My first target was A Bridge Lost in Time. I parked up out on the main Lochlibo Road and climbed the fence into the field opposite. Had a quick walk around the ruins of a house here which I pass every day on the way to work. It was nice to have a closer look. Then I headed around the field staying well clear of the coos and into the strip of woods at the rear. By this point I was a bit muddy but that was nothing, now it got *really* muddy. Following the old road (now used by the local farmer) I found the bridge and was rewarded for my efforts.The bridge itself old and crumbling but the stone work is ornately carved and rather interesting. The cache itself was easy to find so I signed the log and took out the GeoEd XYZ - Geocoin. This is our first GC.After working my way back out to the van I drove up to Pooter's Inn at the Cleikum. Had a quick look around, but there we're a couple of geriatric muggles parked up catching flies. ZZZzzz... Decided to come back later.
Death of an Icon was next which was an easy find but awkward to get to. The "Icon" is the remains of an old car. I had a difficult time getting there on foot, so quite how a car got here I have no idea.
Just along the road is Auchentiber Moss which is the name of this area. When you see it it's obvious why it's named "Moss". The ground is just one huge carpet of moss. After heading into the wood quite some way the ground levels off a bit and has quite a strange atmosphere. It's here that the GZ is hiding but the clue is so vague it could really be anywhere. Despite this I found the cache right away. Beginners luck I think, cos I could easily have been there all day with no GPS signal whatsoever and a million places to look.
Back to the van and back to Pooter's Inn at the Cleikum. No snoring crumblies this time, so I got stuck in and had a good look for the cache but without success. Too many nettles and too much rubbish, I admitted defeat (for now) and moved on.
Next I went cross country to Overton and Warrix thinking that this one would be a quick cache and dash. Oh how wrong I was. Following the GPS led me off track, through a field of nettles, and into a bog. Then I spotted a raised bank as described, but it was across a large ditch guarded by nettles (6ft tall nettles). Backtracking quarter of a mile, I found an alternative route over the ditch and back along the bank. I then spotted an item which matched the clue... on the other side of the ditch (where I'd been before). After a quick sweary word or two I zipped up my jacket, pulled up the hood and took a leap over the ditch into the nettles. Hunted for about an hour on both sides of the ditch but no cache. Sometimes caches seem to be placed to be as little fun as possible to find, this is an example of the worst. There's nothing here to see or learn, just a muddy, boggy, nettle ridden, quagmire. Ridiculous! Major sweary words again and back to the van.
By now I was soaked and filthy, so decided to call it a day and head home, but then I realised I was driving right past a few other cahces so stopped to pick one off. Little Pigs Walk - Fieldview involved a rather pleasant walk along a farm road and over a gate and into what was once an old orchard. I knew I was looking for a rubble pile from the cache description, but when I reached the field I was confronted with a huge heap of rotting manure and hay bales. Thought I would have to roll up my sleeves and get stuck in for a while. Luckily there was no tree cover so the GPS saved the day and led me directly to the GZ. Log signed it really was time to go home.
A successful day out but I could do without stupid caches hidden to be as awful to get to as possible. In my opinion that's not what Geocaching is all about and sort of ruined my day.
4 out of 6
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