This checkin to GCB61ZC Mossy reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs.
Saw GCB61ZC “Mossy” appear yesterday, but I’d already had an Easter Sunday beer or two and couldn’t drive out here… in fact, I realised, I probably wasn’t in a state to cycle out here either and so I resolved that I’d come out the following morning – that is, today – by car and give the dog a walk while finding GL1E5FYX0 and its year-older sibling GCAR5HV “Ivy”.
But early this morning the dog had been poorly and was still needing to relieve herself with little to no notice, so I didn’t want to risk putting her in the car! Though… I did want to keep her outdoors! It was time for a change in plan: instead of driving to near the cache then taking a walk… we’d attempt the whole thing on foot, perhaps taking the opportunity to explore some of the back footpaths that we’d not yet had a chance to try. We’d now missed our chance for the FTF at “Mossy”, but we could still enjoy a walk (and hopefully give the dog a chance to feel better).
We cut through fields at Sutton, past The Fox and Blackditch Farm, to brush against the side of Lakeside Industrial Estate and head down Dix Pit. After a brief pause to report fly tipping at 51.745311, -1.412871 (why would anybody fly tip literally just down the road from the recycling centre? it boggles my mind), we decided to duck off the road and take the parallel public footpath for a bit (OSM Way #204829432, trailhead 51.742330, -1.416563).
To our surprise, the public footpath was fenced off. I thought we might instead be able to take the track to the West and intersect with the nearby bridleway (OSM Way #1129092587) but it was marked as private, so we continued down Dix Pit. How DOES one get to that bridleway, I wondered? Just out of curiosity we tried to join it via the footpath (OSM Way #1129092588) at 51.737047, -1.412766, but it, too, lacked a usable gate (and looked severely overgrown!), although the public footpath signs within the mess were still visible. I suspect that this public footpath has been long neglected by the landowner and is quickly becoming lost to the world.
Instead, then, we passed Cutmill Farm and took the footpath through the woods that straddle the boundary line between Stanton Harcourt and Standlake, crossing the Windrush at a bridge that seemed to serve as the meeting point for a great multitude of dog walkers. My geopup, who’s not always the friendliest with new dogs, enjoyed greeting a few of them while warily watching the others.
We looped around Oxlease Lake in a clockwise direction, crossed Standlake Brook (the dog was very keen to get a drink of water, and in trying to do so made herself exceptionally muddy), and began working our way up the long driveway past the swimmers and anglers and sailors assembling and preparing for their bank holiday activities. I recalled that I’d been up this way about a year ago to find GCAQJN1 “Hardwick park 1”: I got the FTF on that, but it proved to be a short-lived cache, getting retired only three or four months later when park owners cut back the trees that had been its host. But I’d actually been here much earlier, too – over a decade ago – long before I moved to the local area, to find the much-more long-lived GC1TPFY “Constellations 4”. Strange to hunt for caches in places that I’ve walked past at least twice before, before those caches were hidden!
First up was “Mossy” (GCB61ZC). The dog – who was by now feeling herself again and happy to lead the way – struggled with the narrow kissing-gate to get onto the trail (she’s not so bright and doesn’t understand that she needs to make room for me to join her before I can open the gate) but soon we were on the path. The hiding place leapt out at me and soon the cache was in hand, the log signed (right behind Mad H@ter, whose Leafield series I was just attempting five days ago), and the cache returned to its hiding spot beneath its excellent camoflage. I hope the container survives the winter rains!
Second was “Ivy” (GCAR5HV): a brief walk through the holiday park away (via a glance at the watersports centre, which by the looks of things have paddleboards for rent: I first tried paddleboarding on the sea and figure it might be easier on a lake, so perhaps I’ll find an excuse to come down here and have a go at some point). The host was easy to find, but it took some searching to put my hand on the container because I started at the “wrong” side. It looks like it’s had (unlogged?) maintenance done since BusyLittleGeo’s visit last week: the cache was in perfect condition and the logbook was empty.
Now it was time to return home and give this happy (but mucky) dog a bath. We retraced our steps until Dix Pit, but then cut through the Devils’ Quoits and out through Hayfield Green to return to Stanton Harcourt, and from there picked our way back through the fields at Sutton to return home.
What could have been a 10-minute cache-and-dash became a 3-hour backwoods hike. Which might have been just what I (and a recovering dog) needed. TFTC.
