Dare I? I do!

So after pondering last week if I was brave enough to tackle a creepy night cache it was looking more likely that I was going to give it a go. Nothing
ventured, nothing gained right?

The very next day I popped into a local supermarket, a particularly tiny and useless supermarket selling only the bare essentials and bizarrely on this particular day, head torches! Destiny had played its hand, I needed to do this cache and a nice shiny new head torch was exactly what I needed to help me feel brave! 😉
So armed with bread, milk and my fancy new head gear I left the store and promptly bumped into my Mum. Aha! A babysitter!
‘Err can you have the kids sometime please?….I don’t mind when, it just needs to be dark.’
I get a raised eyebrow in response.
My family and friends are all most bemused by the whole geocaching thing.
We agree on Monday night. Damn, that gives me plenty of time to wuss out again.

Saturday night rolls around and I was bored.  Bored enough to go and scare myself witless in the woods it seems!

Convincing the kids to go along to do the night cache was easy enough, I just failed to mention it was the Hiker cache! Less fibbing, more selective truth telling! 😉

Grabbing a couple of head torches and loading up two phones (I was taking no chances of getting lost here!) we were off to the woods.

The cache is based on a creepy story of a Hitchhiker who lives in a camp in the woods. Using reflective tacks you have to find the camp and then locate the cache, providing of course Henry the hitcher doesn’t get you first!

By the time we arrived at the parking coordinates it was pitch black, a new moon providing little light. We also seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. Gulp!

The instructions we were given stipulated the correct amount of hikers paces to take to find the first tack. Hikers paces? Surely this could be wide open to interpretation? I only have little legs!
Luckily enough we nailed the paces first time, stopping directly in line with the first tack. Hurrah! Only it’s absolutely pitch black and ridiculously creepy so it’s more of a thank chuff for that, can I get back in the car yet?!
The tacks were then well paced and easy enough to find and we were soon following a trail through the woods, away from the footpath – why does that make it so much scarier?!
We had one occasion when we couldn’t easily spot the next tack so a little bit of pacing back and forth but we just needed to venture a little further in and we were back on track. Oh joy!

Without difficulty we found the camp, thankfully it was not as creepy as I was expecting. Henry had hung his clothes on a nearby tree, so not only are you being stalked by a creepy hitch hiker, he’s in the nudey rudies too.
Then it was time to find the cache.  Further instructions (more pace counting) led us to the cache where a further surprise awaits on opening it, I won’t spoil the fun but it did spook the children nicely! Mwah ha ha…..

Log signed and swaps all dismissed as being a bit manky, it was time to find our way back out. Having nearly given myself whiplash on the way in due to all the head turning to check out noises in the woods, *shudder* I had already spotted that tacks leading the way out were plentiful. phew!
Plentiful yes, easy to find – apparently not! Thank heavens for parking coordinates! Luckily we didn’t have to rely on the compass for too long and were soon back to the security of the tacks leading the way to the car. Who knew little reflective pins could be so comforting?!

It’s safe to say I’ve never been quite so pleased to arrive back at the car.

The fear factor for this one, was for me high. Just being dark was enough to spook me, let alone being stalked by an imaginary man through the forest. I have no idea if I even dated the log as I was at that point shaking with adrenaline.

It was however really good fun, so much so that I’d actually love to do it again. Without children though, pretending to be brave isn’t half as much fun!