Sunday 14th August
It's been a long time since we've been out caching. What with falling down stairs, getting concussion, not being able to afford petrol, having no job and getting flu the past few weeks had been a barrel of laughs........ no not really. We'd picked up a few TBs at Mugdock Park and really needed to move them on.
There are plenty of caches for us still to do along the Galston, Newmilns (and beyond) area. This ALJO country. Now what have we learned about ALJO caches in our time as cachers.
- They are often in interesting locations.
- They are often historical.
- They are often complex.
- They often make sane men run around country lanes with their t-shirt over their heads (ok maybe not so sane).
- They make you swear.
- They make you question the parentage of the ALJOs, indeed Mr.ALJO's mother often is remarked upon also.
- They will make you want to hurt something / someone.............. but you don't know where the ALJOs live.
The parking is great, I like this, I get freaked out when I can't park, so a nice big layby is ideal. We skip the first cache as there are muggles sitting in a car so we decide to get it enroute home. Up the path go our very excited geohounds. The GPS is not happy and keeps losing satellite reception, Mr.Biff is armed with his iphone app so it's a bit of a battle of the TECH. We are fools, we honestly expected them to be fairly straight forward... when will we learn? 
Loudoun Gowf Club, Stomping through 4ft nettles we go OUCH OUCH OUCH. Through muddy puddles SQUELCH SQUELCH SQUELCH. It can't be up here... can it? Nobody has been up here, this untrodden pathway, for years. Has Mr. ALJO been dropping from helicopters to place his caches? Mr.Biff found this one, easy once we'd reached GZ. This was early in our caching day by number 6.... well I'll get to that.
Heading off for cache No.2 The Hidden Bridge I discover some interesting fungi. This is a growing interest and although clearly this specimen is one that nobody would think of taking home to saute. I really wish I was confident to pick the edible ones. We have a good rummage around the area, the GPS is no good at all, not gathering any satellites, so nothing left but to rummage.
The dogs get really excited as we go back and forward, under the bridge, over the bridge. I am routing around under the bridge when Mr.Biff shouts "Hey a frog" and as I look up the said frog takes a leaping kamakazi jump off the bridge in my direction. Now I'm not afraid of frogs. As per previous log I have analyzed the purpose of frogs but I have no issue with the swamp-loving little creatures.
MySpace Codes!
I do not however want them jumping on my face in a frenzied attempt to escape the hulking giant of Mr.Biff. Did I scream? Well yes I did. To make matters worse 5 mins later Mr.Biff found cache No.2 grrrrrrr
Mr.Biff 2-0 Mrs.Biff
Where was he looking? The very spot I'd just left....of course!
Onwards and upwards, there are 2 off to the left over the burn but we head straight ahead for The Red Farm. We bypass 
Arclowdun, this cache we did last year with Dotscot who was a real newbie at the time and now is a fanatical junkie like the rest of us.
Funny how time flies this, our visit up the BIG WOOD was like yesterday and we really enjoyed it then, I'm sure a couple of caches that were on then have now been taken off as I can't imagine we walked up for just the one.
The Red Farm cache did actually bring me to tears. No, no it wasn't the fact that I lost out No.3 to Mr.Biff and his bloody iphone. GPS just dead with the tree cover. I cried because I was still fighting the flu that HE gave me, I'd just got my boots REALLY muddy and I am technically unemployed and struggling with the realization of it .... and the frog trauma...well I was still recovering.
Loudoun Gowf Club, Stomping through 4ft nettles we go OUCH OUCH OUCH. Through muddy puddles SQUELCH SQUELCH SQUELCH. It can't be up here... can it? Nobody has been up here, this untrodden pathway, for years. Has Mr. ALJO been dropping from helicopters to place his caches? Mr.Biff found this one, easy once we'd reached GZ. This was early in our caching day by number 6.... well I'll get to that.
The Hidden Bridge I discover some interesting fungi. This is a growing interest and although clearly this specimen is one that nobody would think of taking home to saute. I really wish I was confident to pick the edible ones. We have a good rummage around the area, the GPS is no good at all, not gathering any satellites, so nothing left but to rummage. |
| Where the trolls live |
The dogs get really excited as we go back and forward, under the bridge, over the bridge. I am routing around under the bridge when Mr.Biff shouts "Hey a frog" and as I look up the said frog takes a leaping kamakazi jump off the bridge in my direction. Now I'm not afraid of frogs. As per previous log I have analyzed the purpose of frogs but I have no issue with the swamp-loving little creatures.
MySpace Codes!
I do not however want them jumping on my face in a frenzied attempt to escape the hulking giant of Mr.Biff. Did I scream? Well yes I did. To make matters worse 5 mins later Mr.Biff found cache No.2 grrrrrrr
Mr.Biff 2-0 Mrs.Biff
Onwards and upwards, there are 2 off to the left over the burn but we head straight ahead for
The Red Farm. We bypass Arclowdun, this cache we did last year with Dotscot who was a real newbie at the time and now is a fanatical junkie like the rest of us. |
| Mrs.Biffo, Rachel, Darcy Doodle, Dotscot, Rosie & Mr.Biffo |
The Red Farm cache did actually bring me to tears. No, no it wasn't the fact that I lost out No.3 to Mr.Biff and his bloody iphone. GPS just dead with the tree cover. I cried because I was still fighting the flu that HE gave me, I'd just got my boots REALLY muddy and I am technically unemployed and struggling with the realization of it .... and the frog trauma...well I was still recovering.
MySpace Codes!
Mr.Biff 3-0 Mrs.Biff (curses!)
Now I'm pissed. Time to head back the way we came.
Fallen Giant comes next, now we know its over the water and we feel smug when we find a proper road that leads to the top of Loudoun Castle Theme Park (now no longer operational). Yet, still not quite the right direction. Now the ALJOs do say that one must wander through woodland and that there is no pathway this should have been a bigger warning than it was. Alarm bells should have rung. I'm not sure how we managed but we end up back on the other side of the river...... we search for places to cross and there low and behold is a tree, just like the one in Dirty Dancing, but we don't dance on it... Mr.Biff is no dancer and hell he's certainly no Patrick Swayze! Over we go and then we coax the geohounds over. Drummer got a little stuck on the way up the bank and Hannah went mental barking him on... brave geohounds risking tooth and tail for tupperware. 