Musings about Geocaching: 2005-09-25

Thursday, September 29, 2005

A nice menu of caches over our two days of caching

Over the two days of caching we found one Locationless site, some Virtual caches, some Multi caches, and several Traditional caches, including ammo-can caches, Rubbermaid-container caches, a "mailbox cache," and an Altoids-tin micro out in an area where an ammo can could have been hidden. However, since the hiding place is underneath a transmission tower, the ammo can would have been really suspicious-looking, while the rusty altoids tin in a crinkled and torn plastic bag is just . . . well, I won't say it . . .

On Tuesday, we finally found an elusive cache that is just so cute. We looked and looked for this little guy, on three different trips, and I'm so glad we didn't hurt him in our previous, sometimes-aggressive searches.

We cleared up some DNFs from the week before. One was a very well-done Multi that took us through a nice park and nature trail where we saw this huge old oak tree that harbors a beehive in its trunk.

Our DNF was because we got mixed up about the number of waypoints. When we were looking for the ammo can, we should have been looking for another well-cammoed waypoint that went with the name of the cache, "Sticks and Stones."

We found one multi-cache by GRNZOOM and DNF'd another one of their's that hadn't been found since July. P.T. locked her keys in the car (due to what I think is a design flaw which allows that to happen), so we got to see the inside of the nearby shopping center afterall when we walked over there to find a payphone. Good thing my purse was locked in the car, or I might have been tempted by all those interesting stores.

Since we had already looked for "The Shopper's Cache" for a quite a while, once the man used the special "gizmo" to get the door open and get us back in the car, we took off and headed for Black Mountain. We needed to find a cache we DNF'd the week before and wanted to look for more that had been placed since the recent fire that scorched the area recently. There was an amazing contrast between the completely-scorched area and the overgrown chapparel vegetation on the non-burned hills.

On the trail, we found the melted remains of one of the Easter Egg caches.

I found six caches on that trail which was, in places, very rocky and difficult to walk. If I go back to find the remaining caches on Black Mountain, I'll have to trade my beloved, comfortable Chaco sandals for my hiking boots for the ankle support the offer.

On our way home we stopped at a multi-cache we DNF'd the week before. At the picnic, I learned that the cache was actually where we looked, however we had been put off by all the dirt and spider webs underneath that lamppost skirt. On this second trip, we found the cache under there without getting bitten by the spiders nesting there.

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Wednesday we finally completed "Lassie, Get Help," which involved six different trips to Kit Carson Park over a period of several weeks. With the high pressure system building in the area, the temperature kept climbing, so P.T. decided to head to for the beach area where it would be cooler than 98 degrees. On the way, we drove by a site for the "Pair of Quintuplets" Locationless cache. This involved getting a picture of the GPSr with the specific reading of a pair of quintuplets -- not an easy task when the site is next to a two-storey building where the satellites were limited.

I took lots of pictures -- good thing digital "film" is cheap -- with one digit or another off by one, but I finally got this one during the couple of seconds that it lasted on the GPSr.

One of the Virtuals involved a .1 mile walk out on the jetty. To complete the task, we had to remind the cache owner of his vacation by telling him about the things found in the walkway.

I checked out Duncan!'s picture he posted for that cache, and it was so astounding, I would like to repost it here. Nice job, Duncan!

We met another Geocacher, LongWalker, at "Pier View," a cache we couldn't find. P.T. finally called Chuy, but her Sprint cell phone kept losing the signal before she could get the details about the cache location from him. Finally, P.T. borrowed LongWalker's Verizon phone and she was able to find out where the cache was hidden. Only problem was, we couldn't retrieve it. It had been pushed too far into its hiding place. I managed to hook it with the temple piece of my sunglasses. All three of us signed the log and then we replaced it -- but not in the same position where we found it.

On our way back south, we found the micro beneath the transmission-line tower, as well as another cache, for which the cache owner didn't give trail access information. Once again I have to thank Chuy because he put the street name in his log, stating he didn't think it was part of the game to keep trail access a "secret."

I agree completely, especially now that gas has gone up in price more than $.50 a gallon since I started caching in January. One of my least favorite caches of all time is one where the cache owner thought it was cute to not tell you how to access a cache located in a suburban alley in an area of very, very steep and long private driveways.

Both "Elusive micros beneath transmission-line towers" and "No trail access information in suburban neighborhoods" might make hot topics for the Forums.

Of the Virtual caches we found, I haven't logged one of them yet because I have to compose a poem. I don't have too many rhymes running around in my head right now. That is very unlike the time after I spent three days at the Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko several years ago when I talked in rhymes for days . . .

But, maybe it is time to stop writing in prose and see if I can get the creative juices flowing . . .

Monday, September 26, 2005

Sunday's Geo-Rock-tober Fest was a great success

The Dillon Gang, Dan-oh, and Bob & the 3 Bears organized the "Octoberfest" picnic at Mast Park in Santee for September 25. It was well-attended by Geocachers from this area, as well as from north of here. Some of the highest-number cachers in Southern California were in attendance, but the newbie cachers were not forgotten with the competition that was offered on a trail with several camouflaged waypoints.

I didn't do the trail because I was having way too much fun talking to HelBobDuo and Fattboy and Team Fatman and T.R. Violin and LostGuy51 and the better half of the Senior Sleuths and Dan-oh and Duncan! and Let's Look Over Thayer. I especially wanted to meet him because his logs are so fun to read. I also enjoyed reading the description of and then finding his "Gipionysius and the Pirates" cache with the "cammoed mammal."

During the afternoon, I got some tips for caches on which I logged DNFs, so I can proceed with confidence, I hope, to success on my return to those caches.

Cornerstone4 brought along his Geocoin collection and shared the numbers with all of us. There are a lot more icons on my cache page now.

Thank you, C4, and the others who shared

After the picnic was over at 4:00, P.T. and I found a new cache at the Home Depot in Santee and then we were off to her "Kramer's Hole in One" cache. She had a bunch of golfballs to add to the cache container, and I hadn't found it yet. Since a T.R. Violin cache was nearby, we walked up to that one. It was painted to exactly match its hiding place, but I found it right away. I like those kind . . . [grin]

I never knew there was an access trail to MTRP up that residential street. Now I have to make a return trip someday because there are many more caches on that side of the park.

So, a big THANKS goes out to The Dillon Gang, Dan-oh, and Bob & the 3 Bears for organizing and pulling off a very fun, very infomative, very entertaining Geocaching Event.