Having found the key, see my previous blog entry I’v got the key, it was time to go in search of the lock that it would fit. Thankfully this was not a difficult task as we had the exact coordinates of where to find the lock in question. The sun was shining bright in a cloudless sky as we parked the car not far from the church in Bedmond, a pretty little village just a few miles north of Watford. As to the exact location of our destination, I could not say as this is a mystery cache after all.
We completed the remainder of our journey on foot down a narrow country lane flanked on one side by a wooded area and on the other side by open fields. Once at ground zero it was just a quick search before my fingers touched on the hard metal of the cache hidden deep in an old tree stump. Inside the protective plastic bag we found, as the name would suggest, a metal cash box. After a heart stopping moment when I thought I might not have brought the key with me after taking it out of my bag to photograph it last night, I was relieved to find it safe in the little TB pouch I carry in my rucksack. I passed the key to Sam to do the honours and he triumphantly slotted it in and unlocked the box to reveal the log book and a plethora of small swaps.
Sam made a swap of an ink stamper for a plastic jumping frog and then after signing the log and taking a photo we repacked everything and went to replace the cache. Sam then spotted that the key was still in the lock and laughing he retrieved it and I put it back in my bag with plans to drop it off somewhere this week. It wouldn’t be much of a special concept if the key to open the lock was sitting in it the whole time, now would it?
Cache Box
Even though we have found over 500 caches it is so nice to do something a little different every now and then and it was a joy to take a special trip out just to pick this one up today. The only shame was that it is a premium only cache which means that Sam couldn’t sign the log as well, but he seemed happy enough to be the one to actually unlock the box.
Washknight - Geocaching Blind 
My favourite all time cache (unfortunately now archived because the cache was damaged by wet weather) was called Pandora’s Box. It was placed outside a a small village in the Algarve called Odiaxere (pronounced Oh Dee Ash Err). It involved finding instructions at stage 1, answering various questions where the answers could be found in the village in stage 2 and then going to the coords for stage 3 that were given at stage 1. Stage 3 was another cache with the final coords in it – stage 4.
However, the information gained at stage 2 helped to open the box, not find it. It was a superbly built wooden construction of chinese origin where you had to slide panels this way and that according to the information gleaned at stage 2. About 10 moves from memory.
The owner, geocaching name Espargosas (Asparagus in Portuguese), is over 80 and still builds the most incredible caches in his workshop – false trees, beehives and other things that I won’t mention in case it spoils it for others.
It’s difficult to tghink of new cache containers and new puzzles. When you come across one, like Bones1’s cache that you describe, it’s a real bonus.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow those caches sound amazing. I can only dream of constructing something like that.
LikeLike
Yay, so glad you got to find it. If it had been me finding the key yesterday, I would have had to find the lockbox straight away. How could you sleep last night?
LikeLike
I don’t know how legit it is, but I heard of a back door approach to signing found premiums while on basic membership….Go to the cache page (using your account) on GC.com then on the log this find box right click and copy the link. Then go into Sam’s account and paste the link….
LikeLike
I am a little unsure what the advantage there is making your cache a premium only? I have basic but my friends are premium so when with them I just sign the logs anyway.
LikeLike
Some COs say that premium caches tend to get muggled less but i can’t quite see how that would be
LikeLike
Yeah i heard about that. I know the CO in this case and wouldn’t want to offend hin. Perhaps i will ask him if he minds
LikeLike
That’s probably the better way round it.
LikeLike
I did not realise you couldnt sign log I knew you could not log as found on website. Live and learn
LikeLike
That whole cache package sounds amazing, beautiful scenery original idea.
LikeLike
Yes i would have posted more pics but didn’t want to give the location away to :)local cachers.
LikeLike
It’s a fun cache! Some COs can be a bit picky about PMO caches* but bones1 is a nice chap – ask him if Sam can log it. The theory about non-PMO caches is that the “malicious muggler” can easily find the caches and muggle them without the expense of a Premium account. There have been spates of this in the BBH area.
* I’m not 🙂
LikeLike