In the spring of 2011 a Geocaching friend and I decided to embark on our first 5/5 (difficulty 5, terrain 5) geocache which was a short drive from our place on work in Reading. The cache itself was placed near a bridge, VERY near a bridge.
**Warning, I manage to slip out the B word during the second video** Sorry!
Before I go on, a little information on a Bailey Bridge
“The Bailey bridge is a type of portable, pre-fabricated, truss bridge. It was developed by the British during World War II for military use and saw extensive use by both British and the American military engineering units.
A Bailey bridge had the advantages of requiring no special tools or heavy equipment to construct. The wood and steel bridge elements were small and light enough to be carried in trucks and lifted into place by hand, without requiring the use of a crane. The bridges were strong enough to carry tanks. Bailey bridges continue to be extensively used in civil engineering construction projects and to provide temporary crossings for foot and vehicle traffic.”
We found the cache easily enough, you can see it from the bank at either end, you can even see if through the slats in the top of the bridge itself (but you cannot reach it!) but its not a 5/5 for nothing!
Ive seen the cache attempted successfully with small wooden boats and ladders and simply jumping in and getting wet, however on the day we had no boat, no ladder and the water looked cold. Very cold.
Without giving too much away (you can see how we attempted it from the pictures and videos) we managed to harness ourselves underneath the bridge and reached it with minimal fuss. The exhilaration of reaching my first 5/5 was worth the physical struggle in hauling my 14st underneath and back up again after signing the cache.
I can only recommend that you give this one a try!
