Sitting at work pretending to be busy when my phone buzzes to say I've got an email. Upon checking I see there's a new cache been published a few hundred metres from the Super Collectors secret base. Problem is, I'm 25 miles away and don't finish work until 5pm.
Nonetheless we still managed an admirable third to find just sneaking in there before Roseacre who was arriving as we left.
Monday, 28 May 2012
Saturday, 26 May 2012
Coatbridge Bridge
We were over in Coatbridge today at Go Outdoors and after spending a fortune (even with their price matching offer!) we dropped into Pizza Hut for dinner.
Whilst there we noticed that one of the few caches in the area was only a few metres from us so it would have been rude not to go and bag it - Under The Red Bridge. Unfortunately when we found it (which was easy) we couldn't get the wee blighter open but after checking the logs online it turns out we're not the first.
Whilst there we noticed that one of the few caches in the area was only a few metres from us so it would have been rude not to go and bag it - Under The Red Bridge. Unfortunately when we found it (which was easy) we couldn't get the wee blighter open but after checking the logs online it turns out we're not the first.
Corsehillmuir Wood
Last Saturday after dropping one of the mini Super Collectors off at her dancing lessons I headed off in search of a nearby cache Of Corse it's a hill.
After fist of all going to completely the wrong place I arrived and parked the tank nearby. From here I took a wander along some pleasant country paths to the GZ munching a scotch pie I'd picked up in town... yum! The cache is located on an old bing which is now entirely covered and hidden by trees and it was near one of these that the cache was meant to be hiding. There were loads of them though and the terrain wasn't the easiest to cover. What made things even worse was that my GPS was hopping around like mad. Eventually, scratched, stung and dirty I gave up and was just making my way back off the bing when I spotted something out the corner of my eye and went to investigate.
Sure enough hiding in one of the very first places I'd looked was the cache.
After fist of all going to completely the wrong place I arrived and parked the tank nearby. From here I took a wander along some pleasant country paths to the GZ munching a scotch pie I'd picked up in town... yum! The cache is located on an old bing which is now entirely covered and hidden by trees and it was near one of these that the cache was meant to be hiding. There were loads of them though and the terrain wasn't the easiest to cover. What made things even worse was that my GPS was hopping around like mad. Eventually, scratched, stung and dirty I gave up and was just making my way back off the bing when I spotted something out the corner of my eye and went to investigate.
Sure enough hiding in one of the very first places I'd looked was the cache.
Thursday, 24 May 2012
Homeward Bound
I'm still doing extra hours at work just now so still taking the tank up and down the M77. It's a very boring road so I've taken to using the A77 some nights and collecting a few caches along the way to brighten my day up. Over the past week I've bagged 9 finds and one DNF. Only a few of these stand out and are really worth a mention in any detail.
First of these was Davie's Pineapple which was located at the junction of the Old Mearns Road and the A77. This used to be a fairly dangerous junction as cars attempted to dart out onto the A77 and vice versa. Nowadays with the new M77 taking most of the traffic the A77 is a much quieter road and the GZ was a rather nice spot. Here can be found a monument to the writer Robert Pollock who was born nearby in Eaglesham. His most famous work was "The Course of Time". This statue to him was unveiled in 1900. The name of the cache refers to the decoration at the top of the monument with Davie being the late Grampa Sweeney Toddler.
Close to here was another cache worth a mention, Blue Lagoon Revival. This is located near Pilmuir Quarry. The quarry was opened in 1930 in the site of North Hillhead Farm. Remains of some farm buildings can be seen at the top of the hill at the south east corner of the quarry next to which is a stunning little copse in the small wood which was filled with bluebells. It was in this cache where I discovered the weirdest trackable so far. We've found a few odd things during our travels, but a trackable condom really takes the prize... so to speak...
Kingswell Cross was another interesting spot. This is further down the A77 and is the site of a cross erected in memory of Alice Mary Corbett and the First Baron Rowallan (Archibald Cameron Corbett). History aside, this is again a nice quiet spot despite being between the A77 and M77. With it's mossy, heathery carpet and pine trees you would be forgiven for mistaking this for somewhere much further north.
The final cache worth comment was Jougs. This wasn't particularly interesting but being in the centre of Kilmaurs at a busy junction it required maximum stealth to retrieve, log and return covertly. This is of even more significance to me as I have paused here many times before only to consider it too busy to attempt. I drive right past this spot every day, so finally I can do so knowing I've already logged it.
For completeness, the following is a list of all the caches I have attempted on my journeys home (I go a different route on the way to work) including my one DNF.
Floak - Found
Crossing the State Line - Found
By Gainford Wood - DNF
Eerie Alley - Found
Davies Pineapple - Found
Blue Lagoon Revival - Found
Star and Garter - Found
Mastercache 5: Still Standing - Found
Kingswell Cross - Found
Jougs - Found
There are of course still many more caches I can potentially go hunting for on my travels home from work so hopefully there will be more to report here soon.
Close to here was another cache worth a mention, Blue Lagoon Revival. This is located near Pilmuir Quarry. The quarry was opened in 1930 in the site of North Hillhead Farm. Remains of some farm buildings can be seen at the top of the hill at the south east corner of the quarry next to which is a stunning little copse in the small wood which was filled with bluebells. It was in this cache where I discovered the weirdest trackable so far. We've found a few odd things during our travels, but a trackable condom really takes the prize... so to speak...
Kingswell Cross was another interesting spot. This is further down the A77 and is the site of a cross erected in memory of Alice Mary Corbett and the First Baron Rowallan (Archibald Cameron Corbett). History aside, this is again a nice quiet spot despite being between the A77 and M77. With it's mossy, heathery carpet and pine trees you would be forgiven for mistaking this for somewhere much further north.The final cache worth comment was Jougs. This wasn't particularly interesting but being in the centre of Kilmaurs at a busy junction it required maximum stealth to retrieve, log and return covertly. This is of even more significance to me as I have paused here many times before only to consider it too busy to attempt. I drive right past this spot every day, so finally I can do so knowing I've already logged it.
For completeness, the following is a list of all the caches I have attempted on my journeys home (I go a different route on the way to work) including my one DNF.
Floak - Found
Crossing the State Line - Found
By Gainford Wood - DNF
Eerie Alley - Found
Davies Pineapple - Found
Blue Lagoon Revival - Found
Star and Garter - Found
Mastercache 5: Still Standing - Found
Kingswell Cross - Found
Jougs - Found
There are of course still many more caches I can potentially go hunting for on my travels home from work so hopefully there will be more to report here soon.
Monday, 7 May 2012
Galloway
Another long weekend and another holiday. This time we headed down to Galloway and stayed at the Castle Cary Holiday Park just outside Creetown. It was our first camping trip with the kids in a tent and a brand new tent too. The park was really good although we were lucky to get flat pitches with power hookups. The new tent was awesome, we joked about parking the car inside, but seriously we could have if we had wanted to!
As ever the holiday included some Geocaching and our first target was a cache in the Galloway forest at Kirroughtree. This cache Penninghame Postcards 2 - The Lade Walk is located along one of the many trails through the forest near the 7 Stanes venue. We'd already been for a cycle with the kids on the gentle Green trail so I left Mrs SC with the kids at the excellent playpark and headed off solo to try to make the find. We'd looked for this cache the last time we were there so I headed straight for the same place but upon arrival the GPS was saying I'd already passed it. After a short back track I spotted the first part of the clue given with the cache description. This was actually very tricky to spot and not at all what I'd expected but from there the second half of the clue led me directly to the cache.
In the afternoon we headed down to the Mull of Galloway but on the way stopped at Glenluce to find a cache hidden at the Luce Viaduct. At first this one looked like it was going to be difficult and upon reading some of the previous logs we thought one of us was going to have to go climbing but after a good look around and a think we spotted a more likely hiding spot and sure enough it was there.
The Mull of Galloway is actually the southern most point of Scotland and is actually further south than Penrith. There's a lighthouse station here and magnificent views over the Irish Sea to the Isle of Man and even Northern Ireland. The visitor centre is really good and there's some interesting knicknacks in the attatched shop. Upon leaving we spotted a cache Gallie Craig was only a short distance away so went to find it. This cache turned out to be disabled due to lack of permission for placement within an SSSI but we managed to rescue a Swiss Geocoin which was trapped there and so logged the cache as found anyway. The cache has now sadly been archived. Hopefully someone else will be able to get a replacement set up either outwith the SSSI or with special permission from the RSPB.
On the way back to the campsite we took a detour via Stranraer to get some supplies. Whilst there we noted there is only one cache in the whole town and so had to go and find it. It turned out to be a simple park and grab so a bit of a disappointment but at least we can say we've found every cache in the town!
The next day and we jumped on our bikes and headed through Creetown and up into the hills beyond to visit the Balloch Wood. This is a beautiful place with some very nice woodland trails and ponds. hiding the bikes amongst the trees we followed the Oak trail in search of the cache Balloch Wood. It's difficult to describe how nice this short walk was with carpets of bluebells lining the path interspersed with wild primrose. The cache proved quite easy to find despite the coordinates being out but the box was soaking inside. We emptied it's contents and took a break whilst we waited for it all the dry off a bit in the lovely sunshine that was streaming through the trees.
Unfortunately Super Kid had a pretty major fall of her bike at high speed on the way back down the hill but after a sit down and a cry she bravely got back on her bike and made it all the way back to the campsite. What a star!
In the afternoon the weather was still holding and it looked like it was going to be a nice evening so we packed provisions in the car and set of to the south to do a spot of caching and to find a beach where we could have a barbecue.
First stop was in a lay-by to find Ravenshall Hotel (formerly Skyreburn Hotel). This was so easy we spotted it from inside the car. Next came The Wicker Man - Here lieth Beech Buchanan which was located next to an old Graveyard that had apparently featured in the film The Wicker Man. Myself and Super Girlie had a bit of trouble finding this one but Mrs SC and Super Kid found it right away when they finally decided to get out of the car.
Venniehill Viewpoint was next and for this we parked at a small carpark which appeared to be the correct location. Steps led down to a raise circular walkway but we found no trace of the clue and the site didn't really match the cache description. Returning to the car the GPS suddenly changed it's mind and decided to point in the opposite direction. The problem was that it was now pointing into some private properties. Guessing the spot would be behind these gardens we started looking for a path that would lead us around the back and eventually found a way into the field at the bottom of the road. The name of the cache suddenly made sense as this wasn't a nice flat horizontal field, it was nearly vertical! By the time myself and Super Girlie got to the top we were exhausted. We spotted the clue item right away but no cache. After a good hunt we were ready to give up when I had a quick check behind a rock in a wall (not allowed I know!!) and there was the cache. Great view from up there but very tired by the time we got back to the car.
Our final cache of the day earned a favourite point. Not because of the cache itself but because it led us to a wonderful beach where we had a great barbecue for dinner and lit a small driftwood fire to keep us warm while we watched the tide race in. Mossyard Bay is a wonderful little curved sandy beach with interesting rock formations and rock pools where kids could play for hours. There's also another cache here which we didn't go and find but that simply gives us an excellent excuse to go back another time!
We found three more caches on our journey home. The first two, Peea, Peea, Pee, ano. (go on sing it!), and Reclaimed Land were located in parking places near the Cairnryan Ferry Terminal. We also attempted a third nearby but were thwarted by a lorry driver sitting right at the GZ. Having read previous logs we suspect this may have actually been the cache owner but as we didn't know we didn't want to expose the cache to a muggle. The third cache and final one of the holiday was Cruiser Varyag. This is located at a memorial for a Russian warship just outside Lendalfoot. The find was simple but the wind here made it difficult to stand up never mind get to and back from the monument.
Over the course of the weekend we also dropped off about 5 trackables we've been carrying around but ended up picking up another 5 too.
We had a great short break which felt more like a week than three nights and found 12 caches along the way. Love this part of Scotland so will definitely be back for more!
As ever the holiday included some Geocaching and our first target was a cache in the Galloway forest at Kirroughtree. This cache Penninghame Postcards 2 - The Lade Walk is located along one of the many trails through the forest near the 7 Stanes venue. We'd already been for a cycle with the kids on the gentle Green trail so I left Mrs SC with the kids at the excellent playpark and headed off solo to try to make the find. We'd looked for this cache the last time we were there so I headed straight for the same place but upon arrival the GPS was saying I'd already passed it. After a short back track I spotted the first part of the clue given with the cache description. This was actually very tricky to spot and not at all what I'd expected but from there the second half of the clue led me directly to the cache.
In the afternoon we headed down to the Mull of Galloway but on the way stopped at Glenluce to find a cache hidden at the Luce Viaduct. At first this one looked like it was going to be difficult and upon reading some of the previous logs we thought one of us was going to have to go climbing but after a good look around and a think we spotted a more likely hiding spot and sure enough it was there.
On the way back to the campsite we took a detour via Stranraer to get some supplies. Whilst there we noted there is only one cache in the whole town and so had to go and find it. It turned out to be a simple park and grab so a bit of a disappointment but at least we can say we've found every cache in the town!
Unfortunately Super Kid had a pretty major fall of her bike at high speed on the way back down the hill but after a sit down and a cry she bravely got back on her bike and made it all the way back to the campsite. What a star!
In the afternoon the weather was still holding and it looked like it was going to be a nice evening so we packed provisions in the car and set of to the south to do a spot of caching and to find a beach where we could have a barbecue.
Our final cache of the day earned a favourite point. Not because of the cache itself but because it led us to a wonderful beach where we had a great barbecue for dinner and lit a small driftwood fire to keep us warm while we watched the tide race in. Mossyard Bay is a wonderful little curved sandy beach with interesting rock formations and rock pools where kids could play for hours. There's also another cache here which we didn't go and find but that simply gives us an excellent excuse to go back another time!
Over the course of the weekend we also dropped off about 5 trackables we've been carrying around but ended up picking up another 5 too.
We had a great short break which felt more like a week than three nights and found 12 caches along the way. Love this part of Scotland so will definitely be back for more!
Tuesday, 1 May 2012
Stewarton Road
I was bored again on my drive home from work so decided to spice things up with a spot of caching. Some people call it the Old Glasgow Road, some call it Dodside Road, others say B769 but we call it the Stewarton Road and it was down this route I went hunting. By the time I got home I'd bagged seven, not bad for a Tuesday night!
Off To MalletsHeugh
Rock Faulds
County Boundary
Upper Hareshaw
Darlington
Corsehill Queen
Brechna Brae
Off to Malletsheugh was a simple back of a sign type cache as was County Boundary. Rock Faulds posed two problems, first where to park (I ended up driving into a field and abandoning the car there) and second how to get to the cache which was on the other side of a barbed wire fence and at the top of some steep crags. Once up there the coords were a little out but I soon found the cache.
Upper Hareshaw was another cache and dash which took all of ten seconds to find but was made a little more difficult as I had no maps (no phone signal = no maps!). The clue was slightly wrong but served it's purpose.
Corsehill Queen was my favourite of the day. This is hidden in one of the most public places in Stewarton and right outside a pub. I had to wait for a smoker to finish his cigarette and head back into the pub before I could go hunting and again the clue was excellent and made what could have been a daunting search do-able!
My final find of the night was Brechna Brae and for this I headed to Dunlop. The cache is located in a small community woodland which seems really popular with the locals. Lost count of the muggles with duggles that were around but found the cache no problem. Confusingly there were two caches only one of which contained a log (which was like paper mache).
Off To MalletsHeugh
Rock Faulds
County Boundary
Upper Hareshaw
Darlington
Corsehill Queen
Brechna Brae
Off to Malletsheugh was a simple back of a sign type cache as was County Boundary. Rock Faulds posed two problems, first where to park (I ended up driving into a field and abandoning the car there) and second how to get to the cache which was on the other side of a barbed wire fence and at the top of some steep crags. Once up there the coords were a little out but I soon found the cache.
Upper Hareshaw was another cache and dash which took all of ten seconds to find but was made a little more difficult as I had no maps (no phone signal = no maps!). The clue was slightly wrong but served it's purpose.
Corsehill Queen was my favourite of the day. This is hidden in one of the most public places in Stewarton and right outside a pub. I had to wait for a smoker to finish his cigarette and head back into the pub before I could go hunting and again the clue was excellent and made what could have been a daunting search do-able!
My final find of the night was Brechna Brae and for this I headed to Dunlop. The cache is located in a small community woodland which seems really popular with the locals. Lost count of the muggles with duggles that were around but found the cache no problem. Confusingly there were two caches only one of which contained a log (which was like paper mache).
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