Fife Rocks! Series: Rippled Sandstone Letterbox Hybrid
Fife Rocks! Series: Rippled Sandstone
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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This is the thirteenth cache in a letterbox series inspired by the Geological Wall at St Andrews.
The Geological Wall contains 22 rocks collected from all over Fife. A leaflet created by the St Andrews Geological Heritage Project gives details of each rock, along with Ordnance Survey grid references of their source localities. Hopefully this series will end up taking cachers to each of these localities. It is my intention to hide the caches as close as possible to the grid references given in the leaflet - this may mean that the caches are not necessarily going to be hidden in scenic, historical or interesting places! The information about the rock given below has been adapted from the Geological Wall leaflet.
The rippled surface on the sandstone was created by the action of waves on sand. As ripples form today on sandy beaches so this rock was likely to have once been the ripples surface of an ancient beach.
This cache can be found a short detour away from the path you need to follow for the multi cache “(Almost) The St Andrews Geological Trail” (GCNMXX)- you may wish to include this as part of that trail. Please note that this cache is at beach level whereas the path you will need to follow for the multi cache will take you along the top of the cliffs, so you will have to double back along the beach to return to the multicache path after completing this one, or continue along the beach to Maiden Rock- in which case you can complete the clue there before ascending and doubling back slightly to complete the Kinkell landslip clue.
If you have already completed the multicache, then park at the Leisure Centre - N56 19.998 W002 46.765, and head out onto the shore. You will have to access this cache from the beach, NOT from above! It will also be difficult to make your way to this cache during high tide, so please check the tide tables before attempting this cache.
Once again you will have to watch your footing as you will need to walk over assorted rocks and boulders! Please be careful and look out for slippery bits!
As you make your way out to the cache, stay close to the top of the shore and keep your eyes peeled for pieces of rippled sandstone - they are often quite slab-like and flat on top. The ripples just look the same as ripples on sand, only they are made of rock! Good examples can be found near N56 19.941 W002 46.375, along the top shore from N56 19.946 W002 46.317 onwards (there is a particulary large slab at N56 19.945 W002 46.301), and after the cache at N56 19.940 W002 46.219 and 226 - these being found in chunks at the bottom of the Kinkell landslip.
Unfortunately, this cache has had to be moved from it's original location and is now NOT SUITABLE for CHILDREN to retrieve. This cache should only be attempted if you are reasonably agile and don't mind CLIMBING a short distance. Please take care when retrieving it - the slope is steep and it will be slippy and unstable in wet weather. I lost my footing when hiding it and had a very scary moment before regaining my balance - I would hate for someone to injure themselves whilst doing this, so if you have any doubts then don't attempt it!
Co-ordinates were not taken directly at the hiding place as accuracy was so poor. The co-ordinates above are for the base of the slope at the corner of the headland. You should be able to see Maiden Rock on one side and the Leisure Centre on the other from the position where you need to start your climb. If you are in the correct position you should see a moss covered steep slope in front of you. The cache is hidden approximately 3-4 metres up, under the gorse bushes on the left hand side. A piece of rippled sandstone covers it.
Please be careful when taking it out and replacing it because it is on a very narrow ledge and the slightest nudge might make it fall deeper under the gorse!
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)