December 31st, 2009
Another year is coming to an end. For many this year has been especially hard. So will 2010 find renewal or more suffering? How much darkness must we pass through before the light at the end of the tunnel is finally revealed? Or can you see that light and so keep walking, hoping that the light will grow bigger and brighter, finally revealing the escape so longed for?
For me, I feel like I'm sitting at a cross road. I feel I am so close to the end of one journey that something as light and gentle as a breeze will topple everything. The point of the knife is narrow and sharp. But I am so close, to lose hope now would ruin me. To lose faith in that there is something else waiting would crush me.
Let me tell you a thought I had the other day. I am the type that when asked, "Where do you see yourself in five or ten years?" I would always stare blankly. To me the "future" was no more than a year away, and to look to far ahead was to see only darkness. I am in awe of those who actually have a plan, have a vision, have a goal that they can see and work towards. Because that is not me. I have no goal, no vision, no desire, no ambition. I know I shall never make a lasting mark upon this life. I shall not say or do anything that will survive past the memories of my friends. I'm no one. My future is dark and has been for a long while.
The sense of urgency begins to take on a whole new meaning when one views it in the light of time running out, doesn't it?
But then, I realized that maybe what I had always viewed as a physical end may be more of a spiritual end, or at least an end to one life and the possible beginning of a new one?
Could it be that the sense of urgency was not to hurry up and race to the finish line, but get my affairs in order to cross the starting line? Maybe the sense of disconnect, the overall lack of caring, and the cutting off and isolation from what was is merely the shedding of a skin that has grown far to small and dried out. Scorpio, snake, eagle, phoenix, rebirth and renewal. Maybe I have just held on for far to long.
So this year I have a few resolutions. The most important is to satisfy this beast and begin wandering as much as possible. To that end, I've already begun working out and once it warms up, I'll hit the trails and start walking.
I will hike at least a full section of the Tahoe Rim Trail by summer's end.
I will go camping at least once a month.
If this is indeed a rebirth, then I will not fight it but embrace it. I must have faith that once I reach the other side I will emerge stronger and more at peace with myself.
Happy New Year, ladies and gentlemen. To your health, happiness, and prosperity!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Archy in a Box
Yesterday I found a really cool idea at World Market. It's a terra cotta Archer from China's First Emperor of Qin's Terracotta Army.
Only, it was sealed in a clay block and tools for excavating it are provided.
COOL!
So here's a series of pictures as the archaeologist in me went gah-gah and I totally had fun. Click on the picture, it's a link to my Picasa album.
Only, it was sealed in a clay block and tools for excavating it are provided.
COOL!
So here's a series of pictures as the archaeologist in me went gah-gah and I totally had fun. Click on the picture, it's a link to my Picasa album.
 |
| Terra Cotta Excavation |
Monday, December 21, 2009
Diabolical Revelation
One year ago, I unleashed upon Carson a journey unlike any that I had seen in geocaching before. It had taken years to make it from my head to physical form.
Combining ideas that really impressed me and fresh ideas that I believed were new. It took awhile to complete, each stage growing and evolving as time went on. Finally, the last piece was in place and my Diabolical cache came to be.
For the cache itself, see Now *This* is Diabolical
But, evil is fleeting. It's been one year and time has come to lay this demon to rest. So, dear Reader, since I believe that geocaching can only grow through cachers talking and sharing those caches that truly stand out, allow me to share what has become my masterpiece.
First though, my sincerest thanks to everyone who came out and braved the dark. My heartfelt gratitude cannot be expressed in mere words.
Stage one:
From the parking coordinates (those listed upon the cache page), the cacher would stand in a dirt clearing where two roads cross. By shining their flashlight around, they soon would spot a square reflective marker off in the sage brush. The reflective tape is on the face of a thin post wired to a piece of rebar and supported by rocks. The curious cacher will always try moving the rocks or pulling the post up - neither of which gets you anywhere. Once they've exhausted the usual methods, the cacher will eventually remember the point about the UV Light. Shining the light upon the post reveals the coordinates to the next stage a quarter mile away.
Stage two:
While not intended, the easiest route to the coordinates causes the vehicles headlights to shine upon the reflective marker. The cacher investigates the post using UV to reveal the message "Feeling at the end of your rope?" Looking closer, a 35mm attached to the rebar is discovered. Opening the container shows a string wound around a spool with a black disk at the end. Eventually, the cacher will realize that they need to walk out to the end of the string ad begin walking in a circle until the next step is found. A PVC pipe is tied into a nearby bush and removing the cap, the cacher can see another 35mm at the bottom. If the cacher hasn't wrapped the string back up, and if they aren't equipped with an extendable magnet, the black disk (magnet) can be lowered into the tube and the 35mm removed. Inside is a black piece of paper that UV light will show the next coordinates.
Stage three:
After parking, the cacher discovers the reflector further up the hill than expected. Once there, the UV light reveals two columns of numbers. Every possible idea is tried, from UTM to spelling to adding to anything until it becomes clear the number is a phone number written top to bottom left to right. So row one was 87, row two 76, row three 87, row four 74, row five 70 (don't try calling, I'm cancelling the number shortly after this publishes). That number was bought through http://www.onebox.com/ and costs just under $10 per month. I had my friend SKWERL record the message that provided the coordinates and cachers were welcome to leave a voicemail. I got some really entertaining messages from that stage!!
Stage four:
Parking provides a spectacular view of Carson City at night. The reflector lies downhill a bit and has the UV message 340, 89'. This is an offset stage, cachers can either use the GPS Project Waypoint function or manually figure it out. The location is a pile of rock that was there with an ammo can inside. The final location is on a hill with a clear and unobstructed view of the city. At night, one can see all the city lights and if the moon is full, the surrounding mountains. But it is dark enough to enjoy the stars above.
So there you have it. My pride and joy. Feel free to borrow any ideas that may help you create a truly wicked cache. I want to thank Team Alamogul, westycrew, and Team GeoDragon for inspiration and help on this one.
My second journey is still out there is you dare:
A Diabolical Journey
Combining ideas that really impressed me and fresh ideas that I believed were new. It took awhile to complete, each stage growing and evolving as time went on. Finally, the last piece was in place and my Diabolical cache came to be.
For the cache itself, see Now *This* is Diabolical
But, evil is fleeting. It's been one year and time has come to lay this demon to rest. So, dear Reader, since I believe that geocaching can only grow through cachers talking and sharing those caches that truly stand out, allow me to share what has become my masterpiece.
First though, my sincerest thanks to everyone who came out and braved the dark. My heartfelt gratitude cannot be expressed in mere words.
Stage one:
From the parking coordinates (those listed upon the cache page), the cacher would stand in a dirt clearing where two roads cross. By shining their flashlight around, they soon would spot a square reflective marker off in the sage brush. The reflective tape is on the face of a thin post wired to a piece of rebar and supported by rocks. The curious cacher will always try moving the rocks or pulling the post up - neither of which gets you anywhere. Once they've exhausted the usual methods, the cacher will eventually remember the point about the UV Light. Shining the light upon the post reveals the coordinates to the next stage a quarter mile away.
Stage two:
While not intended, the easiest route to the coordinates causes the vehicles headlights to shine upon the reflective marker. The cacher investigates the post using UV to reveal the message "Feeling at the end of your rope?" Looking closer, a 35mm attached to the rebar is discovered. Opening the container shows a string wound around a spool with a black disk at the end. Eventually, the cacher will realize that they need to walk out to the end of the string ad begin walking in a circle until the next step is found. A PVC pipe is tied into a nearby bush and removing the cap, the cacher can see another 35mm at the bottom. If the cacher hasn't wrapped the string back up, and if they aren't equipped with an extendable magnet, the black disk (magnet) can be lowered into the tube and the 35mm removed. Inside is a black piece of paper that UV light will show the next coordinates.
Stage three:
After parking, the cacher discovers the reflector further up the hill than expected. Once there, the UV light reveals two columns of numbers. Every possible idea is tried, from UTM to spelling to adding to anything until it becomes clear the number is a phone number written top to bottom left to right. So row one was 87, row two 76, row three 87, row four 74, row five 70 (don't try calling, I'm cancelling the number shortly after this publishes). That number was bought through http://www.onebox.com/ and costs just under $10 per month. I had my friend SKWERL record the message that provided the coordinates and cachers were welcome to leave a voicemail. I got some really entertaining messages from that stage!!
Stage four:
Parking provides a spectacular view of Carson City at night. The reflector lies downhill a bit and has the UV message 340, 89'. This is an offset stage, cachers can either use the GPS Project Waypoint function or manually figure it out. The location is a pile of rock that was there with an ammo can inside. The final location is on a hill with a clear and unobstructed view of the city. At night, one can see all the city lights and if the moon is full, the surrounding mountains. But it is dark enough to enjoy the stars above.
So there you have it. My pride and joy. Feel free to borrow any ideas that may help you create a truly wicked cache. I want to thank Team Alamogul, westycrew, and Team GeoDragon for inspiration and help on this one.
My second journey is still out there is you dare:
A Diabolical Journey
Sunday, December 20, 2009
On a quest for 1000
Dad and I started caching the same day, on August 3rd 2003. But because of work schedules, and degree of obsession with the game, I racked up the numbers while he enjoyed a more sane pace.
But today he was within 10 caches of reaching that great milestone of 1K. So while testing out the new setup, we started picking up a few. Then it became we picked up enough to set him at 999.
Oh what to do?
I sent out a Twitter request for suggestions and was soon standing beside Catch the Wave, a water cache that I'd heard much about. We looked, headed down to Chevron to get the needed supplies, and were soon back at Ground Zero.
Teamwork got this cache in hand with only a half gallon rather than the usual gallon and cheers went up for his 1000th cache find.
Not a bad day at all. :-)
Today, 12/20/2009, we found:
Sign Of The Times 4 (FTF at 12:21p)
JGMTC VII
A Partridge in a Pear Tree
Two Turtle Doves
Three French Hens
Four Calling Birds
Five Golden Rings
Six Geese A-Laying
Seven Swans A-Swimming
Catch the Wave
But today he was within 10 caches of reaching that great milestone of 1K. So while testing out the new setup, we started picking up a few. Then it became we picked up enough to set him at 999.
Oh what to do?
I sent out a Twitter request for suggestions and was soon standing beside Catch the Wave, a water cache that I'd heard much about. We looked, headed down to Chevron to get the needed supplies, and were soon back at Ground Zero.
Teamwork got this cache in hand with only a half gallon rather than the usual gallon and cheers went up for his 1000th cache find.
Not a bad day at all. :-)
Today, 12/20/2009, we found:
Sign Of The Times 4 (FTF at 12:21p)
JGMTC VII
A Partridge in a Pear Tree
Two Turtle Doves
Three French Hens
Four Calling Birds
Five Golden Rings
Six Geese A-Laying
Seven Swans A-Swimming
Catch the Wave
Saturday, December 19, 2009
A journey of a thousand miles....
As Legolas said, though referring to something else, "A shadow and a threat has been growing in my mind..."
A bit of back story first.
A few years back, I got the idea in my head to just drop everything and go wander. Drift wherever my feet or interest or roads take me. When I run low on money, simply stop and get a basic job to build funds up again, then head off.
That got put on the back burner due to many obligations that have come up, but still, it's there. I'd follow with interest other vagabonds, who took the ultimate act of courage and struck out for a new life. Amtrekker being one that I had the pleasure of meeting.
But then, about a month or so ago, the shadow began growing. It swelled in size and strength, until it weighed upon me like the chains borne by Marley. I couldn't get it out of my head and the utter sense of urgency, the sense of NOW, could not be shaken. For once, my life was beginning to line up in such a way that the whole thing was possible.
My credit cards could very well be paid off this month, a big hang up as wandering acquires no income. School semester has now ended, leaving me with the choice to continue on. And... well, let's just say that the other big responsibility in my life doesn't have quite the hold it used to.
Could I do it? Could I drop everything and just Go. No destination, no goal, no objective, just put on a backpack and let the wind carry me off. As the Master wanderer said, "It is a dangerous business going out your front door."
Well, not exactly. Still enough ties here to hold me back. But, to appease the monster that has been dominating my concentration and focus lately, I figured I'll start by taking steps.
One idea I have is to actively blog my journey/adventure/whatever. Now I do have my phone, an HTC Touch Pro 2, but typing to type anything of length is almost nightmarish. And lugging around the laptop is just a bear. So, the solution? A netbook!
I've been wanting one of these for awhile, and seeing habu using it to navigate to caches and then seeing nvsrvyr's Mission Control set up really really made me want one. And what better little device to haul around and blog and surf and whatever while on the road??
So, I have now taken step one.
I'm currently writing this on my new Samsung N130 and it's rigged up to go fully mobile cache wise and totally mobile for recording my journey for whatever adventures lie before me.
A bit of back story first.
A few years back, I got the idea in my head to just drop everything and go wander. Drift wherever my feet or interest or roads take me. When I run low on money, simply stop and get a basic job to build funds up again, then head off.
That got put on the back burner due to many obligations that have come up, but still, it's there. I'd follow with interest other vagabonds, who took the ultimate act of courage and struck out for a new life. Amtrekker being one that I had the pleasure of meeting.
But then, about a month or so ago, the shadow began growing. It swelled in size and strength, until it weighed upon me like the chains borne by Marley. I couldn't get it out of my head and the utter sense of urgency, the sense of NOW, could not be shaken. For once, my life was beginning to line up in such a way that the whole thing was possible.
My credit cards could very well be paid off this month, a big hang up as wandering acquires no income. School semester has now ended, leaving me with the choice to continue on. And... well, let's just say that the other big responsibility in my life doesn't have quite the hold it used to.
Could I do it? Could I drop everything and just Go. No destination, no goal, no objective, just put on a backpack and let the wind carry me off. As the Master wanderer said, "It is a dangerous business going out your front door."
Well, not exactly. Still enough ties here to hold me back. But, to appease the monster that has been dominating my concentration and focus lately, I figured I'll start by taking steps.
One idea I have is to actively blog my journey/adventure/whatever. Now I do have my phone, an HTC Touch Pro 2, but typing to type anything of length is almost nightmarish. And lugging around the laptop is just a bear. So, the solution? A netbook!
I've been wanting one of these for awhile, and seeing habu using it to navigate to caches and then seeing nvsrvyr's Mission Control set up really really made me want one. And what better little device to haul around and blog and surf and whatever while on the road??
So, I have now taken step one.
I'm currently writing this on my new Samsung N130 and it's rigged up to go fully mobile cache wise and totally mobile for recording my journey for whatever adventures lie before me.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
A Great Day
I have had a remarkable day!
A 20 mile bike ride, followed by a 3 mile paddle down the Walker River. All with some awesome awesome friends.
I am going to be so sore tomorrow!!
Friday, August 28, 2009
Egads! Update!
Hurm, so I last posted on 5/13/09
Yeah a bit has gone on since then. I'll see about going back and trying to do a play-by-play, but until such time, I'll hand you a summary of sorts. Now, I am caching in between these events, but this is just touching on the big moments over the last few months.
Memorial Day Weekend July 23rd-25th
Drove down to Vegas, had truck issues, redrove down to Vegas to hang out with the Moose Mob Expedition in covering a good portion of the southern tip of the state and over the course of three days scored 80+ caches. In short, AWESOME WEEKEND!
May 31st
Dad and I head out to Yerington to clear out the town and to play the new Tic-Tac-Toe series that was out there. That was a really fun day and, although I lost the game, we really loved playing!
June 7th
So I tweet that I'm almost to 2500 caches, and habu! found out I wasn't really motivated enough to score that big milestone. So I met up with him in Tahoe and we spent the day caching around and seeing some spectacular places that I didn't even know about! I think the best one was the hike up by Horsetail Falls and the old ruined cabin, well, no the best one was going after one in an area that left me feeling like we'd been transported away from the Sierras and found ourselves in the marshy lowlands of Florida. It was GREAT!
June 21st
Dad and I return to Yerington in the hopes of completely clearing town. We were mostly successful, though I really enjoyed the cache at the Bluestone Mine. That was a great adventure and a really cool location! That's what I really enjoy about caching!
June 27th
I suddenly got to thinking that, in my opinion, a really great cache are those that you are eager to share with someone that is visiting and you really want to impress them. Then I looked at my caches and realized that I didn't want to share any of mine (well, except Diabolical). So, I archived them. Took all day, but 23 caches bit the dust and I feel immensely relieved! I think a general spring cleaning of cache hides is in order every now and then.
June 28th
Dad and I head out to Fallon to clear out the area around Soda Lake. We score some great caches, have a fun adventure in the hot (100+) sandy desert, and got that chunk of town cleared. Of course when we get home a new Earthcache published -- right on Soda Lake. ARGH!!!
July 5th
Hooked up with Big Truck Crew and a group from Reno 4x4 to go real 4-wheeling. Puzzleman and I were the only stock rigs on the run, but we made it though with only mine injuries. The cool thing was bagging some of the trickier caches along the road and seeing an old well-built road leading from Virginia City to Dayton right over the Sutro Tunnel!
July 24th-26th
Vegas Princess didn't realize Tahoe was so close when she was up here last month and so returned, with Moose Mob in tow. The goal, Depth Perception! The 5 star cache I've been eager to get since I learned of it and the one I've been saving that special 5/5 square on my grid for. Why? Because it's the one you need to DIVE into Tahoe to retrieve! We scored that one and spent the rest of the weekend driving around the lake grabbing caches. Oh yeah, then there was that incident involving El Dorado County Sheriff....
August 12th - 16th
Ah, the big week long caching, camping, and exploring the desert vacation! Puzzleman got the idea to head WAY out there, finish the DeLorme, and to bring his telescope along to take advantage of NO lights being out in the desert. So, we spent three nights out on the desert floor (one at Spencer's Hot Springs, the next at Steptoe Creek, and the last at the Boundary Peak trailhead), cleared out the central section of needed quads, scored the oldest caches in the state, and generally had the most exciting time and the best adventure. I loved every minute of it and really really really didn't want to come back.
So that's the highlights. Again, I'll go back (maybe) and update each event with the full details. Or not. I really need to learn to send an email post whenever I do something awesome. But again, I've taken to Twitter and since it doesn't involve the hassle of turning on my laptop and connecting to the net, it's much easier to post there.
But I do want to get back into logging here. Just like my Field Notes, I know it's easier to just post from the field, but as I detest generic logs, I'm actually sitting down and writing a log. I just will have to get back into the habit here.
Thanks for sticking this out with me. Hope to see you again soon!
Yeah a bit has gone on since then. I'll see about going back and trying to do a play-by-play, but until such time, I'll hand you a summary of sorts. Now, I am caching in between these events, but this is just touching on the big moments over the last few months.
Memorial Day Weekend July 23rd-25th
Drove down to Vegas, had truck issues, redrove down to Vegas to hang out with the Moose Mob Expedition in covering a good portion of the southern tip of the state and over the course of three days scored 80+ caches. In short, AWESOME WEEKEND!
May 31st
Dad and I head out to Yerington to clear out the town and to play the new Tic-Tac-Toe series that was out there. That was a really fun day and, although I lost the game, we really loved playing!
June 7th
So I tweet that I'm almost to 2500 caches, and habu! found out I wasn't really motivated enough to score that big milestone. So I met up with him in Tahoe and we spent the day caching around and seeing some spectacular places that I didn't even know about! I think the best one was the hike up by Horsetail Falls and the old ruined cabin, well, no the best one was going after one in an area that left me feeling like we'd been transported away from the Sierras and found ourselves in the marshy lowlands of Florida. It was GREAT!
June 21st
Dad and I return to Yerington in the hopes of completely clearing town. We were mostly successful, though I really enjoyed the cache at the Bluestone Mine. That was a great adventure and a really cool location! That's what I really enjoy about caching!
June 27th
I suddenly got to thinking that, in my opinion, a really great cache are those that you are eager to share with someone that is visiting and you really want to impress them. Then I looked at my caches and realized that I didn't want to share any of mine (well, except Diabolical). So, I archived them. Took all day, but 23 caches bit the dust and I feel immensely relieved! I think a general spring cleaning of cache hides is in order every now and then.
June 28th
Dad and I head out to Fallon to clear out the area around Soda Lake. We score some great caches, have a fun adventure in the hot (100+) sandy desert, and got that chunk of town cleared. Of course when we get home a new Earthcache published -- right on Soda Lake. ARGH!!!
July 5th
Hooked up with Big Truck Crew and a group from Reno 4x4 to go real 4-wheeling. Puzzleman and I were the only stock rigs on the run, but we made it though with only mine injuries. The cool thing was bagging some of the trickier caches along the road and seeing an old well-built road leading from Virginia City to Dayton right over the Sutro Tunnel!
July 24th-26th
Vegas Princess didn't realize Tahoe was so close when she was up here last month and so returned, with Moose Mob in tow. The goal, Depth Perception! The 5 star cache I've been eager to get since I learned of it and the one I've been saving that special 5/5 square on my grid for. Why? Because it's the one you need to DIVE into Tahoe to retrieve! We scored that one and spent the rest of the weekend driving around the lake grabbing caches. Oh yeah, then there was that incident involving El Dorado County Sheriff....
August 12th - 16th
Ah, the big week long caching, camping, and exploring the desert vacation! Puzzleman got the idea to head WAY out there, finish the DeLorme, and to bring his telescope along to take advantage of NO lights being out in the desert. So, we spent three nights out on the desert floor (one at Spencer's Hot Springs, the next at Steptoe Creek, and the last at the Boundary Peak trailhead), cleared out the central section of needed quads, scored the oldest caches in the state, and generally had the most exciting time and the best adventure. I loved every minute of it and really really really didn't want to come back.
So that's the highlights. Again, I'll go back (maybe) and update each event with the full details. Or not. I really need to learn to send an email post whenever I do something awesome. But again, I've taken to Twitter and since it doesn't involve the hassle of turning on my laptop and connecting to the net, it's much easier to post there.
But I do want to get back into logging here. Just like my Field Notes, I know it's easier to just post from the field, but as I detest generic logs, I'm actually sitting down and writing a log. I just will have to get back into the habit here.
Thanks for sticking this out with me. Hope to see you again soon!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Down time
Well, I figured I'd take today and update this and actually write something for the previous month that I have neglected...
That was, until I sat down to do it.
For some reason this week I've been under a serious weight, generally giving me an apathedic outlook on life to the point where I haven't even bothered going after a cache despite several publishing - including one named after me! I just haven't gone out.
I don't know what's wrong, wether it'll pass or not, but I do know that trying to backtrack on this might take awhile if ever.
Tis the curse of Twitter - I'm blogging over there 140 characters at a time.
That was, until I sat down to do it.
For some reason this week I've been under a serious weight, generally giving me an apathedic outlook on life to the point where I haven't even bothered going after a cache despite several publishing - including one named after me! I just haven't gone out.
I don't know what's wrong, wether it'll pass or not, but I do know that trying to backtrack on this might take awhile if ever.
Tis the curse of Twitter - I'm blogging over there 140 characters at a time.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Mother's Day weekend
Not much caching done as it is Mom's day. But I did get some in.
Earlier I was told about an odd-ball double cache over by the hospital and asked if I remembered any archived cache being there. Since I woke up at 7 and we were planning on heading out around 10, I had some time to investigate.
Turns out that some Rally school used a nearby lamp post to place a stage of a "Night challenge" and it was forgotten. That was back in 2006. Seems that since then, only 1 in every 4 caches managed to find the real cache and instead logged the temporary one. That explains Puzzleman and nvsrvyr's confusion yesterday!
After I removed the offending LPC, b0neZ, kindergeek, and I all headed out to his folks and watched a movie while catching up on family happenings. Afterward, we headed up to Tahoe for my mom's and had some delicious burgers after a game of badminton.
As we were driving home, I managed to get power back into my phone and discovered that RoadRunner was busy! But, we're still 30 minutes away and there's no chance of me getting down in time, so I just ignored them. Not one to be ignored, RoadRunner called and asked how the FTF hunt was going. Since I wasn't, we just chatted a bit before he had to go. Then he published 3 more!! Of course I called him back to harass him over such a move.
Once I dropped the guys off, I went to enter coords - and something happened...
I don't know what, nor why, but my mood dropped drastically while I was putting in those numbers. Rather than trying to hunt for any caches, I just drove up into the hills overlooking Carson and tried to sort out why I was suddenly depressed.
I hope I can shake this feeling soon, but I feel like I lost it.
Earlier I was told about an odd-ball double cache over by the hospital and asked if I remembered any archived cache being there. Since I woke up at 7 and we were planning on heading out around 10, I had some time to investigate.
Turns out that some Rally school used a nearby lamp post to place a stage of a "Night challenge" and it was forgotten. That was back in 2006. Seems that since then, only 1 in every 4 caches managed to find the real cache and instead logged the temporary one. That explains Puzzleman and nvsrvyr's confusion yesterday!
After I removed the offending LPC, b0neZ, kindergeek, and I all headed out to his folks and watched a movie while catching up on family happenings. Afterward, we headed up to Tahoe for my mom's and had some delicious burgers after a game of badminton.
As we were driving home, I managed to get power back into my phone and discovered that RoadRunner was busy! But, we're still 30 minutes away and there's no chance of me getting down in time, so I just ignored them. Not one to be ignored, RoadRunner called and asked how the FTF hunt was going. Since I wasn't, we just chatted a bit before he had to go. Then he published 3 more!! Of course I called him back to harass him over such a move.
Once I dropped the guys off, I went to enter coords - and something happened...
I don't know what, nor why, but my mood dropped drastically while I was putting in those numbers. Rather than trying to hunt for any caches, I just drove up into the hills overlooking Carson and tried to sort out why I was suddenly depressed.
I hope I can shake this feeling soon, but I feel like I lost it.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
DeLorme Planning Trip
I still find it odd that there are two separate groups of DeLorme Challengers going down to the southern end of the state on the same weekend.
So I needed to get my truck ready. I took it in first thing (oy 7:30am!) to Les Schwabb and soon my little boy had a new set of trail boots. Course they were far too clean, so I went and played in dirt and mud before taking him over to Toyota to get his checkup done. Ahh, happy truck!
Then met up with Puzzleman at Round Table to map out our route - his actually, I couldn't get Friday off. Once we finished that, it was time to head up to Fernley and grab some caches before meeting up with the second group.
That was a fun trip, and that Jeep managed to find a good handful of caches that we had already found the last time we went through Fernley with the Reno crowd. Dinner time came and while everyone was eating, the plans came together.
Total, we're looking at myself, Puzzleman, Bookmarked, nvsrvyr, Lost in Reno, nvH20fowler, and Nitro929 are all heading down to Vegas. Watch out Southerners! Here comes the North!
So I needed to get my truck ready. I took it in first thing (oy 7:30am!) to Les Schwabb and soon my little boy had a new set of trail boots. Course they were far too clean, so I went and played in dirt and mud before taking him over to Toyota to get his checkup done. Ahh, happy truck!
Then met up with Puzzleman at Round Table to map out our route - his actually, I couldn't get Friday off. Once we finished that, it was time to head up to Fernley and grab some caches before meeting up with the second group.
That was a fun trip, and that Jeep managed to find a good handful of caches that we had already found the last time we went through Fernley with the Reno crowd. Dinner time came and while everyone was eating, the plans came together.
Total, we're looking at myself, Puzzleman, Bookmarked, nvsrvyr, Lost in Reno, nvH20fowler, and Nitro929 are all heading down to Vegas. Watch out Southerners! Here comes the North!
Friday, May 8, 2009
More FTF's
Not much going on lately, cept for the random night post that leaves half of Carson scrambling for their vehicles and the other half laughing hysterically at home waiting for the logs.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
FITO - Flash In Trash Out
Whoo Hoo! I finally got a CITO Icon!
So, today was the day of the Flash Mob/CITO. Drove up with Trekrr first thing to the Labyrinth in Rancho San Rafael where everyone met up in their silly hats. The original idea was to walk the labyrinth, but once it was discovered that the path was placed in memory of victims of domestic violence, that idea was stopped. So, we just chatted for 15 minutes and got a good picture out of it.
Afterwards, it was time to introduce ourselves to the Ranger and find our area of trail maintenance. I ended up at the end of the line so we worked the beginning of the trail, clearing weeds, thorny bushes, rocks, and overgrown tree branches. I do say our section looked the best. ;-)
One of the cool things discovered was that while Green Jack was ready to hack a limb, a little yellow Bush Tit flew out and he nest - WITH EGGS - was discovered. The limb was quickly delared off limits and everyone came to look at the brave little bird who flew back and sat so still on her nest we really had to look to see her.
All in all a very fun day!
So, today was the day of the Flash Mob/CITO. Drove up with Trekrr first thing to the Labyrinth in Rancho San Rafael where everyone met up in their silly hats. The original idea was to walk the labyrinth, but once it was discovered that the path was placed in memory of victims of domestic violence, that idea was stopped. So, we just chatted for 15 minutes and got a good picture out of it.
Afterwards, it was time to introduce ourselves to the Ranger and find our area of trail maintenance. I ended up at the end of the line so we worked the beginning of the trail, clearing weeds, thorny bushes, rocks, and overgrown tree branches. I do say our section looked the best. ;-)
One of the cool things discovered was that while Green Jack was ready to hack a limb, a little yellow Bush Tit flew out and he nest - WITH EGGS - was discovered. The limb was quickly delared off limits and everyone came to look at the brave little bird who flew back and sat so still on her nest we really had to look to see her.
All in all a very fun day!
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Remote FTF attempt
There's a new feature on Nevada Geocaching Assoc, a map of all caches in Nevada with no finds on them - ie FTF!
Trekrr spots one smack in the middle of the state, New Pass Summit, and decides that we should take a stab at that one. So into the truck we go and out on an adventure. He'd mapped out the entire route, using Google Maps to find the right path up as there were numerous side roads that went nowhere.
Once we got up into the canyon, the snow began to worry him. I, of course, was willing to walk it once the truck couldn't go any further. So, up the canyon we went, higher, and higher, winding around through the canyon, until we came around a corner and stopped...
Why's that tree lying in the road?
Ah well, back down the mountain and head off to Austin for lunch and start picking up caches on the way back into Carson. You can be sure this won't be the only trip up there, that area was fantastic!!
Trekrr spots one smack in the middle of the state, New Pass Summit, and decides that we should take a stab at that one. So into the truck we go and out on an adventure. He'd mapped out the entire route, using Google Maps to find the right path up as there were numerous side roads that went nowhere.
Once we got up into the canyon, the snow began to worry him. I, of course, was willing to walk it once the truck couldn't go any further. So, up the canyon we went, higher, and higher, winding around through the canyon, until we came around a corner and stopped...
Why's that tree lying in the road?
Ah well, back down the mountain and head off to Austin for lunch and start picking up caches on the way back into Carson. You can be sure this won't be the only trip up there, that area was fantastic!!
Friday, April 24, 2009
Mad dash for cache!
The fun thing about having some hiders in town in that periodically, if your an FTF hound, you get your heart rate tested as the panic sets in as to who can get there first.
Yep, been at that again!
Yep, been at that again!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Wendover and beyond!
Puzzleman has it in his mind to do the DeLorme.
So, this weekend we headed out I-80 on a quest to bag as many DeLorme pages, the Oldest Caches out east, two additional states, numerous counties, and whatever else we could find.
So Friday night was the monthly coffee hour and there was an amazing 20-25 cachers who showed up! Awesome time all around and a great chance to finally put some names and faces together with their caching handle. Later, while packing and geting ready, Black Fox got his cache published right outside Starbucks. But I opted to get ready vs head out.
Saturday, while waiting for Puzzleman and bookmarked, Trekrr and I calmly found the cache that everyone else panicked over last night. Soon that Jeep showed up and we were on our way! We're going on a Road Trip!!! First stop, Lovelock for breakfast (early road trip) and a required stop at It Had To Have One. Then out 80 all the way to Wells, turn north to Jackpot and we all got our first cache in Idaho! Back south to 80, and over to Wendover. Good lord, that place is bright!! Hopped across the state line to bag our second state, then it was off to bed as we were all getting very tired and it was really starting to show.
Sunday, we headed south for the other Oldest Cache and all the way to Cherry Creek where we once again DNF'd churms cache on the old box cars. Back up to Elko and fly home, stopping only a few times for a county and another required stop at the Wall outside Lovelock. Then it was dinner in Fernley and home.
I don't think I've been that exhausted in a long time. But it was a very successful and FUN weekend.
So, this weekend we headed out I-80 on a quest to bag as many DeLorme pages, the Oldest Caches out east, two additional states, numerous counties, and whatever else we could find.
So Friday night was the monthly coffee hour and there was an amazing 20-25 cachers who showed up! Awesome time all around and a great chance to finally put some names and faces together with their caching handle. Later, while packing and geting ready, Black Fox got his cache published right outside Starbucks. But I opted to get ready vs head out.
Saturday, while waiting for Puzzleman and bookmarked, Trekrr and I calmly found the cache that everyone else panicked over last night. Soon that Jeep showed up and we were on our way! We're going on a Road Trip!!! First stop, Lovelock for breakfast (early road trip) and a required stop at It Had To Have One. Then out 80 all the way to Wells, turn north to Jackpot and we all got our first cache in Idaho! Back south to 80, and over to Wendover. Good lord, that place is bright!! Hopped across the state line to bag our second state, then it was off to bed as we were all getting very tired and it was really starting to show.
Sunday, we headed south for the other Oldest Cache and all the way to Cherry Creek where we once again DNF'd churms cache on the old box cars. Back up to Elko and fly home, stopping only a few times for a county and another required stop at the Wall outside Lovelock. Then it was dinner in Fernley and home.
I don't think I've been that exhausted in a long time. But it was a very successful and FUN weekend.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Splatter Caches
Whew, now that the Circle of 12 is DONE! all is left for me to do is keep my 5 mile circle clear.
Just a bonus that also means going on more FTF hunts... :-)
Yeah, i'm having too much fun messing with Puzzleman, Bernsports, CastleDwellers, and anyone else brave enough to challenge the night!
Just a bonus that also means going on more FTF hunts... :-)
Yeah, i'm having too much fun messing with Puzzleman, Bernsports, CastleDwellers, and anyone else brave enough to challenge the night!
Saturday, April 11, 2009
A Circle of 12 = 2300!
FINALLY!!!
WHOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
:eh hem:
Well, after way to long, way to hard, way to everything, I'm finally able to mark off that last little treasure chest on my GPS within my 5 mile circle of Carson. I FINALLY FINISHED THE CIRCLE OF 12!
Allow me to explain this cache. The Huntsman, Duke_Johnson, whatever other names he uses, hid one multi that had a micro cache with waypoints set on top of 12 highpoints around Carson. Well, 10 of them anyway, 2 stages are oddly in town. Anyway, I started working on this half-heartedly. I mean, come on, 12 hikes and you only get one smiley?? But it was there, it was nagging, and it was going to be found one way or the other.
But I got stuck on 4 - a swarm of bugs kept me away from the cache site and I gave up. But, now that a few others have found it, I was going to finish it. Found 4, and with the help of Trekrr, found 5 and 6. 7 was almost on top of another cache, 8 was a cool hike with a nice overlook of Washoe Lake.
Then, number 9. The one that proved who was going to finish this and the one that made sure you weren't faking the rest. A sheer climb from the bottom of Ash Canyon straight up into the Carson Range. Sure, you're GPS will only say .25 mile, but you are climbing STRAIGHT UP that whole time. I think the only reason I kept going was because it was easier going up than down, I knew I was never coming back, and I was not about to let one cache go unfound. Find it I did, screaming and yelling the whole way, and even discovered an old mine road leading down again. To give you an idea of how exhausted I was upon finding that one, Trekrr was called to give me a ride back to my truck and had to get out the rope to pull me back up the creek bank.
10 and 11 were cake compared to that, though I think even the climb to Mt Rose was cake compared to number 9.
And soon, 12 was in hand and I took immense pleasure in marking that damnable waypoint FOUND!
WHOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
:eh hem:
Well, after way to long, way to hard, way to everything, I'm finally able to mark off that last little treasure chest on my GPS within my 5 mile circle of Carson. I FINALLY FINISHED THE CIRCLE OF 12!
Allow me to explain this cache. The Huntsman, Duke_Johnson, whatever other names he uses, hid one multi that had a micro cache with waypoints set on top of 12 highpoints around Carson. Well, 10 of them anyway, 2 stages are oddly in town. Anyway, I started working on this half-heartedly. I mean, come on, 12 hikes and you only get one smiley?? But it was there, it was nagging, and it was going to be found one way or the other.
But I got stuck on 4 - a swarm of bugs kept me away from the cache site and I gave up. But, now that a few others have found it, I was going to finish it. Found 4, and with the help of Trekrr, found 5 and 6. 7 was almost on top of another cache, 8 was a cool hike with a nice overlook of Washoe Lake.
Then, number 9. The one that proved who was going to finish this and the one that made sure you weren't faking the rest. A sheer climb from the bottom of Ash Canyon straight up into the Carson Range. Sure, you're GPS will only say .25 mile, but you are climbing STRAIGHT UP that whole time. I think the only reason I kept going was because it was easier going up than down, I knew I was never coming back, and I was not about to let one cache go unfound. Find it I did, screaming and yelling the whole way, and even discovered an old mine road leading down again. To give you an idea of how exhausted I was upon finding that one, Trekrr was called to give me a ride back to my truck and had to get out the rope to pull me back up the creek bank.
10 and 11 were cake compared to that, though I think even the climb to Mt Rose was cake compared to number 9.
And soon, 12 was in hand and I took immense pleasure in marking that damnable waypoint FOUND!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
On a quest for 2300
And it involves a circle of caches...
You know, when things come together just right, there's no reason why would shouldn't take advantage of them.
5 miles, soon to be clear.
2300, soon to be found.
All Huntsman caches, soon to be checked.
Circle of 12 is going to fall....
But first I need to finish clearing out the town, so that's what I've been working on.
You know, when things come together just right, there's no reason why would shouldn't take advantage of them.
5 miles, soon to be clear.
2300, soon to be found.
All Huntsman caches, soon to be checked.
Circle of 12 is going to fall....
But first I need to finish clearing out the town, so that's what I've been working on.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
A day of FTFs and Desert exploring!
I'll expand on this later, but the short version is I managed to snipe the two FTFs that managed to survive last night's race and Trekrr and I spent a totally awesome day with Puzzleman and Bookmarked bouncing around out in the Dead Camels and the area. Scored a ton of caches too!
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Watch your Step
Had a great hike to one of the toughest caches I've done. But I did it and learned a lot along the way.A longer log is coming, promise. In the meantime, check out the hiking half of the story over on my other blog.
One Thousand Footsteps
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Visit to Lake Lahontan
Today, b0neZ, kindergeek, Puzzleman, and bookmarked and I all went out to grab a handful of caches around the reservior This has to be one of the funnest weekends I've had. I definitely needed it as I'm been getting a bit of cabin fever being in Carson and on pavement so much lately.
So, Puzzleman's seen that there's this cache on an island in Lake Lahontan. Knowing that the lake is really really low gives him the idea to go out and see if we can drive to it. Would I like to come along? Oh heck yeah!
So we head out, Puzzleman and Bookmarked in their Jeep and b0neZ, kindegeek, and me in the 4Runner. But we can't just drive straight out there, we have to spot and bag some caches along the way. And have some fun while we're out and about. The first stop was a cache up on a small hill outside Silver Springs. I waited below while the Jeep bounced so fast up the road it seriously looked like a cute little silver bug flying along the hillside. Then we headed towards an old Overland Station that's just off the highway and while the others either explored the ruins or found the cache, I got my trucky dusty on the dry lake bed.
One thing you need to know about Bookmarked - she *loves* being off-road. The faster, bumpier, and dustier it is, the happier she is. So when I pulled back up to the ruins, she ran down the hill yelling "Do it again! With me this time!" Her father obliged as he also loves having fun on dirt and they were having to much fun watching me out there. So I was the good little tour guide and took pictures!
Then we headed off to another cache I kept missing that provided a great overlook of the lake. Course, this overlook was just of how miserably low it is, but we were able to finally get up to the old tower and find the cache quickly. Puzzleman relayed a comment his daughter had made, that this is what geocaching is all about. Spending a day with friends and exploring new areas. I cannot agree more!
We continued on to a small pocket of caches where we found on in a culvert under the railroad tracks, then another up in a small range, and then (while the Jeep went off to get one I'd found already), we went exploring to see if a road went up to an Overlook cache nearby. Seriously, I drove *around* this hill looking for a way up, and not only ended up driving into a narrow, steep canyon with a stream bed for a road, but I also ended up driving into the back side of an old quarry - that had the main access gated and locked! Getting out of that was interesting and then reconnecting with the Jeep was another long adventure.
As we made our way over to the island, we kept looking at the lake and attempting to guess where we would eventually wind up. Found the nearest cache, and then we made our way over to the beach. Winding through some shoreline trees to a rough embankment of rocks found us .3 miles from the cache and a deep section of lake still between us and the island. The water was down, but not low enough! We're going to wait until summer when the drought really hits and look forward to being able to drive out.
Heading down the powerline road towards the next cache, the day was starting to grow late and we still had to decide which way to go home. The next two caches were quick, but not quick enough for the setting sun. The decision was made to turn back and head home the way we came in. I took the lead, and soon we found ourselves back on pavement and our rigs pointed home.
Another fantastic day and one that is re-igniting the adventurer spirit in me. I am so restless to get back out into the sand and sage, to ease my way up into narrow canyons, and follow old wagon roads past crumbling ruins of stage and pony stations.
I LOVE NEVADA!
2/28/2009
NevadaWolf found Lahontan View, Hawk Rock, The Gate Keeper, K7XC #6 - Lahontan Lake View, K7XC #19 - Lahontan Lake View #2
So, Puzzleman's seen that there's this cache on an island in Lake Lahontan. Knowing that the lake is really really low gives him the idea to go out and see if we can drive to it. Would I like to come along? Oh heck yeah!
So we head out, Puzzleman and Bookmarked in their Jeep and b0neZ, kindegeek, and me in the 4Runner. But we can't just drive straight out there, we have to spot and bag some caches along the way. And have some fun while we're out and about. The first stop was a cache up on a small hill outside Silver Springs. I waited below while the Jeep bounced so fast up the road it seriously looked like a cute little silver bug flying along the hillside. Then we headed towards an old Overland Station that's just off the highway and while the others either explored the ruins or found the cache, I got my trucky dusty on the dry lake bed.One thing you need to know about Bookmarked - she *loves* being off-road. The faster, bumpier, and dustier it is, the happier she is. So when I pulled back up to the ruins, she ran down the hill yelling "Do it again! With me this time!" Her father obliged as he also loves having fun on dirt and they were having to much fun watching me out there. So I was the good little tour guide and took pictures!
Then we headed off to another cache I kept missing that provided a great overlook of the lake. Course, this overlook was just of how miserably low it is, but we were able to finally get up to the old tower and find the cache quickly. Puzzleman relayed a comment his daughter had made, that this is what geocaching is all about. Spending a day with friends and exploring new areas. I cannot agree more!We continued on to a small pocket of caches where we found on in a culvert under the railroad tracks, then another up in a small range, and then (while the Jeep went off to get one I'd found already), we went exploring to see if a road went up to an Overlook cache nearby. Seriously, I drove *around* this hill looking for a way up, and not only ended up driving into a narrow, steep canyon with a stream bed for a road, but I also ended up driving into the back side of an old quarry - that had the main access gated and locked! Getting out of that was interesting and then reconnecting with the Jeep was another long adventure.
As we made our way over to the island, we kept looking at the lake and attempting to guess where we would eventually wind up. Found the nearest cache, and then we made our way over to the beach. Winding through some shoreline trees to a rough embankment of rocks found us .3 miles from the cache and a deep section of lake still between us and the island. The water was down, but not low enough! We're going to wait until summer when the drought really hits and look forward to being able to drive out.Heading down the powerline road towards the next cache, the day was starting to grow late and we still had to decide which way to go home. The next two caches were quick, but not quick enough for the setting sun. The decision was made to turn back and head home the way we came in. I took the lead, and soon we found ourselves back on pavement and our rigs pointed home.
Another fantastic day and one that is re-igniting the adventurer spirit in me. I am so restless to get back out into the sand and sage, to ease my way up into narrow canyons, and follow old wagon roads past crumbling ruins of stage and pony stations.
I LOVE NEVADA!
2/28/2009
NevadaWolf found Lahontan View, Hawk Rock, The Gate Keeper, K7XC #6 - Lahontan Lake View, K7XC #19 - Lahontan Lake View #2
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Some details on the FTF race!
Problem with these late night runs is that between the time the cache publishes, I rush out the door, the cache is found and replaced, and I return home, I'm usually so exhausted I collapse right into bed and forget to log anything.
So, while I'm posting this later (3-6-09) allow me to detail out exactly how these nights usually go since until now I've usually just hinted at the madness that follows the Publication Notify.
2/20/2009
NevadaWolf found Hey Kelly & Joy, There's Washoe Lake!!!, Biking to School
Okay, so Trekrr and I were on our way to dinner up at Texas RoadHouse when the notice for Back to School came in. No time, I blow it off for whomever else to find it. However, once dinner was finished (an hour later) and a cache picked up on the way home, still no one had logged it. So, we swing by to pick up b0neZ and kindergeek, and we're off to the site.
This cache is located on a semi-busy street with no parking. So, Trekrr pulls as close as he can, hits the hazards, and out jump b0neZ, kindergeek, and myself. Trekrr drives off to circle the block. As we cross the landscaping to the sidewalk, I trip and fall and my phone goes flying of my beltclip. Gather everything up, follow the GPS, 40 feet, 20 feet, 5 feet - spread out, start looking. While this one isn't hidden by the Billow Clan, the owner recently received this one from Uncle Buck who has been putting out some insanely clever though just unusual enough to stick out caches. So, as the flashlights are sweeping the ground looking for ANYTHING my beam hits it and the cache is in hand!
We gather around, the log extracted using the required tweezers, slowly unroll the sheet to find.... SECOND?! Beaten by CeeBeeNV over 45 minutes ago. ARGH!!
Signal Trekrr and we all pile back into the truck and head home.
Now, you think that'd be the end of it, right? Oh nay nay! There are two other FTF hunters in our little town here.
While lying in front of the computer, my phone suddenly rings. The caller ID shows Puzzleman, but I wouldn't even had needed that once I answered it: "Yes?" "ARGHHHH!!!!!!" "Good evening to you too!" So, we spend the time talking as he's logging the sheet and I happen to mention that while out there I lost my stylus. He's kind enough to not only search for the little itty bitty stylus, but after *finding* that, he logged Trekrr in who I forgot to while I was out there. Wonderful!!
After that conversation was over, I checked my email to see CeeBeeNV finally logged in, so I log in right behind her, and then Puzzleman makes it home to log his. But, we're still missing someone....
Just before I head to bed, Bernsports makes his log - and a sad little purple frown graces his log. Apparently he got out there, his wife doing the same thing my dad was doing, and the whole neighborhood was echoing with the barks of every dog on the street. So between trying to search, and the constant racket make by the dogs, and the fear of the owners calling the cops, he was too rattled to focus and missed the hide. Imagine his surprise at finding a half dozen Found logs all claiming to be really quick and easy. Poor guy!!
2/21/2009
NevadaWolf hosted Carson Coffee and Chow
NevadaWolf found guarding the snag, and on 2/22/2009 found hole in one (after midnight)
For my event, I expected around 30-40 people, tops. Honestly now, Carson is not that populated with cachers. So imagine my intense surprise when over 60 showed up!! ACK! But we had an insanely fantastic time and met a ton of great new people as well as many of my dear friends who showed up from all over!
That night, while logging in and emailing Puzzleman, RoadRunner does his thing and I'm moving! Grab up all my gear, jump in the truck, reach for the GPS.... which is still in the house! Rush back in, grab it, and back into the truck, plugging in coordinates as I go. Three new caches tonight, one in Washoe Valley, two out by the golf course. I blow off the Washoe one, too far. Gun the engine and pedal to the metal out to the links. I'm lucky enough that I know where the trailhead is for these two. I'm guessing/hoping that neither Puzzleman nor Bernsports knows of this entrance.
I get out there, no one in sight, swing around to park, and glance up the trail - and am gripped by a cold gut feeling of "Do not go alone." I don't know about you, but when I get a feeling that is beyond general uneasiness, I obey without question. I've been told by my body a couple times to back off, not go, or simply something's wrong and I never want to mess with that instinct. So I parked the truck and waited....
Sure enough, here come some Jeep headlights. "You find it?" "Nope, waiting for you."
We both park and head out at a brisk pace (I'm a mere 5'4" while Puzzleman is all leg at 6' so I have to move to keep up). The first cache site is located and the search started. Our GPS units are all over the place. 5 minutes later, I'm looking far and wide and I see the power pole. "Oh! There's powerlines above us!" Puzzleman looks, thinks, and grabs the cache quickly after that. Smart-aleck. But an easy FTF for us!
Heading off towards the second cache, we reach GZ and are faced with an old concrete chute, a barbwire fence, and lots of willow trees. We search everywhere within 20 feet, including several places that certainly weren't a 1.5 star terrain. But after a half hour, we give and head back.
As we pass by the first cache, we see a truck on the road slowing down near where we parked. We stop and I turn my flashlight off. Waiting, listening - one car door... silence, then two doors slam. 3 people? Who has 3 people? We rattle off the other groups who may be out, when I catch sight of a flashlight beam hitting the powerlines above. Puzzleman tugs my sleeve and we rush off into the bushes along the side of the trail. I see another flash of light, brighter and closer, and we heard voices coming up the trail...
Freeze, silence, hide everything reflective on me behind Puzzleman's neutral coat and hat....
A guy and a boy walk by, talking, and waving their flashlights everywhere. The beam crosses us, swings back, then back again, locking in on us as we wait... "Dad, there's people over there!!" "WHAT?!"
Puzzleman jumps up and we greet a rather pale-faced Bernsports and his son. The four of us return along the trail to the first cache where I got to play Hot 'n Cold with them until it was found, then it was back to the second cache.
Again, we search and look, and poke and are poked, until 10 minutes later, Puzzleman calls us all over and says he wants to show us something. Telling us to turn off our flashlights, he waits a heartbeat, turns his off, announces he's done, and walks away. Wait?! What?! Done?? OH! DONE! He found it!
We scramble to where we saw him last, while he's laughing manically at us. Bernsports spots it next, then I do, then Bern's son makes the grab. A long worthwhile search with friends nets us a four way FTF. We chatted all the way back to the trucks, and planned pay-back caches for hiding in the bushes and the flashlight stunt (I've laid claim to that one). Then it was time for us to depart.
I truly enjoy it when our lone hunts turn into group outings. Nothing better than caching with like minded lunatics.
2/22/2009
NevadaWolf found Beer Run
I was late on this one as I was in Tahoe at the time it published. But b0neZ, kindergeek, and I did make the find before the night was through. Came in third, but still had a lot of fun going out to grab this quicky.
So, while I'm posting this later (3-6-09) allow me to detail out exactly how these nights usually go since until now I've usually just hinted at the madness that follows the Publication Notify.
2/20/2009
NevadaWolf found Hey Kelly & Joy, There's Washoe Lake!!!, Biking to School
Okay, so Trekrr and I were on our way to dinner up at Texas RoadHouse when the notice for Back to School came in. No time, I blow it off for whomever else to find it. However, once dinner was finished (an hour later) and a cache picked up on the way home, still no one had logged it. So, we swing by to pick up b0neZ and kindergeek, and we're off to the site.
This cache is located on a semi-busy street with no parking. So, Trekrr pulls as close as he can, hits the hazards, and out jump b0neZ, kindergeek, and myself. Trekrr drives off to circle the block. As we cross the landscaping to the sidewalk, I trip and fall and my phone goes flying of my beltclip. Gather everything up, follow the GPS, 40 feet, 20 feet, 5 feet - spread out, start looking. While this one isn't hidden by the Billow Clan, the owner recently received this one from Uncle Buck who has been putting out some insanely clever though just unusual enough to stick out caches. So, as the flashlights are sweeping the ground looking for ANYTHING my beam hits it and the cache is in hand!
We gather around, the log extracted using the required tweezers, slowly unroll the sheet to find.... SECOND?! Beaten by CeeBeeNV over 45 minutes ago. ARGH!!
Signal Trekrr and we all pile back into the truck and head home.
Now, you think that'd be the end of it, right? Oh nay nay! There are two other FTF hunters in our little town here.
While lying in front of the computer, my phone suddenly rings. The caller ID shows Puzzleman, but I wouldn't even had needed that once I answered it: "Yes?" "ARGHHHH!!!!!!" "Good evening to you too!" So, we spend the time talking as he's logging the sheet and I happen to mention that while out there I lost my stylus. He's kind enough to not only search for the little itty bitty stylus, but after *finding* that, he logged Trekrr in who I forgot to while I was out there. Wonderful!!
After that conversation was over, I checked my email to see CeeBeeNV finally logged in, so I log in right behind her, and then Puzzleman makes it home to log his. But, we're still missing someone....
Just before I head to bed, Bernsports makes his log - and a sad little purple frown graces his log. Apparently he got out there, his wife doing the same thing my dad was doing, and the whole neighborhood was echoing with the barks of every dog on the street. So between trying to search, and the constant racket make by the dogs, and the fear of the owners calling the cops, he was too rattled to focus and missed the hide. Imagine his surprise at finding a half dozen Found logs all claiming to be really quick and easy. Poor guy!!
2/21/2009
NevadaWolf hosted Carson Coffee and Chow
NevadaWolf found guarding the snag, and on 2/22/2009 found hole in one (after midnight)
For my event, I expected around 30-40 people, tops. Honestly now, Carson is not that populated with cachers. So imagine my intense surprise when over 60 showed up!! ACK! But we had an insanely fantastic time and met a ton of great new people as well as many of my dear friends who showed up from all over!
That night, while logging in and emailing Puzzleman, RoadRunner does his thing and I'm moving! Grab up all my gear, jump in the truck, reach for the GPS.... which is still in the house! Rush back in, grab it, and back into the truck, plugging in coordinates as I go. Three new caches tonight, one in Washoe Valley, two out by the golf course. I blow off the Washoe one, too far. Gun the engine and pedal to the metal out to the links. I'm lucky enough that I know where the trailhead is for these two. I'm guessing/hoping that neither Puzzleman nor Bernsports knows of this entrance.
I get out there, no one in sight, swing around to park, and glance up the trail - and am gripped by a cold gut feeling of "Do not go alone." I don't know about you, but when I get a feeling that is beyond general uneasiness, I obey without question. I've been told by my body a couple times to back off, not go, or simply something's wrong and I never want to mess with that instinct. So I parked the truck and waited....
Sure enough, here come some Jeep headlights. "You find it?" "Nope, waiting for you."
We both park and head out at a brisk pace (I'm a mere 5'4" while Puzzleman is all leg at 6' so I have to move to keep up). The first cache site is located and the search started. Our GPS units are all over the place. 5 minutes later, I'm looking far and wide and I see the power pole. "Oh! There's powerlines above us!" Puzzleman looks, thinks, and grabs the cache quickly after that. Smart-aleck. But an easy FTF for us!
Heading off towards the second cache, we reach GZ and are faced with an old concrete chute, a barbwire fence, and lots of willow trees. We search everywhere within 20 feet, including several places that certainly weren't a 1.5 star terrain. But after a half hour, we give and head back.
As we pass by the first cache, we see a truck on the road slowing down near where we parked. We stop and I turn my flashlight off. Waiting, listening - one car door... silence, then two doors slam. 3 people? Who has 3 people? We rattle off the other groups who may be out, when I catch sight of a flashlight beam hitting the powerlines above. Puzzleman tugs my sleeve and we rush off into the bushes along the side of the trail. I see another flash of light, brighter and closer, and we heard voices coming up the trail...
Freeze, silence, hide everything reflective on me behind Puzzleman's neutral coat and hat....
A guy and a boy walk by, talking, and waving their flashlights everywhere. The beam crosses us, swings back, then back again, locking in on us as we wait... "Dad, there's people over there!!" "WHAT?!"
Puzzleman jumps up and we greet a rather pale-faced Bernsports and his son. The four of us return along the trail to the first cache where I got to play Hot 'n Cold with them until it was found, then it was back to the second cache.
Again, we search and look, and poke and are poked, until 10 minutes later, Puzzleman calls us all over and says he wants to show us something. Telling us to turn off our flashlights, he waits a heartbeat, turns his off, announces he's done, and walks away. Wait?! What?! Done?? OH! DONE! He found it!
We scramble to where we saw him last, while he's laughing manically at us. Bernsports spots it next, then I do, then Bern's son makes the grab. A long worthwhile search with friends nets us a four way FTF. We chatted all the way back to the trucks, and planned pay-back caches for hiding in the bushes and the flashlight stunt (I've laid claim to that one). Then it was time for us to depart.
I truly enjoy it when our lone hunts turn into group outings. Nothing better than caching with like minded lunatics.
2/22/2009
NevadaWolf found Beer Run
I was late on this one as I was in Tahoe at the time it published. But b0neZ, kindergeek, and I did make the find before the night was through. Came in third, but still had a lot of fun going out to grab this quicky.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Famous List
Whoo hoo!! The list created by Puzzleman and I made the Podcacher Podcast show #204!!
Check it out here: http://www.podcacher.com/?p=589
Valentines Day was spent hanging out with b0neZ and kindergeek, as well as beta-testing a new multi cache created by Puzzleman and helped out a bit by me. The real fun came while we were all crashed out watching Maverik and my phone buzzes for the latest publish by RoadRunner.
We bolt out the door, hoping the Puzzleman is busy with Valentine's family stuff, and knowing the cache belonged to Bernsports, so leaving only a few FTF'ers to chase. We get to the cache site, I stumble around in the dark looking for it, and score! One beautiful blank log sheet to be had!
Sunday, I ran out early with Puzzleman to place the final of his multi, the hide still needed some work yesterday. Then I just killed some time getting two of the newer caches in town before Trekrr and I went to see Coraline.
Enjoyable, though cold and rainy, weekend all told.
2/14/2009
NevadaWolf found William Tell Road (Traditional Cache)
2/15/2009
NevadaWolf found Cowboys and Indians, A bogey for sure
Friday, February 6, 2009
Introductory Caches
((This is the Bookmark List we've created to show new cachers in Carson a selection of Beginner Friendly styles. You can view the list here: Introductory Caches. The order is simply alphabetical, it means nothing.))
After several years, we have noticed that many new players encounter frustration during their first attempts at geocaching. It is our hope that this list of caches will provide a good introduction to the sport and help new players develop the skills to be more successful cachers. Included are a variety of cache types, sizes, hiding methods, and techniques that many geocachers may encounter.
" Information Please! "
A fairly easy, but clever, micro hide. Also the trailhead for the waterfall hike and three other caches.
"Rememberance"
This is a Riverview Park cache, with a magnetic micro container.
A Tricky Game
A different type of container.
Agua Pura
A medium-sized cache that helps build navigational skills.
Blanks + Postage
This is a Riverview Park cache, with a large container.
Carson City’s Once Greatest Building
Introduces a micro hide that has easy access and plenty of parking.
Check Out the Tome Collector
Introduces off set coordinates, as well as seeking a cache inside a building.
Crafty One
A different container, but easy.
Desert Stars
A nice hide along an educational walking path.
Dog-gone Friendly
A nice easy multi, that introduces getting information from plaques.
Doggy Doo Doo
Introduces a different hide perspective.
End of the trail
Introduces road navigation and ends with a small hike.
Game, Set, & Match!
A different type of container.
How many taverns can you see from here?
A moderate hike with a great view of south Carson.
ICN2U
An interesting hide and location, especially for a large container.
Industrial Park
Introduces evaluating approaching from different directions.
Night Cap
A common, yet clever, micro hide.
Rest Blissfully
A quick micro where stealth is required.
Runnin' With The Big Dogs
This is a Riverview Park cache, with a large container.
SHM #193 - Historic Flume and Lumberyard
A common hide.
Stand Alone
Introduces a simple but common hide that can be deceptively elusive.
These Are a Few of Our Favorite Things - #1
Easy find, a traditional large container.
This one might stump you
This is a Riverview Park cache, with a micro container.
Top Shelf Cache
Makes you think "outside the box".
What Does He Fix?
A good beginner "on-site" puzzle.
After several years, we have noticed that many new players encounter frustration during their first attempts at geocaching. It is our hope that this list of caches will provide a good introduction to the sport and help new players develop the skills to be more successful cachers. Included are a variety of cache types, sizes, hiding methods, and techniques that many geocachers may encounter.
" Information Please! "
A fairly easy, but clever, micro hide. Also the trailhead for the waterfall hike and three other caches.
"Rememberance"
This is a Riverview Park cache, with a magnetic micro container.
A Tricky Game
A different type of container.
Agua Pura
A medium-sized cache that helps build navigational skills.
Blanks + Postage
This is a Riverview Park cache, with a large container.
Carson City’s Once Greatest Building
Introduces a micro hide that has easy access and plenty of parking.
Check Out the Tome Collector
Introduces off set coordinates, as well as seeking a cache inside a building.
Crafty One
A different container, but easy.
Desert Stars
A nice hide along an educational walking path.
Dog-gone Friendly
A nice easy multi, that introduces getting information from plaques.
Doggy Doo Doo
Introduces a different hide perspective.
End of the trail
Introduces road navigation and ends with a small hike.
Game, Set, & Match!
A different type of container.
How many taverns can you see from here?
A moderate hike with a great view of south Carson.
ICN2U
An interesting hide and location, especially for a large container.
Industrial Park
Introduces evaluating approaching from different directions.
Night Cap
A common, yet clever, micro hide.
Rest Blissfully
A quick micro where stealth is required.
Runnin' With The Big Dogs
This is a Riverview Park cache, with a large container.
SHM #193 - Historic Flume and Lumberyard
A common hide.
Stand Alone
Introduces a simple but common hide that can be deceptively elusive.
These Are a Few of Our Favorite Things - #1
Easy find, a traditional large container.
This one might stump you
This is a Riverview Park cache, with a micro container.
Top Shelf Cache
Makes you think "outside the box".
What Does He Fix?
A good beginner "on-site" puzzle.
Another hike, and trying for a streak
Whoa, got busy this week!!
Okay, Sunday, the 1st, I followed Big Truck Crew and Puzzleman up Voltaire Canyon, stopping at each of the four caches up there since P-Man needed them. I was still sore from the V&T Hill hike, but the guys were nice enough to not get too far ahead and glance over their shoulders to make sure I was alright making my way up the hill. Full details available over on my One Thousand Footsteps blog.
After we got down, the backlog of Groundspeak emails finally came through and so I got the notice of a new cache posting just as we emerged from the canyon. However, it was the notice from the night before, meaning we three tore after a cache that had already been found. So, instead we went after another one that might have still had the FTF on it. Took awhile to find, even got the two decoys, before I spotted it. Beaten by 30 minutes - oddly the same amount of time spent going after the false-FTF...
The next day I saw that I had a mini-streak going. My maximum days in a row is a whooping 14! Then Puzzleman came along, found out about that stat, and promptly made it his goal to beat my two weeks. He did, he's now sitting at 16. So, I'm going to try to get back at him. And that night, a new puzzle it posted while I'm in my Remote Sensing class. I look through it, see it has way to much math involved, and see that I'm stuck in class for another two hours. I gave up. So, Trekrr and I found a different cache.
Trekrr decides to try it anyway, we get a very very rough guess, and after finding the easy one, we set out to see if that Jeep is in the area we figured and we'd just spy on Puzzleman. He wasn't there. The consensus is he's already found it, let's go home. On the way, I get an email from P-Man asking if I wanted to go on a road trip to get the puzzle. I learn that it's taken him 2 hours to solve the puzzle and he's just now heading out. Hop out of one rig, and jump into another, and back out.
40 minutes into searching, Trekrr (now home) also solves the puzzle. So between the two of us out there and using the two different coordinates, and a full bone-chilling hour of searching, we eventually find the cache and score the FTF, at 11:57pm - 3 minutes too early to claim the cache for the next day of the streak.
Wednesday, I'm supposed to meet up with Puzzleman to help him with his new multi, but the battery cables in my truck are so corroded that they literally fall off the battery. Dead truck. Panic and a quick run to Toyota gets my little boy ready for the shop. Then over to Starbucks until they close, then over to McDonald's until they close, then head out to pick up another cache. Gotta keep the streak going!
Thursday was bleh, did laundry and then got on the phone to build a list of 25 Beginner Suitable Geocaches. That took 4 hours!! Guess what I didn't get. Ah well, had a 5 day streak going.
Today, Friday, was a Twitter-ific day. A lot happened on Twitter, up to and including having @DelormeGPS make the comment of surviving the "@NevadaWolf Twitter Layoffs" and @daisybones2600 respond by saying that "an additional $30 million was made available for those affected by the @NevadaWolf Twitter Layoffs" Yeah... this is what I put up with over the day on Twitter.
Went to work on my slides finally over at Starbucks and ended up hanging out with Puzzleman there.
But now the weather is drizzling and snowing, hopefully this weekend I'm able to do something productive!!
2/1/2009
NevadaWolf found Don’t Get Banked, No Mulligans in Caching #3
2/1/2009
NevadaWolf posted a note for Rockabye Egg, Sand Dunes over Carson, Stonehenge over Carson
2/1/2009NevadaWolf archived Th-Egg-rical
2/2/2009
NevadaWolf found Scuba Diving in Carson City
2/3/2009
NevadaWolf found Cows and Leather, Carson City Earthquake X 3! Where's The Centroid?
2/4/2009
NevadaWolf found The $200.00 + Store
Okay, Sunday, the 1st, I followed Big Truck Crew and Puzzleman up Voltaire Canyon, stopping at each of the four caches up there since P-Man needed them. I was still sore from the V&T Hill hike, but the guys were nice enough to not get too far ahead and glance over their shoulders to make sure I was alright making my way up the hill. Full details available over on my One Thousand Footsteps blog.After we got down, the backlog of Groundspeak emails finally came through and so I got the notice of a new cache posting just as we emerged from the canyon. However, it was the notice from the night before, meaning we three tore after a cache that had already been found. So, instead we went after another one that might have still had the FTF on it. Took awhile to find, even got the two decoys, before I spotted it. Beaten by 30 minutes - oddly the same amount of time spent going after the false-FTF...
The next day I saw that I had a mini-streak going. My maximum days in a row is a whooping 14! Then Puzzleman came along, found out about that stat, and promptly made it his goal to beat my two weeks. He did, he's now sitting at 16. So, I'm going to try to get back at him. And that night, a new puzzle it posted while I'm in my Remote Sensing class. I look through it, see it has way to much math involved, and see that I'm stuck in class for another two hours. I gave up. So, Trekrr and I found a different cache.
Trekrr decides to try it anyway, we get a very very rough guess, and after finding the easy one, we set out to see if that Jeep is in the area we figured and we'd just spy on Puzzleman. He wasn't there. The consensus is he's already found it, let's go home. On the way, I get an email from P-Man asking if I wanted to go on a road trip to get the puzzle. I learn that it's taken him 2 hours to solve the puzzle and he's just now heading out. Hop out of one rig, and jump into another, and back out.
40 minutes into searching, Trekrr (now home) also solves the puzzle. So between the two of us out there and using the two different coordinates, and a full bone-chilling hour of searching, we eventually find the cache and score the FTF, at 11:57pm - 3 minutes too early to claim the cache for the next day of the streak.
Wednesday, I'm supposed to meet up with Puzzleman to help him with his new multi, but the battery cables in my truck are so corroded that they literally fall off the battery. Dead truck. Panic and a quick run to Toyota gets my little boy ready for the shop. Then over to Starbucks until they close, then over to McDonald's until they close, then head out to pick up another cache. Gotta keep the streak going!
Thursday was bleh, did laundry and then got on the phone to build a list of 25 Beginner Suitable Geocaches. That took 4 hours!! Guess what I didn't get. Ah well, had a 5 day streak going.
Today, Friday, was a Twitter-ific day. A lot happened on Twitter, up to and including having @DelormeGPS make the comment of surviving the "@NevadaWolf Twitter Layoffs" and @daisybones2600 respond by saying that "an additional $30 million was made available for those affected by the @NevadaWolf Twitter Layoffs" Yeah... this is what I put up with over the day on Twitter.
Went to work on my slides finally over at Starbucks and ended up hanging out with Puzzleman there.
But now the weather is drizzling and snowing, hopefully this weekend I'm able to do something productive!!
2/1/2009
NevadaWolf found Don’t Get Banked, No Mulligans in Caching #3
2/1/2009
NevadaWolf posted a note for Rockabye Egg, Sand Dunes over Carson, Stonehenge over Carson
2/1/2009NevadaWolf archived Th-Egg-rical
2/2/2009
NevadaWolf found Scuba Diving in Carson City
2/3/2009
NevadaWolf found Cows and Leather, Carson City Earthquake X 3! Where's The Centroid?
2/4/2009
NevadaWolf found The $200.00 + Store
Saturday, January 31, 2009
An FTF and exploring a Rally Route
Before my hike with Big Truck Crew this morning, I decided to try for the only remaining FTF from the mini frenzy last night. Now I occasionally have life interfer with getting involved in the race and so I received Puzzleman's taunting voicemail about the new caches while I had a cart load of groceries. Yeah, I'll run right out...
Instead, I get home, and jump online to watch the logs come in. Puzzleman, then Bernsports, then Minden Rat, and finally CastleDwellers all log, leaving just one of the four unfound by the morning. I woke up too early to met with BTC, didn't feel like doing my exercises, and choose to go run out and race up Prison Hill before heading out on the hike.
I plow up there as fast as I can, ending up at the saddle 20 minutes after leaving the truck. Then I scramble up onto a large rock outcrop and try to think where BTC would have hidden it. Well duh, he's as nuts as the rest of us, on top of course! Sheer dumb luck allowed me to find it almost instantly, and a quick call to Podcacher later, I was holding a beautifully blank log sheet!
But no time to admire the town in the glow of victory, I had a hike to get to! I flew down the hill and raced over, screeching into the trailhead right at the 9am meetup time.
Afterwards, I met up with Trekrr who'd found a cool road on Google Earth that he wants to use for a local version of a puzzle we learned about a few years back. So it was off to explore and find a good hiding spot. Boy, that road is full of awesome views and wicked hides. We'll definately be placing more than one cache out there.
On the way back down, Trekrr asks which way home, well we decide one way and are distracted enough by the cop pulling over a big yellow truck - in the middle of nowhere! - that we ended up heading over Sunrise Pass. This road proved to be the wettest, muddiest, slickest, soupy road we'd been on in a long time. Very careful mix of driving and sliding got us over to the other side of the Pinenut Range and we had smooth sailing all the way down the valley.
So of course we had to pick up some of the old Rally caches that are still out there. Three quick Altoid tins in bushes and rocks added to our total. But the day was getting dark, the sun was down, and my energy level was beginning to burn out. Grabbed a quick dinner and headed home.
Tomorrow, another hike and possibly a beginning to Carson's first Wherigo cache!
Instead, I get home, and jump online to watch the logs come in. Puzzleman, then Bernsports, then Minden Rat, and finally CastleDwellers all log, leaving just one of the four unfound by the morning. I woke up too early to met with BTC, didn't feel like doing my exercises, and choose to go run out and race up Prison Hill before heading out on the hike.
I plow up there as fast as I can, ending up at the saddle 20 minutes after leaving the truck. Then I scramble up onto a large rock outcrop and try to think where BTC would have hidden it. Well duh, he's as nuts as the rest of us, on top of course! Sheer dumb luck allowed me to find it almost instantly, and a quick call to Podcacher later, I was holding a beautifully blank log sheet!But no time to admire the town in the glow of victory, I had a hike to get to! I flew down the hill and raced over, screeching into the trailhead right at the 9am meetup time.
Afterwards, I met up with Trekrr who'd found a cool road on Google Earth that he wants to use for a local version of a puzzle we learned about a few years back. So it was off to explore and find a good hiding spot. Boy, that road is full of awesome views and wicked hides. We'll definately be placing more than one cache out there.
On the way back down, Trekrr asks which way home, well we decide one way and are distracted enough by the cop pulling over a big yellow truck - in the middle of nowhere! - that we ended up heading over Sunrise Pass. This road proved to be the wettest, muddiest, slickest, soupy road we'd been on in a long time. Very careful mix of driving and sliding got us over to the other side of the Pinenut Range and we had smooth sailing all the way down the valley.So of course we had to pick up some of the old Rally caches that are still out there. Three quick Altoid tins in bushes and rocks added to our total. But the day was getting dark, the sun was down, and my energy level was beginning to burn out. Grabbed a quick dinner and headed home.
Tomorrow, another hike and possibly a beginning to Carson's first Wherigo cache!
1/31/2009NevadaWolf found Voodoo on a Hoodoo, Day Route Cache 9, GBES Rally 2006, Day Route Cache 12, GBES Rally 2006, Harder Than Rock
Friday, January 30, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
A Party, a Puzzle, and a Problem
Kindergeek's birthday was earlier this month, but we had to throw him an event!Small turnout, but that made it really cool cause everyone was able to sit back, relax after a long day, and just chat. KG got some cool gifts, including a twist by Lil' Miss Muffit and Big Truck Crew, they gave him coords and he had to go find his gift!
1/21/2009
NevadaWolf attended KinderGeek and the Double Digits
Puzzleman's been telling me about his first puzzle, the one he's been holding onto and waiting for the right place to present itself. He thought he had the perfect hiding method, until some wolf dashed his hopes by semi-complaining about another cache hide that was to be similar. I'm not a Reviewer! But I do know the gist of the guidelines. Sorry man!
So, we're emailing and it's getting late. RoadRunner hasn't posted anything, and I'm off to bed. I check one last time... and there it is. Laying in bed, google searching the answer. Solved and I stare at it debating if I want to bother tonight... oh what the hell. Crawl out of bed and hit the pavement running. Now I've got Puzzleman on email and Bernsports on the phone. Lovely!
We reach the site, and Bern and I with his son begin searching. A few mintues pass and the cache is found! I hadn't answered my email, so Puzzleman calls to see if we're ok. Yep and we all get a chance to chat while standing out in the drizzling cold late late late night.
I love our logs on this one, we had way to much fun!
1/24/2009
NevadaWolf found State of Order
My Diabolical cache is set up in such a way that I'm notified when Stage 3 is found and solved. So, I get the notice - then I get a voicemail telling me there's problems. Trekrr and I have nothing to do on a snowy Sunday morning, so we head out to buy parts and then bounce up into the hills and check every stage and replace everything that's needed. Turns out the sun faded one of the stages, and the extreme cold snapped another. Got all fixed and now it's back up and running.1/24/2009
NevadaWolf temporarily disabled Now *This* is Diabolical
1/25/2009
NevadaWolf enabled Now *This* is Diabolical
Monday, January 12, 2009
Lunatic!!!
So here I am, hanging out at b0neZ's parents for kindergeek's birthday. And I get a phone call.
"I'm running out of daylight, and don't have time to fool around. Where's your cache, the coords are off."
Um, hi Puzzleman.
Read his log for the story...
1/12/2009
NevadaWolf updated the coordinates for King's Canyon Adventure
"I'm running out of daylight, and don't have time to fool around. Where's your cache, the coords are off."
Um, hi Puzzleman.
Read his log for the story...
1/12/2009
NevadaWolf updated the coordinates for King's Canyon Adventure
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Lazy hike and another race
Circle of 12 is a multi that I've been staring at for a long time.
I'm onto #4 - but when I attempted it, millions of multi-legged flying bugs were swarming right on GZ. I left and haven't been back.
So, when I see CastleDwellers are working on it, it's finally the push I need to get this one. It's winter, the bugs should be gone.
I drove up, then hiked to the summit of a hill that overlooks east Carson. Easy walk up and a great view - and a quickly found cache. Yeah, I'm GLAD I didn't try for that last time, I would have been eaten alive!
the rest of the day was quiet, then evening struck. Yeah, same story. Course this time I was really late, and showed up an hour after everyone else. Oh well, got a DNF and a STF.
1/11/2009
NevadaWolf posted a note for Circle of 12
1/11/2009
NevadaWolf couldn't find A bogey for sure
1/11/2009
NevadaWolf found I told you Dogleg Left
I'm onto #4 - but when I attempted it, millions of multi-legged flying bugs were swarming right on GZ. I left and haven't been back.
So, when I see CastleDwellers are working on it, it's finally the push I need to get this one. It's winter, the bugs should be gone.
I drove up, then hiked to the summit of a hill that overlooks east Carson. Easy walk up and a great view - and a quickly found cache. Yeah, I'm GLAD I didn't try for that last time, I would have been eaten alive!
the rest of the day was quiet, then evening struck. Yeah, same story. Course this time I was really late, and showed up an hour after everyone else. Oh well, got a DNF and a STF.
1/11/2009
NevadaWolf posted a note for Circle of 12
1/11/2009
NevadaWolf couldn't find A bogey for sure
1/11/2009
NevadaWolf found I told you Dogleg Left
Saturday, January 10, 2009
It's that time again
MAINTENANCE RUN!
I'm getting bored. With nothing left in Carson that doesn't require a hike, I'm out of caches. So, I'll go around and maintain mine and anyone else's who's caches are basically abandonded (thinking of one cacher in particular.)
Spent the entire morning replacing logs, containers, pen/cils. Foujnd a few in between, but it was mostly just deal with that blasted Needs Maintenance attribute. Course, not being the owner means I can't do a thing about it and the Owner isn't active enough to bother.
Towards evening, I headed over to Starbucks for the first of what hopefully is a monthly event. We've so many new cachers that I want to meet them! But I'm too lazy to bother with a real event. So instead I sent out an email to those I knew and said, Meet me here!
20 people showed up!!! WOW! I was truly impressed and I think everyone was excited to finally meet the folks who've been signing logs and placing caches this last month or so.
But the topper was Bernsports, who sat through the whole meeting, knowing that he had a cache waiting in the queue that would stump us. And he kept a straight face throughout!!! The rat.
I had a fantastic time and look forward to the next!
1/10/2009
NevadaWolf performed maintenance for First look at Carson City, East, Egg-in-One, Egg-ucational, Egg-cellent View, FST: Don’t Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me The Pliers, Th-Egg-rical, Limited Time Only, Egg-calibur, FST: In The Next World, You're On Your Own, First look at Carson City, South, FST: Fighting Clowns, Rest Blissfully, FST: Dear Friends, A Round History
1/10/2009
NevadaWolf updated the coordinates for Egg-le Station
1/10/2009
NevadaWolf posted a note for Polecat creek, the name is the clue, Let's Exercise, " Is Dat SO ! ", On Target, "Let's Share"
1/10/2009
NevadaWolf requested Going 50! on the 50! west to be archived
1/10/2009
NevadaWolf found There's No Muligans in Caching, A Tricky Game, Clear Creek-Kings Canyon Fire Memorial, Carson City Freeway, No Longer A Pipe Dream.
I'm getting bored. With nothing left in Carson that doesn't require a hike, I'm out of caches. So, I'll go around and maintain mine and anyone else's who's caches are basically abandonded (thinking of one cacher in particular.)
Spent the entire morning replacing logs, containers, pen/cils. Foujnd a few in between, but it was mostly just deal with that blasted Needs Maintenance attribute. Course, not being the owner means I can't do a thing about it and the Owner isn't active enough to bother.
Towards evening, I headed over to Starbucks for the first of what hopefully is a monthly event. We've so many new cachers that I want to meet them! But I'm too lazy to bother with a real event. So instead I sent out an email to those I knew and said, Meet me here!
20 people showed up!!! WOW! I was truly impressed and I think everyone was excited to finally meet the folks who've been signing logs and placing caches this last month or so.
But the topper was Bernsports, who sat through the whole meeting, knowing that he had a cache waiting in the queue that would stump us. And he kept a straight face throughout!!! The rat.
I had a fantastic time and look forward to the next!
1/10/2009
NevadaWolf performed maintenance for First look at Carson City, East, Egg-in-One, Egg-ucational, Egg-cellent View, FST: Don’t Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me The Pliers, Th-Egg-rical, Limited Time Only, Egg-calibur, FST: In The Next World, You're On Your Own, First look at Carson City, South, FST: Fighting Clowns, Rest Blissfully, FST: Dear Friends, A Round History
1/10/2009
NevadaWolf updated the coordinates for Egg-le Station
1/10/2009
NevadaWolf posted a note for Polecat creek, the name is the clue, Let's Exercise, " Is Dat SO ! ", On Target, "Let's Share"
1/10/2009
NevadaWolf requested Going 50! on the 50! west to be archived
1/10/2009
NevadaWolf found There's No Muligans in Caching, A Tricky Game, Clear Creek-Kings Canyon Fire Memorial, Carson City Freeway, No Longer A Pipe Dream.
Friday, January 9, 2009
The race intensifies
Whee!!
The last couple nights have been insane! RoadRunner posts between 10 and 11, we tear out of the house and try to beat each other until we either meet up, or pass each other and then help on the way back home. It's GREAT!
Plus I've found that being the mobile turtle not only gives me notice of the last one to be published, but also lets us finish the night together. That part is a blast cause we're all tired and slap happy by that point and it becomes more of a social laugh-fest than a cache hunt, though the cache usually does fall to our search... eventually.
1/5/2009
NevadaWolf found Uncle Buck
1/5/2009
NevadaWolf posted a note for A Tricky Game
1/6/2009
NevadaWolf found SHM #123 - CRADLEBAUGH BRIDGE
1/8/2009
NevadaWolf found Emergency Cache
1/8/2009
NevadaWolf will attend KinderGeek and the Double Digits
1/9/2009
NevadaWolf found Dirt or No Dirt, We Got Kicked Off a Bowling League!, There's No Muligans in Caching #2
The last couple nights have been insane! RoadRunner posts between 10 and 11, we tear out of the house and try to beat each other until we either meet up, or pass each other and then help on the way back home. It's GREAT!
Plus I've found that being the mobile turtle not only gives me notice of the last one to be published, but also lets us finish the night together. That part is a blast cause we're all tired and slap happy by that point and it becomes more of a social laugh-fest than a cache hunt, though the cache usually does fall to our search... eventually.
1/5/2009
NevadaWolf found Uncle Buck
1/5/2009
NevadaWolf posted a note for A Tricky Game
1/6/2009
NevadaWolf found SHM #123 - CRADLEBAUGH BRIDGE
1/8/2009
NevadaWolf found Emergency Cache
1/8/2009
NevadaWolf will attend KinderGeek and the Double Digits
1/9/2009
NevadaWolf found Dirt or No Dirt, We Got Kicked Off a Bowling League!, There's No Muligans in Caching #2
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Dayton and insanity x7
So, Puzzleman asked if I wanted to go caching. Would love to!
We headed out to Dayton where I had the ones he needed and he had the ones I needed. Guarenteed way to not have a single DNF. Spent most of the day out there, covering a good amount of territory and effectively cleaning out the entire area (well, I have one left). Really got to know him and am completely glad to have a new friend in Carson. Nothing introduces folks better than a day of caching around an area that neither of you know very well.
Headed back into town and went our separate ways.
Then, as the evening was drawing to a close, RoadRunner decides to work on the queue. And up pops 6 new caches! I dump them into Tracky, fire up the BT GPS, and jump into the truck, burning rubber to get out and into the race before Puzzleman or Bernsports beat me too everything.
As I'm driving by, I see on my screen I'm passing one! Pull over quickly and look - no, there wasn't 6 - THERE WAS 7!!!
I park and begin frantically searching, but struck out and gave up in hopes of bagging the others. I peel out and head to the SHM - and see that I'm behind in the race by 5 minutes for STF, and 10 minutes for FTF! So, the strategy is to head out to the furthest one and hope beyond hope the others are tied up with the other 4.
I call Puzzleman and I can hear the grin in his voice as he brags he got all 3 FTFs. Um... dude, there was 7 posted. WHAT?! Neither he nor Bernsports are as mobile as I am, so when they leave the house, they cut themselves off from the latest updates.
I meet up with him at the furthest cache and we spend the rest of the time talking and waiting for Bern. He pulls up and turns out he didn't know about the last one either, the one I spent my time looking for.
We turn the race into a caravan and head out, grabbing all but two as one was in a neighborhood and three rigs showing up at midnight is not good and the other was behind a locked fence. Finally all the caches are gotten and we turn our collective attention to the final one. A good 20 minutes go by, we're freezing, Bern spots it first, then Puzzleman and I spot it simultaneously. Great hide and a great night!!!
1/4/2009
NevadaWolf found Where's The Water, Desert Bugs, "Eye Was Framed", "Want Some Bush", Above the Rubble, Dino Egg Quick Grab 1, A diller of a Ziller, NevCachers The Two Towers, Gateway to Big "D", The "D" at the Cross Roads, Whistling Pinion Pine, Second Choice, Quad 1, SHM #193 - Historic Flume and Lumberyard, These Are a Few of Our Favorite Things - #2,Lifes Little Goodies, Lets Play Ball, Sticky Rice
1/4/2009
NevadaWolf posted a note for A Tricky Game
1/4/2009
NevadaWolf posted a note for Rattlesnake MT.
1/4/2009
NevadaWolf retrieved Amber
We headed out to Dayton where I had the ones he needed and he had the ones I needed. Guarenteed way to not have a single DNF. Spent most of the day out there, covering a good amount of territory and effectively cleaning out the entire area (well, I have one left). Really got to know him and am completely glad to have a new friend in Carson. Nothing introduces folks better than a day of caching around an area that neither of you know very well.Headed back into town and went our separate ways.
Then, as the evening was drawing to a close, RoadRunner decides to work on the queue. And up pops 6 new caches! I dump them into Tracky, fire up the BT GPS, and jump into the truck, burning rubber to get out and into the race before Puzzleman or Bernsports beat me too everything.
As I'm driving by, I see on my screen I'm passing one! Pull over quickly and look - no, there wasn't 6 - THERE WAS 7!!!
I park and begin frantically searching, but struck out and gave up in hopes of bagging the others. I peel out and head to the SHM - and see that I'm behind in the race by 5 minutes for STF, and 10 minutes for FTF! So, the strategy is to head out to the furthest one and hope beyond hope the others are tied up with the other 4.
I call Puzzleman and I can hear the grin in his voice as he brags he got all 3 FTFs. Um... dude, there was 7 posted. WHAT?! Neither he nor Bernsports are as mobile as I am, so when they leave the house, they cut themselves off from the latest updates.
I meet up with him at the furthest cache and we spend the rest of the time talking and waiting for Bern. He pulls up and turns out he didn't know about the last one either, the one I spent my time looking for.
We turn the race into a caravan and head out, grabbing all but two as one was in a neighborhood and three rigs showing up at midnight is not good and the other was behind a locked fence. Finally all the caches are gotten and we turn our collective attention to the final one. A good 20 minutes go by, we're freezing, Bern spots it first, then Puzzleman and I spot it simultaneously. Great hide and a great night!!!1/4/2009
NevadaWolf found Where's The Water, Desert Bugs, "Eye Was Framed", "Want Some Bush", Above the Rubble, Dino Egg Quick Grab 1, A diller of a Ziller, NevCachers The Two Towers, Gateway to Big "D", The "D" at the Cross Roads, Whistling Pinion Pine, Second Choice, Quad 1, SHM #193 - Historic Flume and Lumberyard, These Are a Few of Our Favorite Things - #2,Lifes Little Goodies, Lets Play Ball, Sticky Rice
1/4/2009
NevadaWolf posted a note for A Tricky Game
1/4/2009
NevadaWolf posted a note for Rattlesnake MT.
1/4/2009
NevadaWolf retrieved Amber
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Getting out
Oy, new caches in town!
So, I head out to go pick up the ones that have sprouted lately. Today was fun as the caches I'd found were ones that not only were new in town, but the outer ones that I'd been watching for awhile. Plus I'd managed to solve Puzzleman's Not New Jersey cache yesterday, so I had that one also.
After grabbing a handful in Carson, finally went down to pick up Rocks & Lizards - OMG! Awesome Cache!!! This one is highly recommended for the adventure getting to it and the view at the end.
Also zipped up Hwy 50 towards Spooner to grab the few new ones that really mess with you as to which side of the road you need to be on. There's a three foot concrete barrier all the way up!
A fun day of just goofing off, but isn't that what weekends are meant for?
1/3/2009
NevadaWolf found Can't See the Forrest Through the Trees, Path to the River?, Not New Jersey, Goni Trail, Rocks & Lizards, Spooner TB & GC Hotel, Hanging in There
1/3/2009
NevadaWolf couldn't find Clear Creek-Kings Canyon Fire Memorial
1/3/2009
NevadaWolf temporarily disabled Carriage Park
1/3/2009
NevadaWolf discovered AG's Travelling British Columbia Coin
So, I head out to go pick up the ones that have sprouted lately. Today was fun as the caches I'd found were ones that not only were new in town, but the outer ones that I'd been watching for awhile. Plus I'd managed to solve Puzzleman's Not New Jersey cache yesterday, so I had that one also.
After grabbing a handful in Carson, finally went down to pick up Rocks & Lizards - OMG! Awesome Cache!!! This one is highly recommended for the adventure getting to it and the view at the end.Also zipped up Hwy 50 towards Spooner to grab the few new ones that really mess with you as to which side of the road you need to be on. There's a three foot concrete barrier all the way up!
A fun day of just goofing off, but isn't that what weekends are meant for?
1/3/2009
NevadaWolf found Can't See the Forrest Through the Trees, Path to the River?, Not New Jersey, Goni Trail, Rocks & Lizards, Spooner TB & GC Hotel, Hanging in There
1/3/2009
NevadaWolf couldn't find Clear Creek-Kings Canyon Fire Memorial
1/3/2009
NevadaWolf temporarily disabled Carriage Park
1/3/2009
NevadaWolf discovered AG's Travelling British Columbia Coin
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Happy New Year!
So what do two people with no work today do on a beautiful day?
Go caching of course!
I actually needed more UV lights for Diabolical, and the only place I've found them is Fernley. So, Trekrr and I head out there via Fallon, and grab a few caches along the way.
One of the goals was NVGreenGecko's letterbox as it's part of the Northern Nevada Oldest Caches challenge, put out by (surprise) SKWERL. So we head up there, hike through some great pogonip and bag us a cache along US 95.
Then up to I-80 and out to Fernley, where I discovered that there were NO UV lights left. ARGHH!!!! Had a big lunch, fixed up our cache, then decided to go exploring since we were out there.
The route took us up to an old siding outside Fernley, and then out towards the northern tip of the West Humboldt Range, before swinging down below the southern point of the Humboldt Range, passing through a narrow summit, and then coming down all the way through Dixie Valley back to Hwy 50. Simple, right?
HA!
Once we left pavement, the road turned snow covered, though oddly plowed. We crawled through pristine mountains, passed by powerline poles with no lines, old mine tailings, sites with no names and names with no sites, found new areas to explore come summer, and forks in the roads that led to distant places. We even came upon a geothermal drill parked in the middle of the road and the crew looking at us like we were bonkers. Not far from the truth.
It was a great trip and one I've very glad to have made. We got back to Moundhouse just in time for my phone to buzz that there was a new cache in town. Can we make it?!
We pull back into Carson and see someone rooting around in the bush. I roll down the window to yell at Puzzleman that he can't find it first, but of course he did. Then we headed over to the site of another cache that had really bad coordinates, and using a phone-a-friend to the only one to have found it (using a major hint from the owner), we located the cache and got the correct coords.
A wonderful day!
1/1/2009
NevadaWolf found Anchor's Away, Twilight Zone, IHO the Fallon FTF Queen, Guard Rail to Fallon, Tubey, Graboid Territory, Gecko's Grotto, Frog Pond Two, It Used 2 Be In My Fish Tank, Fun Area for Summer, Quieter in the Winter
1/1/2009
NevadaWolf couldn't find K7XC #2 - Dixie Valley Ranch House
1/1/2009
NevadaWolf performed maintenance for It Had To Have One
Go caching of course!
I actually needed more UV lights for Diabolical, and the only place I've found them is Fernley. So, Trekrr and I head out there via Fallon, and grab a few caches along the way.
One of the goals was NVGreenGecko's letterbox as it's part of the Northern Nevada Oldest Caches challenge, put out by (surprise) SKWERL. So we head up there, hike through some great pogonip and bag us a cache along US 95.Then up to I-80 and out to Fernley, where I discovered that there were NO UV lights left. ARGHH!!!! Had a big lunch, fixed up our cache, then decided to go exploring since we were out there.
The route took us up to an old siding outside Fernley, and then out towards the northern tip of the West Humboldt Range, before swinging down below the southern point of the Humboldt Range, passing through a narrow summit, and then coming down all the way through Dixie Valley back to Hwy 50. Simple, right?HA!
Once we left pavement, the road turned snow covered, though oddly plowed. We crawled through pristine mountains, passed by powerline poles with no lines, old mine tailings, sites with no names and names with no sites, found new areas to explore come summer, and forks in the roads that led to distant places. We even came upon a geothermal drill parked in the middle of the road and the crew looking at us like we were bonkers. Not far from the truth.It was a great trip and one I've very glad to have made. We got back to Moundhouse just in time for my phone to buzz that there was a new cache in town. Can we make it?!
We pull back into Carson and see someone rooting around in the bush. I roll down the window to yell at Puzzleman that he can't find it first, but of course he did. Then we headed over to the site of another cache that had really bad coordinates, and using a phone-a-friend to the only one to have found it (using a major hint from the owner), we located the cache and got the correct coords.
A wonderful day!
1/1/2009NevadaWolf found Anchor's Away, Twilight Zone, IHO the Fallon FTF Queen, Guard Rail to Fallon, Tubey, Graboid Territory, Gecko's Grotto, Frog Pond Two, It Used 2 Be In My Fish Tank, Fun Area for Summer, Quieter in the Winter
1/1/2009
NevadaWolf couldn't find K7XC #2 - Dixie Valley Ranch House
1/1/2009
NevadaWolf performed maintenance for It Had To Have One
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