September 20 and 21. Seventeen more finds (and four DNFs)
The weather has finally cooled off a bit, so we planned a few hikes on our Tuesday. But first, we had some more ideas for "Lassie, Come Home," so we stopped for the fourth time to see if we could get waypoint #2 to give up the coordinates to waypoint #3. We looked inside the pipe that holds the trash barrel, and what we saw looked like metal so we attached a magnet to the bottom of my new walking stick to see if we could get it that way. No luck. So after more than half an hour there, we took off to the next cache on our list for the day.
We took a good little hike up to "Battle Mountain View." This was another fun cache placed by the Senior Sleuths. I really enjoyed the cache and its "companions." This cross is up on the top of the steep hill.
We worked our way back across the freeway to do an intriguing multi-cache called "Sticks and Stones." If the cache owner hadn't arrived on the scene while we were searching for waypoint #1, I think this DNF would have been on that waypoint, instead of 2 1/2 hours later at a location where we mistakenly thought the final cache resided.
We found waypoint #2 easily, but made a mistake at waypoint #3 that sent us out on the trail by half a mile. We finally came back to check waypoint #3's location again and found the very cleverly-cammoed cache which housed the correct coordinates to waypoint #4. Without P.T.'s help, I would have had to give up right there, but she knew what was involved, so we persevered.
It took us a long time to find that waypoint because our coordinates had us about 24 feet away. P.T. is very persistent, and she finally found the coordinates to what we thought would be the final cache. We went to that location and looked and looked and looked and looked. Finally we went back to check our numbers, just in case we made a mistake. We hadn't. So we walked back to that location again and looked for another ten minutes before finally giving up.
Only later did we find out there is only another waypoint located there and now we have to return to finish that cache.
After spending so much time on "Sticks and Stones," it was getting late. We had enough time to do some quick and easy caches. Although I hadn't yet found the two "Rusty Tree" caches near "The Rusty Tree Nursery," I really enjoyed the humor of the cache name. Yeshua's Girls (formerly TheRamonaGirls) have placed lots of fun-to-find caches since they started caching earlier this summer.
Close to the end of the day we found "Pumphouse Posthole" which we walked right to. It was a little hard to get it out of its hiding spot, but we didn't have any trouble finding it, although some recent searchers had posted DNFs.
We ended the day after dark at a new cache called "Scorched 2." There was a fire on the side of Black Mountain that scorched the hillside and burned up several caches. This cache was placed near where the teenaged boy started the fire. With my headlamp and P.T.'s flashlight, we were unable to find it, so we ended the day with yet another DNF.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Wednesday we were going to start the day at "Scorched 2," but there were some new caches to find, so we took off to get those. One was near a fountain at my favorite grocery store, Trader Joe's. Another one, "For the Girl who Hates Geocaching," was off Fairmount Road down a little canyon. That one has a goal of convincing the cache owner's boss that Geocaching is a worthwhile activity and is not a "greedy" sport.
After finding those caches, we walked to "Go Bolts" that is close to the stadium where the San Diego Chargers play. It is a .4 mile walk along a trail parallel to noisy I-15. Along our route, we picked up lots and lots of cans and bottles, which I cashed in a couple of days later at the Recycling Center near my "Recycle Cache."
We finally finished up the local caches and headed back up north for a day of easy caches, since we had too many DNFs yesterday.
A fun cache was "Gipionysius and the Pirates" by Let's Look Over Thayer. He writes the best logs. I've really enjoyed reading them. This cache featured a "cammoed mammal."
We went to a parking area for a nearby trail to find "Carnival of the Animals." I talked to some horsewomen for a while before we tried to find the somewhat-difficult access to the cache near this fantastic Sycamore tree.
We found another cache that introduced me to a cool market in the center of Poway that has very interesting artifacts in the front lot.
In the late afternoon, we did a fun multi-cache through a surprising canyon in Poway. It was called "Under The Mistletoe." The trail was in shadow so I didn't take any pictures, but there were some fantastic old trees down there and it is a place I would like to revisit.
At the very end of the day, after dark again, we decided to try a multi-cache in a shopping center by Yeshua's Girls. We were so certain we could find it, but ended up the day with a DNF after finding three different waypoints. I think we were at the right location in the end, but the spot was so full of dirt and cobwebs, we just didn't believe that was where the cache was . . . although we did glance there with our flashlights to illuminate it.
We did find 12 caches, however, and got quite a bit of exercise on some of the climbs and walks we took.
We took a good little hike up to "Battle Mountain View." This was another fun cache placed by the Senior Sleuths. I really enjoyed the cache and its "companions." This cross is up on the top of the steep hill.
We worked our way back across the freeway to do an intriguing multi-cache called "Sticks and Stones." If the cache owner hadn't arrived on the scene while we were searching for waypoint #1, I think this DNF would have been on that waypoint, instead of 2 1/2 hours later at a location where we mistakenly thought the final cache resided.
We found waypoint #2 easily, but made a mistake at waypoint #3 that sent us out on the trail by half a mile. We finally came back to check waypoint #3's location again and found the very cleverly-cammoed cache which housed the correct coordinates to waypoint #4. Without P.T.'s help, I would have had to give up right there, but she knew what was involved, so we persevered.
It took us a long time to find that waypoint because our coordinates had us about 24 feet away. P.T. is very persistent, and she finally found the coordinates to what we thought would be the final cache. We went to that location and looked and looked and looked and looked. Finally we went back to check our numbers, just in case we made a mistake. We hadn't. So we walked back to that location again and looked for another ten minutes before finally giving up.
Only later did we find out there is only another waypoint located there and now we have to return to finish that cache.
After spending so much time on "Sticks and Stones," it was getting late. We had enough time to do some quick and easy caches. Although I hadn't yet found the two "Rusty Tree" caches near "The Rusty Tree Nursery," I really enjoyed the humor of the cache name. Yeshua's Girls (formerly TheRamonaGirls) have placed lots of fun-to-find caches since they started caching earlier this summer.
Close to the end of the day we found "Pumphouse Posthole" which we walked right to. It was a little hard to get it out of its hiding spot, but we didn't have any trouble finding it, although some recent searchers had posted DNFs.
We ended the day after dark at a new cache called "Scorched 2." There was a fire on the side of Black Mountain that scorched the hillside and burned up several caches. This cache was placed near where the teenaged boy started the fire. With my headlamp and P.T.'s flashlight, we were unable to find it, so we ended the day with yet another DNF.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Wednesday we were going to start the day at "Scorched 2," but there were some new caches to find, so we took off to get those. One was near a fountain at my favorite grocery store, Trader Joe's. Another one, "For the Girl who Hates Geocaching," was off Fairmount Road down a little canyon. That one has a goal of convincing the cache owner's boss that Geocaching is a worthwhile activity and is not a "greedy" sport.
After finding those caches, we walked to "Go Bolts" that is close to the stadium where the San Diego Chargers play. It is a .4 mile walk along a trail parallel to noisy I-15. Along our route, we picked up lots and lots of cans and bottles, which I cashed in a couple of days later at the Recycling Center near my "Recycle Cache."
We finally finished up the local caches and headed back up north for a day of easy caches, since we had too many DNFs yesterday.
A fun cache was "Gipionysius and the Pirates" by Let's Look Over Thayer. He writes the best logs. I've really enjoyed reading them. This cache featured a "cammoed mammal."
We went to a parking area for a nearby trail to find "Carnival of the Animals." I talked to some horsewomen for a while before we tried to find the somewhat-difficult access to the cache near this fantastic Sycamore tree.
We found another cache that introduced me to a cool market in the center of Poway that has very interesting artifacts in the front lot.
In the late afternoon, we did a fun multi-cache through a surprising canyon in Poway. It was called "Under The Mistletoe." The trail was in shadow so I didn't take any pictures, but there were some fantastic old trees down there and it is a place I would like to revisit.
At the very end of the day, after dark again, we decided to try a multi-cache in a shopping center by Yeshua's Girls. We were so certain we could find it, but ended up the day with a DNF after finding three different waypoints. I think we were at the right location in the end, but the spot was so full of dirt and cobwebs, we just didn't believe that was where the cache was . . . although we did glance there with our flashlights to illuminate it.
We did find 12 caches, however, and got quite a bit of exercise on some of the climbs and walks we took.
posted by Miragee at
1:43:00 PM
10-Day Forecast
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