New Years Eve Geocaching

After writing a weblog post yesterday about our geocaching stats we were motivated to get out there and try to hit the 300 mark before the end of the year.

The rain had stopped for the first time in months so we got kitted up and drove into Aberystwyth to try to find some caches. First stop was a geocache called “Right under N!tro’s Nose” in Bow Street. N!tro is a prolific cache hider in the area and looking at our stats we had so far found 51 of his geocaches, far more than anyone elses. Here are are stats of finds by cache owners:


We weren’t feeling too optimistic about finding this as some of N!tro’s caches can be pretty tricky and they always have good camouflage. The fact that the cache description starts with “This is a bit of a mean cache in a spot very close to a place I can see people looking for the cache” didn’t really inspire us with confidence either. But we pulled up at ground zero and there it was, plain as day and very obvious to us. A good start to the day with a cache ticked off straight away.

Next stop was the River Rheidol just outside Glanyrafon Industrial Estate and a little foot-bridge that we didn’t know existed. As we always say, this is one of the joys of geocaching as it takes you to places you just didn’t know about, even places that are on your doorstep. The river was in full flow thanks to all the rain we’ve had recently and it was a nice quiet spot. We didn’t have much luck finding the cache though. We looked everywhere and even had a good idea of what we think we were looking for, but had to come away empty handed with the first DNF of the day.

Next stop were some paths between Llanbadarn and the University. Again, we sort of knew these were here but didn’t realise there were quite so many footpaths. Unfortunately this proved to be DNF number two for us. And so it was onto DNF number three, this time just behind B&Q at Parc y Llyn. To our credit, this area had flooded quite a bit recently and the last log for the cache said that it was strewn all over the place, so there’s a good chance that it wasn’t actually there. [EDIT 01/01/2013 – I’ve just noticed that N!tro has archived this cache today saying “area alot more muggle heavy than it used to be and new cctv makes it awkward. gotta go by looks of it.”] – Maybe our DNF here wasn’t entirely our fault.

We weren’t doing too well so far though, 1 find and 3 DNF’s. The worst success rate so far I think. So it was off to the River Ystwyth and a few caches based around the Cycle Path. First one was Twixt The Hills, which thankfully was a nice easy cache to find. As we arrived at the location the hiding spot was fairly obvious and as soon as the muggles had passed we retrieved the cache and signed the log book.

We then headed up along some paths on the flanks of Pendinas in an attempt at a fairly old cache in the area called Rainbow Series – Violet. Yet again we failed and added another DNF to our growing list for the day. We were in the right place but there was no sign of a cache. The paths were pretty muddy though and the large collections of leaves on the ground didn’t help. We did pass an interesting little wooden shack though, I’m not sure what it is for, does anyone know?

We then walked along the next path up on the flanks of Pendinas which gave us some good views out over Tan y Bwlch beach and across the fields to Plas Tan y Bwlch, the mansion where I used to work for ‘rock legend’ Uli Jon Roth. I’m not sure who owns this now but they seem to be doing quite a bit of work to it and have cleared away lots of the trees around it so that it is easier to see. The wind was getting up now as well, which gave me an opportunity to wear my new Christmas bobble hat!

As you can see, the iPad was our geocaching tool of choice today, and thanks to the Geobucket App it was working really well. We finished off our little circular walk with a third geocache called Ystwyth Finale. This was a nice easy find, despite the bag of dog poo that someone had left right on top of it. I’ve had a rant about idiot dog owners before, but it does drive me mad. Why go to the trouble of picking up the poo, only to put it in a non-biodegradable bag that you then leave lying around the countryside. Take it home with you, dispose of it properly, leaving the plastic bag is worse than the poo itself.

We then headed into Aberystwyth for a little bit of shopping before heading home via one last geocache. This was another N!tro cache and one of his Greek Alphabet Series, Iota that we’ve been meaning to do for ages. Morgan found it straight away, we logged the cache and headed home to chill.

Thanks to all the DNF’s today we didn’t quite hit the 300 milestone but only made it to 298. Not to worry, Morgan has a few days off school still and I’ll be looking after him so hopefully we’ll get out and increase our geocache finds total. I’d quite like to get all of them within a certain radius of our house, but that will mean a trip to the other side of the estuary as there are a few in Aberdovey and Tywyn which despite being less than 2 miles from our house as the crow flies are an hours drive from here!

2 Responses

  1. Avatar forComment Author Lesley says:

    I read your log yesterday about Violet being missing. It is behind a coppiced tree and shoudl be covered with large rocks and leaves. If it is missing I will try to get down there soon and replace it. It has been so wet and with working full time I havent had chance to do much about my caches lately.

    The wooden shack was built by woodsman Bob Shaw for a project run by my friend Chris Robinson, I think it is just called Grwp, he works out with groups of under-privileged or children with learning difficulties family problems etc. and provides social activities and workshops etc to give them a break.

    • Avatar forComment Author Alan says:

      Cheers Lesley… We are pretty sure we were at the right tree, but there was no sign of the cache. There were a couple of likely looking geostones to one side of the tree near the path, but nothing under them. It was korgan rather than me who looked round the back of the tree though!

      Al.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Avatar forComment Author

Alan Cole

Alan is a Freelance Website Designer, Sports & Exercise Science Lab Technician and full time Dad & husband with far too many hobbies: Triathlete, Swimming, Cycling, Running, MTBing, Surfing, Windsurfing, SUPing, Gardening, Photography.... The list goes on.

You may also like...