Caches, Rankings and Personal Geocoins

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Caches

We haven't done as much caching as last week but still managed 3 + one DNF. The three caches found were all in Nottingham and have been those annoying "must do" list for too long.

It wasn't the best time to decide to do these three, ominous black clouds were gathering as we got in the car and headed out to them. All three were within walking distance of Wilford Crematorium and graveyard. There are many interesting gravestones in the cemetary and UK sould singer Edwin Starr was buried there following his untimely death in 2003 I actually met him once when my ex wife worked in Essex he did a cabaret at the hotel she worked out. He was a very down to Earth nice guy.

So, once we had parked up and headed off towards the first cache  Seventeen Soldiers http://coord.info/GC1X5DC the first rolls of thunder started. The cache itself was a quick find but not in the best of conditions, we couldn't have signed the logbook as it was more like papier mache. Luckily we had a spare new notebook that we left in there. Hopefully it will get sorted by the CO soon as it is a decent sized cache for the location.

Wemnog and I were now in competition, I had the trusty 550t in hand and he had his new geocaching app on his HTC phone. It has to be said that both performed equally as well. I have been sceptical of the caching apps that are around, having heard and read some bad reports. Having said that, I don't think that I would like to rely just on the phone.

Heading onwards with the thunder still rumbling overhead and the clouds darkening by the minute we found our second of the day Sharphill View http://coord.info/GC12JCY by Nottingham Nutters. Another easy find in an area of Nottingham that I didn't know. There were 3 TB's logged as being in the box and as they had been there for some time we were going to rescue them to move on. Sadly they weren't there (one of my pet hates as all regular readers know)

By now we were thinking ourselves blessed that the clouds hadn't yet opened to drench us, we were only in tee shirts and shorts. The final cache meant a walk along the top of a hill that gives magnificent views of the city. Sadly I didn't have my camera with me as the captured images would have been stunning with the white buildings and the black sky. The final cache of the day was called Sharp and was located in a small nature reserve that has recently been set up.

We all know how erratic a GPS can be with tree cover and neither the Oregon or the phone performed well. Even resorting to the hint on the listing and reading previous logs this one had us scratching our heads. As we continued our search and the three dogs rooted around in the undergrowth the thunder got louder and we heard the first drops of rain hitting the canopy above. Then bingo, I had the cache, another nice container here that was well stocked with marbles and other assorted goodies. Sharp http://coord.info/GC2B7DA by local cacher bl4ck4dd3r certainly was a puzzle but well worth a visit. After signing the logbook and retrieving the trackable and also leaving some of the signature keyrings mentioned last week it was time to head back to the Jeep and get home for a cuppa. As we replaced the cache the sky really opened up and the gentle tapping on the tree canopy above became a roar and the leaves didn't protect us in the least. As we headed out of the woodland and back on to the open hillside the two of us and the dogs were soaked through. Having been so dry recently the ground wasn't soaking the water in quickly so we were stepping in already quite deep puddles that had formed within minutes..........the joys of caching eh?

The final cache of the week was up in Warrington, a puzzle cache by Walker-Clan, Where's The Cache took a while to work out, in fact I resorted to contacting Andy, the CO to ask for a hint which he very kindly gave us. As we got in to Warrington we were confident of a quick find, but it still failed to appear. Where's The Cache http://coord.info/GC2KVN8 certainly does pose that question. After getting on to an island, sure that we must have the right location, getting over there resulted in Wemnog getting wet again by slipping in to the pond, I again phoned Andy, but even with even more precise instructions, after half an hour or so of searching we had to admit failure and record a DNF. We will be back!

Rankings

In case you didn't know there is a ranking system in place for geocachers to see where they stand in the whole scheme of things when it comes to number of finds logged. It is an interesting place to jump in and out of occasionally to see where you stand in the list. At the moment I am in 1861st joint place for the number of caches found in the UK. A long way to go before I catch up with the long time leader. Cacher drsolly has 20,251 finds under his belt as I type this. His first cache was found in September 2006 and the cache itself is still going strong. A cacher who is well known in the East Midlands and who can often been seen at events is stevo185 who has 11,250 finds. If you are interested in where you are in the listings have a look at the website http://www.cacherstats.com/United_Kingdom1.html and you can see for yourself.

Events

I can't believe how quickly the year is already going and that the camping event in the Peak District will be here quicker than it should be. If you haven't signed up for it and do want to attend I suggest that you book with the campsite soon as it is already filling up. The information can be found here on the cache event page http://coord.info/GC2PYFR

In the meantime I am organising another event which will take place next month. This one is local to us in Nottingham and will take the form of a bring your own barbeque. For more details have a look at the event page here http://coord.info/GC2XPF7
It would be good to see lots of new faces as well as some familiar ones at both events.

Want To Do

I read about a cache the other day that I really want to do, basically because it sounds like it will be just like finding real treasure. Toms Treasure Chest is down in Kent and is an old placing, having been in situ since 2003. I saw some photographs of this one recently and if you have younger children I am sure that they would find it fun.



There be treasure in that box




As you can see from the photos, it does look like a fun one to find. The gc number for this one should you be lucky enough to be in the area is http://coord.info/GCH1B2

It must be good, it has got 25 favourite points on it. If you get there first I am going to be jealous.




Personal Geocoins

As regular readers will be aware, last year for the Summer's End event I had some trackable geocoins made that were given out as prizes in goody bags over the weekend. Whilst these coins were okay, they weren't very bright, being just basic black and white.




2010 Camping Event Coin

I am now thinking about this years event coins but when making enquiries I found that the company that maade the above coins has now gone bust. Having looked at alternatives I have found another company that is reasonably priced, however they are still much more expensive than is reasonably affordable. My thinking now is that I may have just one event coin made and make it a special prize for something that I still haven't thought of.

In the meantime I have ordered two personal coins from the company just to see what the finish is like on them. I have designed the coins myself, one personal trackable for me and one for Wemnog, these will become our own mileage trackers when this years GAGB mileage competition is over. I will post photos of them once they arrive. If you want details about the company let me know in the comments box and I will post a link to them next time I blog.

Finally

The TB knockout race organised by Slightly Tall Paul continues, but I am sad to report that my Ferrari is not in the cache it is listed as being in over in California. Hopefully it will turn up, but chances are that will be me finished in the race. I will keep you informed.

I chased up 14 geocachers over the weekend, asking the same old question..when are they going to move my trackable on. These are people who have held on to my things for over three months. Since the emails 7 trackables have now moved, I have had a further three apology emails and the rest have just been ignored.

We plan to be out and about on the bikes this weekend, so there should be more caches to tell you about next time. Don't forget to post any comments that you may have, including caching questions and I will do my best to answer them.

All for now.