News & New Caches 89

Just one new traditional cache and couple of event reminders/updates.

GCA8Y30 Passing by the barrier by MagpieNorthWales Traditional D1/T1

Event Reminders

GCA5EAK 9 Usual Suspects Re-visit Ynys Enlli Event
When: Sunday 28th May 2023
Time: 12pm-4pm
Where: Café Tŷ Pellaf Farm, Ynys Enlli
I have just looked at the weather forecast, it looks perfect, so we are very confident there will be no problems with our ferry crossings. We will put an ‘announcement’ on the event page just to confirm our sailing. Don’t forget cameras, sunscreen and hats! See you Sunday.

GCA8D9R 9 Usual Suspects – Nosh & Natter 57 by 9 Usual Suspects
When: Wednesday 31st May
Where: Anglesey Arms, Harbour Front, Caernarfon LL55 1SG
Time: 7pm to 9pm or when the last person leaves
For this months N&N we are back at the Anglesey Arms, lets hope for a lovely sunset!

Postponed Event

We are postponing our visit to Coed y Brenin as several of the caches are missing and we are not sure when they are to be replaced. As soon as the series is back up and running we will reschedule.

Springwatch 2023 is Local

The BBC’s Springwatch returns to our screens on Monday 29th at 7.30pm and will continue at 8pm from Tuesday 30th May until Thursday 15th June. This year our local wildlife will be featured in two live broadcasts from Gwaith Powdwr Nature Reserve on the 30th and 31st May and Cemlyn Nature Reserve on the 13th June. Plus there will be daily features from wild places around North Wales. If you miss any episodes the series will be available on iPlayer after the live broadcasts.

News & New Caches 88

Just 3 new caches, all around Llangefni, Anglesey, since our last post.

GCA8TE6 Bondys trail by CheesyPasta Traditional D1/T1.5
GCA8VP2 Around the bend by Cheesypasta Traditional D1.5/T1.5
GCA8W2Y If you go down to the woods today…! by Cheesypasta Traditional D1.5/T1.5

Ynys Enlli/Bardsey Island Event Info

GCA5EAK 9 Usual Suspects Re-visit Ynys Enlli Event

The ferry being launched recently.

We had not expected this event to be nearly as popular, we have attendees arriving on 3 different ferry sailings!

Bardsey Walking Notes | Marnix's Bird Gallery

As there is little or no phone signal on the island, Pete and I have opened the adventure lab stages enabling access to the questions. For anyone travelling with us on the 11.30am ferry we will give a printed copy of the questions and the above map. The answers can then be logged on your return to the mainland where hopefully we will all get a good phone signal.

Trips are dependent on good weather so please be aware that our crossing may be subject to cancellation at very short notice. Sailings are confirmed around 6.30pm on the evening prior to departure. Once we have confirmation of our sailing is going ahead we will make an announcement on the cache page.

Bearing this in mind payment is made on the day in cash, therefore no deposits are needed.
Fares: Adult £45.00 Child £25.00

Please allow plenty of time for your journey, it is further than you think and if you get stuck behind slow moving traffic there is little chance of over taking on the narrow bendy lanes.

The parking is in the National Trust car park, a small field, N 52° 47.941 W 004° 43.915, Sat Nav LL53 8DA, Grid Ref SH163255, from here there is a 10 minute walk to Porth Meudwy along a rough fisherman’s track. There is no parking at point of departure.

You are advised to wear waterproofs for the crossing. Life jackets are mandatory and will be issued before departure.

There is a café at Tŷ Pellaf farm, run by the Roberts family, which serves a limited variety of drinks, ice cream, snacks and homemade cakes. It is advisable to bring your own basic supplies as the café can sometimes run low on cake!

Dogs are not permitted to visit the island.

The Bardsey Island Trust does not permit the flying of private drones anywhere on the island.

Lastly, don’t forget your camera and binoculars!

A Little Bit of History

Porth Meudwy, meaning ‘hermit’s cove’, is the traditional landing place for boats from Ynys Enlli.

In medieval times the abbey on the Ynys Enlli had many lands and privileges on the mainland. A Court and Exchequer was established at Cwrt, giving the farm its name, where legal and administrative duties were conducted. It is said that the abbott would declare the sentences of those who had been on trial whilst standing on the large stone in the farm courtyard. Records show that hangings took place on the farm, and one of the fields is called Bryn Crogbren, meaning ‘gallows hill’.

Before your visit we recommend taking a look at Bardsey.org for a fascinating look at the Islands history, wildlife and general points of interest.

News & New Caches 87

Just one new cache and a couple of events to report since our last post.

GCA8FE7 Quiet time! by CheesyPasta Traditional D1/T1.5

GCA8D9R 9 Usual Suspects – Nosh & Natter 57 by 9 Usual Suspects
For this months N&N we are back at the Anglesey Arms, lets hope for a lovely sunset!

When: Wednesday 31st May
Where: Anglesey Arms, Harbour Front, Caernarfon LL55 1SG
Time: 7pm to 9pm or when the last person leaves

Magic Maker Souvenir Event

To celebrate custom made geocaches HQ are awarding the Magic Maker Souvenir for anyone that attends or hosts a Magic Maker Event between June 13th to July 3rd 2023. We are please to announce our event has been approved. As part of the event we will be running a competition for favourite custom local geocaches giving everyone a chance to vote for the winner. Please nominate your chosen caches in your ‘will attend’ logs remembering to quote GC code.

GCA8D3G Maker Magic: 9US Get Creative…..

Where: Plas Gwernoer, Nantlle. LL54 6BB
When: 1st July 2023
Time: 2.00pm-6pm (the bar will remain open until the last person leaves!)

North Wales Wildlife Trust

Looking for some inspiration for a wildlife garden? North Wales Wildlife Trust are holding an open day giving everyone the opportunity to explore their wildlife garden in Bangor. Advice from experienced wildlife gardeners will be available all morning. Free, no booking required but please sign in at the office.

When: Monday 15th May
Time: 10:00 – 13:00
Where: Llys Garth, Garth Road, Bangor

News & New Caches 86

We have just one new event for July and an event reminder to report since our last post.

GCA7B67 The Chens on Tour 2023 – Llandanwg by the Chens
When: Saturday 15th July
Where: Y Maes Caffi, Beach Car Park, Llandanwg LL46 2SD
Time: 11-11.30am

The Chens are a couple from Devizes, Wiltshire, and will be touring around Wales in their caravan. They would love to meet up with local and not so local geocachers while staying in LLandanwg.

Event Reminder

Just a quick reminder its N&N tomorrow night.

GCA72GP 9 Usual Suspects – Nosh & Natter 56 by 9 Usual Suspects
When: Wednesday 26th April 2023
Where: Parc Snowdonia, Waunfawr, Caernarfon, Gwynedd LL55 4AQ
Time: 7pm to 9pm or when the last person leaves

Hope to see you there…….

Souvenir Challenges

Wheel of Challenges

Aprils Wheel of Challenges finishes on April 30th, there are only a few days left to reach the maximum cache find score of a 100 to qualify for all 3 souvenirs.
Are you ready to start the next challenge which starts on May 1st?

Mays Wheel of Challenges starts on May 1st and runs to June 4th, there are just 2 souvenirs to earn, easy and hard. To earn the easy souvenir you must earn 100 points, to earn the hard souvenir you must reach 1000 points. To help you keep track of your current point total it will be shown on your leaderboard. Here are this months point values :

Found a cache with 10+ Favorite points20
Received a Favorite point on an owned geocache50
Found it*10
*Log a Found it on any cache type including Adventure Lab® Locations

Blue Switch Day 2023

Prior to 2000, the U.S. military created and deployed satellites to produce accurate location information for military applications. Selective Availability restricted precise GPS data to the U.S. government. On May 2nd, 2000, the U.S. government “flipped the switch” and made accurate GPS available to all. The very next day, May 3rd, the first geocache was hidden.

Earn the Blue Switch Day 2023 souvenir by finding a geocache, Adventure Lab® Location, or by attending an Event between May 1st–3rd.

News & New Caches 85

Looks like everyone was out over Easter placing new caches, a good mixture of types, 3 Traditional, a Wherigo, Adventure Lab with bonus and an event all recently published.

GCA56PX Dylan gran by Dylansgran Traditional D2/T1.5
GCA70Q2 Reservoir Adventure by ClurPailing Traditional D2/T2
GCA70ZE Spring on the Seiont by Clueless_Goose Traditional D1.5/T2
GCA72H5 Cache y Cofi Dre by Clueless_Goose Wherigo D2.5/T1.5

Adventure Lab with Bonus Cache

Celtic Quest Created by RichieBlod 5 locations nonsequential

A circular route, see above map, following footpaths and back roads to visit ancients sites from the Neolithic period. Remember to collect the info for the bonus cache.

GCA714R Celtic Quest Bonus Cache by RichieBlod Mystery D2.5/T3

Event

GCA72GP 9 Usual Suspects – Nosh & Natter 56 by 9 Usual Suspects
When: Wednesday 26th April 2023
Where: Parc Snowdonia, Waunfawr, Caernarfon, Gwynedd LL55 4AQ
Time: 7pm to 9pm or when the last person leaves

New Souvenir: Blue Switch Day 2023!

Prior to 2000, the U.S. military created and deployed satellites to produce accurate location information for military applications. Selective Availability restricted precise GPS data to the U.S. government. On May 2nd, 2000, the U.S. government “flipped the switch” and made accurate GPS available to all. The very next day, May 3rd, the first geocache was hidden.

Earn the Blue Switch Day 2023 souvenir by finding a geocache, Adventure Lab® Location, or by attending an Event between May 1st–3rd.

Aberlleiniog Castle Trail, Red Squirrels

Red Squirrel photo by Andy (YnysMonBirders)

If visiting Aberlleiniog Castle keep a look out for Red Squirrels. On a recent maintenance run we were rewarded by spotting high in the branches a Red Squirrel, as we watched it ran and jumped from branch to branch taking no notice of us. At this time of year they are easy to spot as the trees branches are bare only just coming into leaf, later in the summer when there is a full leaf canopy they will be much harder to see. This is the first time we have seen them here even though it is advertised they have been in residence for a while.

Return of the Glaslyn Ospreys

Aran, the male, returned on the 3rd April but sadly there is still no sign of his mate Mrs G, this would have been her 20th successful migration. The good news is that Aran has found himself another mate, an unrung female who he has been providing with fish and they have been seen mating.

Would anyone be interested in holding an event here? The centre caters for everyone with

  • Free car parking.
  • Toilets.
  • Disabled parking and access to the Visitor Centre and Toilets.
  • Dogs on leads welcome.
  • Picnic area with spectacular views.
  • A warm welcome from knowledgeable volunteers.
  • Steam trains on the Welsh Highland Railway passing nearby.

We suggest in June when, hopefully, there will be young in the nest and maybe have a picnic. Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

News & New Caches 84

Two new caches and an Adventure Lab have been published just in time for the Easter break.

GCA6MZR Saron: Rest & Reflect by Clueless_Goose Traditional D2/T1.5

Premium Member Only

GCA6J8X Mackenzie Pier by Glaslyn1 Multi D2.5/T2

Adventure Lab
Ynys Llanddwyn/Llanddwyn Island created by RichieBlod 5 locations nonsequential


This Adventure Lab is based upon the legend of Saint Dwynwen, the Welsh patron saint of lovers and a little history of the beautiful isle.

Event Reminder

GCA5MYF CITO 2023 Season 1, Let’s Make Spaces for Wildlife by 9 Usual Suspects
When: Friday 7th April, 2023 (Good Friday)
Where: Plas Gwernoer, Nantlle, Caernarfon LL54 6BB
Time: 2.00-4.00pm

GIFF Returns in 2023


This year sees the 10 anniversary of Geocaching International Film Festival (GIFF), it began in 2013 as part of the annual Geocaching Block Party held at Geocaching HQ, in Seattle. The finalist films were screened in a park near HQ and it was a huge success. This event was successfully repeated again in 2014, but in 2015 awful wet weather forced the outdoor event to be cancelled. With the finalist films ready to be shown an alternative plan was made and the film festival was released to geocachers across the world to be shown at GIFF events. This was very popular with geocaching community with 449 GIFF events hosted in 46 different countries, one of those events was hosted by 9 Usual Suspects at Witch’s Brew, Pwllheli. Since then GIFF has become an annual event in 9US’s calendar.

2016: 123 film submissions | 16 finalists | 526 Events | 44 countries
2017: 47 submissions | 17 finalists | 601 Events | 55 countries
2018: 83 submissions | 16 finalists | 656 Events | 58 countries  
2019: 54 submissions | 16 finalists | 688 Events | 56 countries
2020: Cancelled due to 20th anniversary celebrations
2021: 61 submissions | 17 finalists | 425 Events | 40 countries

There was no film festival in 2022 due to HQ focusing on the 20th anniversary celebrations that had to be deferred from 2020 due to Covid 19.

To mark this special anniversary year gold has been chosen for the colour of GIFF 2023. The GIFF 2023 Souvenir will be available to anyone attending an official GIFF Event from Thursday, November 9th to Sunday, November 19th. 9 Usual Suspects will be hosting their event on Sunday 19th, venue yet to be confirmed.

Have you ever fancied making a film? GIFF 2023 may be the time to make your red carpet debut…… 
The deadline for submitting a film for this years GIFF is August 3rd.

News & New Caches 83

Only one new cache and an event reminder to report since our last post

GCA6GGX The Old Boathouse by Glaslyn1 Traditional D2.5/T3 Premium Member Only

Event Reminder

GCA5MYF CITO 2023 Season 1, Let’s Make Spaces for Wildlife by 9 Usual Suspects

We have a wide variety of activities planned, from making bat/bird boxes, insect/beetle buckets, bee-friendly seed bombs and learning to recognise the diverse wildlife that surrounds us while out geocaching.

We will be suppling all materials and tools, the Cache Bar will be open with drinks available on a self service basis and it wouldn’t be a 9 US event without cake!

When: Friday 7th April, 2023 (Good Friday)
Where: Plas Gwernoer, Nantlle, Caernarfon LL54 6BB
Time: 2.00-4.00pm

To help us with planning the day please remember to log a ‘will attend’ stating the number of adults and children that will be attending.

Favourite Points

What are favourite points? Favourite points are a Premium member only feature. On subscribing to Premium membership you are given one favourite point, then for every 10 caches you find one point is given to you to be awarded to a favourite found cache. These points can be awarded to any type of cache except events, even though Adventure Labs stages count as a ‘find’ they are not counted towards earning favourite points.

The purpose of favourite points is to highlight the best, fun or most interesting geocaches. This can be a very useful guide to finding great caches when visiting a new area. A recent upgrade to the Geocaching® app allows players to see highly favourited caches at a glance, with the favourite point total shown above the cache icon on the map.

The most favourited cache in our area with currently 503 points is
GC5F13 Where is Snowdon Summit??? by GammaBoo Virtual D1/T1.5 Placed 16.5.2002

As a cache owner it is always nice to receive favourite points, especially when you have put a lot of effort to find a hide for a special container. But how many logs have you received promising a favourite point that never materialises?

After feedback from a recent post it has become apparent that there are two types of geocachers when it comes to favourite points, awarders and hoarders.

Team Marzipan are definitely one of the best awarders
‘We award lots of favourite points! But only if we think they merit it by our standards!!!! Have to keep retrieving them from archived caches.’

With Harry the furry squid coming out as top hoarder
‘I currently have 1267 unused favourite points. Have started awarding them a little bit more often since having a regular caching partner – “Which of that series gets the FP?” is a regular topic in the car on the way home!’

Are you an Awarder or a Hoarder?

News & New Caches 69

We have three new caches and the first N&N of 2023 published since our last post.

GCA3BB5 Seibiant Y Cob (The Cob Rest) by Hitch-Hikers Traditional D1.5/T1.5
GCA3Q7F snail mail by amymarie87 Traditional D1.5/T1.5

Premium Member Only
GCA3QTQ #3A – Ramble – Stump by Bess’s Friends Traditional D1.5/T1.5
A new edition to Bess’s Friends Ramble series.

Event
GCA3QRN 9 Usual Suspects – Nosh & Natter 53
When: Wednesday 25th January, 2023
Where: Black Boys Inn, Stryd Pedwar a Chwech, Caernarfon LL55 1RW
Time: 7pm to 9pm or when the last person leaves

We have struggled to find a pub who can guarantee that their kitchens will be open on Wednesday 25th evening, hopefully this is only going to be a short term problem. We regret that dogs are not allowed in Black Boys building but are allowed at the tables out side.

Event Reminder

GCA31ZX 9 Usual Suspects Present Ski Sunday by 9 Usual Suspects Event
When: Sunday 15th January 2023
Where: Plas Gwernoer, Nantlle LL54 6BB (Pete & Ann’s)
Time: 2pm – 4.15pm

Ski Sunday is coming to the Nantlle Valley. We have 2 races planned, downhill and slalom with prizes for the top 3 on the leader boards. Wrap up warm, join us either as a competitor or spectator for a fun filled afternoon. The Cache Bar will be open, snacks, fondue and hot drinks will be available on a self service basis.

A ‘will attend’ log will help us plan the day and especially with catering!

Parking is at the house, please note our gateway is very narrow and the pillars are not forgiving!

Sunday Stroll, Gog. Gwynedd Trail, 19th June

We had been waiting a while for the Gog. Gwynedd Trail by Clueless_Goose to be published and at the end of May the 20 cache series went live. As there are very few circular geocaching series in this area it was suggested that it would be fun to do as a group, since Covid we have all missed the social side of geocaching. An invitation to join us was placed on the website but we didn’t make it an official event. Due to the recommended parking being limited we decided to start the series at number 12 to allow us to park at Bangor Rugby Club.

The map shows the circular walk and geocaches

GC9T6FW #12 Gog. Gwynedd Trail – Styling it Out by Clueless_Goose Letterbox D1.5/T1.5

Team 9US at #12 (Thanks Bryan for the photo)

The first cache was a letterbox, a nice straight forward find, once the administration complete we followed the footpath along side the A55, dodging the over hanging foliage, before turning right. This path ran alongside the rugby pitch, unlike the neatly mown pitch the grass was waist high. Next a couple of fields full of sheep and then into a pretty residential lane before arriving at the bottom of the hill.

GC9T9PZ #13 Gog. Gwynedd Trail – Bottom of the Hill by Clueless_Goose Traditional D2/T1

The advanced parties first sweep of GZ drew a blank, but an on form Ali soon discovered this very sneaky hide. We then continued down the road to the railway bridge.

GC9T9QD #14 Gog. Gwynedd Trail – Riveting Stuff by Clueless_Goose Traditional D2/T2

Here we all concentrated too much on the ‘red herrings’ and not paying enough attention to the direction of the arrow or the distance! We got there in the end, coordinates are spot on for this cleverly disguised cache. For the next cache, a multi, it was a short walk down to the end of lane before crossing the very busy road.

Afon Ogwen, between clue item and GZ

GC9T9RB #15 Gog. Gwynedd Trail – Be Ceffyl Now! by Clueless_Goose Multi D2/T1.5

At the clue item, well worth a look, Dave confesses he had already acquired the coordinates for the final. All back across the busy road to GZ. This one took us far longer than it should. We have all heard the saying ‘that too many cooks spoil the broth’, this was a case of too many geocachers can’t find the cache!

Team 9US playing ‘follow my leader’.

GC9T9RZ #16 Gog. Gwynedd Trail – Stick ’em Up! by Clueless_Goose Traditional D3.5/T1.5

We continued along the quiet road before taking the footpath that runs along side the railway line. At GZ we found several Holly trees, all looking likely hiding places……. the title of the cache is a very good clue! A lovely custom made cache that blends in so well. Here the footpath leaves the railway line, a short walk across a field and we were at St. Cross Church.

The pretty St Cross Church

GC9TABC Church Micro 14382…Tal-y-bont by Clueless_Goose Wherigo D2.5/T1.5

While we all fumbled around trying to get the phone apps and GPS to load the Wherigo cartridge, Bryan was off through the gate into the very well kept churchyard, needless to say we all followed. The cache was an easy find, the admin completed and cache replaced just as the Sunday service congregation filed out of the church. From here we headed down the quiet lane opposite.

GC9T9TE #18 Gog. Gwynedd Trail – Don’t Slate It Now! by Clueless_Goose Letterbox D2/T2

The quiet lane proved to be anything but! We witnessed some awful reversing and driving from some very ‘pushy’ people. This cache is at the beginning of a footpath, Bryan lead the advanced party through the waist high vegetation and very stingy stinging nettles for a quick find. We then continued to the end of the lane where we found the clue item for next cache, a multi.

GC9T9WE #19 Gog. Gwynedd Trail – Pay up by Clueless_Goose Multi D2.5/ T1.5

Again Dave had been very busy doing his home homework, coordinates noted we followed the road and crossed the A55. Here we stopped off for another cache not in the series.

A55

GC2BMR9 A55 Frustration – J12 – Hendre Hall by Frosty Jack Traditional D2/T1.5

Some of us had already found this cache and thought it was going to be quick find. We only found it by looking at recent photos, I’m sure it was in a different location when we found it way back in 2014.

Logging……….

It was then up the hill to sign the log on the multi. The grey skies had disappeared and with the sunshine temperatures were rising, we were all glad of the shade as we slogged up the hill. By starting at 12 we had managed to acquire 3 of the bonus numbers, with a study of the map and clue we decided it was worth taking a look for the bonus.

Slogging up the hill past the official parking spot

GC9T9XF BONWS Gog. Gwynedd Trail by Clueless_Goose Mystery D2/T2

After an intensive search of a large area Bryan shouted those magic words, “Got it!” What a beautiful spot and a perfect place for our picnic lunch.

View from GZ

We continued up to the top of the hill, turned right into another narrow lane and followed a beautiful slate fence, where we found some fascinating graffiti carved into the upright slate.

Lane and slate fence

GC9T4GO #1 Gog. Gwynedd Trail by Clueless_Goose Traditional D1/T1.5

The views from here were stunning, an easy find for Elaine as we all admired the scenery and read the beautifully carved graffiti.

Slate fence and view

GC9T4JN #2 Gog. Gwynedd Trail – Gate by Clueless_Goose Traditional D1.5/T2

The advance party were signing the log book as the stragglers that had spent too much time admiring the views, taking photos and reading the graffiti arrived at GZ. We continued down the lane taking another right turn into a farm.

Track to farm

GC9T4K9 #3 Gog. Gwynedd Trail – Keep Me Posted by Clueless_Goose Traditional D1.5/T2

At the gate there is several clue items which were intensively searched before Dave spotted the very well hidden cache, lucky it is still bright and shiny, if better camouflaged we would never have found it. Once through the farmyard the trail is not quite so obvious, luckily we had Dave, who is a Slate Trail Warden, to keep us heading in the right direction.

Dave & Pete leading the way through the beautiful countryside

It was some distance before the next cache, we followed a very old track/road for part of the way through beautiful countryside before turning off to cross a field to arrive at #4 a solved Mystery/Puzzle cache.

GC9T4M0 #4 Gog. Gwynedd Trail – A Place by the Fire by Clueless_Goose Mystery D2/T2

Hmmm…… We made this one far harder than it is. We looked, we extended the search area, and then repeated and repeated to find the cache. A very pretty spot which gave us all a chance to cool off before heading up another hill.

Very pretty area

It was now very warm, we all had come over dressed not expecting warm sunshine and we were all glad to reach the top of the hill where there was a cool breeze. Here we took the footpath into the fields, some admired the views while the advance party headed for GZ to begin the search before the rear guard arrived.

Elaine approaching #5

GC9T4N8 # 5 Gog. Gwynedd Trail – Prickly Customer by Clueless_Goose Traditional D2/T2.5

Dave and Bryan drew the short straw and braved the prickles to find another lovely custom made container. We continued following the footpath to the next cache #6.

GC9T6AJ # 6 Gog. Gwynedd Trail – A Fairy Good Cache by Clueless_Goose Traditional D1.5/2.5

The title of the cache had given us a big clue to what we were looking for, another well crafted cache that we all appreciated, so nice to find something a bit different. Near to GZ is a unique style, we believe the upright to be made of railway signal lever.

Unique Stile

The trail continued with more beautiful scenery before we arrived at the next cache #7.

GC9T6B1 # 7 Gog. Gwynedd Trail – Best Zipline in N. Wales by Clueless_Goose Traditional D2/T1.5

This cache made us all smile, Elaine did the honours, before we continued taking the advice found on the cache page, we didn’t follow the arrow but turned left. A very short distance we turned right following the lane past some beautiful gardens with some exotic looking plants. Another right turn onto the footpath that took us past some very old oak trees plus many different specimen conifers. Was this once a grand park?

GC9T6B8 # 8 Gog. Gwynedd Trail – Rest & Recharge by Clueless_Goose Traditional D2/T2

The name of the cache made sense once the cache had been found, another fun container. A fairly short walk to the next.

GC9T6E5 #9 Gog. Gwynedd Trail – Sws Sws xx by Clueless_Goose Traditional D2/T1.5

On the way to the cache Dave explained to us non-Welsh speakers what ‘Sws Sws’ meant and where the likely location of the container might be. His guess was correct so a very easy find of another custom made container. (Sws Sws – Kiss Kiss)

Then the nightmare of trying to cross the road…….. not just once but twice!

Afon Ogwen, a very beautiful river

After the stress of crossing the road it was lovely to reach such a beautiful, peaceful spot on the Afon Ogwen. Here we took a few minutes to enjoy the surroundings before continuing up the hill on the long walk to the next cache.

GC9T6EJ #10 Gog. Gwynedd Trail – Sheep’s Lunchbox by Clueless_Goose Traditional D1.5/T2

We had negotiated several tight kissing gates to get here but this one I think trapped us all, the farmer has fixed an old inner tube to act as a spring to keep the gate shut and really it wants to stay shut! The cache was a nice easy find.

The Team admiring the beautiful river

The walk to the next, our final cache, followed the course of the Afon Ogwen but due to to the woodland there was no views of the river until the final stretch of the path.

GC9TQP7 #11 Gog. Gwynedd Trail – Pont Ogwen by Clueless_Goose Puzzle D2.5/T3.5

Oh What fun we had here……… We tried the above and the below. This one was a real team effort, tricky to spot and retrieve. I’m amazed no one got wet! A great cache to finish our day on. After spending a few minutes enjoying the area we made our way back to Rugby Club via the concrete road for a well deserved panad.

We can highly recommend this series, the caches are a good mix of types, sizes and containers, including the only Wherigo Church Micro in the area.

We would also like to take the opportunity to say a very BIG THANK YOU to Jack, Clueless_Goose for setting this series, we all appreciate the effort that has gone into giving us such a fun adventure.