Time finished: 1:45pm
Caches found: 13
DNFs: 13
Day's step count: 19,324
Usually, if I wake up at 7am on a weekend, I groan and roll over for an extra couple of hours. Today, however, was different. When I saw the clock saying 7:00 my first thought was, 'Great! I can get geocaching earlier!'
It took a bit of planning to reach the start of this trail and to make sure I had transport at the end because it wasn't a circular route. So even after a leisurely start to the day I still managed to leave the house at the respectable time of 9:05am. When I arrived in Coventry, it took a few laps around the block to find a free parking spot near the Canal Baisin and I walked to Pool Meadow to catch the bus up to Arena Park Shopping Centre.
During our long geocaching adventure in the Cotswolds, Stuart and I were relying on our phones to guide the way. At one point, it wasn't clear where and how the footpath led to the next cache so we ended up having to double back on ourselves and follow the edge of a very soggy field, which wasn't the actual path and our footwear ended up heavily caked in mud. From then, we agreed that we should always check or copy the OS map for the walk before we leave.
To begin my walk along the canal I was glad to have the map with me because from the Ricoh Arena and the shopping park, it isn't obvious how to access to tow path but the map clearly showed the bridge over the canal and onto the path. From the bridge I got a contrasting view of the bright blue sky, new housing, glimmering reflection and graffitied brickwork.
Cache #1
Coventry Canal - Bridge No. 9
Approaching the tow path, and checking the Geocaching app I realised I was incredibly close to the 1st cache for the day and I had in fact crossed over bridge no. 9. I almost searched around the wrong tree but after checking the location quickly spotting this chunk of wood out of place and the cleverly camouflaged cache.
Cache #2
Coventry Canal - Stadium View
I wasn't sure I completely agreed with the name of this cache because the stadium wasn't actually visible from the location. Nevertheless, I had a good hunt and quite a surprise when, feeling underneath the metal girder for the magnetic cache, I felt a squishy slug!
Along the route of the canal there is also a sculpture trail and although I was full of the best intentions to read about them when I got home, I inevitably lost interest and simply enjoyed their visual appeal.
DNF
Coventry Canal - Open 24 hours
From here I did get a good view of the Ricoh which made up for my earlier disappointment but I couldn't find the cache. Admittedly it was tricky to have a goods search because there was a canal boat moored on one side with the inhabitants just beginning to emerge, and duck feeding muggles on the other. Nevertheless I had a quick look in the obvious nooks and crannies of tree roots before giving up.
Cache #3
Coventry Canal - Wood Yard
This was a quick find because the 35mm film canister hadn't really been hidden - it was lying, clearly visible, amongst the grass behind a fence. When I hid it after signing the log, I hid it behind the fence post.
DNF
Coventry Canal - Acetate
This cache had me well and truely stumped. The clue should've pointed me in the right direction; "Low. Pull down. 4 paces from bridge." It certainly didn't help that the bridge was no longer there but a difference in concrete on the tow path showed where it once was. The only obvious place for it to be was underneath the corrugated metal fencing that lined the path. On my knees, I cautiously felt below a couple of gaps between the grass and the fence but was only met by prickly bushes. I even took the advice from a tactic left in a previous log and used the front facing camera of my phone to peer up behind the fence but again, no luck.
Coventry Canal - Little Heath
After passing a rather suspicious looking character, who was still visible from GZ, I decided to continue past this cache.
Along the route of the canal, although suburban, there's some gorgeous sights. There was a number of brightly coloured paintings and its a shame they weren't respected by graffiti artists.
This fencing was another in the sculpture trail, adjacent to the next cache location.
Cache #4
Coventry Canal - Missing Gate
Feeling disappointed after the two previous DNFs, this was a quick magnetic find and my 100th! As the title suggests, there once would've been a gate here but all that remains are the posts. The description of he cache explains that, "A series of gates were once installed along the canal to prevent motor cycles using the towpath."
Cache #5
Coventry Canal - Spring Road Bridge
With the hint of 'magnetic', you are automatically drawn to anything metallic but with a tall, metal fence stretching along the side of the path, there were a lot of options! Not quite knowing where to begin, I started feeling around the joints between the vertical and horizontal struts. Suddenly my geocaching senses pointed me towards a little corner tucked away from the path and BAM! The cache was quickly found.
Here's another sculpture, which is part of the trail, and it reminded me of the topic we?re currently studying in school - World War II.
Cache #6
Coventry Canal - Steep Bank
The caches so far had either been straightforward or non-existent so when I was close to this one I was slightly flummoxed that the app was directing me a substantial distance directly into the bushes adjacent to the tow path. Perplexed, I looked for an opening and saw a teeny path into the undergrowth but soon found myself scrambling up a steep, overgrown bank, clothes and bag continuously being snagged on brambles and hands/forearms being scratched to smithereens! With a terrain rating of 3.5, this was by far the hardest cache I've found in terms of access and even when I thought I'd found the post described in the hint, I still couldn't find th cache. At this point, I took a deep breath, admired the view and assessed what my next move would be.
As I looked round I saw another post and breathed a sigh of relief when I found the cache at it's base. Now I was faced with the challenge of getting back down to the tow path. Fear told me that if I attempted to go back down the way I'd come, I ended up sliding down and ending up in the canal (I've since read in several other logs that the geocachers ended up sliding down on their bottoms!). Instead I followed the sound of the traffic towards the main road, concerned that I might encounter some dubious characters as I followed a track through the trees and long grass (luckily I didn't!). In the end I found another track that too, me back down the the town path, around 100m from where I'd scrambled up. Had I realised when I first passed this opening, I could've avoided the difficult climb!
DNF
Coventry Canal - Children Playing
I feel like this cache should've been easy. With the title of the cache, matching the title of the sculpture and the hint being 'Low. Near signature,' I was expecting it to be tucked inside the work of art somewhere but after dodging lots of muggles and having a good search, I had to disappointingly log another DNF.
Cache #7
Coventry Canal - Weeping Willow
I managed to find this cache behind a tree stump but wasn't able to sign the log because of passing muggles.
Cache #8
Coventry Canal - Spiky Pipe
There were a number of muggles walking past here so had to hover for a while before climbing to the tree where a 'fun guy' (boom boom!) was looking after the cache in a nook of the tree.
The next cache was somewhere in this tunnel but of course the GPS on my smartphone could receive signal so after walking back and forth through the tunnel 3 times and realising I'd missed the steps where the cache was hidden every time, I gave up and moved on to the next cache.
Cache #9
Coventry Canal - Stoke Heath Baisin
With a clue of 'Pink wall. Head height,' I thought this cache would be straightforward and it was; tucked in a little crevice of a pink painted brick wall.
DNF
Coventry Canal - Chimney View
Like the previous cache, this one was supposed to be head height (from the hint) and from GZ it seemed as though it should be attached to the fence but after a good look and feel, I had to log another DNF.
DNF
Coventry Canal - Fishy
This cache had an obvious location as the low metal fence was adorned with fishes but there was a group of men sitting on the fence sinking beers so I wasn't able to search. There were a number of interesting sculptures brightening the area nonetheless.
Cache #10
Coventry Canal - Priestly's Bridge
The clue directed me to the left hand support of the advertising board, just past the bridge in the photo. I stupidly began to search around the right hand support but as soon as I realised my mistake, I quickly found the cache comfortably nestled.
Cache #11
Coventry Canal - Signs of Nature
Even with a clear hint - to the left of the post with a white spot sprayed on it - I still started to search next to the wrong post! I must've been getting tired by this point. This was another cleverly adapted 35mm film canister with magnets attached.
After finding the cache there were some more quirky sculptures.
Cache #12
Coventry Canal - Engineering
A cunning hint including trees and the number 64 led me to the next cache but I had to wait for muggles to disappear again before I could begin searching.
Close to this cache was another of the pieces along the sculpture trail but unfortunately the beer cans and unattractive graffiti were characteristics of much of this inner city section of the canal tow path.
Luckily the man add eyesores are outweighed by the beauty on the canal and there were a couple of kayakers making the most of the fine weather.
The next stint of 3 DNFs proved that I had made the right decision to start at the Ricoh rather than the city centre. All three had a multitude of DNFs leading up to my attempt and if I'd started here I'd have been feeling demoralised before I'd even begun!
DNF
Coventry Canal - RIbbons
DNF
Coventry Canal - Electric Wharf
DNF
Coventry Canal - Daimler
On a positive note, I did manage to explore this Daimler sculputure!
This adventure was a real mixed bag. It's very unusual to have to log so many DNFs in one session but I guess that's the nature of geocaching in an inner city environment and luckily I was prepared for some disappointments. Having said that, it was very satisfying reaching the car after over 3 hours of walking and by the end of the day I'd clocked up more than 19,000 steps! I was also covered is geocaching wounds from my scramble up the steep bank!
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