Memorial Day Geocache trip to Julian and beyond
Ten in the morning was the meeting time for our trip to Julian. We piled all our gear into my car and took off, hoping this route would keep us from encountering the Memorial Day crowds and we did avoid the crowds, until we arrived in Julian.
But before that happened, we stopped to look for a cache called "Fishin' Buddies." No one had looked for it for quite a while, and it had gone missing in the past and been replaced once before. After a lengthy, thorough search of GZ, we had to log it as a DNF in our Palm Pilots and walk the .3 of a mile back to the car.
I was hoping these fisherman were catching more than we had "caught" so far.
From the lake we made it to crowded Julian, but we found a parking place and walked over to Julian Jail which is a Virtual.
There was a cache down the grade on the way to Borrego Springs that got us started in that direction, as opposed to the other direction south and west of Julian. Little did we know as we were looking for it, that the cache had been archived two weeks earlier because it had been muggled once again. That is the first time GSAK didn't update the web site information correctly, but it might have been the original .gpx file that was at fault, as opposed to Clyde's excellent piece of software.
Once we were that far down the grade, we continued to the "Cache Catcher" and "The Lonely Mailbox." The views down there were beautiful and the mare's tail clouds made the usually-solid-blue sky interesting for a change.
We looked for a cache called "Horsin' Around," and became two more people with DNFs to log. It is time for the owner of that cache to either verify that it is either there, or not, and quit horsin' around. At least that was the same parking area for "Boundary" and the walk up to that traditional cache in an ammo can was beautiful. Many of the different species of cacti in the area were in bloom.
Even the view to the west from the parking area was beautiful with the mare's tail clouds spreading across the sky.
Along this road there are several other caches and the one at "Horsie Haven" provided us with a profusion of different wildflowers including this one.
My number 200 cache was up the road a piece. It was another "Treasure Tree" cache placed near the hugest, oldest manzanita tree I had ever seen.
Soon after this it was time to head west and work our way back home. As we drove through the Indian Reservation toward Santa Isabel, we remarked on how beautiful that drive is, and how there are no caches in the area. I think it is time for someone, or several cachers, to place a number of micro caches along the route just so people will be motivated to experience that beautiful stretch of road.
Finally we arrived in Santa Isabel just when the light was perfect for photography.
Before the day we over we had one more DNF where the cache owner placed a micro in a rock pile large enough to hide an ammo can or two or three. Even a very experienced cacher with more than 1000 finds did not find this one a few weeks before we arrived on the scene. I don't consider such a cache a "clever hide," just a "frustrating hide."
From that location, we walked up to "Cows in the Meadow." It was a nice end-of-the-day walk up a little nature trail to the cache location that looks down on some very pretty meadows.
To the north, there is a large hill that still shows the evidence of the fire that ravaged the area in October of 2003. The chaparral ecosystem has adapted to fire over time, and it is remarkable to those of us who saw the devasting moonscapes in this area shortly after the fires raged to see just how much of the vegetation is recovering, and how quickly.
Although there was one more cache we had left for the end of the day, it was now after sunset, so we turned toward home so we could make the drive down the winding mountain road before it got completely dark.
By the end of the day, I had logged my 200th cache in just over four months of caching and Princess Toadstool had logged her 600th cache in just about one year of caching.
But before that happened, we stopped to look for a cache called "Fishin' Buddies." No one had looked for it for quite a while, and it had gone missing in the past and been replaced once before. After a lengthy, thorough search of GZ, we had to log it as a DNF in our Palm Pilots and walk the .3 of a mile back to the car.
I was hoping these fisherman were catching more than we had "caught" so far.
From the lake we made it to crowded Julian, but we found a parking place and walked over to Julian Jail which is a Virtual.
There was a cache down the grade on the way to Borrego Springs that got us started in that direction, as opposed to the other direction south and west of Julian. Little did we know as we were looking for it, that the cache had been archived two weeks earlier because it had been muggled once again. That is the first time GSAK didn't update the web site information correctly, but it might have been the original .gpx file that was at fault, as opposed to Clyde's excellent piece of software.
Once we were that far down the grade, we continued to the "Cache Catcher" and "The Lonely Mailbox." The views down there were beautiful and the mare's tail clouds made the usually-solid-blue sky interesting for a change.
We looked for a cache called "Horsin' Around," and became two more people with DNFs to log. It is time for the owner of that cache to either verify that it is either there, or not, and quit horsin' around. At least that was the same parking area for "Boundary" and the walk up to that traditional cache in an ammo can was beautiful. Many of the different species of cacti in the area were in bloom.
Even the view to the west from the parking area was beautiful with the mare's tail clouds spreading across the sky.
Along this road there are several other caches and the one at "Horsie Haven" provided us with a profusion of different wildflowers including this one.
My number 200 cache was up the road a piece. It was another "Treasure Tree" cache placed near the hugest, oldest manzanita tree I had ever seen.
Soon after this it was time to head west and work our way back home. As we drove through the Indian Reservation toward Santa Isabel, we remarked on how beautiful that drive is, and how there are no caches in the area. I think it is time for someone, or several cachers, to place a number of micro caches along the route just so people will be motivated to experience that beautiful stretch of road.
Finally we arrived in Santa Isabel just when the light was perfect for photography.
Before the day we over we had one more DNF where the cache owner placed a micro in a rock pile large enough to hide an ammo can or two or three. Even a very experienced cacher with more than 1000 finds did not find this one a few weeks before we arrived on the scene. I don't consider such a cache a "clever hide," just a "frustrating hide."
From that location, we walked up to "Cows in the Meadow." It was a nice end-of-the-day walk up a little nature trail to the cache location that looks down on some very pretty meadows.
To the north, there is a large hill that still shows the evidence of the fire that ravaged the area in October of 2003. The chaparral ecosystem has adapted to fire over time, and it is remarkable to those of us who saw the devasting moonscapes in this area shortly after the fires raged to see just how much of the vegetation is recovering, and how quickly.
Although there was one more cache we had left for the end of the day, it was now after sunset, so we turned toward home so we could make the drive down the winding mountain road before it got completely dark.
By the end of the day, I had logged my 200th cache in just over four months of caching and Princess Toadstool had logged her 600th cache in just about one year of caching.
posted by Miragee at
3:20:00 PM
10-Day Forecast
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