CacheCrazy.Com

LEAVES OF THREE...

noreply@blogger.com (BigAl) — Thu, 23 May 2013 04:01:00 +0000

WELCOME TO
THIRSTY
THURSDAY!!

Grab a cup of coffee, or tea, sit back and let the
scratching begin; or not.

Ever have one of those caching trips where you approach the cache just to find out that there are these little vines with pretty little leaves surrounding GZ? You know the kind I'm talking about right? You don't? Well let me explain.

The old saying of "leaves of three leave them be" is very true. The leaves I'm talking about are Poison Ivy leaves. This plant grows on a vine and always has three leaves in a clump. It can grow very low to the ground, or it can grow right up the side of a tree.

Poison ivy is dangerous all year long so don't think that just because it's winter-time you're safe because you're not. All it takes is one little touch and you can contract the itchies.

We were in Ohio visiting my sister when we came across a cache that was located in a little woods. The cache page said there was "Some" poison ivy nearby, but what we found was poison ivy everywhere at GZ. I was able to get in and get it, but it was a little scary. We found lots of caches that trip and they were all around poison ivy. We finally decided that the Ohio State plant should
be poison ivy. Be sure when you're out caching that you check out the attributes listed on the cache page. I have actually contacted some COs and told them they need to update their pages and include the poison ivy icon. The last thing you want is for one of your young ones to get into it unexpectedly.

There is another vine that is similar to poison ivy. It is not poisonous, but it can be mildly irritating to some people. It has 5 leaves that are green and it is called Virginia Creeper.

It grows on the ground

And it grows on trees

Virginia Creeper (Left) Poison Ivy (Right)

So what do you do if you get the sap (urushiol) from a poison ivy plant on yourself? The first thing to do is "Don't panic". You will live through it. If you are allergic to it, and most people are, you will get a red rash wherever you got the sap. Here are some suggestions, from Dr. Greene, if you do get it on yourself:

Here are some tips for treating poison ivy, oak, and sumac rashes:

Try using a towel or washcloth soaked in either plain tap water or Burow's Solution (an astringent solution -- you can make it yourself using Domeboro tablets or powder packets available over-the-counter). This can help relieve the intense itching and remove dry crust that has formed as a result of the rash.
A fan blowing over the cool compress will diminish some of the heat of the itching and help to dry up some of the ooze coming from the rash. As the skin is cooling, the blood vessels compress and that cuts down on the itching and the new ooze.
Some dermatologists recommend rubbing an ice cube gently over the rash several times a day, then letting the skin air-dry.
Soaking in a tub, particularly using an oatmeal bath such as Aveeno, can also be very soothing to the itch. Be sure the bath is cool or lukewarm -- but not hot -- as heat tends to make the rash even more inflamed.
After the cooling treatment (using any of the forms mentioned above), coat the rash with a shake lotion such as calamine. This continues to relieve the itching and helps to dry up the blisters.
Be sure to check the expiration date on an old calamine bottle in your medicine cabinet, since it may not be effective after the expiration date. Be sure the shake lotion does not contain benzocaine, zirconium, or a topical antihistamine, such as Benadryl. These can actually make the rash worse by producing their own allergic reactions when applied to already sensitive skin.
Applying hydrocortisone or another topical corticosteroid will help suppress the itching and give temporary relief, but does little to hasten the drying up of the rash.
Taking an oral antihistamine, such as Benadryl, can help with the itching quite a bit, although it does not speed up resolution of the rash. Taking Benadryl at nighttime will make most people drowsy and help them sleep through the night without itching.
Don't use Benadryl cream or spray topically, because this can cause its own skin reaction.
In severe cases of poison ivy, poison oak, or poison sumac, it is a good idea to see a doctor. Sometimes large blisters need to be drained, and sometimes an oral steroid such as prednisone may be useful. Occasionally, even a steroid injection is needed.
Systemic steroids produce rapid resolution of both the itching and the rash. If they are needed, a gradually tapering dosage over about 12 days should be given. The dosage needs to be tapered to avoid side effects after discontinuing use, and the entire course should be taken since stopping earlier may result in a rebound rash as bad as the original.

Author and Review InfoAlan Greene, MD, FAAP

If you're out caching please be careful of this poisonous plant. The last thing you want to do is spend the rest of your day itching because you were not careful. Let's have a safe and non irritating summer.

Why Not Wednesday ~ The $5 Cache

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Bloodhounded) — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

I have been jonesing for an adventure all week, so today after work I piled into the van and headed north to the Blue Ridge mountains.

My first stop was a cache that was published yesterday. It is on a windy road in a remote part of Watuga County. It was just a guard rail cache, but it gave me some amazing views, so I didn't mind so much.

I was also First To Find. Apparently cachers don't go out here that much (given the remoteness I am not overly surprised). The FTF prize was 5 one dollar bills. Cha-ching! I've never made money from a cache before - not to shabby for something I'd go out and do anyway.

Armed with newfound gas money, I continued up the mountains to the Blue Ridge Parkway, where I did some more caching, and grabbed some photos for a photography scavenger hunt I am participating in (more on that later).

Frequent readers of this blog will know that the Blue Ridge Parkway is my absolutely most favorite road to be on. The views are always amazing, and today did not disappoint.

I only had a few hours to explore, but it was enough to satisfy my urge to explore - at least until tomorrow.

I'll leave you with a few more pictures from my (rather short) adventure in the mountains.

______________________________________________________

This article was written by Dave DeBaeremaeker. If you liked this post please feel free to check out some of his adventures and hi-jinks on his personal blog: Only Googlebot Reads This Blog.

Three Fun Geocaches In The Woods

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Bloodhounded) — Tue, 21 May 2013 04:30:00 +0000

Today we did 12 geocaches in Rockford, Illinois, but my 3 favorites were the ones we did in the wooded sections of Alpine Park.

The first one was called "Alpine Hill View" GC2067P. We had to cross a small stream and climb up a hill to find the cache.....

The second one was called "Alpine Park" GC2HFKH and was my favorite cache of the day because of the trail we had to hike up ...

and down.....

and then the cliff's we had to climb up and down in order to find the cache....

Do you see the cache??

Then the last one at Alpine Park was called "Nature's Bridge" GC26HPP. To get to this one, we had to hike up an almost dry creek bed....

and across a series of natural bridges.....

Locate the cache.......

And then hike back out.....

Alpine Park was just beautiful and it was a perfect day to be out hiking and geocaching.

Yonah Mountain Was A "BEAR", But We Did It!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Bloodhounded) — Mon, 20 May 2013 05:30:00 +0000

Yonah is the Cherokee word for Bear.

"We did it!!" That's what my wife and I said to each other as we reached the summit of Yonah Mountain. There was somewhat of an exhausted, but excited tone to our quip, too...LOL. Nevertheless, there we stood on top of a giant of a mountain top looking down over some of the most beautiful land that one could ever wish to see. It was breathtaking. It was extraordinary. It was satisfying.

In an earlier post, I revealed that Yonah had long mesmerized me. Each time we took a trip to North Georgia, whether we were going to Unicoi State Park, Helen, Blairsville, or Vogel State Park, we passed by Yonah. (Yonah Mountain is located between Helen and Cleveland, Ga. on highway 75) And each time we'd pass by, I'd catch Yonah staring at me. For years it was if she was taunting me...daring me. I just couldn't get it out of my mind. Not only that, but each time we'd pass by, I'd insist on stopping and taking a picture of the great mountain. Though size wise, Yonah isn't that spectacular, her shape and her unique granite face causes her to stick out among the other peeks in the area. She is the largest peak in the Peidmont Range of the Chattahoochee National Forrest and her elevation is 3166 ft. The trail leading to the summit is 2.5 miles long and there is a gain of 1400 feet. This mountain hike would prove to be both challenging and strenuous, but very rewarding, as well.

Leading up to our hike, I did quite a bit of online research about the mountain and had even watched a few YouTube videos. Nothing that I read about or watched seemed to deter me from this endeavor. I was sure that we could do it, and we did.

In spite of the rocky trail, at times there were inclines which were very difficult for us. In fact, I actually started getting blisters on the back of my heels for the first time ever while hiking. Other times, the trail required us to climb over boulders or climb stone stairways. Thankfully, the day that we hiked was dry, though the area had recently received quite a bit of rain. Additionally, there were areas along the path in which the trail would narrow significantly, perhaps to about 8-10 inches wide. And while this didn't necessarily pose a problem for us, it was quite demanding when this happened along some of the side ridges of the mountain. The drop was quite steep and would've caused serious, if not fatal injury had one of us slipped and fell.

Adding to the excitement of this hike was the fact that a group of Army Rangers were performing maneuvers on the mountain. According to Wikipedia, the 5th Ranger Training Battalion conducts the Mountain Phase of Ranger Training on the mountain. On three different occasions, we were met along the trail by a squad of Rangers making their way down the mountain. (They were being shuttled to the mountain by a helicopter that made multiple landings at a staging area near the top of the mountain). We would gladly step aside until they all passed. Many of them would acknowledge us with a smile and a "good morning". I couldn't resist telling a few of those young men that I was proud of them and I thanked them for their service. Having served in the Armed Forces myself and being deployed twice during war time, I really have a great appreciation for those special people that sacrifice their personal freedoms in order to protect and serve our country! Seeing those young troops on that mountain made my eyes water, just as they seem to always do when I hear the Star Spangled Banner played.

Just below the peak of the mountain, my wife and I found a ledge with a breath-taking view and decided to have our picnic. Wow! The scenery was stunning! I was in awe! Not only was I up there on the side of that mountain with an incredible view, I was there with the love of my life, and I'd dare say that she is equally as beautiful. We enjoyed those few moments together and reflected on how thankful we were for having set out to accomplish this difficult task. It was during those moments of quiet reflection that we could often times hear instructors yelling at those young troops to "step off the ledge!". (They were rapelling on the granite face of the mountain to our left. We couldn't see them, however, as they were slightly around the mountain from us and there were quite a few trees between us.)

This was our view from the ledge where we had a picnic!

Once we finished eating, we took a few more pictures and continued our journey to the top. We arrived not long afterwards. At the summit, we were somewhat unimpressed with the view. In fact, though we had previously learned, the summit is simply a large grassy area surrounded by trees. To gain the optimal view, as we learned, we had to follow some side trails down to the ledge of the granite cliffs. It is there that we fully realized what we had accomplished. It is there also that we reflected on the magnificent beauty before us and we thanked God for allowing us to do what we had done...God is so good! This sentiment was especially true to me as I stood out on a ledge high above the valley below watching three to four hawks soaring out beyond where I was standing. Initially, they were below me, but one of them actually flapped his wings enough to gain a higher elevation than me. It was a great scene watching these magnificent birds just soaring...coasting! I thought to myself, "I wonder what they are thinking as they are just soaring above the land so high...so free". I did my best to capture the scene with my camera and then we proceeded to make our way down from the mountain.

The summit!

The descent from the top of the mountain was quite a bit easier than the trip up, except for the fact that our toes stayed cramped into the front of our shoes during some of rather steep grades. The loose gravel on parts of the trail where the grade of the declines were most severe really added to the difficulty. I would add, however, that I performed a front "moonwalk" to perfection on more than one occasion. My wife was impressed and we did make it down safely with no trips or falls.

To summarize our hike, it was a wonderful experience for the both of us and I'd highly recommend that it be placed on your list of "things to do", especially if you plan to visit the Helen, Ga. area. Though my wife and I primarily hike state park trails two to three miles in length, this five mile round trip hike was particularly challenging for us in that it was the longest that we had ever attempted. It was also the first mountain in which we hiked to the summit. Overall, I'd say that this is definitely a strenuous hike and it is not one that I'd recommend to someone with no previous hiking experience. I would add, however, that it is not so difficult that someone with no previous hiking experience could not make it. Obviously, health condition should play a crucial role in whether or not one should make the attempt to hike Yonah, and I would recommend that a novice shouldn't attempt the hike without someone that is experienced with mountain hiking. Also, as I previously stated, while the views from the summit are less than spectacular, the big payoff is to follow the trails from the summit out to the edge of the cliffs. You won't be sorry!

______________________________________________________

This post was contributed by our friend and regular contributor, Sonny. Check out his personal blog, Life Outside My Door. You'll be happy you did.

DIY Magic Mushrooms......that's geocaches of course

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Bloodhounded) — Sat, 18 May 2013 08:00:00 +0000

We've all found them. You know, those “magical” little geocaches that scream “originality”, bring a smile to your face and your log reflects the effort gone into the cache and the container. I have the good fortune to own a few of these types of caches and it is very rewarding. Today, I want to take a look at a simple, yet very cool little cache that will make your seekers smile all the way back to GC.com to log their find. The Magic Mushroom Geocache, and you can make one yourself with today’s DIY!

Awhile back I wrote a DYI on building a mushroom A Fungus Among Us” (feel free to reference this post for additional instructions). I wanted to revisit this topic because I found that the previous product that I used to create these mushrooms did not hold up in the field as well as I would have hoped. Even with an epoxy skin, moisture within the finished product would work against the longevity of its composure. I have tried a few different types of products over the past several months to remedy this problem. I found an “air dry” polymer based clay that dries like iron and has very low shrink “meaning low moisture”. Today we’ll use this product in making our mushroom from start to finish.
geocache container called, “

An art degree is absolutely not necessary however; your adventure for fun is a perquisite. Similar to a kid with a container of Play Dough, you should have a blast building your mushroom. Geocaching give you a reason to climb trees, explore caves, wade across creeks and now you can play with clay too! Life is good!

What you’ll need to make a mushroom geocache:

· A small watertight plastic container about 3 inches long

· 4 inch nail

· Polymer modeling clay

· 5 minute epoxy

· 2 or 3 Small flat tip (disposable) paintbrushes

· Acrylic paints

· Paint brushes

That’s it! Let's get started!

1. On a clean workspace, pull a small portion of clay from the block and start to knead it to soften it up.

Split it in half. One half will be the cap and the other the stem.

2. Start to round and flatten the cap. Don’t make it too thin or it will be too fragile. Folks are going to grabbing this portion of the mushroom to pick up the cache. Make it tough and about ½ inch thick.

3. Then roll out the stem and flatten it a little thinner but still tough.

4. Roll the container in the stem leaving the threaded area free and clear. Seal and blend the stem.

5. Attach the stem to the cap and mold your work of art into what you kind of want it to look like.

6. Allow to dry for a few hours reshaping your masterpiece until you are happy with the end result. As it dries it will firm up and be less susceptible to “drooping” into a less desirable shape.

7. LET YOUR WORK DRY thoroughly. There will be some surface cracks and shrinkage and that’s ok but it takes several “dry” days for your mushroom to dry completely. Don’t rush it. Fine everlasting art takes time grasshopper.

8. Now it’s time to paint. I use water base acrylics because they dry quickly and blend easily. Again,
because you are adding moisture you’ll need to dry it for a few days again. A day or two in direct sunlight does wonders. DO NOT PUT IT IN THE OVEN! This slow drying process actually adds to its strength in the long run.

9. You’ll want your mushroom to last a good long time and keep it’s good looks so now it’s time to add the armor. 5 Minute epoxy is my product of choice. You’ll be doing this in steps to avoid a mess. Mix just enough to do the cap, hold the stem and “paint” the epoxy on the cap of the project. Let it sit for an hour and then hold the cap and paint the epoxy on the stem. Let dry overnight.

10. Under direct light inspect your mushroom. You’ll see some “dull” spots on the otherwise shinny new surface exposing areas that were missed. Mix up some epoxy and get them covered. If you live in a “hard winter” area like me, you’ll want to do a complete second coat or at least on the cap for added durability.

11. Take the cap of the container and drill a hole smaller than the nail diameter, add a drop of epoxy and push the nail through the cap to work as a spike for the ground. Put some epoxy on the outside of the nail area where it meets the cap as well to hold it firmly in place. Watch not to interfere with the threading at all.

12. In the end with just a little more epoxy, make sure the plastic tube is secure, the nail is strong and the entire area of the mushroom (watch the nooks and crannies under the cap) is sealed in a skin of epoxy protection.

13. Let the entire project rest and cure for a few dry days.

14. I like to leave them shinny but you may want to take the shine off with just a very light sanding of some #220 sandpaper. However, it will naturally dull if left alone.

15. Load it up with a small ziplock and a new CacheCrazy,Com log and get ready for the fun to start!

Anyone can place a 35mm film container, magnetic key box, little bison tube or Lock N Lock and they are all cool in their own way but, they lack the “magic” one enjoys when they find this type of cache. A handmade geocache is recognized by seekers everywhere and appreciated for its originality! Make some magic of your own today!

Have fun and cache crazy!

BH

PS ~ My friend nucci6 had a similar issue with the old mushroom cache that I sent him. So, I made a replacement and I'm sending it to him. It will reside at GC2RZP1, The Mushroom Cache at Penn State University mushroom research center. A very cool location indeed for this work of art.

Show your total cachecoolness, use a CacheCrazy.Com log

Clarks Geocaching Adventure! with Dan the Woodsman

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Bloodhounded) — Fri, 17 May 2013 04:01:00 +0000

Welcome Back ~ Dan the Woodsman!

I asked Dan if we could post this short article at our site and he gladly offered. Enjoy a geocaching adventure from a new friend of CacheCrazy.Com who enjoys the outdoors as much as we do! And....since Dave (smithie23) has the day off I figured why not run it one more time. Dan, your always welcome at CacheCrazy.Com.

I manged to get some geocaching in at Clark's Reservation State Park, yesterday. It was a beautiful day! My day started off searching for GC6AA4, but I had to walk away with a DNF (Did Not Find, for those of you not in the know). It was my second DNF in a row, but thanks to Bloodhounded over at cachecrazy.com, I know thats not all a bad thing (check out the article Can you log those DNF's? PLEASE).

Thankfully that cache was followed by three solid FINDS!

Yes, that is my new GPS ;-) It's a Magellan Explorist GC...expect a review by Monday! I also ran into a little forest friend.

For those of you who know me, you know I HATE snakes. HATE HATE HATE. But I took some quick shots (pictures, lol) anyway. I almost stepped on the poor guy, and when he moved I screamed like a girl and ran back down the trail to collect myself. Hey...even the Woodsman isn't fearless!

Thanks Dan! Great job and keep on caching! Have a great weekend!

ROLLIN, ROLLIN, ROLLIN

noreply@blogger.com (BigAl) — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

Well folks it's almost here. Another road trip.

GEOWOODSTOCK XI

We leave this Saturday, very early in the morning, to make our way to Florida. We are all looking forward to this trip with a lot of enthusiasm. This will be my families' first Geowoodstock. I've been told that we will also have the privilege of meeting up with the infamous Dave DeBaeremaeker from Only Googlebot reads this blog. We're looking forward to meeting Dave and his family.

We will be caching on our way down, as well as on our way back home. And of course there will be plenty of caching while we are there visiting family and friends. I'll be writing an article, or two, about the event and some of the people we meet. We also hope to meet many new friends while we are there. If you're there please look us up; we'd love to meet you.

Big Al

Why Not Wednesday ~ WARNING : Geocaching May Cause....

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Bloodhounded) — Wed, 15 May 2013 04:30:00 +0000

AS SEEN ON SONNY'S BLOG

LIFE OUTSIDE MY DOOR

I LOST MY HEAD at Cousin Hill

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Bloodhounded) — Tue, 14 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

Kentucky Lake had record flooding last year and I wrote about it here. This year all that flooding came back and bit us in the ass, because there's been practically no rain and the lake levels are extremely low. Low water means it's hard to go boating in some of our favorite spots and the fishing isn't as good as it normally is. But we're making the best of it and finding things to do in spite of the low water.

The other day Chablis and I loaded up our kayak's onto the pontoon boat and boated over to one of our favorite picnic spots on the lake - Cousin Hill. We picked a nice day to do it, the sun was out and it was nice and warm. Plus there was practically nobody else out on the lake. I felt like we had the entire lake to ourselves.

We stopped to get gas and as we were pulling out of the marina, this sea plane landed right in front of us...

He motored right into the marina for gas. I'd love to go up in one of those some day...

Once we got to Cousin Hill we tossed the kayak's in the water and paddled up and down the shoreline, just exploring a little bit....

Behind Cousin Hill there is a little pond, so we landed ashore and walked around the pond....

Co-incidentally, I have a geocache hidden over there, named "I Lost My Head at Cousin Hill." There are only 2 ways to get to this cache - either come by boat or make the drive through the Land Between the Lakes down a road named The Trace to a little side road. You then take that side road to a cemetery, park and hike to the cache. Either way, it's a difficult trip.

I decided to do a little cache maintenance while we were there, so I checked on the cache, cleaned out the cache container and took a quick picture of part of the cache to show you. Doesn't this just make you want to go find it??

Hahahaha!!!! Come and get it!!

A Doctor's Prescription To Geocache!!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Bloodhounded) — Mon, 13 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

A beautiful pasture near a cache called "Yes. We've Got Cows"

Great Falls Mill

The sign says it all

My mother-in-law's side of the family held its annual family reunion in November and we were able to attend. This afforded the opportunity to hit some caches on the way down to the small town of McFarlan, NC. Since being put on blood thinners I've been told to go no longer than an hour at a time in the car before getting out to walk. I was very pleased to hear that. Imagine, a doctor's prescription to get out and walk around ..... read..... geocache. Thanks to my wife who loves me we were able to head out for McFarlan early on a Saturday morning. Heading out of our High Point, NC is someone's version of the E.T. Highway. Of course the original Extraterrestrial Highway is in south central Nevada. Thanks to geocachers in the area it is a 98 mile long power trail with caches galore. In our case all the caches are easy park and grabs and they all start with words beginning in E and T. We picked our E.T. Highway clean! Once this was done we drove uninterrupted for an hour to get to Rockingham, the first major city along our route. I was drawn to a cache there that focused on a piece of Rockingham history. We pulled up and easily found Great Falls Mill (GC1RJ8P). The find was easy. The view of the ruins of the old cotton mill were fantastic. According to locals the mill, originally called the Richmond Manufacturing Company, was burned as Union General W.T. Sherman in the last days of the Civil War. For a historian, this is one of those caches you appreciate geocaching for bringing you to the location. Apparently a new mill was built in 1869. The ruins I was looking at today were from the 1972 fire that destroyed the vacant buildings. Nonetheless, it is impressive. Impressive enough that the group Hootie and the Blowfish filmed their video, "The Old Man and Me" at this location. Check it out.

The reunion was fun. It was great seeing the folks there. When we finished we drove half a mile to the North Carolina/South Carolina to find another park and grab entitled, IS IT NC OR SC? (GC2RB4X). We enjoyed the weekend with family and friends. To top it all off, with the doctor's blessings I was able to justify getting out of the car numerous times to find those easy park and grabs and to make up for lost time when I couldn't geocache during my recuperation.

If you like this post and want to read more of Steve's adventures go on over to his personal blog, Andean Trekker and check it out for yourself! You'll quickly see why he is a valued contributing author at CacheCrazy.Com

Geocaching Adventures: In Search Of Louisville

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Bloodhounded) — Sat, 11 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

My daughter, Abigail, was a month old on Thursday. We decided she's had enough time to adjust to the world so it was time for a road trip.

So on Thursday we all piled into the car and headed northwest. Our destination: A weekend in Louisville Kentucky.

Why Louisville? On Saturday was Geowoodstock X, a geocaching mega event. People from around the world attend, and dang it we wanted to go as well.

I'll get to Geowoodstock X in another post. This one is about the road trip.

Louisville is about 7 hours from my house. It took us about 12 hours to make the journey, between food stops, nursing stops, fussy baby stops, and of course, geocaching stops.

There were a couple locations of particular interest on our trip, all of them in Frankfort KY, an hour east of Lousville.

The first was The Old Taylor Distillery, which is just as it sounds, a bourbon distillery. It was abandoned in 1974, and has been sitting here ever since. Now it is the home to two different geocaches: a traditional and a virtual - gotta like two-for-one deals on cache locations!

The distillery is now run down and overgrown, with english ivy growing all over many of the buildings.

Just a short way down from the distillery is the gravesite of Joshua M McQueen, a revolutionary war veteren. He lived to a ripe old age of 106, which is pretty dang impressive.

A few miles down the road is the capitol of Kentucky. Outside of the capitol building is a large floral clock. Apparently there are only 3 such clocks in the world: Frankfort KY, Niagara Falls, ON, and Edinburgh Scotland. I have now seen two of the three. Someday I hope to see the third.

All in all it was a decent day on the road, and full of interesting sights and sounds. The kids travelled pretty well, especially Abigail. We settled into the hotel for the night and had ourselves a full weekend of adventures. Stay tuned for more details. Until then here are a few more pics from our day:

A county road in Kentucky.

Ivy growing in a broken window at the distillery.

To give a sense of scale, the minute hand is 20.5 feet long.

Kentucky State Capitol building in Frankfort KY.

________________________________________________________________________

This article was written by Dave DeBaeremaeker. If you liked this post please feel free to check out some of his adventures and hi-jinks on his personal blog: Only Googlebot Reads This Blog.

CacheCrazy.Com re-visits, "A Walk Into Darkness"

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Bloodhounded) — Fri, 10 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

Ever since our own DctrSpott took on keoki_eme’s “AWalk Into Darkness” and wrote about it here, the rest of us at Cache Crazy headquarters have been enviously awaiting our chance to tackle this beast. So we went on a mission to recruit some of our friends and best geocachers in the business. After much planning, schedule shuffling, and big talk, we went after it this past Sunday. Between the rain, the scenery, the history, the stages, and the camaraderie, this was an adventure that won't be forgotten. To talk too much would be spoilers galore, so you'll have to fill in the blanks from the pix below...!

THE ALL STAR TEAM

Dave aka "Smithie23"

Kevin aka "Team Bloodhounded"

Val aka "The K-Team"

Allison aka "walnut-tripper"

Steph aka "Team Bloodhounded"

Mike aka "Team Bloodhounded"

Dan aka "Dodger"

TERRAIN, SCENERY, HARBINGERS

Lisa Simpson a geocacher?

The old Hanover Reservoir

Some of the "easier" terrain

Old flume

A long journey

Ain't nothin' stoppin' this gang...

...Not even this

THE STAGES

Just another day...

Free climbin'

We do it all

Mine drainage tunnel

Teamwork

Everybody's having fun

We're all friends here

Thinking over the next stage

NOW where are we going?

Spooky spooky

Gettin' in the swing of things

Just how many stages is this??

SO AFTER ALL THAT, WERE WE SUCCESSFUL?

YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT!

DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO WALK INTO THE DARKNESS??

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS CACHE BEFORE?

noreply@blogger.com (BigAl) — Thu, 09 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

It was a beautiful spring day and I had decided to head out and perform the much needed maintenance on a couple of my caches. I know I preach a lot about doing this so I decided it was time for me to practice what I preach.

I first headed to Baptist Bible College where my cache Fall Creek is located. I just love visiting this cache and the area it is located in. The pond there is always a delight to see and I usually see a number of ducks, geese, and occasionally a few fish. The flowers were starting to push their way up through the ground and there were lots of buds on the trees.

The Anchor

A pair of Mallard Ducks

Bagley Pond (Do you see the geese?)

As I walked along I noticed a muggle approaching so I went into stealth mode. Then I noticed it was a Seminary Professor that I know walking over to get lunch. We stopped and talked for a few moments and he asked if this was an everyday hike I do. I told him no it wasn't and then I told him why I was there. He thought it was very neat that I was checking up on the cache and filling it with more stuff. We then parted ways.

I checked on the cache and found it in good shape. I removed some trash and then filled it full of swag. Next I made an entry in the log book after reading the posts already logged in there. I then returned to observing all of the wonderful wildlife and the glorious spring colors.

I must say that I probably overstocked the cache for a good reason. My wife was going to be meeting a group of school kids and their teacher to teach them about Geocaching. The teacher from a nearby school was teaching her students about longitude and latitude and she knew about Geocaching and she somehow got in touch with us. I put my wife to work on setting up a time with them since I work most days. I'll let her tell her story in another post later on, but I know they did have a blast.

Wow! This was turning out to be a great day. From BBC I headed over to my next cache, which is South Abington GEOCOIN Hotel. This cache, if you have not been there, is located in a very nice park in South Abington Township. The trees were blooming and smelling wonderful. I parked my truck and headed towards the woods where the cache is located. The park was filled with little kids running around, moms pushing baby strollers, and teens shooting basketballs. Or should I say they were throwing basketballs at hoops so I am politically correct? Nah, I like shooting so I'll say they were shooting hoops.

I arrived at GZ and went for the cache. Hmm, it's not there. Okay so maybe someone did not put it back exactly where I had it. I began looking around in the spots where someone might think it should be hidden. No dice. I then set my backpack down and really began looking hard. No cache. Now I'm getting a little concerned. Well I searched for about 10 minutes and still could not find it. I thought to myself "really, what's up with this?" I sat down and looked it up on my cell phone because I wanted to make sure of what the last cacher had written. Well he found it with no problems and even removed a coin to help it on it's way. Back to searching.

After spending between 30 and 45 minutes there I decided to move on. I chalked it up to my eye sight and thought that maybe someone else will find it. If not I'll go back and replace it. I got back in the truck and headed to my next cache, which is close to my house.

This cache is called WHITETAIL HUNTER and is located in Lackawanna State Park. It's a good hike up the hill and through the woods, but I just love it. This cache is located just off of one of the nice trails through the park. As I walked along I could smell everything that I love about the woods. I'm sure you know what I mean about smelling the outdoors. I also love seeing the birds flirting around chasing each other as they prepare for their mating season and nest building.

After admiring the stone walls I continued on up the path to part one of this multi-cache. I had been notified earlier that part one needed some maintenance so I was prepared with another X!?#&%*@ (that's code for what part one is) and when I checked it they were right. I put the new part one in its spot and headed to the final cache.

When arriving I couldn't help but stand in awe at these great big rocks that have stood the test of time and all sorts of weather. My the stories they could tell of days gone by. I went up to where I had placed the cache to retrieve it, but it was not there. Oh someone must have placed it behind that little rock so it would be easier for the little kids to find. WHAT? It's not there? Okay, so maybe someone put it in the little crevice just past where it really belongs. Nope! Now I'm getting a little steamed. I began searching all over for it. It was not to be found either. Now I'm really mad. Two caches in one day are missing. I'm not sure how long I looked for the cache because the steam coming out of my ears was blocking my vision.

Well now I'm madder than a wet hen and decide I'll have to go home and disable the cache until I can get back up there and replace it. On the way out I grabbed part one and took it with me. Have I mentioned how much I hate muggles?

Why Not Wednesday ~ A Fungus Among Us

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Bloodhounded) — Wed, 08 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

COMING THIS SUMMER TO A GEOCACHE NEAR YOU!

Be sure to check out CacheCrazy.Com on
Saturday May 18th and
I'll show you how to make an awesome
Magic Mushroom Geocache.
It's a DIY special!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Bloodhounded) — Tue, 07 May 2013 04:30:00 +0000

From Kim's blog, Snug Harbor Bay ~ May, 2012

When Louie asked me what I wanted to do for Mothers Day, the only possible answer was "Go geocaching." So we called my mom, and of course she wanted to go geocaching as well. So off we went!

The first cache of the day was my namesake milestone cache "GC3K789 Bugleann Blew Past 2000!" placed by my dear friends Tom and Mary. When I read the cache name, I had an idea that the cache container might have something to do with a Bugle. And knowing how much I like trees, I thought it might be hidden up high. And I was right on both counts....

Thanks Tom and Mary for a great milestone cache!

Afterwards we hit up a few more. This one was placed by my sister and is namedBlackbird. Isn't this a great cache container?

We saw this guy hanging around the lake near the cache....

PapaNonny looking for another cache...

We found a couple more. It was a great day to be in the woods....

And to climb multiple trees.....

We had a DNF on another cache, which we're going to have to go back and look for again. Too many muggles out to do a thorough search.

Afterwards Papa treated us all to lunch, where we got a nice surprise - all moms ate for free!!

We did get a nice group shot of 3 generations of us out enjoying Mothers Day together. I hope you all had a great day too!

Quite the Quarry

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Bloodhounded) — Mon, 06 May 2013 07:00:00 +0000

On our way back from a Mother's Day celebration in Belfast, hubby and I set a course for a few geocaches to pick up on the way home. We picked up a few easy park and grabs before arriving at the quarry in Frankfort.

We parked at the gate at the bottom of the road and the compass showed a mere .33 miles to the destination. The day was beautiful so we decided to take the short hike up the hill. We took the wrong trail more than once but finally got back on the right track. I might not be out of shape but I'm definitely out of condition. Thankfully there were lots of views to stop and take in so I could catch my breath.

When we got to the top of the hill, we quickly found the cache. The disappointing part was that the cache was in a plastic zip bag. The contents were completely soaked and I couldn't sign my name to the log. Directly behind us was a small lake surrounded by high walls of granite painted with graffiti. Oddly, the graffiti was somehow pretty. The description of the geocache said that some of the granite used at Fort Knox was probably used from here. Although we didn't find a great geocache, we did find some great views and learned a neat history lesson.

_______________________________________________________

This post was written by Jenny from her personal blog, Jenny Goes Geocaching. Stop by and check out some of her adventures for yourself. Jenny is a regular contributor here at CacheCrazy.Com.

Thank you!

BITE ME!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Bloodhounded) — Sat, 04 May 2013 12:15:00 +0000

By: Bloodhounded

Note from the author: Don't kid yourself, you are a tasy treat to some inhabitants in the great outdoors. Prepare yourself for your adventure and you'll be safe.

We’ve all been there, out in the middle of nowhere and all of a sudden a swarm of bees are everywhere followed by that oh so familiar burning sting associated with bees. Are you ready to deal with that? If you start to feel shortness of breath and swelling in your throat, do you know what to do? Do you have any Benadryl like I’ve preached so many times? It’s scary to even think about but, bee stings are lethal to someone who is allergic. Even if you’re not allergic, it hurts like hell!

Maybe your horror story involves another form of insect, mammal or reptile? In any case and in all cases, they bite!

A bad day might include a few mosquito bites, a snake sighting and you ate several black gnats while they were feasting on your face. Then after a nice hot shower you find two “bumps” on your leg that weren’t there before, ticks! Good Lord, is there anything you can do about it? The answer is clearly, yes!

This is a short list of “biters” and how to avoid them from having you for a snack.

Most common here in NEPA are mosquitoes and probably the most frequent pests in the field. They are everywhere and you’ll need to prepare for them BEFORE you encounter several welting bites and a risk of West Nile Virus. A quality insect repellent will be your best friend along with some back up repellant wipes. DEET is probably not the greatest thing for you however being eaten alive is a worse alternative. Black gnats can get around you fast and swarm your head. They get in your eyes, ears and yes, your mouth. In fact, the average person eats two pounds of insects per year in various forms. The same treatment for mosquitoes is effective for gnats and don’t forget those biting deer flies, ouch! They smell your perspiration and then move in for a quick bite. All you know is something is pinching you followed by a big red welt that hurts and once they get “in your face” you just can’t seem to get rid of them. They fly around your head just waiting for the right moment. Repellant will keep them off of you but not away from you so they are still annoying.

In my area, there are many Timber Rattlesnakes. They show up at the most inopportune times. You’ll be rummaging around looking for that cache in the rocks and all of a sudden you spot him, he spots you and let the rattling begin. The only thing going through your mind is to get the hell out of there! Be smart when caching in a “snaky” area where you are best to use a staff or stick to do your poking. Be careful when stepping over logs, walking along rock walls or turning over rocks. If you get a venomous snake bite, call 911 immediately. You are in danger right away of the venom getting into your bloodstream so lie still, don’t panic and pray that help is on the way. It is unlikely that you are going to die but the longer the bite goes untreated, the more you will wish you were dead. It’s a bad time. Don’t underestimate the common black snake. They are territorial and will strike out at you and even chase you down (not much more terrifying than being chased by a four foot snake). While they are not poisonous, they can lay a pretty nasty bite on you and they won’t just bite once, oh no, they will repeat strikes until you get the hell out of there. If they break skin, medical attention is likely the best advice.

Spiders are just nasty and can make you so sick you’ll think you’re going to die. You won’t of course but they have venom and you may want to get medical attention. When in doubt, get checked out. Watch out for them in woodpiles, brush piles and where webs are present. Don’t be stupid and play around with them. Leave them be and they won’t bother you (unless one decides to run down your pants while you’re sitting on the ground checking out that cache you just found) ouch!

Some critters are so cute. Take an opossum or raccoon for example. You may come across one tending to her new babies or find a sickly animal in the field. Leave them alone! They may look all fuzzy and cute but let me tell you, a raccoon can really put a hurting on you followed by a painful series of rabies shots. You may have good intensions to help but that critter doesn’t know what you’re up to and he thinks you want to eat him so, of course they’ll be a little defensive. I don’t think I need to get into bears, coyote, mountain lion or foxes here do I? Didn’t think so….

Ticks gross out everyone! I don’t know anyone other than a guinea hen who really “likes” ticks. With the recent scare of Lyme disease, everyone is tick crazy. First of all there are two types of ticks here in NEPA that you’ll encounter. The deer tick which is small in size but packs the Lyme disease punch and the dog tick which is larger and just gives you the skivvies. Once you find one it all over! For the rest of the day or night you feel them in your hair, crawling up your legs and worse! If you start to feel flulike symptoms shortly after you must get medical attention. Soar joints, fever, and achiness are other signs of the onset of Lyme disease. Insect repellant will help prevent them from hanging on and digging in for dinner. Make sure to spray your cloths too or you’ll be bringing some home for dinner. Also, check your dog before they get in the car.

So while you’re out there in the great outdoors remember that you are the visitor and they are the resident. Respect their existence and prepare for your trip with the proper products and you are sure to live to tell everyone about your encounter. Don’t let me scare you because the severity usually falls under their “bark is worse that their bite” but one thing is for sure, they all want to bite me!

Tools of the Trade: My PN-40

noreply@blogger.com (smithie23) — Fri, 03 May 2013 04:01:00 +0000

I first read about geocaching in July of 2009. Being the geek that I am, I was drooling at the thought of combining two of my favorite things, nature and nerdy gadgets. The more I read about it, the more I wanted to go out and search for a geocache. I had one problem: I didn't have a GPS unit.

Back then, I had what I'd call a quasi-smartphone. It did more than your conventional flip phone, yet it wasn't an iPhone. It took me some searching to find a program which was capable of running on The Little Phone That Could. I ended up finding a program called BasicGPS for Geocaching. It was free, and compatible with Windows Mobile. Works for me! I was so excited, now I could finally get out there and hunt some caches!

BasicGPS screen shot.

In all fairness, BasicGPS worked very well for what it was. There weren't any bells & whistles, as you seen in the current geocaching smartphone apps. It allowed me to search for a cache, get me within a few feet (or meters, as I could never figure out how to switch the measurements) of the cache, and let me build up my geosenses in making my first few dozen finds. There were quite a few drawbacks, as I'd find soon out. There was no mapping feature. All you had was a compass and a directional arrow. I had to load caches one at a time, as the program didn't understand pocket queries. Multi-caches were out of the question, because it didn't allow you to add or enter waypoints. Lastly, and most importantly, it was an OK program on an otherwise lousy phone. I soon came to the realization that I wouldn't want to be stuck out in the woods with this thing. It was time for an upgrade.

U-P-G-R-A-Y-E-D-D

Enter the Delorme PN-40. I decided to break down and buy a PN-40, used, off of eBay. The unit was opened, but never used. Immediately I could tell I've been missing out. I built my first pocket query, and loaded up the unit. The painstaking work of having to individually load caches was a thing of the past. A click here, a click there, and I had 500 geocaches in my PN-40, ready to be found! At the time, I marveled at the mapping feature. I'd used GPS units at work before, but never one with a map. And, what's this? It's tracking my route? Now I'm guaranteed to never get lost in the woods! (/sarcasm) I soon tried, and found, my first multi-cache, as well as puzzle cache. I was even able to hide my first cache, as I learned how to mark and average a waypoint. Not to mention, the sucker is durable! I've dropped it out of a tree, into a stream, on to concrete, and it still works like a charm. Take that, Timex!

My traveling companion, the PN-40.

I still have my PN-40. Perhaps one day I'll trade her in for a newer model, but for now, she's the cat's meow! What do you use to sniff out those caches? Have you had a similar experience?

CACHE HIDERS NEED TO READ THIS!

noreply@blogger.com (BigAl) — Thu, 02 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

If you do any caching around NEPA (Northeast PA) then you may have heard about a caching couple called "Whistlers". They are a neat couple and I have enjoyed getting to know them. Today's post was written by Barb from Whistler & Co. and it covers a subject that really needs to be followed. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

It happened again. We went out to find a quick cache and ended up getting interrogated by a muggle. Under the right circumstances, we enjoy explaining caching to people we run into while searching. The "right circumstances" generally means in a place that it is normal for the general public to be, such as a park or cemetery or state gameland or even a parking lot. The cache we were trying to find was not in any of those places. It was along a public roadway, but a very small road which was a cul-de-sac with rather expensive homes on it. The street is not the kind of place where people just randomly park and rummage about on the roadside without attracting attention from the residents.

Furthermore, the cache is a well-disguised micro placed in a setting with literally hundreds of potential hiding spots. A woman and a kid out in broad daylight are not really threatening, but nonetheless one of the neighbors felt inclined to investigate. Thankfully, she left with the opinion that we were slightly nuts but essentially harmless. On other occasions, we have actually been yelled at and told to leave.

Before you hide a cache, please consider the following:

1. Is it private property? Is it public property that is in a place very close to private property? The guardrail in front of some random stranger's house is NOT a good place for a cache, no matter how fine the view! "We always used to hike here as kids" does NOT justify hiding a cache in someone else's woodlot or field!

2. Can the neighbors see the cache site? A little park surrounded on three sides by houses is public, but maybe it's not the best spot to hide a cache. Strangers in strange cars, some with out-of-state plates, will surely be noticed, and not in a good way. At best, a neighbor investigates and discovers the cache. At worst, a neighbor calls the cops and reports your license plate as a suspected drug dealer, because why else would a grown man from New York be poking around under the climbers in a park in some sleepy Pennsylvania town?

3. The difficulty of the cache hide should depend on the situation. Just as it is bad caching etiquette to hide a nano two miles down a trail in the woods, it is also bad caching etiquette to hide a nano or micro in a fragile environment such a stone wall, landscaped planted area, or where things will get torn apart by searchers. Yes, you want the cache to be safe from prying eyes, but that needs to be balanced with getting cachers in and out quickly and discreetly when the cache is in full view of the public. If YOU would not feel relaxed and comfortable searching for the cache, neither would anyone else.

4. Consider the area itself. Is it safe from passing traffic? is it full of trash? We once found a cache in a rusty can along a fence at an interstate rest area that was also full of trucker bombs (Google it if you are unfamiliar with the term ). Cachers should not have to dodge speeding vehicles to reach the guardrail where the cache is, nor should they have to sift through empty food containers and worse. If the area itself is super-gross, then why do you want to put your name to a cache that is hidden there? Find another place that folks will appreciate. It doesn't have to be spectacular, it just has to be decent. Remember, a lot of cachers have kids with them, so roadside litter and speeding dumptrucks are two signs that the cache is not in a good spot.

5. And a few basics: Make sure the container is waterproof. Check your coords on the cache submission form AND on a satellite image, like Google maps, to make sure they match the actual location. Either give a real hint, or don't bother giving one at all. Have the cache in place BEFORE you fill out the online form (they can get published within minutes under the right circumstances). NEVER hide on private property without actual permission, and ALWAYS state on the cache page that the cache is on private property with permission. Give parking coords if it's confusing about from which point to access the cache site.

Remember: If it's not a cache you yourself would like to hunt for, then it's not a cache you should hide either.

Nice view of Nicholson Bridge

Merli-Sarnoski Park

Merli-Sarnoski Park

Thanks Barb. This was a great reminder and something we all need to consider when hiding caches. Big Al.

Why Not Wednesday ~ Steph ~ Bloodhounded's Pup

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Bloodhounded) — Wed, 01 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

Horseback Riding at Wrangler Campground

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Bloodhounded) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 04:00:00 +0000

Yesterday we decided to go horseback riding at a place we've never visited before - the Wranglers Campground at LBL.

We had reservations for 9 am, so we left the house at 7:45 because I wanted to stop and grab a geocache along the way. I mean, I do have priorities! The first cache of the day was called Hitch and Hide and was located outside a small, quaint grouping of country stores.

The cache itself was a quick find and a nice size cache container....

We locked up Chablis in the punishment post.... She wasn't liking it too much!

Last April I wrote about an accident on Kentucky Lake where a barge smashed into the Eggner Ferry Bridge and a section of the bridge collapsed. The bridge has since been repaired and is open again for business.....

At 8:50 we pulled up at the stables....

They had our 3 horses saddled up and ready to go.

Chablis & Kyle were excited about going. Kyle hasn't been on a horse in about 10 years, and had gotten thrown off his horse when we took him that time. I was determined that he have another go at it and have a positive experience this time. My nephew is so trusting of me!

Heading out.....

Wranglers Campground has beautiful horses and some terrific trails. We had a very knowledgeable guide named Miranda, who was just as charming and as sweet as can be. We took the 1 1/2 hour ride and the 2 of us chatted almost constantly the entire time.

The trails were a nice variety of fields and wooded areas, as well as crossing a creek bed and some nice views of Lake Barkley.

Kyle relaxed pretty quickly and began to enjoy the ride and Chablis will take any opportunity to get her picture taken....

The 90 minute ride went by very quickly. We decided that we'd all go back there and do it again some time. I highly recommend Wranglers Campground for horseback riding. The folks who run it were extremely nice, the place was clean and well organized, the prices were good and the horses well cared for. They get high 5's from me!

Afterwards we stopped and grabbed a couple more geocaches before heading back home....

This is the view from Eggner Ferry Bridge looking north on Kentucky Lake....

And here's a shot of the new section of the bridge.....

Tomorrow - water skiing!!

Kim is an Admin Author here at CacheCrazy.Com but she also runs her personal blog Snug Harbor Bay which is packed with adventure, check it out!

Geocaching Road Trip! With Miragee......Let's go!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Bloodhounded) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 04:00:00 +0000

The decision to make the trip to Lakewood was made very quickly, with little lead time. However, I downloaded Pocket Queries for several areas across Arizona, Southern Utah, and Southwestern Colorado, as well as a circle centered in Lakewood. So, with GSAK on my laptop all loaded with fresh data, I was ready to go . . . just as soon as I got new tires. My old ones were measuring in the red when the man from Discount Tire checked them for me.

When I went down to have the tires checked that Thursday afternoon, I filled the tank. Now, on my way out of town, I was shocked to see that in less than 12 hours, gas had gone up another ten cents. I sure hoped gas would be less expensive along the way, and I was very, very grateful my sister was going to help me pay for the gas.

The reason for the trip was to help my mother clean and organize her apartment. She is 90 years old now. As I drove down I-8, I was very lost in thought about her future -- and my own -- when a car passed me on the left. An arm was waving a GPSr out the window of the vehicle as it went by.

I shook myself of of my thought daze and caught up to the vehicle to see that the arm belonged to $kimmer. She was with The Vulture and said the Splashes were up ahead. They were on their way to "Dateland," the first cache I had planned on stopping for.

We pulled into the parking at the famous Date Shake Shop and proceeded to tell the people sitting near the cache location we were on a "Scavenger Hunt" as we looked for the micro. Splashman made the grab and my name was added to the logbook.

From there, the five of us headed down the highway where we found two more caches. At the last one, Splashman pulled into the third parking spot from the end, The Vulture pulled into the next one, and almost simultaneously, I pulled into the last spot. It was precision parking at its best.

After finding that cache, we parted company. They were headed up to Phoenix for a weekend of caching. I was headed somewhere to camp for the night.

As usual, I hadn't planned where I would spend the night -- I'm almost incapable of planning, except when it comes to the preparation necessary for Geocaching -- so I didn't know where I was going. Fortunately, I found some BLM land not too far from the road to Mobile and set up my tent there where I saw a nice Arizona sunset.

The next morning I headed northeast. Once again I really didn't know exactly which highway I wanted to take, so I just followed the GPSr arrow to a couple of cache sites. The first two I tried to find . . . I couldn't, so I went in a Goodwill store and got a "treasure" there before finally hitting the highway again.

The road climbed up past Saguaro cactus and finally into Pinyon and Junipers, the habitat Edward Abbey referred to as the "pygmy forest," and finally up into cool, wonderful pines. I found a few caches in the "Rim Country" where there were signs warning about elk crossing the highway. I didn't see any elk, but late in the day, and I headed towards Canyon de Chelly National Park, I saw a mountain lion run across the road and up the steep embankment. That was exciting!

I loved the town of Holbrook, AZ, and even turned around and drove back over the bridge to take a picture of an amazing sculture at the entrance to the town.

I also took a picture of this great mural.

From Holbrook, I headed to the "Painted Desert" Virtual cache where I tried to photograph the amazing landscape.

I got to a campsite at dusk, which was the same time I found my campsite the night before. In the sheltered area of the campground, the wind was calm, so I set up my tent and went to sleep beneath tall cottonwood trees that were just beginning to show new spring leaves.
______________________________________________________________

This post was written by Miragee from her personal blog Musing About Geocaching. You'll find a lot of great articles and awesome adventures there. Karen is a regular contributor to CacheCrazy.Com.

Thank you!
BH

Seven Tubs Nature Area OR How I saved the I Double Dog Dare You Geocache

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Bloodhounded) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 04:00:00 +0000

Hey guys, Bloodhounded here!

I was on a mission to save my I Double Dog Dare You geocache that I have placed in the Seven Tubs Nature Area, the location of several excellent caches including an Earth Geocache. The Seven Tubs were formed as a result of years and years of water wear that carved seven bowls or "tubs" of water from the cascading creek. The soft sandstone didn't stand a chance and it made a wonderful example of mother natures artwork. I am appreciative of the county offering this land as public access and open to geocache hiding and seeking without permission. Getting through the reviewer with this baby was tough enough, lol!

Today I brought two of my pups along for the hike and the goal was to do a field repair of the apparatus at the second stage of the cache. This is a monkey puzzle of sorts, with a locked chamber that contains the coords to the final. You have to figure out how to get the key out of the apparatus in order to proceed. at times this puzzle would build frustration in the hands of some less stable folks who have been known to smash it off the rocks that hide it from the public. I have been here before. Three time during the hiding, twice to repair it and another time to replace the puzzle altogether. Sometimes it's simple, the key comes right out, other times no matter how hard you try, she ain't giving no stinking key!!!! But that's all part of the fun, right?

We hiked to the location that is about two miles from the parking area. The gorge where the creek runs was along our left for a good portion of the hike and provided great views of the tubs but then we had to head up the mountain. I still love it here and it's no wonder many folks love to hike these beautiful trails! It also reminded me once again, why I hid a geocache here to begin with.

I found her right where expected however, the injuries where much deeper than first anticipated. I had to pack her up and bring it home for some extensive surgery. It wasn't something that could be done afield. So, we headed off to the final to check on the condition of that cache. I was happy with the way the last seeker left her. Nice and hidden well, just the way I did when I first hid it. The contents were dry, the log has lots of room and the swag level was to the top so all was well there. We looked over the logs, and swag, added a few things and hid the final.

The pups took the opportunity to do a little exploring which they always do so I joined in the search for crayfish, frogs or any other lucky living thing that we could catch, probe and then return to it's home. Lucky for them we found none. The water was still very cold and aside from a trout or two, nothing was present in the creek. No matter though, we still had fun, jumping from rock to rock, crossing the creek and daring each other to do things that would likely cause bodily injury if not done correctly. All in the theme of the Double Dog Dare, of course. But, don't tell their mother:)

Once we got home I started right away. There was little time before she would expire and hit the archive stage but, not on my watch. I worked quickly with the skilled hands of a surgeon. I've done this surgery before so I knew just what to do and in a short time, the cache was stable again, her vital signs were good and the prognosis looked excellent! I even took it to another level and gave her a makeover. New sticker, paint, new laminated coords to the final and a new and approved lead head key to assist it in it's internal
travels with the aid of weight and gravity. I completed the cache puzzle successfully several times and knew it was time to take this baby back to her hiding spot and enable this cache.

I did a solo mission taking her back and honestly, it was just what the doctor ordered. Sometimes spending

time alone is the best therapy. Soon I reach the location, tucked her in with loving care and moved on to finish my hike as planned. I was excited to enable this cache again. I know it's near the top in quality and I'm happy to offer cachers the opportunity to have some fun at the Seven Tubs Nature Area. Sure I get frustrated and maintaining this cache has been a pain in the ass but, that one seeker, it could be you, that writes that great log saying how much fun it was, makes it a labor of love. And besides, it gives me a good reason to get outdoors and enjoy this area again and again!

Hope to see you on the trail sometime soon!
Cache safe and cache crazy!
Bloodhounded

Confessions Of An FTF Hound

noreply@blogger.com (smithie23) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 04:01:00 +0000

Back in September 2009 I was new to Geocaching. It had been less than two months since I logged my first cache, and I was learning the ropes, in regards to receiving mobile and e-mail notifications on things such as new caches, caches found, etc. I would read countless articles, on the Groundspeak forums, about cachers and their adventures. Some were claiming a milestone FTF (maybe 50, 100 or even more) while others had multiple FTF’s in one day. I didn’t think much of it. Big deal, you were first.

One Friday night, I received a text alert. The Enjoy, Enjoy Northeast Pennsylvania series had been published. For those unfamiliar with the series, NEPAG published a themed series of caches in honor of Manny Gordon, who recently passed away. There was to be a cache placed in each county as a tribute. It’s a great series, and I recommend checking it out. Anyways, I saw the Luzerne County cache was placed in the Nescopeck State Park, a 20 minute drive from home. I decided to head out the next morning and try for the FTF.

The hike to the cache was not unlike others I had made, but as I approached GZ, say in the last 1500 feet or so, a different sense of excitement started to kick in. Maybe the FTF Hounds on the Groundspeak forums are right. Maybe there is something to being first. I found the cache after a little bit of searching, as I was only using my HTC smart phone at the time- it wouldn’t be until shortly after I found this one that my Delorme PN-40 arrived. There was only one thing left after actually finding the cache. Had anyone logged the cache prior to me? To my delight, there it was, an empty logsheet! FTF success!

Photo by Stellascapes

Since then, I’ve logged twelve more FTF’s. Most I’ve acquired by luck. I’ve been in the right place at the right time. I’ve only had one or two where I said to myself “No one has found this one yet?” I can credit a lot of that luck to having a job which has liberal policies regarding work hours and lunchtime. I can also take several different routes to work, which allows me to cover more ground.

I primarily cache Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The NEPA FTF hounds and the Sussex County FTF Hounds each have their own redeeming qualities. A lot of the newly published caches in NEPA are found AND logged before one can even say “Honey, I have to run to the store quick.” The new caches in New Jersey can go either way. Some could sit for two to three days before being found. Others are found quickly, but logged a day, or even two, after the fact.

Photo by Stellarscapes

My favorite FTF, to date, is GC2BT8Y- I DOUBLE DOG DARE YOU! This was a group FTF, and was quite the adventure.

In any event, I find an added excitement to the game, when hunting down an FTF. Not that I’ve done it before, but I would imagine it’s a similar feeling to powercaching. Not only are you trying to make the find, but you get that feeling your back is against the wall, that you’re trying to beat the clock.

"If you ain't first, you're last!"

All things considered, and almost two years later, here is my take on the FTF debate:

• Geocaching is what you make of it. There are many, many different aspects to it, and most, if not all, are very subjective. The FTF hunt is no different.

• There are caches out there with thousands of logs-but someone had to have the first one.

• Want to meet a fellow geocacher? Hunt down an FTF. On several of my FTF’s I met up with a fellow cacher, either going to or coming from the cache site, or stumbled upon him/her while on the hunt. (BTW, always offer to share in the FTF, especially if you’re about to make the find. The other guy will appreciate it. Remember, no one really keeps track of this stuff.)

• Wanting to claim every FTF is a major sign of being obsessed with Geocaching. Seek help immediately, or just go find the cache.

Garmin Nuvi Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (BigAl) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 04:00:00 +0000

Last year my wife and I went to the Christian Homeschool Association of Pennsylvania (CHAP) conference. This is a conference we go to each year to look for the curriculum we will be using the next year as we teach our kids at home. It is a big conference with lots of vendors there to display there wares. We always plan on arriving on Thursday afternoon so we can drop off any used books we no longer need. These books are sold to other families at a reduced rate. Got to love a good bargain. After we drop off our books we usually go to the hotel and get checked in. Then the rest of the evening is ours.

Last year when we did this trip I was in a wheelchair due to just having heart surgery. We tried to find a couple of caches, (yes I am determined surgery or not), and we were successful, but we also had a DNF. I hate them. We had tried on two different days to find that particular cache, but it was just not happening that year. So this year with our books dropped off, and our room reserved, we headed out to FIND THAT CACHE.

This year we were doing our caching a little differently and my wife was really determined to find our DNF from last year. We would be using my Garmin Nuvi 1350T. In an earlier post I posted an article about finding out how to download Geocaches into the Nuvi. We were really looking forward to using it and seeing how it worked. I had already downloaded about 445 caches into it so now Elfred was ready. Elfred is the voice we use for our turn by turn directions. He is a cool little elf from the North Pole.

As I drove along I brought up my Extras icon and chose it. That is where my caches are listed. Then I choose Custom POIs, and then all POIs. Up came the caches that were all there.

It lists 4 caches on the main screen and their distance from your current location. Since we had just been to a Walmart to pick up some groceries we decided to find the one that was listed as less than a tenth of a mile away. It was GCGKBP.

When I chose that cache Elfred told me to proceed to highlighted route.

So off we went. Elfred tells you right where to turn and then as we approached GZ he says “arriving at destination.” We get a real kick out of him. He always has something funny to say like: “Snowball fight” or “Are we going to any toy stores” or our favorite “Please don’t make fun of my little elf shoes.” Well we arrived at our destination and began to look. Both the Nuvi and my etrex were showing us at GZ. We began to look and sure enough I found it. My wife and I signed the log and put it back. Then it was off to the next one, which seemed like it was over in the parking lot near another store.

We followed Elfred and arrived at GZ. We parked and then got out and started walking around. This one was not as easy. We looked and looked and then I finally saw it. Neither my wife nor I had found one like this ever before. It was a nano. I had never seen anything so small. My wife could not believe it was the cache. I showed her how it came apart and then we unrolled the log. It was totally filled up and so we just signed where we could. I made a note to tell the CO that it would need to be replaced. I don’t have anything that small or I would have done it for him. We put it back and as we were leaving a couple getting in their car gave us a look. I told my wife not to worry because if they went over there they would never spot the nano. It is concealed very well.

We then had Elfred take us to two more caches, but these turned out to be DNFs. If I haven’t told you I hate them. My wife said if we were going to find the cache from last year’s DNF we had better get going because it was starting to get late. Last year we did it in the evening and I think that was part of our problem. We chose the next cache and let Eldred lead us to it.

We arrived and there were plenty of people going in and out of the store. This is a really big store and lots of hunters and fisherman really like it. I mean who doesn’t like a Bass Pro Shop. We parked near GZ and got out and began to search for it. We looked at all of the places we looked at last year, plus a few places we did not look at, and still no cache. Since I know there are some bolt caches around I began checking all of the bolts. No such luck. We then remembered some of the logs we had read beforehand and I began using my Geosenses. CACHAM! Found it. Now the only problem was getting to it. Let’s just say I’m glad my wife is as nimble as she is or we might not have gotten it. She retrieved it and we signed the log. Can they make these things any smaller? I hope not.

Well with 3 caches under our Harrisburg belt, and 2 DNFs, we headed back to the hotel. I won’t go into all of the details of our hotel stay, but lets say we will not be staying there ever again. Next year we'll have our own internet service and we won't have to depend on the hotel we stay at

Here are some things I noticed while using my Nuvi. I still don’t have something set correctly, because as we drove along the highway caches that are within 1 mile should have popped up on the screen, but they did not. That is a feature I was really looking forward to. I guess I’ll have to play around with it some more until I get it right. Also, if you’re driving on a road that is parallel to the road you should be on the GPS does not tell you you’re off track. He thinks you’re heading the right way so he doesn’t say anything until you make a wrong turn.

All in all I enjoyed using my Nuvi and I was glad we found some caches. Now I need to program it for caches around here, and I think I need to change the voice. “Anyone want some fruitcake?” “Anyone?” “Elfred get out of the fruitcake you’re beginning to stutter.”