Musings about Geocaching: 2005-03-20

Chuy and GoBolt have probably found eight caches by now

It is 10:47 on a beautiful Saturday morning. Chuy and GoBolt were going to meet at 6:00 a.m. at I-8 and Sunrise Highway. I thought about going--loaded all the waypoints into the GPSr, all the info into my "Palmie"--but I woke up feeling ill again.

Thursday night/Friday morning I did actually get sick--I hate getting sick. Good thing it didn't happen when I was on my camping trip.

I'm a bit sore from my Geocaching adventures yesterday--plus I never really recovered from the long hikes of a week ago--so it is just as well, but right this minute I'm loading in some caches I might be able to get after Easter Sunday brunch at Alicia's house tomorrow.
Addiction, What Addiction!

Now that's just weird

Okay, I'm determined to find the second stage of the three-stage multi "A Walk With Murray." I know the Altoids tin is under a rock and I'm assuming from the clue it is near this huge prickly pear cactus.

I look and I look. I turn over every rock within fifteen feet of that cactus, and even some more near the other cactus.

Finally, I give up and decide to go find "Bubbles." After finding that cute one, I go back to the beginning of "A Walk With Murray" to check the coordinates. Sure enough. I made a mistake. But I'm only off by about 12 feet.

So, I'm back at the cactus patch again and there is this huge rock. And it really stands out. I look at it and say, "Well, I don't remember that rock from before."

I move it to one side, and under it is the Altoids tin! Weird. And that isn't the first time that has happened.

I looked and looked for the cache at "25 Acres" and was about to give up since I had an appointment to take the car in for service. And then, something changes in my vision and I see it. A very well-camouflaged ammo can is there, still nearly invisible, but I can see it, and I get to log a find, and make it on time to get the car's oil changed.

Salvation Mountain

Out in the Imperial Valley, below sea level, where it gets to 120 degrees in the summertime, is a completely improbable site called Salvation Mountain.

More than a decade ago, Leonard Knight started painting this dirt bluff with leftover donated paint. He built up the shape with bales of hay or straw and created a mountain to celebrate his faith in God.

Thousands of gallons of paint have been used to create this huge piece of folkloric art. The person inside the "bracket" might give a bit of scale to this amazing structure, but until you have arrived breathless after climbing to the top, you really don't get the true scale of the mountain.

The day I was there, some people were interviewing Leonard, which wasn't easy because he couldn't hear anything. A friend who lives in nearby Slab City who has known Leonard for a long time said he must have gotten swimmer's ear again from swimming in the nearby pond.

Leonard saw me with my camera and said, "The more pictures the better." Then he asked if I was by myself. When I said I was, he told me I could take four or five of his postcards as well as one of the 200-piece jigsaw puzzles when I left. He told me where they were and said, "Help yourself."

Where does this sort of drive and creativity come from?

Oh . . . did I mention this turned out to be a Virtual Cache I was able to log after I got back?

My Joshua Tree National Park Wanderings

On my third morning in the park a man came over to my campsite saying he needed to "get rid of some gear." He and his two female companions were flying out the next day to return to Vermont. They couldn't take some of their camping equipment back with them. Part of the problem was the new TSA regulations; the other part was the cost of excess baggage. It is now $80.00.

Their generosity was much appreciated as they gave me a Coleman stove and fuel, some chairs, a water carrier, a tarp, and some delicious, homemade corn relish.

As we visited on that cold, overcast morning, John mentioned Samuelson's rocks east of Hidden Valley. I must not have listened very carefully to his description of their location south of Mile Marker 22, because when I headed out later in the morning, I wandered for more than two hours, and covered more than five miles, searching for the elusive rocks with profound writings on them.

This is what the tracks looked like:

The most wandering set of tracks were of my first, unsuccessful search. The second set of tracks were successful, although we only found three of the eight rocks.

This is the first rock we came across. Mr. Samuelson uses interesting spelling.

He carved into this huge rock:

The Rock of Faiht
And Truth
Nature is God
The Key to Life
Is Contact
Evolution is the Mother
and Father of Mankind
Without Them We.Be.Nothing.

John Samuelson 1927

Still Raining

Today I've only been Geocaching on the Forums. The weather prevents me from getting out, even though there is a cache waiting for me that hasn't been found yet.

If it wasn't a 20-mile drive, and if it wasn't pouring outside, I would head out to attempt that one.

What a year for rain it has been. More than 40 inches up here in the hills above the hamlet of Jamul. This is what the weather map looks like right now . . . we are going to get slammed any minute, and it looks like it is going to last a while tonight.