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PLEASE TAKE CARE! A cache on the wilder side of Great Mell Fell. Time to test out your route finding skills, as a number of natural hazards present themselves on this walk. The reward is finding this terrific tree, and maybe seeing some wild life - deer, foxes, voles, birds of prey, woodpeckers etc.
Cache placed with the kind permission of the National Trust. Please keep dogs on a lead especially as sheep often graze the fell and from spring to summer, ground nesting birds are in abundance in the tussocks.
Great Mell Fell is a prominent lump of a hill that looks fairly uninteresting from a distance - it may be thought of as merely a grand viewpoint for the bigger fells. But it holds many intimate secrets for those that care to look and explore - wild animals and birds find many perfect habitats on the sheltered lower slopes, and areas of bog and boulders are perfect for plants, fungus and lichens to develop undisturbed - so watch your feet!
The cache is in a massive tree as its name suggests. Once the summer foliage is out, it will certainly be easier to find by approaching from higher ground. Use the second footpath (gate and stile) off the track to the right and branch uphill on the clear path to the right after passing the lower trees; then aim for the Oak Tree waypoint. From there just head downhill and look for an enormous tree!
Alternatively find the summit cache first then follow sheep tracks/fox trails in the general direction of the beech cache.
The cache is hidden in a hole in a thick branch covered by some easy to see stick-o-flage. The hole is around 6 feet above ground level.
WARNING: Some of the ground is very rough - boulders, tree roots covered in moss, high bracken, bogs, fallen trees, pointy sticking out branches, ankle-breaking rabbit holes...please be very careful where you place your feet and take care not to get poked in the eye by spiky branches!
Also if your kids want to climb the tree, don't let them go up too high in case branches snap off - beeches are notorious for shedding branches.
Once you have found the cache: to reach the lower footpath, in order to return to your parking place, head more or less straight downhill and you will soon meet it. Turn right onto it to return to the track at the FIRST gate and stile by the National Trust sign.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ybbx sebz orybj BE pyvzo hc n fubeg jnl naq ernpu bire naq whfg gb lbhe evtug.