A bit of a novelty this one. Around about Boxing Day I was invited out to join John, Gail and Morven for a spot of Geocaching. We were heading to Lochwinnoch I was informed and would start from there. I've been out geocaching before with the same family group and while I enjoyed hunting for little boxes with a GPS as it involved exploring the area around Loch Lomondside, in good weather, it wasn't that extreme or dangerous a pursuit as Morven, their daughter, was younger at the time. Flash forward a few years and she is now a teenager so mum Gail, the driving force behind Geocaching trips, has stepped up a few levels.
I didn't know this of course and turned up expecting a sedate walk around the loch, feeding the swans and other wildlife. I should have been suspicious when a climbing rope and pairs of welly boots went into the car. Our first stop was a nondescript layby surrounded by woods in the middle of nowhere. The type where you would only pull in to have an unexpected pee stop, or if you'd burst a tyre. It had no redeeming features except a very steep and slippery slope leading down into the bowels of a V shaped, debris filled ravine.
Down this we shuffled, hanging onto anything nearby for dear life while our feet slid away from us on a muddy carpet of soil, old wet leaves and dead vegetation.
As it had been raining heavily for a week beforehand, a landslide was only averted by a sizable number of spindly trees in the ravine although everyone of these sorry specimens seemed to break off in your hand as soon as you touched it. Naturally, it was pouring with rain when we set off so a bit of dangerous ground added a touch of spice to the proceedings and took our mind off the downpour.
Their wee dog 'chalky' seemed as puzzled as I was by this turn of events although he was a seasoned geocaching veteran by now. Geocaching incidentally, is a popular international pursuit that involves finding hidden waterproof boxes using GPS coordinates and a trail of clues leading from one to the other. It seems to be quite an addictive sport for some people.
This is John at the entrance to a flooded tunnel at the bottom of the ravine. With all the rain there was a fair volume of water rushing through it
'Maybe it's through there? I joked, laughing at the absurdity of where we were in a deluge.
'You're good at this game.' Gail informed me, leading the way with a torch 'Now you see why we've got our wellies on.'
Unfortunately for poor Bobby I didn't have any wellies with me, only hillwalking boots, and my poor feet were soon soaking way past the ankles wading into the depths of the tunnel. Boy was that water cold! I also hoped no rats had urinated in it.
It was a fairly long tunnel and quite atmospheric. I was informed by Gail that the person who had set this challenge was well known in geocaching circles as he had a fondness for tunnels, caves, gorges, ravines and anything adventurous. Gail was now right into extreme geocaching it seemed.
The big surprise for me was this excellent depiction of Tink in the tunnel captured with my trusty flash. You could tell the person who put this up here had a skilful eye and hand as every line has a purpose to it and a few neat strokes perfectly capture a lifelike facial expression. More Wilma Flintstone that Tinkerbell mind you but like more recent former Disney employees she's rebranded herself here for the modern age. Personally, I think her new, dressed down, casual attire look is a winner!
Every artist likes a blank canvas to work on, even if its underground.
Incidentally Tink here has lasted well as a leading female icon, far better than most of her contemporaries as she was conceived way back in 1904 by JMB. Like Louise Brooks her style and attitude has never dated and she remains as relevant and influential as ever. Both could be sweet and generous yet evil tempered, petulant, feisty and vindictive if you ever crossed them. Don't believe me? Well... think of how many films you've seen with a Tinkerbell character in it or how many A list actresses have queued up to play that role. It must be more than any other female character in films.
Even her name is copyright which is why I've not put a space in the middle as I don't want to be sued by Disney.
Morven reaching the far end of the tunnel, torch in hand.
It was very impressive in this subterranean defile and there was evidence of an old railway viaduct and a couple of ancient stone bridges spanning the ravine. Everything was sponge like though and dripping wet, with some serious triffid growth and fungal protrusions. If it wasn't a geocaching trail you would never venture down here in a million years.
An example of a spongy fungal eruption. Like a slime tree.
After a good hunt around in this soggy ravine the first clue was discovered. This was then read and replaced before we retraced our steps back through the waterlogged tunnel.
We then ended up here, following the trail into a much larger and more open river gorge in deepest Inverclyde/Renfrewshire. A slippery walk along a disused and heavily overgrown right of way took us to a spot where several small waterfalls entered the main one.
Very scenic and again a place you would never dream of exploring.
Several clues were here for the taking in this sizable area. I thought I knew Renfrewshire and Inverclyde fairly well but this was terra incognita for me.
A beautiful and unexpected day out which was very adventurous into the bargain as I love tunnels, caves and steep sided river gorges anyway. Extreme geocaching rocks man! Here was me thinking it was just going to be a ramble.
Thanks to John, Gail and Morven for inviting me along. I had a great time and there's not many occasions I've uttered those words setting off in the pouring rain.
As this video shows geocaching can be as hard or as easy as you wish it to be. Here a keen young team combine to hide a box with an obvious penalty clause for the unlucky.
That top one just looks like a good laugh but this next video, although I don't know that much about the sport, must rate high as one of the most evil placements of a box ever. If a Geocacher is inventive and prolific they can soon attract a group of admirers that like the challenge of their audacity.Well worth a look.
17 comments:
Very adventurous Bob.Love the fungi and Tinkerbell. Geocaching is becoming a popular pastime down this end with the local Ranger service getting involved. Letterboxing is another pastime that's been in the local papers recently.
Those guys in the videos are certainly intrepid. Would love to get extreme but I'm afraid the body wouldn't be up to it these days.
I know people like the geocaching but I hope it doesn't get in the way of paying attention to nature.
There, I am so old fashioned!
I had no idea geocaching was so challenging - I just thought it was all about navigation and nothing else. Don't fancy either of those in the videos - think they'd have been better waiting till summer (no idea how 'warm' it gets in Sweden in summer?
Carol.
Hi Jim,
I really enjoyed it as it was something different and I thrive on variety. If I could afford it I'd attempt a new sport or pastime every year.For me the sheer adrenalin rush of getting to grips with any new sport and becoming obsessed with it until its in my grasp is the thrill.I really enjoyed Ceilidh dancing years ago but as soon as I'd learned the dances I lost interest. Nature is the one constant in my life as you never reach the bottom and 58 years later its still full of unexpected wonders.
Hi Kay,
It depends if you are into nature in the first place. If you are then nothing will alter that but some people like geocaching simply because it's a treasure trail to follow which you might not figure out, some folk have problem solving minds, some just like a challenge. Any outdoor pursuit can get you into nature but you have to develop a love for it as an individual.I first got into nature as a young child in a rough council estate on the edge of a large city. It was my escape into the countryside away from the gangs. From 10 or 12 years of age I collected birds eggs with my friends where you had to destroy the contents within to keep the empty shells intact. Humans, as we all know, are addictive creatures by nature and I got a real thrill out of collecting the eggs,then labelling them all into various boxes but after 20 or 30 aborted deaths I realised this was cruel and I stopped. I haven't killed anything by my own hands since although I've been tempted a few times with the higher species:0) One of the greatest early naturalists in the UK, Sir Peter Scott(son of the Antarctic explorer) started out as a duck hunter but grew to love everything about them so much that he set up the 'Wildfowl and Wetlands trust', the 'World Wildlife fund for Nature' and many others still running today. If a love of the natural world is in you it will come out but many folk just don't get it. Everyone's different.
Hi Carol,
I thought that as well until I discovered the Extreme Geocaching website. I haven't even scratched the surface yet with these videos. There's cave diving Geocaches, Underwater sea bed diving geocaches,Rock climbing Geocaches... The sky is the limit... well,it would be if you could plant a box in mid air without it falling to earth.
You could - for a while - in a hot-air balloon. Then you'd have the fun of wondering where it had drifted to ;-)
Carol.
Mr blueskyscotland, the sky isn't the limit for geocaching. There is even a cache on the international space station, not many folk will sign that one I suspect.
http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC1BE91_international-space-station?guid=611d0635-a1cf-41bc-a0cc-a6038ae288d5#
Hey,cut me some slack Anon.I'm a beginner at this pursuit.
Nope, didn't know that and on my limited budget any location outside of West Central Scotland might as well be on the space station:)
Sounds like you fancy taking up the hobby.
Hi Anon,
I've always enjoyed exploring caves, tunnels, and unusual landscape features anyway so it
fits in with my interests.
Thanks for your very thoughtful reply to my comment! I have so much to say back to you that I am thinking I will do a post about this! (It might take a while, so I will let you know when I do.)
Just the thought of you when you realized you were taking the life out of those eggs! This was very moving to me, you are a good writer.
Hi Kay,
Thanks for the thought but please don't do a post on it as I'm sure I kill loads of small things underfoot every time I go out on the hills without noticing in the long grass. I also eat meat that's been killed by somebody else and have no intention of becoming a vegetarian as I like lamb and pork chops too much so it's all relative:)
Oh no, I wouldn' write about you, honest, I wouldn't. I just meant that I would would like to do a post about Sir Peter Scott and also tie it in with Audubon, who killed all the birds that he drew for his famous book.
Since I want to do these men justice, I might not ever get that post written, I have more in my head than what ever gets on my blog! I am with you on the lamb chops, my mother-in-law in Eastbourne makes such a roast lamb with mint sauce, it's incredible! :-)
Which only goes to show you can never tell what someone else is thinking. My mistake Kay.Feel free:)
You should Mr BSS, all you need is access to a computer, a GPS or smartphone, and some spare time. Warning though, it is highly addictive.
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