Walk for Willow

On Saturday 5th May I took part in a charity walk called "Walk for Willow" to raise funds for the Willow Dog Rescue charity (website) which helps pay for kennels for stray or unwanted dogs until they are rehoused.

The walk started at 9am in Wath and we had 8 walkers and 7 dogs. As I wasn't leading a dog I offered to carry all the water (12 litres = 12Kg) in an attempt to help but also to push myself that bit harder.

It was chaos at first, with all the dogs, but we soon settled down into a decent pace and headed West along the Trans-Pennine-Trail (TPT) through Dearne Valley, Wombwell and then Worsborough where we stopped for our first break at about 7.75 miles. At this point I realised we had a support vehicle waiting for us so I gave up with the water and handed it to the driver - thank you!

For those that read my last blog, and have spoken to me since, you might be aware I had accidentally left my running trainers at the Bootcamp hotel and having proceeded to do three runs back at home in my day-to-day trainers I had really hurt my knees and ankles, also giving myself shin-splints - so much so that I could hardly walk last Wednesday and Thursday.

So as you might guess Saturday was a bit of a test, especially with the extra weight of the water. I'd only been walking 15 minutes before my knees were hurting so was very glad to offload it all after 8 miles.

We continued past the southern edge of Dodworth and then Silkstone Common before arriving for our lunch stop at the Car Park of the Travellers Inn just on the outskirts of Oxspring. It had turned cold and I really wanted to keep moving, not wanting to get cold and aches, but of course it made sense to stop and refuel.

We then carried on West through Oxspring and Penistone, passed by Thurlstone and Millhouse Green before the long and quiet stretch to our final destination - Dunford Bridge.

In the end it was 22 miles of chatting and doggie chaos but a good achievement as it raised about £600 for charity. My calves were sore by the end and I was glad it was over but also very glad we'd all made it.

En-route I had managed to find 6 Geocaches but also had to leave 4 I couldn't find quickly enough because the group weren't waiting for me and I can tell you that being 15 minutes behind a group of walkers seemingly takes forever to catch up!

Only fools and horses

We rushed from work last night to a new local cache that had been published two hours earlier. I knew the odds were against us as my friend Patrick was out and about and I had a sneaking suspicion he'd be onto this one.

The cache was a simple find and it looked good for an FTF until I opened the crisp new log sheet and saw his name at the top. He emailed me later mocking me, saying "Hi STF" (presumably "second-to-find") and then saying his wife had found one earlier he couldn't find and he hated being a runner-up, something I presumably was used to by now.

They say revenge is a dish best served cold so I'll bide my time!

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As promised last week (here) I returned to pick up the actual Wath Wood Wanders cache last night.

Despite abandoning my son at his guitar lesson ASAP, parking the car nearer to my destination and also running 200m to the cache it was still dark by the time I arrived. And I'd forgotten my torch. Again.

Fortunately the cache was a doddle to find.

As I leant on a nearby fence, to sign the log, I got the fright of my life as a horse nudged me. It had followed me up it's field as I'd walked up the woods. I petted it and within a couple of minutes there were 4 of them.

I showed them the swaps in the cache but they weren't interested.

Funny things horses.

Damned nights

While Adam was at his guitar lesson last night I went off to Wath Woods to collate the clues for a cache - there's 4 points to visit from which you calculate the 5th and final location.

With limited time (an hour including driving) I set off hoping to get the 4 clues and leave the final point for next Wednesday when Adam is in his next lesson.

I parked up about 7:45 and it was already going dark. I walked down a huge long alley between two housing estates leading into the woods and as I entered the woods and it was now dark.

Bloody nights drawing in.

I got the first two locations easily but by the time I was setting off for the third it was so dark I was struggling to see the path; it was hard to tell whether the dark ground 10 metres in front of me was path or leaves or just a gaping hole. Fortunately most of the paths are of good quality so I walked reasonably quickly and safely to the third clue.

I say 'reasonably quickly' because by now I had spooked myself a little. Here I am, a grown man who's not particularly afraid of the dark, walking through unknown woods in pitch black with no torch and no idea where the surrounding population is. (Although I can always get back to the car using the GPS of course).

I might not be bothered about the dark, per se, but I am a little worried when there are huge CRACKing noises and things running and falling through the trees. Gulp.

I moved on to the 4th location which was on the outside edge of the woods, near a tarmac lane. Sanctuary. I got the clue and stopped to look at the GPS - the road route back to the car was over 2.5 miles long - I only had 20 minutes left and also needed 5 minutes driving time.

So, big deep breath, stop being silly Mark, I set off back through the woods up the fourth side, unknown territory again.

Walking quickly, using the GPS to the car, I was now hoping I wouldn't bump into anyone else, not for my sake, but for THEIR sake... the site of a 40+ year-old man walking alone in the dark and breathing heavily would probably be more than enough to spoil someone else's night!

Geocaching. It's all fun!