the series someday! Found easily (although the hint object is nowhere in sight!), but container was challenging to open! Luckily the edge of the carabiner I use to clip my GPSr to my belt was up to the task! TFTC.

Dan Q found GC93T66 Mistletoe and Wine

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“Solved” all the puzzles some time ago, then came out to find this cache as a drive-by (on the minor, not the major, nearby road, of course!) while in-between other errands nearby. Was looking for something smaller when I laid my hands on the cache container, which I thought looked “out of place”, but the weight balance of the thing I’d picked up felt wrong… like something was loose inside? That’s when I realised I was holding the cache! Signed log and returned it to its spot. TFTC.

Dan Q found GC6H7G2 Geology

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A quick and easy find in spite of the growing dark, significantly helped by my having correctly interpreted the name of the cache and knew exactly at I was looking for TFTC.

This cache’s siblings might have to wait until another day, when I have the light on my side, though!

Dan Q found GC98N4G Tar Lakes/South Leigh Loop #9 Speed

This checkin to GC98N4G Tar Lakes/South Leigh Loop #9 Speed reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.

Third time was the charm for me with this elusive cache! On this and my last visit the coords kept pointing me to the centre of the road, giving me a pretty big search radius. Eventually found it – with the help of properly interpreting the hint – at N 51 46.314, W 001 25.758. Hope this helps anybody else with the same problem! TFTC, and once again for an excellent series.

Attached image is from my second visit, when I was trying to look unsuspicious and like I had a different reason to be hanging around here!

Dan outside a disused bus stop repurposed as a "beach hut".

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Dan Q found GC2549F Motorway Mayhem M6 Junction 19

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I was heading South on the M6 when my phone beeped to warn me that the road was blocked, ahead. Turns out there had been some sort of crash, and traffic was being directed into Knutsford Services. Naturally, I used the break as an excuse to park up and hike out to this and another local cache.

As I came over this bridge, it looked like traffic was flowing again, albeit slowly and with a lane closed, so I’m going to complete my loop and get back on the road. Thanks for the distraction while I was stranded!

Motorway traffic moving past a 50 limit and "stranded vehicle" warning sign.

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Dan Q found GC9FJ8P Nuts & Bolts

This checkin to GC9FJ8P Nuts & Bolts reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.

The M6 Southbound got blocked by a crash this afternoon so I diverted to Knutsford Services and took a walk out to the local caches while I waited for it to clear. I had a feeling what kind of thing I’d be looking for when I got here and I turned out the be right, making this a much quicker search than the 20 minutes or so it took me to walk up here! I possibly wasn’t helped by my choice of route, though: thanks to a badly signed footpath through the lower part of Tabley Hill Farm I ended up off-course and found myself in the cattle yard at N 53º 18.345′ W 002º 24.147’… right as the cows were heading to the milking parlour! Got there in the end, though. TFTC!