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Need help planning a Lake District trip


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Hello all, I'm looking for some help in planning a trip to the Lake District.

 

My in-laws live in the Southern Lake District and whilst we are visiting them in the summer I will be spending a few days doing some long hikes and wanted to tie this in with some geocaching. What I am looking for is as many really good caches as I can squeeze in. I have found a couple that look promising, with high favourite point numbers. Can anyone recommend some superb caches that I really shouldn't miss, or some great trails that are really worth doing? I will probably be doing some camping for a couple of nights too, so ideally I will plan one really long hike which I will complete over three days. Are there any power trails? I can't seem to see any on the maps...

 

I'm happy with climbing up and down the fells as I'm a very active person, so I'm not put off by the terrain, although as I will be hiking on my own, I won't be attempting any that require climbing equipment. I'm missing quite a few of the higher Difficulty or Terrain ratings from my D/T grid, so I hope to get a few ticked off on my trip.

 

Hopefully that all makes sense. Thank you in advance for any advice in planning this trip - I'm already looking forward to it and it's about 6 months away!

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55 views and no replies? :( Does anyone know of any great caches in the Lake District?

I have quite a few caches in the Southern Lake District,as to weather they are great is not for me to say :) mostly they are on the high fells there are some which make up a series on The Coniston fells I also have a few on the Scafells,but my caches are Not artificially set as grid filling enticements,for that particular aspect of the game I have absolutely no interest,If I can be of any assistance in suggesting routes don't hesitate to email me.

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55 views and no replies? :( Does anyone know of any great caches in the Lake District?

I have quite a few caches in the Southern Lake District,as to weather they are great is not for me to say :) mostly they are on the high fells there are some which make up a series on The Coniston fells I also have a few on the Scafells,but my caches are Not artificially set as grid filling enticements,for that particular aspect of the game I have absolutely no interest,If I can be of any assistance in suggesting routes don't hesitate to email me.

 

That sounds exactly like what I would like to do! My main interest is in finding some great caches. The D/T grid and power trail ideas are very much secondary to my main goal of just having some great hikes through the District. I would be very interested in looking at your caches / hearing your thoughts on a route. (I can't send you a long email now as I'm at work and should really get back to it! :lol: )

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You might enjoy GC164BM Scales Tarn and then carrying on up Sharp Edge to GCVE67 Blencathra. Look Sharp Edge up on the internet before you try it though, it is a scramble not a climb, no technical equipment involved, but marvellous exposure!

 

Some photos here.

 

A visit to Castle Crag GCVH8T The Cave Hotel is worth it for the views down Borrowdale.

 

You can't really go wrong anywhere in the Lakes.

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I was going to reply last night but ran out of time! :) I was also going to recommend fellsmanhiker's Coniston Fells caches, there are some crackers there and good fellwalking. Although they're not a series, you can do the Peak a Boo caches up to the Old Man then return via Dow Crag and Brown Pike and back down the Walna Scar bridleway.

 

There are also some great ones in Tilberthwaite (including the Cathedral Cavern cache mentioned above) which is a lovely place to walk if the cloud is down low.

 

There aren't any power trails as such, but there are nice trails in the Langstrath Valley, Ennerdale, and Borrowdale. If you're planning a few days' walking then you're sure to find plenty of caches along most of the main footpaths and bridleways as well as on the summits of a lot of the Wainwrights.

 

Hope this helps! (and enjoy your trip!)

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Lots of great walks there.

Helvellyn from Glenridding is worth a look

Haystacks walk after a lot of rain is a sight to see with waterfalls and raging rivers.

Also near there is Honister.com with it's slate mines.

I didn't have time to do it but the climb around and into the cave looks fun.

Lots of good short walks ,climbs around Buttermere too.

 

:)

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You might enjoy GC164BM Scales Tarn and then carrying on up Sharp Edge to GCVE67 Blencathra. Look Sharp Edge up on the internet before you try it though, it is a scramble not a climb, no technical equipment involved, but marvellous exposure!

 

Some photos here.

 

A visit to Castle Crag GCVH8T The Cave Hotel is worth it for the views down Borrowdale.

 

You can't really go wrong anywhere in the Lakes.

 

They look like some great suggestions - thank you! I have added them to my ongoing bookmark list for thought. I'm not worried about a scramble at all. I recently did Scafell Pike and Snowdon with some friends and we had quite a scramble route on both. Any more suggestions are definitely welcome!

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Lots of great walks there.

Helvellyn from Glenridding is worth a look

Haystacks walk after a lot of rain is a sight to see with waterfalls and raging rivers.

Also near there is Honister.com with it's slate mines.

I didn't have time to do it but the climb around and into the cave looks fun.

Lots of good short walks ,climbs around Buttermere too.

 

:)

 

Great suggestions. I will have a specific look in those areas. Thank you!

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I was going to reply last night but ran out of time! :) I was also going to recommend fellsmanhiker's Coniston Fells caches, there are some crackers there and good fellwalking. Although they're not a series, you can do the Peak a Boo caches up to the Old Man then return via Dow Crag and Brown Pike and back down the Walna Scar bridleway.

 

There are also some great ones in Tilberthwaite (including the Cathedral Cavern cache mentioned above) which is a lovely place to walk if the cloud is down low.

 

There aren't any power trails as such, but there are nice trails in the Langstrath Valley, Ennerdale, and Borrowdale. If you're planning a few days' walking then you're sure to find plenty of caches along most of the main footpaths and bridleways as well as on the summits of a lot of the Wainwrights.

 

Hope this helps! (and enjoy your trip!)

 

Loads of suggestions! Thank you! And good to have Fellsmanhiker's caches recommended too - I will definitely have a good look through all of your suggestions.

 

The Lake District is just so lovely and it's hard to narrow down to which bits I'd like to hike through!

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I don't frequent this forum that often any more, so I've only just spotted this. All good suggestions so far. If you're in the south lakes and fancy a more gentle day, Kendal and the area around are excellent. The caches around the Helm near Oxenholme station are all very good and a very pleasant afternoon stroll, as do Martlake's Safie series caches along the River Kent.

 

Without suggesting we've got the best caches too much, we are rather spoilt by excellent caches. Anything by Martlakes (and Ragnar Swordswift), Fellsmanhiker, Bog Bears or Duncscott are worth doing. And without wanting to promote my own, I do think my two puzzle/multi caches (Scrabbling Around, Alphabeticus) are on a par with the caches we've enjoyed most.

Edited by Guanajuato
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If you are looking at southern Lake District then there are a few really interesting circuits by Badger4272 (his DVLA circuit in the Lythe Valley, a Walk for All Seasons, Gait Barrows near Silverdale are all well worth it). If you want something south of Kendal then look out for Lozhedgehog;s Eeasey Peasey and Not so Easey Peasey circuits are fun with some very unusual caches.

 

These are some of the simpler walks in the valleys rather than the fells. If you have Chirp there is one near Newby Bridge which is fun.

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Thank you all for the fantastic responses. I'm just waiting for my Ordnance Survey map to arrive in the mail and then I can get a proper sense of where I want to hike. I think what I will do is mark the various suggestions made by you all on the map and then see if an obvious route presents itself. I'll keep you all informed and probably still be asking for more advice, but please feel free to suggest any more!

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All the above is sound advice. All local cachers rely on visitors to find their hides. BTW mobile signal can be patchy. We all rely on hand held GPSr.

I have created several bookmark lists. The one of interest to any visitor to Lakeland Fells is The Wainwright list. My other Bookmark lists list caches to find along a Long Distance path in Cumbria. Section of LD paths are often walked and listed in guide books.

 

Using JRI's greasemonkey extension script will show all caches on an OS map. Excellent tool for making your own routes.

 

When the weather is lousy there are plenty of lower level walks. Any where you stick a pin in the map, there will be caches to find, in Cumbria.

Felltop Weather Forecast to bookmark on your smartphone. http://www.lakedistr...therline.co.uk/ No visiting cachers seam to pay any attention to forecasted gale force horizontal rain when they log the fell top caches wondering why the weather is so atrocious.

Forecast also repeated on Radio Cumbria at 6.30 7.30 8.30 12.30 4.30 5.30 and 6.05

 

There are no power trails for getting your numbers up, you will have to create your own. AFAIK Saying that I found 33 in 7 days in Cumbria with friends staying for the week whilst I worked 9-5.

THE SMILEYS hides are good for quick finds. Many are cache and dash if you want numbers.

 

The Borrowdale series in Langstrath is the most (20) to be found in the Lakes as a trail, AFAIK

GAZ has a North Cumbrian series A-Z which may be more.

There are more suggestions for cache walks on Cachewalker forums http://cachewalker.c...om/out-of-area/

 

For the best views look at the Thomas West series. He wrote the first guide book in 1789, to the Lakes of Cumberland and Westmorland and all his suggested places to stand and view the scene are cache sites. Some are Multis, some stand alone. After visiting all Thomas West sites you will have seen the best views in the Lakes, IMHO.

 

Be aware that holiday caches do not survive long and rapidly disappear. So if any appear whilst you are here, grab it quick before it vanishes.

 

If you manage to find 29 caches along the Fred Whitton cycle route, then you can log the Challenge cache in Coniston.

 

That should keep you going. If you have access to specialist tools like a boat or canoe, this is the Lake District, many caches are only visitable by boat. Many listed on this Bookmark list.

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