Having had my path to Rough Tor blocked by the raging white water of the West Dart, and not having the good sense to retrace my steps, this cache marked the return to my itinerary and intended route after the detour around  West Dart Head.  However, it proved to be a short lived return.
At Summer Hill cache I had discovered to my horror just how awfully my new outdoor jacket had performed - the fabric was watertight but the zips were not - my geocaching stamp had been completely flooded out and ruined in my left chest pocket, my smartphone had been flooded out in my right chest pocket and was alive but malfunctioning, and my cache notes and itinerary had turned to pulp in my right side pocket.  Then I had discovered that the main zip had leaked too and all my base layers were soaked. Although keeping my remaining dry clothes dry would have made more sense from a survival perspective, I had swapped the failed new jacket for the combination of old ski jacket and cagoul, which provided greater warmth and better morale.

Unfortunately, though the instructions were clear enough it was quite clear where the cache should be, due to limited options, GZ was completely waterlogged and though I had a good rummage in the water, there was no sign of the cache. It had either floated away or was bobbing around somewhere under the rock beyond my reach!  The nearby Groundspeak cache, slightly further from the menhir, was regrettably missing too.
Next on my itinerary was The Tinners' Rabbits OpenCache - another Amberel Top Cache - but to get there, I needed to cross the Cowsic River.

Theoretically this should have been a small stream, rather narrower than the West Dart River that had defeated me earlier, and after my gymnastics on the bog, jumping over broad extents of water, I had renewed confidence that I would be able to leap across it, if not cross on rocks. How wrong I was!  The Cowsic River has also a raging torrent with submerged rocks and though it was indeed much narrower than the West Dart, it too was not passable. I found one spot where I felt I could have crossed if I had the confidence to leap, but I realised that leaping across still water and an equivalent width of raging torrent were actually very different propositions and thought the wiser of it.  I also realised that back-tracking via Cowsic Head was not an option either as the extra time and distance involved would have ensured I could not finish in daylight. With the disappointment of the 2 DNFs I decided very belatedly to call it a day and just get myself off the moor as quickly as I could.

I thus remained on the east side of the Cowsic River and clambered southwards to pick up the Lych Way for my return. However, this was probably the hardest terrain I encountered all day - a steep hillside which was basically one wide stream, very boggy in many places and before I had even got out of it, twilight descended. The loss of light was barely noticable at first because I had been in cloud all day anyway, and I just about made it out onto the shoulder of the next hill before I needed my head torch.

I would love to come back for this cache, but in view of the distance from home, won't do so until it has been found by others or replaced.
TFTH Sandvika