WMW #2

Today I went back to repeat the Wentworth Monument Wander series by Mr Truffles just as I had promised myself on Sunday.

This time it was a solo wander where I was aiming to do the entire series again (without actually touching the caches I had already found) and also taking a few diversions to pick up other caches around the area.

Mr Truffles has placed quite a few puzzle caches in the same area so I've spent the last couple of weeks occasionally looking at them, and then I had a concerted effort on Monday and Tuesday evenings to try to get them ready for today.

I like to think I'm pretty good at puzzles but of course we all have areas of strength and areas of weakness and unfortunately all four caches I was trying to solve fell into the latter category for me. I got some hints off my good friend Patrick and even with those two of the caches were unsolveable. Mr Truffles had beaten me good and proper. More hints and eventually I had to just give in on one of them. Patrick told me how to do it and even now I understand it I reckon it's impossible to solve!

I set off walking at 9:40 (again, coincidentally) and went to the two churches to get the answers for the first cache. This took me an age and I felt really uncomfortable wandering around a church graveyard. I know these poor people have been dead for 200 years but it seemed wrong, to me, to be 'playing a game' there. I never mentioned it on the log because I'm clearly in the minority and many people have complemented the cache which has been there for 7 years.

Then it was a long walk of almost 5 miles to the next cache. My legs started aching after about 3 miles and I was briefly worried but it soon passed - I think they were just loosening up again after Sunday.

It was a lovely day, a little cold, but lots of sun and strangey that was my biggest bugbear of the day...

With it being winter the weak willed sun didn't have the courage to leave the horizon and for the first 3 hours I was heading directly into it and consequently, because of the brightness and the way it lens-flares on my glasses, I ended up hardly seeing anything for the first third of the walk. I wonder if I've got a tan for my troubles?

I then picked up Wentworth Wanders #5 at Keppel's Column, turned away from the sun and headed north-east into the woods.

Another long walk on now familiar ground until eventually I had to make a diversion to pick-up the first of Mr T's puzzles. I was somewhat lost as to how to get to it but in the end just followed the arrow and (*looks around feeling guilty*) went through a fence and ignored the lack of footpath signs.

A good find ensued and then I headed back towards the proper path but again then detoured before I got back to it. A tricky find here and I had to sit down and look at my map, purely as an excuse, while four nice ladies stopped to chat to me - presumably a small walking club of friends out for the day.

I was then quite a way off the original track and couldn't see where to go to get back to it so I simply headed off to my next cache and eventually the tracks did meet. However I then had another, quite large, diversion to pick up the next puzzle cache. Unfortunately it was along roads but as the sun was out and the roads were quiet it was still a lovely jaunt.

By now the clock was at 10 miles and I was feeling as though I could walk forever. No blisters and only minor aches and pains. I was feeling good.

Back on the original course I was now at another monument where I had to solve an on-site puzzle. A rather strange puzzle given that it's about a bizarre and fascinating building - Hooby's Stand - yet the puzzle is about blummin' grafitti. Talk about missing the point. (This isn't one of Mr Truffles I hasten to add!)

Then further West-NorthWest along the hillside edge towards another monument - Needle's Eye. An easy find here and quickly onto the one I miscalculated on Sunday which I had to leave owing to light and time contraints.

Back across the fields and then into the woods on the outskirts of Elsecar.

At this point I was touching 13.5 miles and suddenly, without warning, my legs turned to jelly. They were all out of energy and I knew there'd be no walking through the pain this time because it wasn't pain.

I now came to my final detour - I missed out the last three caches of the original series to pick up the last puzzle I had (eventually) worked out. It was strange finding this as it was about 20 metres from a now-archived cache that I had picked up a few months ago; this is the first time I've visited a recycled spot both before and after.

Now back to the car and up a small, yet to my legs unrelenting, hill. It was now hard work.

I got back to the car at 15:25. This means today I walked 14.7 miles in two hours less time than I did 13.7 on Sunday - however that's primarily because I had approximately 35 less caches to find & sign.

Nine more caches in the bag but the best thing about today was SEEING the walk. On Sunday I knew from the start we would be pushed for time and I hardly actually SAW the sights, the monuments, the views and the countryside. Today I was walking with more time to spare and it made a huge difference. Much nicer.

My legs are now OK but still tired. I'm undecided what to do tomorrow. I ought to rest them to let them repair and get stronger but I want to get out because I wanted to do two consecutive days of long walks. Ahh well we'll see, after all I do have the 10 mile walk in Lincoln to look forward to on Friday.

Still no blisters!