The Mad Geocaching Pensioner - Clever Caches.

I'm all for getting out in the countryside and getting away from those magnetic nanos in towns and cities, well I look a right plonker walking around the town with Lady-Magpie's hat on, walking pole and rucksack on my back, it certainly turns heads. What I do enjoy is the cache that someone has really taken time thinking out with clever hides and then going about organising it.

So lets look at one great example that I have recently found. Not only did this give me a headache but resulted in me making several visits and finally a desperate phone-call to a caching colleague.


Now here we have what looks like a simple little bridge crossing a stream, it then goes over a stile before entering a field. I have  been to many such bridges with clues like "Don't let The Troll get you" or " Where else would you hide it". Simple answer - IT'S UNDER THE BRIDGE !!

Visit No. 1 - I resorted to the Clue "Look under and then look over". I took my mature, old rotund body as close to the stream as possible waiting for the loud splash as I fall in. Lowering my head I looking left and right to the underside ends of the bridge. Nothing at all, OK I better fumble around the vegetation around the ends of the bridge, first by the water hydrant sign (yellow H), and ended up sting my arms everywhere. Plan two was go over to the other end and climbed the stile, more fondling of vegetation followed where I ripped my arms to shreds this time with the hawthorn bushes. I'm not giving up I ranted under my breath, I will not be defeated I'm British, well until 20 minutes later I uttered my ladylike words "Sod it" and decided to go home just to tend to my wounds.

Visit No. 2 - I will not be defeated and reading other logs I knew it's still there, how are they finding it ? I began to realise this must be something special as the first 5 finds had award a favourite point, and comments like, "That's different", or "What a clever idea" had been log, what was I missing.

Again I pushed my head under the bridge but couldn't see anything again, both looking left and right. It can't be on top of the bridge because the clue said look under !! Another long search and I decided to phone a friend who I knew had found it (I know I shouldn't, but I am a lone caching pensioner. Would you believe it Sods Law took over and my mobile didn't have a signal in that area, good job I hadn't fallen in the brook then wasn't it. I therefore departed to find my car and drive to a village where there was a signal to make my desperate call to Sly2. Now we don't like to give too much help to each other so all she said was you need to get right down in the stream and stand on a stone to get a good view of the underside of the bridge.

Visit No. 3 - I returned to the flipping bridge and carefully climbed into the stream bed while standing on a stone to keep my feet above water, there was something there and how the hell hadn't I seen it. Well every time I had looked under the bridge, the top of my head was in line with it and every time I turned my head left and right I wouldn't have seen it.

Fixed to the underside were 2 clips that held this tool, was this the cache or not. I retrieved it and after examination I stood looking at the bridge to see what I could do with it. Now come on you readers, behave yourselves with your ideas and keep this clean. My brain went into overload as it suddenly came to me.

The metal end of the gadget was just smaller than the inside diameter of the handrail, I've always been someone who doesn't mind sticking things into dark orifices just to see what happens. I slowly slide the tool up until I felt a little click and when I pulled it out again there was a 35mm film canister with a magnet fixed to the bottom. The cache was found and with great satisfaction I signed the log, you then had to reverse the tool using the plastic end to push the cache back up the tube to it's hidding place.

Remembering to return the tool to the clips under the bridge I also decided to give it a favourite post, even though it had given me so much hassle.

What would you believe was the name of this cache - "Bridge or Poker", the name of two extremely hard card games and also reference to the actual bridge and the tool the owner had called  a poker. If you enjoyed this story I am soon going out for another known crafty cache, watch this space.