Glenfinnich Traditional Geocache
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(regular)
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Sorry to disappoint all of those whisky buffs among you but this cache is not named after that well known whisky but actually after Finnich Glen, a sandstone gorge a few miles NW of Strathblane. But with a bit of luck this spectacular natural feature won’t leave you disappointed.
There may well be a better route in from the South but my chosen parking place was SE of Croftamie, the well used stop at the junction of the A809 and B384 at coordinates N56° 02.039’ W4° 25.136’. Go through the gate there and head off to the left where the copse protrudes up into the field. You can choose to climb over the stile and head down through the trees or go round. Circling round will mean you need to climb a fence or a gate. When you get down to the Garnock Burn you’ll need to find a way across. Either bring waterproof boots, a big log or lots of rocks to throw into the burn and hop across on. The kids and I had great fun getting wet feet trying to pick our way across; we reckoned the shallowest point is about 100 m to the east. From here head back towards the Finnich Bridge, it’s obvious where you’re heading.
GPSr reception in the gorge is a bit dubious so getting a good fix before you go in would probably be a good idea though I did manage to get a lock after turning mine on once I was inside having climbed up a bit to get a better view of the sky. Accuracy was down to ±15 m though. I took ten sets of readings and the average of them all was exactly the same as the first set, northing and westing, typical! There are many likely hidey-holes and Crabby and Bacon & Eggs were vying to find the most devious. I chose one that hopefully isn’t too bad but you are probably best advised to take a copy of the spoiler photo with you just in case. The final approach involves a bit of a scramble but my two ensured me that ‘FFB would make it easily’ so there you are. The kids could see lots of faces etched into the rocks but all I could see was the outline of an ample breasted woman, a pint glass and a bunny rabbit!
I’m not sure which particular part is supposed to be the Devil’s Pulpit but a quick search on the web and you can find information on The Secret Sign, which was a fantastic sounding show performed here where the audience turned up in waterproofs and hard hats to be entertained by water features, music and live birds of prey swooping around. Apparently this is one of the best kept secrets of lowland Scotland, the stunning natural gorge has entranced generations, with its intense greenness, dramatic geology and colourful history from its druidic origins to its role as a secret covenanters meeting place
It’s obvious why this location is popular for gorge walking.
On the way back up to the car we mobbed by the sheep that suddenly seemed to appear in the field. They formed a complete circle around us and walked with us up the hill, very strange. I guess they were just hungry and wanted to eat Bacon & Eggs!
These Devonian rocks consist of sandstone and conglomerate laid down between 415 and 345 million years ago when Scotland was south of the equator and a much warmer place, oh happy days!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Frr gur cubgb