Swift Ditch - Splash and Cache

GC4M6TA

5/5 #98 as part of my Thames four-cache sprint to 100.

This was just tremendous! Easily the best inland kayak cache I've found. Why? Because it was bloody ridiculous, that's why! I approached from the westerly end, near the marina and immediately came across several trees fallen right across the width of the river. That was negotiated safely after a quick examination, and I rather expected - falsely, it transpired - that the rest of the way would be less troublesome.

WRONG!

There are trees down, and sundry other things, all the way along the river - and I was frankly shocked that I managed to navigate all the way to the cache without getting out. It is possible, but the challenge is significant and the extra fun to be had immeasurable! In a couple of places it was necessary to ski the kayak over submerged limbs and for that reason alone, as well as many submerged broken branches, I would not recommend this with an inflatable boat. Some passages were less than two feet wide.

The cache was easily found, and then I learned (opting to go back the way I came) that negotiating fallen trees in a downstream direction is much harder than upstream.....

Thanks for a tremendous cache. I can't recommend it highly enough. More people should come and have a go.

None shall pass!