Castlehill Fort - Bearsden

We were in Bearsden today visiting my parents so I nipped out with my Dad (Grampa SC) for a spot of Geocaching! Well it's better than Rivercity followed by Eastenders!!

Our target was the Castlehill cache which is hidden at the site of an old Roman fort on the Antonine wall. I grew up around here and have always known this spot as "The circle of trees" but I'd never actually been there.

We parked on Antonine Road and took a wander up the field to the top of the hill, which, being November, was suitably squelchy under foot. Once at the top a quick scan around and we spotted a large moss covered fallen tree which was what our clue was, however the clue also said that the cache was within two metres of a fence. Since this tree wasn't close enough to any fencing we had another scout around and sure enough there were a group of other fallen trees and branches nearby only these were next to a fence. The cache was under one of these and was well hidden but still easy to find for someone who is looking.

This was Grampa SCs second cache and it was very nice to have a bit of company and a chat. We signed the log and dropped of a couple of TBs before realising we had an audience, however, there was nothing to be concerned about these weren't muggles it was just a couple of huggles in the neigh-bouring field!!

On the way down I happened to glance over towards North Baljafray where another cache is located. This cache named Rare Species is next to a small enclosed reservoir at the edge of a wood in which I used to play.  Even at that distance from where we are I spotted the item to which the clue refers. I'll maybe head up there some other time I'm over visiting and bag that one too.

1 out of 1.

Eglinton in the rain.

I got a tip off from another cacher by the name of AMAZO during the week giving me a hint as to where the Irvine New Town Trail #6 cache is hidden. This was a cache that appeared last Saturday but which I couldn't find. It would have been a FTF for me but after about half an hour I gave up and moved on. Armed with this new information I decided to go back over to Eglinton Park today to have another look.

On approach to the GZ it became obvious that I wasn't going to need to employ the hint in order to find the cache. The container was just sitting there out in the open with no camo or cover. On closer inspection however it was clear that this cache had been muggled, but not by a normal muggle. The bottom of the container had been chewed off, a mouse had been at it. It turned out that not only the cache container, but also a plastic bag inside and part of the log itself had been nibbled too. Signed the log anyway and re-hid. Chenks (the cache owner) has been informed.

Next was a puzzle cache called Little Green Men. The description and hint for this one are encoded so I'd worked them out at home and printed the details off. Trouble is, I'd gone and left the details at home. Armed with nothing but a rough idea of where the cache was I went for a look and checked all the obvious places. After a while I decided to phone home to see if Mrs SC could find the details I'd printed off but she was away out.

There was nothing for it but the brute force approach so I turned on my cachers instinct and took a guess at the general area (using a satellite photo I'd printed out before leaving the house) and started checking every tree, stump, lump, nook and cranny. And after a *lot* of searching I had the cache in hand!

I'd originally planned to head elsewhere after Eglinton to find a whole list of other caches, but by this time I was tired, wet and muddy and it was pouring down. Happy to have found these two caches I headed back to the van and home.

2 out of 2

Geocaching across the Universe

A wee film I had some fun making!

Sourlie Plantation bridge

After a long morning and afternoon out Geocaching I collected the kids from thier dancing class and headed home. For a rest??? Nah!! to get them changed to go out caching again!!! There was still one new cache I had on my list which I'd kept aside to go and find with the Mini Super Collectors!

Located at a small bridge just West of the Sourlie Plantation this cache was to prove a bit tricky to find. This is very close to our house so we left the van at home and took a nice wee walk over.

After a good hunt (mostly on the wrong side of the river as it turned out) we were just about to give up when the kids pointed to a tree and asked me to "try that one Daddy". After insisting I'd already looked I thought what the heck and had another look anyway (I was doing the looking as it was steep and muddy and the river was quite high). And what do you know, there was the wee cache hiding!!  Nice one girls!!

Yet another FTF for the Super Collectors, the fourth of the day!!

A big thanks to Chenks for these new caches.

Giddy Up!!

After a busy caching morning over at Eglinton Country Park I decided move further down the River Garnock to Bogside to find a few more caches.

My first target was Irvine New Town Trail #7 which was another new cache and was simple to find. However, there were muggles and duggles everywhere so I had to be patient. Thankfully I found it quickly, getting it back into hiding safely took much longer. Another FTF!

It's a Grand Old National was up next which is a cache I've been wanting to go and find for a while. It's located at the site of an old race course which was where the Scottish Grand National was run until 1965 before it was moved to Ayr. Closed in 1994 the site is now overgrown and appears to be used mainly by dog walkers and off-road motorbikes but the race course is still clearly visible. The cache is a good walk along the track and well hidden in what looks like the remains of a fence (the things they jump over!).

In the middle of the race course lies another cache which is at the location of the old Bogside Colliery. Not much remains here other than some old brick walls and rubble. The suitably named It's the Pits was hidden amongst these remains.

3 out of 3

Morning at Eglinton Park

Out bright and early this morning and over to Eglinton Country Park to bag some caches.

First up was Irvine New Town Trail #3 which is located on Irvine Road at the Kilwinning end of the Park. This was a new cache which hadn't yet been found by anyone else. After abandoning the car I headed around to the cache location which was pretty obvious. I ended up having to hang around for 10 minutes pretending to be on the phone as there were muggles at the nearby bus stops. One wee biddy seemed especially interested in what I was up to so I gave her a wee wave as her bus pulled away (thankfully taking her with it!). The cache was exactly where I'd expected and I was soon heading for Irvine New Town Trail #6.

Irvine New Town Trail #6 another new cache is located at the suspension bridge and I had no problem locating that and then using the clue finding the hiding place. I just couldn't find the cache. 30 minutes later I admitted defeat and moved on to Irvine New Town Trail #5.

Irvine New Town Trail #5 was the third new cache I was looking for and is located near the remains of Eglinton Castle. Using the coords I got to the general location, stopped to have a look around and walked straight to the cache. Usually it's the last tree I look in that has the cache, this time it was the first!

Next I decided to pick off a few of the other caches around here which I had not yet found. The first was Irvine New Town Trail #2 which is a short walk from the castle near an old piece of abandoned machinery which I'm told was to be used to rip up runways during the war. Why it's here I have no idea! Anyway, I got to the location had a look around in the obvious places, but no cache. Checked the clue and had a look in some other places, but no cache. Then I check my coordinates again and discovered where I was going wrong.

Jaspers Ice House followed and was a really great wee place. This is an old stone igloo in the woods which would have been used as a sort of fridge freezer for the castle in days gone past. It's quite an interesting thing to see in it's own right but a bit muddy so go in the summer.

The next cache was Elignton Loch. This cache was recently published and is at the location of an old cache which was here but was archived for one reason or another. Nothing much to say about this one as it was so easy but it could get busy with muggles and duggles during the day. I was early enough that it was nice an quiet!

Finally I had a look at G'day Sports ...AKA Farewell Pete and Lainey which seems to be located under the Tornament Bridge. This would be tricky and wet to get to on a dry summers day but on a damp November day with the river in full flow it would have been stupid and dangerous to even try.

4 out of 5

Cunninghamhead

There are a few caches located near Cunninghamhead so I set out to find them all today.

The first of these is Scroaggy or Fairliecrevoch Mill Wood which is located in a small strip of woodland between a busy road between Irvine and Stewarton and the Annick Water. Parking for this was a bit difficult but I finally found a good spot down a small lane nearby. On approach to the wood, there was no sign of any paths or even an entrance way, however once I'd scrambled in I was utterly amazed to find a nice little woodland walk hidden in there. I had a walk around and despite having no GPS signal I soon spotted the cache.

On to The Poplar Copse next which was quite a tricky cache to reach and involved jumping over a burn, balancing over a fallen tree to cross another burn and falling down a steep slope on my bum. I don't think you're supposed to do the last bit but it got me down! Once at the GZ the cache took seconds to find but whilst I was signing the log I heard voices and a minute or two later a man and his son walked past at about 20 meters. They didn't even see me (and I wasn't hiding!). There's a huge Black Poplar tree here which is quite impressive to see.

My final cache of the day was to be Lost Track at Annick. I parked up at the spot recommended and headed down and along an old railway track towards the coords. Half way there an I came up to a viaduct over the Annick Water but I couldn't cross due to a 7ft high fence. Had a look around for another way to cross and even went all the way back to the van and down to the road bridge but couldn't see a good way to reach the cache coords.


2 out of 3

Stewarton Woods

Just to the South West of Stewarton in Ayrshire there's a nice little circular woodland walk on which there are three caches which I visited today.


The first of these was Pickens Parked at Kirkmuir which is a simple cache to find at the side of a nice new woodland path. This was easy to find so not much to mention. The other caches were a little more challenging. The first problem came when, trying to park, I managed to reverse into a post. I gained one small dent in the van and one bad mood but decided to carry on and find the other two caches.

SWAT's Long Wood took me a while to find. The clue is really good, however phone reception is poor and my GPS was up to it's tricks so I spent a while searching in the wrong place. Once I'd figured that out I quickly found the cache and really enjoyed using the method described in the clue to find the cache. This involved looking along the hollow inside of a fallen tree to reveal the hiding place.

The final cache on this walk was Annick! Beware Cunninghames! which is further along the path. Once at the general location a second path heads off into the bushes and a good rummage was required to locate the cache.

Back to the van and I moved on to another nearby cache, The Lambroughton March. This is the name of an old tree which has a gap between it's two main trunks. The fence on either side of the tree does not cover this gap so the woodland beyond can be accessed by climbing through the tree. Finding the cache was much harder than accessing the wood however. The coordinates had me looking for a "small but clear path" and took me down to the river edge. First, there was no path whatsoever, and second the cache is nowhere near the water! I finally found the cache close to the tree by which I'd entered the wood and could have got there without any climbing up and down the steep slope!

Back to the Cleikum

Went back to Pooter's Inn at the Cleikum this morning for my third attempt.

As is usually the case I searched the entire place only to find it where I looked first and bang on coords! It was a bit easier this time around as the vegitation had died right back so I could have a better look.

Sad to see how much rubbish has been dumped by people visiting the layby.

Irvine Beach

I was off work today looking after the kids who are on their November break from school so we decided to head down to Irvine beach for a walk and a spot of geocaching.

First up was Irvine Beach Park - Enter the Dragon but we decided to pay Irvine Beach Park - Amazing a wee visit first. We've logged that cache before but out littlest Super Collector wasn't with us on that day and wanted to see it today. Found the cache right away as we knew where is would be and were pleased to find a GeoCoin.

On to the Dragon next which we've visited before but couldn't find it. Today the cache was easy to locate but the littlest Super Collector was needed to reach into grab the cache out of it's wee hole.

Further up the beach we found Dirty Harry and inside was a Remembrance Poppy trackable. We found this quite fitting seeing as the date is 11/11/11. The attached poem "In Flanders Fields" was quite moving.

Last of the day was to be In The Dunes which is still further down the beach. Met up with some other cachers whilst hunting for this one but we found it first and grabbed a Geocoin. They left a couple of other trackables which we left for the next visitor but after building a sandcastle with the kids (eh it's November!) we headed back and collected those too.

3 out of 3

Ayr - Watchful

It was a lovely day today and being November it was too good a day not to be out doing something so we jumped in the van and headed down to Ayr beachfront to let the kids have a play in the excellent play park there.

After a spot of lunch we went for a wander (the kids had there scooters so they scooted!) along the promenade North towards the river. Checking my phone I spotted that there were a number of caches around the area so we decided to have a look for a couple while we were there. The first we looked for was Watchful BA124 which is at the old dry dock and the location of an old boat of the same name. The cache was really easy to find but only because I've found a number of similar cache containers (very sneaky!) and I spotted it in seconds. Left it in place for the kids to find which didn't take them long either.

Next was a cache just at the other end of the dry dock of a similar name. The Watchful cache is located at a small parking bay at the very tip of the esplanade road, however there has been a huge build up of sand here over the past few years and almost everything is buried. Looking at the recent logs for this one there have been lots of DNFs and after a pretty good hunt we still couldn't find it so gave up and walked (scooted) back along to the van.

1 out of 2

Perceton and the Annick Valley

After collecting our first FTF at Irvine New Town Trail #1, I headed over to the other side of Irvine in search of Explore Perceton Woods. This cache is located on a nice little woodland walk just behind the grounds of Perceton House. It was a little muddy but being quite early on a Saturday morning it was very quiet and peaceful and the birds were singing. Once I reached the coordinates I had a wee look around using the clue but in the end I resorted to cachers instinct to sniff out the cache. "Hmmm, where would I put it? Ah there you are!!".

On to Get Your Kicks on Route 73 @ Dreghorn next but after a short, fruitless search and too many muggles I decided to try this one one my way back to the van so headed along the cycle path to Bridge Not Far. The clue and coordinates for this cache make it an easy find, however, it took me a little while to figure out how to reach the container safely. Once I'd had a look around all became clear and I soon had the log signed and the cache back in it's hiding place.

Next on my list for the day was Little Pigs Walk - riverside which I'm very glad to have found, but only because I know I'll never have to do it again! My first problem was locating the path, the problem being that there was none. Next I had to scramble my way down a steep embankment only to reach a fence. My record with fences isn't too good and although this wasn't barbed wire my real enemies are electric. Luckily this fence was fine (although I didn't know that until I'd tested it!). Over the fence I started following the old railway embankment which follows the bank of Annick Water at this point. This was wet and muddy and pitted with coo footprints which made it really difficult to walk. Once I reach the remains of the old bridge under which the railway used to run the ground became really wet and boggy. This was where my first disaster occurred. I was trying to cross the boggy ground when my boot disappeared. My next step forward was an attempt to get out of this quagmire, but by the third step I was literally up to my waist in muddy water which smelled suspiciously like coo juice! At this point many (many many) extremely (extremely extremely) bad sweary words were shouted. I was soaked and filthy up to my waist and the rest of me was splatted with mud too. But hey ho! on I went to the cache and was rewarded with a very nice Geocoin for my trouble.

It took me ages to squelch my way back to the van and my second disaster of the day. When I got there I removed jacket and jumper and threw them in the back. I was just about to get in when I looked at the state I was in so started pulling up some long grass to wipe the muck and coo poo of my trousers... when CLUNK... the van locked itself. Luckily I had my mobile in my trouser pocket (and it was still working) so I managed to call Mrs SC who very kindly came out to rescued me with the spare keys. Thanks!

I had another look for Get Your Kicks on Route 73 @ Dreghorn while I was waiting but couldn't find it although to be honest I'd had enough by then and probably wasn't trying very hard.

3 out of 4.

First to Fail - part 4

SUCCESS!!! It was a nice Saturday morning and I had a few hours free whilst the kids were at their clubs so there was time to do a spot of Geocaching. My first target was the Irvine New Town Trail #1 cache which I'd been down to find on several occasions without success but which amazingly still hadn't been found by anyone.

This time I had an additional clue which had been added to the cache description and armed with this I walked straight to the it. I've no idea how I hadn't seen this before. As is usually the case I'd looked there several times but I was just glad to have finally found it. This is our first "First To Find" or FTF.

I then headed to the other side of Irvine but will blog that separately.

1 out of 1