Length
|
Estimated Duration
|
Difficulty
|
5.1 miles
|
3 hours
|
3
|
Max Elevation
|
Terrain Types
|
Smiley Rate (Caches/Distance)
|
351 feet
|
Good hard pack track / fields
|
2.35
|
IT’s been a busy caching week this week and one to remember (for both right and wrong reasons). Before I get down to business regaling you with tales of todays walk indulge me while I recap.
We set out with heady ideas that we could hit our 600thfind on Bank Holiday Monday and we would mark this milestone completing the ‘#300 End Of The World’ cache (GC3A7DZ) placed by The Magna Defender. We would then be attending an event that night hosted by TMD himself so it all tied in nicely.
First though we needed some 40 caches in order to set ourselves up for that big day and with this The Good Wench had us out early doors picking off drive-bys and doing the Walkden series which I covered in last weeks blog. Now here is where it gets interesting. At one particular cache site I had a bit of a ding dong with a pervert parked in a layby with young girl. Long story short – if you see this car then avoid! I did report it to the Police and many of you will have seen the warning I put out on the various forums at the time.
The weather was bad. Heavy rain had made the ground very boggy and slippery overnight and we were now accompanied by energy sapping drizzle and wind. We inched our way down the slopes and soon spotted the bunker with it’s opening and vent pipes sticking up.The Captain was sent down first to gather the required intel and to check how safe it was. Note to self – lay off the pies – the opening is small!! We solve the riddle and load up the co-ords – good not too far. We head up stream and arrive at a likely spot. The Captain surveys the area and we find a spot from where the crew mates can watch safely.
After tracking down one side of the river the realisation is that we need to
be on the other side and there is a really obvious spot for the hide. The Captain goes back down stream looking for a safe place to cross but to no avail. In true Bear Grills style the Captain removes his boots and outer layers and wades in. Bbbrrrrrr – flipin’ heck it’s cold today!! Might only have a few minutes in this water before stuff starts dropping off! With that a search of the opposite bank is carried out with forensic precision. No luck. Glum faces all round and while the Captain gets warm again The Good Wench is putting in a call to Magna to check we are in the right area… no answer. Next to try is LFC4EVA...After a brief conversation we decide we must be in the right area and we shouldn’t give up. The Captain extends his search of the bank, moving back downstream towards the bunker. As he does so he spy’s a second rocky outcrop across the river…Bingo! The team shift camp and set up to watch the Captain traverse the river for a second time today. This time the boots stay on as the opposite bank looks rough and he doesn’t want to damage his perfect pinky-toes .
One of the hardest caches to date for us and a great way to celebrate the 600th find.
That brings us to today. We decided to tackle the Superbadger & Friends series in Westhoughton. The series is pretty linier (starting from GC3GTWC) but as you can see from the Everytrail guide we managed to set it up as a 5 mile circular that picks up some additional caches along the way. There is ample parking on Sandy Lane (WN2 4EP) and the entrance to the public footpath is just by the junction of Sandy Lane and Sandy Park.
With the hound on the lead we set out North across the golf course. It’s nice and clear today but there is a definite chill wind blowing some grey cloud in. The walk takes us over the railway line and on towards a dismantled railway. We bag a few caches at locations on the way and before we know it we are at the half way point. Nice easy hard pack pathways mean the going is easy.
From here we start to head South again and the bulk of the series is along the route home. Each is named after an animal and they are relatively simple to find so ideal for the younger crew members. As we pass through Wilsons Farm though Keira takes offance at the smell!! Today being Grand National day we notice a heavy throng of helicopters buzzing around. As we reach the area for our next cache the houses are out of this world! Vast new built estates in their own grounds. Just as we are admiring them we are treated to a helicopter (a big one) hovering overhead and then proceeding to land in the garden of one of the houses! Someone is going to the races in style. Great houses but not a location I would have chosen personally.
As we head back to the car we decide we will grab another Superbadger cache on the way home. Egg-citing (GC3G1MA) is a puzzle cache that I solved some time ago and have been meaning to collect. For those that like this sort of thing it doesn’t disappoint! It’s been another good days haul and we are home in time for the race.
As I write this blog though The Good Wench has just announced that she has lost a diamond out of her engagement ring on the walk today! Now if anyone needed any incentive to get out and find some Tupperware it doesn’t come much better than that! She is already planning a trip to Tiffany’s to replace it. I’m going to cry…Keira - can you spot her Tick Tack tooth replacement!
