GC4N605 ACROSS WALES WALK CHECK 4 (NANT Y MOCH DAM) (Traditional Cache) in North Wales, United Kingdom created by signyred

This cache has been archived.

Southerntrekker: Hi There

As the owner has not responded to either my log or my colleague's previous log requesting that they check this cache I am archiving it.

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Southerntrekker
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GC4N605 ▼

A cache by signyred Message this owner

Hidden : 9/11/2013

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

Saturday 7th September 2013 saw the 50th edition of the “Across Wales Walk”. To celebrate this Golden Anniversary I decided to see if I could combine completing the walk with some geocaching and also set up some special new caches at the checkpoints. Please try and camo this one as much as possible.

WALK HISTORY
In 1963 five members of West Birmingham YHA Local Group walked from Clun to Nant y Dernol youth hostels, a distance of around 35 miles. During the walk the panoramic views brought up a discussion on the possibility of walking from the border to the sea in one day. The group's rambling leader, Roy Millard, was set the task of working out a route, checkpoints & accommodation, receiving valuable help in this task from the warden at Borth Youth Hostel.
One Saturday in October 1964 twelve group members were dropped off at the border at Felindre, having sent the night at Clun Y.H. They were backed up by another dozen 'supporters' from the YHA group and made their way via Llanidloes, Plynlimon, and Nant y moch to the coast at Borth. The only lady in the party gave up after 26 miles but, keeping together as a group most of the way, the rest all finished. The fist arrivals managed to paddle in the sea after 15 hours 20 minutes of walking but were all completely shattered.
The following year a walk across Wales was repeated with members of other YHA local groups invited and the fastest crossing was reduced to 13 hours 5 minutes. This time they were playing cricket on the beach the following day, whereas the previous year they had just about manage to hobble out to the cars to be chauffeured home!
In 1966 the group made it a national event, charging entrants 10/- to cover transport, refreshments and a certificate and the event has taken place every year since then on the first weekend in September. It soon became apparent that a cut-off time was required for finishing and this was set at 18 hours, regardless of the exact route which has changed slightly over the years but has always been around 45 miles. Since 1982 there have always been a few "Double Crossers" - people starting at the coast at 11am on the Friday who walk eastwards to the border near the Anchor Inn in time to join the start of the official westwards walk the next day!

GOLDEN JUBILEE
Saturday 7th September 2013 saw the 50th edition of the “Across Wales Walk” and this year the organisers Stuart & Judith Lamb allowed a record number of participants. So it was that 156 people set off at 5.10 am up the road towards the Kerry Ridgeway and I was one of them, hoping to successfully complete my 11th “Crossing”.
To celebrate this Golden Anniversary I decided to try and combine the walk with a little geocaching and found as many caches as I could along or close to the route. I also had the idea to create special new caches at the checkpoints and this cache is one of these. Alas it was not possible to do this at the start or finish (because of lack of daylight) or at Check 3 (where a multi & large crowds complicated matters too much) but these will hopefully follow in the not too distant future!

CHECK 4
This comes 32 miles into the walk after walkers have crossed Plynlimon.
This is the only check point that has not changed at all since the first walk. Checkers can see the walkers coming around 30 minutes or more before arriving at the check and so can get the tea and soup ready. Walkers reaching the dam feel they have broken the back of the route and only (?) have another 13 miles of (mostly) downhill walking to go to the finish! Nevertheless there are still quite a few who drop out at the next check.
The checkpoint is usually a tent or gazebo at he roadside and this is a roadside cache as well. You do not have to enter the water board's land to reach it.

Another cache on or close to the mountainous section of the route is:-
GCJPPC

A huge THANK YOU to stuart67 / Stuart Lamb, the organiser of the AWW for helping me by placing a new container in a slightly new position in August 2016, thereby hopefully improving the geocaching experience for future finders. And to wavydale (Mr Wubbs) for putting a new container in place in July 2018 when the old one had gone missing. Sadly that didn't last very long and so I'm extremely grateful to Spunky Spider & CherryBubb for putting new pot and log sheet in place in February 2019 and to sniffadogz for similar help in September 2020. All this help has been very much appreciated as I don't live local.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Ng gur onfr bs cbfg ng gbc bs n jnyy, HAQRE n syng fgbar & zbff .

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)