CYA Coalition Multi-cache
Write and Mane: Collected cache in line with planned withdrawal from owning remote caches. The cache was a bit damp but otherwise serviceable. However, the same cannot be said of the owners! Stage 1 of the cache was originally just across a grassy berm from the path: now it is something of a bramble challenge. Ground zero was marked by a distinctive lone shrub, but since the last fire here, the area has regenerated with a vengeance and there are many shrubs around. So the cache would have needed some maintenance had it been continuing to exist.
Bye bye to our first owned cache after almost 19 years and just short of 100 visitors.
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This multicache involves about four miles of walking, including two on open moorland, on generally well defined paths and tracks, with about 800 feet of ascent. To reach the open moorland, it is important to use public rights of way. The main cache is a plastic container of medium size, while the first cache is a small film container.
Although only 7 miles from the centre of Cardiff, Craig yr Allt is sufficiently elevated and open to give the feel of a quiet and remote mountain. Your exertion will be rewarded by views over Caerphilly, with its famous Castle, and the Taff Valley. In the distance, on a clear day, the main peaks of the Brecon Beacons can be seen to the north, while the Somerset and North Devon coast are across the Severn Estuary to the south.
Craig yr Allt is formed of the Pennant Sandstone that marks the southern rim of the South Wales coalfield. This ridge continues westwards across the Taff Valley as Garth Hill and eastwards to Caerphilly Mountain. In the mile or so to the south of the ridge, several coal seams break the surface and you can see evidence of early working of these beside the Ridgeway path along the south face of Craig yr Allt.
Your route from the recommended parking location to the first cache should take you past these coal workings, while the directions you find there for the main cache will take you onto the top of the ridge. It is then possible to take a different descending path to make this a largely circular walk.
The suggested parking spot (co-ordinates N51 32.864, W03 15.620) is by the cemetery in the Ty Rhiw area of Taff's Well, which is about a mile from the interchange on the A470.
THIS CACHE HAS SUFFERRED A NUMBER OF TIMES FROM MUGGLES, SO PLEASE EXERCISE STEALTH AND APPROACH THE FINAL CACHE FROM BELOW (SIDE FURTHEST FROM MAIN PATH), TO AVOID CREATING AN OBVIOUS TRACK TO IT.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Gur svefg pnpur vf va n penpx va gur oenapu bs n unjgubea gerr. Gur znva pnpur vf haqre n fznyy pnvea ng sbbg bs fznyy gerr nzbatfg ovyoreevrf.