Walkden

Length	Estimated Duration	Difficulty
9.2 miles	5-6 hours	4
Max Elevation	Terrain Types	Smiley Rate (Caches/Distance)
592 feet	Poor Path / Track / Moorland / Roads / Bog	3.48

The Good Wench has been plotting this week. Given the long Easter Bank Holiday she decided that it would be nice to hit the milestone 600 caches. What would be nicer would be to mark the 600th by doing the Nuclear Bunker cache (GC3A7DZ) prior to going to the Yankee Night (GC313V7) which is also being organised by the CO – Magna.

So we need 36 before Monday…Hmmm… We did a little drive by series in Balderstone on Saturday to get us to 569 so all that was left was to pick up 30 on Sunday. The Good Wench had already been scoping out the Walkden series, as it has recently been refurbished, and what do you know it has 30+ caches along its route! So plans were made. Kids would be deposited at Grandparents first thing and the Captain and The Good Wench would set off to complete this series in one sitting. We had read the logs and info before setting off so we had all the required equipment and we knew roughly what to expect as some caches sounded similar to the Superbadger series we had done a few months back.

We chose to park on Parsonage Road near to 'GC2Y2DW –Inspection Point'. There is plenty of side street parking and good access to the public footpaths from here. We saddled up the Geo-hound and headed out. First up was Inspection Point –this would have had us stumped if we hadn’t purchased some of these on our last trip to the US. Think these are a particular favourite out there given the amount of urban caching that goes on. Sneaky hide but we soon had it and were off again.

There are many notable caches along this circuit, not just your usual film canisters and clip lock boxes. A great deal of time and engineering has gone into some of the hides and it is very much appreciated (Thank you to ‘The_Rawlis’ for putting this series together). As The Good Wench and I worked our way in a clockwise direction around the loop we were into open fields and muddy tracks straight from the off. The going was hard, especially today as the drizzle is accompanying us along the way. We come to GC301Y4 –Feast Yer Eyes On This One and it’s our first challenge as this has a DNF on it. We hunt around for a bit and take on board the clue but to no avail. Then the Captain spy's something not just right and hey presto we have the cache and everything makes sense. Another clever well engineered cache and a delight to find. Starting to get into the mind of this cacher now so the finds are coming thick and fast.

As we approach GC32CH1 – Robins Nest we see the cache from a mile away. We have the log signed and are moving off when we are approached by a gent who has been out bird spotting. He spots the Geocaching lanyard around the Captains neck and sheepishly enquires if we’ve had any luck today. He then tells us he found one of these geocache-thingy’s, by accident, just up the road here. It’s the one we are heading for so we walk and chat with him for a while. He is very shocked (and delighted) to find out how many caches there actually are in the areas – he thought he had found the only one!!

As we part company The Good Wench decides it’s time to eat. The Captain is left steering the Geo-Hound while The Good Wench tucks into a sarnie – all without breaking stride. As we approach the railway line again the Captain realises that the Good Wench has been eating for the last mile and a half and seems to have had a full three courses! We swap and the Captain has just enough time to wrap his face around a chicken baguette before the next cache is upon us. We’ve been expecting this one! GC32700 – Making Tracks is a clever pipe design that requires water to float the cache out. The reality is that it is much harder to perform this operation in the field than you might think. We have done one of these before so we think we have all the bases covered but no. The Captain is plugging holes while The Good Wench is pouring water over him and clawing at the container as it peeps out of the top of the pipe. After many attempts we finally get the cache –you would be gutted though if you hadn’t come prepared!

We are tracking back North and East now and are nearly on the home stretch. It’s been a tiring walk due to the rough ground and the weather but the muddy fields re giving away to roads and paths again so our legs get a chance to recover slightly. It’s not been what I would call scenic on some parts of the route but well worth visiting to sample the caches. Next cache is one we know about but have never found before. GC2YWZ6 - Helix Aspersa – Google it and you should get the idea! A really cool find even though the Captain had to risk running his hand across a few real ones first!! We also uncovered caches disguised as grasses along this walk as well – sneaky or what!

What set out to be a 7 mile jaunt today has turned into a 9+ mile slog. On the plus side we are at 598 so are closer to our goal of 600 by tomorrow….might just grab a drive by on the way home to get to 599 J.