Blog Template Musings about Geocaching: 2008-03-16

Musings about Geocaching

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Great "We Be Jeepin'" Event in the desert

Until Friday afternoon, I didn't know if I had a ride out to the desert for this Event, but Team Fatman offered a seat in his Toyota truck and I accepted his offer. Since I haven't been feeling well for the past several days, I probably would not have gone if he had not posted in the Events thread, giving me an opportunity to email him impulsively.

We had a great day and I took lots and lots of pictures, and movies, of the activities during the day. I wish I had felt better . . . I'm sure I would have been better company.

Here is the Profile of our long drive from S2 to the outskirts of Ocotillo Wells where the Event ended at SKILLET's place where we have had several Campouts, Cookouts, and Events.






My day started when the alarm went off at 3:45 in the morning . . .

I got up, fixed my coffee, ate some breakfast, and drove to Santee to meet Team Fatman. From there we went to Denny's in Lakeside to join other cachers and have breakfast. Finally, we were on the road to meet up with the rest of the group who came down to the desert from Ramona. It was a beautiful day, but since I was entering waypoints in my GPSr as we drove along, I didn't take any pictures, although the scenery was fantastic in the early-morning light.

After everyone got together at the Canyon Sin Nombre meeting area, we got ready to head out.



Team Adelos prepared by letting the air out of his tires for a more comfortable ride.




On our way out to the desert in the morning, I mentioned a cache that was on one of my "Historic Cache" lists. Because we were with such a large group, I didn't think I would get to find it, but at the first waypoint where everyone gathered, RUSCAL said he was driving TrailGators down to "4WD Only Need Apply." I begged a ride and was about to climb into the back of RUSCAL's Jeep when Team Fatman said he would drive there also.

Along the way, we saw this huge track of a rattlesnake where it had crossed the road.


We splashed through some water in a "desert swamp."



We finally arrived at GZ where we saw some historical artifacts left over from when the stage used to run through here.



As I upload the pictures, I'll post them here . . . and hope to get back to tell the story later.
















Here is the link for one of the YouTube movies of RUSCAL and Team Fatman:



And, here is another quick video of the QDman going down the rocky section of the road.



On the drive home through the Ramona area that was devastated by wildfire last October, it was beautiful in the late afternoon light. The fields were so green, I wished there had been time to stop and take some pictures. The contrast between my memory of the blackened devastation we saw on the way back from the Desert Campout last October, when I was evacuated from my home, and the way the area looks now, almost defies logic.

It was a very fun day and I am very grateful to Team Fatman for doing all that driving.


Friday, March 21, 2008

Some pictures from a hike yesterday

I had not planned on driving into town, but dillweed suggested meeting for a short hike in the morning, so I left the bright sunshine at this elevation and drove down the hill into the overcast and fog to meet at a Health Food Store in El Cajon. I loaded my stuff into her vehicle and she drove the rest of the way to the trailhead for "Golden Hammer" and several other caches.

"Golden Hammer" is an elusive cache I had to return to twice in order to finally find it. This is what that challenging rockpile looked like before the morning mist lifted.



I let dillweed climb around on the rocks and search for the cache on her own. I took a few pictures of the graffiti-painted rocks, and then finally gave dillweed a hint that enabled her to find the ammo can.



The view from up there is spectacular, on a clear day. Today, as the overcast burned off, we could see some of the very large houses built on view lots to the northwest.



From "Golden Hammer," we continued down the trail to a couple of other caches before finally climbing up a hill to a cache that has been in my GSAK database for more than three years, "In-spire-ational." What a fantastic cache location, and what a lonely cache. It only gets found a couple of times a year, which is too bad, because it really isn't a very long hike, and it isn't a long drive to the trailhead either, compared to how far people have to drive to get to some of my caches.




This interesting, and whimsical, rock formation could be seen from the cache location.



However, I didn't notice it until we were packing up to head back down. Until then, we had been busy doing some cache maintenance. The container is a plastic file box, and it was full of water . . . It took a while to dry off the little army men and other swag that survived the immersion. We "trashed out" several other items that didn't survive the flood . . . Fortunately, the logbook was protected by its ziplock bag.

As we walked back up the hill, we saw this old tombstone that probably marks someone's favorite dog that accompanied its owner on hikes to this vantage point on many occasions.


From this angle, the rock formation framed a faint Lyons Peak to the east and Otay Mountain to the south.



There were quite a few wildflowers blooming, and in the next few weeks, a profusion of flowers, unlike what has occurred after recent, drier years, should occur.



There are still more unfound caches along the trails in that area, so I hope to get back out there soon to get more pictures of the different flowers including daisies of other colors, lupines with tall purple spikes of flowers, and droopy-headed peonies.


Wednesday, March 19, 2008

No caching today, but I got some gas money

Gas is more than $3.50 a gallon here, which puts a crimp in my ability to drive very often since I live a long distance from town.

So, since I couldn't justify driving my car anywhere today, I decided to get some exercise, and get some gas money, by walking along the along the road out here and picking up cans and bottles.

Boy, the people who drive this road are sure slobs, but I guess I should be thankful because I brought back three heavy bags of cans and bottles, which should be enough for a couple of gallons of gas for my next caching adventure after I take them down the hill to the Recycling Center.



 

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