I spent Easter weekend in the Lake District researching an article and looking for a selection of hidden items. I was geocaching. If you have not heard of geocaching, it is possibly the fastest growing outdoor activity in the UK.
Geocaching weekend near Ambleside
I spent Easter weekend in the Lake District researching an article and looking for a selection of hidden items. I was geocaching. If you have not heard of geocaching, it is possibly the fastest growing outdoor activity in the UK. You use a GPS or a smart phone to navigate to a specific location, then try and find a container that has been hidden by another geocache enthusiast. There are hundreds of thousands of caches hidden all over the UK.
I stayed near to Ambleside choosing my accommodation from this map of hostels near Ambleside. The cache I was most eager to find was in an old quarry, just outside Little Langdale. Many people think a quarry is a pit in the ground or the side of hill, the one I was searching for had been hollowed out of the inside of a hill! A free place to enter, managed by the National Trust, Cathedral Cavern is a man made cavern the size of a Cathedral – with a spectacular pillar and a marvelous window out to the sky. As you walk through the cave towards the back you can scramble up a bit of a rock face to find an entrance to a long tunnel you can walk through. Bring a good torch and mind your head! Many people I passed on the paths along the edge of this had never heard of the place. So perhaps it’s a bit of a hidden gem?
Colwith Force Waterfall
Another highlight of my exploration of the area was a stunning waterfall. Colwith Force is accessed by a gentle walk with good views. As you get near the falls, keep an eye out for the fallen log that has a skin of coins embedded into it. As you approach Colwith Force, you’ll soon hear it coming: a six-tier torrent blasting into the ravine below. The best view of the falls is from a graveled side path below the falls, which drop in several stages down a total height of about 40 feet, with the final double spout being the most spectacular feature. It is set in beautiful woodland making it quite enchanting.
If you would like to know more about geocaching, additional information can be found at www.geocaching.com. You can create a free account and gain access to a database of over 2 million hidden items worldwide. Feel free to contact me for any further information [email protected]