“Now I wonder whaT on earTh Smaug is playing aT,” [Bilbo] said, “He is noT aT home Today, or TonighT, or whaTever it is, I do believe. If Óin and Glóin had noT losT their Tinder boxes, perhaps we can make a liTTle lighT, and have a look round before The luck Turns.”
If you can't read the code number here look at the first word on this sign. The middle two letters give you the number.
The Eccleshall Ring is a 2-3 Hour walk south of Eccleshall, based on the 13 Dwarves that accompanied The Hobbit. This cache - Óin - is the suggested starting cache. After Óin, you can travel the ring in either direction, but perhaps GC2C77J - Bofur might be a more satisfying direction to go in?
ASK Óin: Where's Gandalf? Collect the numbers from each cache if you want to find GC2C9FW - Gandalf, a bonus cache also near Eccleshall. Óin's number is on the top of the log sheet, but if that becomes unreadable, locate the number of the nearby postbox (CP?) - Óin's number is three less than the box's number (that is, CP?-3).