Night Time Geocaching - Meeting New Friends

First-To-Find Geocachers Co-sign the Log With Us at 10 p.m.

(This is the geo-couple we met on the night time hunt.)

Published with permission

The email came through just as we arrived home from supper with our friend, Dorothy, from Ohio.

A new geocache only a couple blocks from where we live.

Who could resist?

Not Starcatcher55 and CatsEye55! 

We had just gotten in from a wonderful evening out with our Ohio friend, Dorothy.  Coats off. Cats petted. Heat on in the bathroom for a nice, warm shower.

"There's a new geocache. Wanna go?" I asked hopefully to hubby who was settling in for the night.

"Sure. Is it close?"

"Yep. Grab your coat and flashlight."

We drove up just as another car arrived behind us.  Would it be another geocacher seeking to be 'first to find" or a police car investigating strange cars in a vacant parking lot behind a closed-up building at almost 10 p.m.

It was another geocacher couple we had heard about on the geocaching trail.

We soon discovered the coordinates may be slightly off on this one because it put us standing right in the middle of the parking lot with not even a leaf to look under.  This would not be an easy cache tonight.

Well, surprise, surprise!  The other geocaching couple were the PARENTS of the young lady who had placed the cache, so 'mom' made a call for better instructions.

"It's in the last tree", was the updated information and additional hint. Now, all four of us tried to politely shine our flashlights into the tree without  blinding each other or stepping on toes. A rather 'delicate' situation, but we were all up to our best geocaching politeness.

At last 'dad' found the cache in the next-to-last tree after lying on the ground and shining his light up into the branches. "That's not the last tree," murmured 'mom'.

After signing the new log. I took night photos with the little iPhone. We all shook hands and pledged to meet again at another geocaching run.  It was a good feeling to be a part of such an unusual camaraderie.

Happy (Geocaching) Trails to you.

Take Care on the Journey,
~Linda

The Golden B's

Isn't she precious?

(Published with permission)

Most interactions with geocachers are done online as we see who has hidden or found a new cache. We can see the 'geo names' of all the geocaching community.

One name that kept popping up as finding a lot of caches, and who was also the First to Find (FTF) on our Bibs and Fibs Cache that geo hubby and I placed, was, The Golden B's.

I sent them an email because they were our FTF, and I received a pleasant reply. Thus, we became a little more acquainted.  Seems they love Golden Retriever Dogs too, and they live a few miles from us. Their Golden goes on many of their geocache hunts.  They love geocaching and try to dash for the FTF on any new geocaches within the local area.

So, when a new geocache came out last week, I suggested that geo-hubby and I try to beat the Golden B's to the new cache.  I was slightly teasing because one never knows about these things. I told hubby to watch for a Golden Retriever because that would mean the Golden B's were in pursuit. 

We got to the location and found the path to be difficult. (Pictured below)

The GPS indicated we had to cross this 'stream' for the cache.

I said, "I don't think so!"

Just then we heard footsteps in the thicket, and down the path came a lovely, tail-wagging, proud but friendly, Golden!  "The Golden B's" (at least some of them) had arrived GPS in hand.   I ran over to the Golden and her master. I introduced us as "Starcatcher55 and CatsEye55" which she recognised immediately.  We greeted and petted the beautiful Golden.  We told her we were having trouble finding the cache in the deep thicket and canal of water. But, I said finally meeting them was just as exciting as finding the cache.

Because of the water, she went back to the road and came in from the other side.  Hubby crossed the canal on the small logs placed in the water. I waited with camera in hand.  Here they are across the creek looking high and low for the geocache. I took some photos as I waited on the other side.

(During this time, our son in Ohio called. I told him we were geocaching but we're always happy to chat with him. He wished us well and a good hunt.)

Then, I noticed that while taking pictures of Jim on the other side of the creek, I was also getting photos of a small muskrat nest right in front of me.  Maybe two. I could see the shiny fur of the muskrat in the larger opening to the right of the photo. (Maybe you can click on the photo for a close-up view.)

Soon, I became impatient, of course.  I walked further down the path and found a way over the water without getting a bit wet. I hurried to the area where they were crawling under bushes and around small trees. Their GPS's indicated they were 'right on top' of the small cache, but no one had found it yet. I decided not to crawl around in the thicket, but went over to check trees along the edge of the thicket, but off the grid for the GPS.

I'll bet we had searched for an hour when I yelled. "Waaa HOOO!!! I found it!!!" in the bark of this tree!
The base has a nice wood burrow to hide a geocache, but it wasn't there. You can't see it in the picture, but it's in the crack of the bark about 1/3 to 1/2 way up the tree. (And our GPS coordinates were not even close.)

So The Golden B's, CatsEye55 and Starcatcher55 became co-finders of our FTF.  How sweet.

It was really nice to finally meet The Golden B's, and how natural to meet in the forest of a geocache!

Take Care on the Journey,
~Linda



My Very First FTF - First to Find - 5.5 Miles From Home

There's that 55 again!

My geo email said there were two new geocaches hidden this weekend not too far from home. I figured that weekend geocachers had already been First to Find (FTF), but when I checked the website, there were no listings for any ambitious persons having already logged the finds!  So, I rushed to get dressed and dash to the site about 40 blocks toward Denver from where we live.

I thought I knew the area enough that I could drive straight there (a small local park) and turn on the GPS when I was at the park to locate the cache.  I didn't expect the main city street (Pecos Street) to hit a dead end.  Clicking on my iPhone app called Aroundme, I located a map of where I was sitting at the end of the street and calculated a workaround.

Geocaching doesn't include information such as what side of the fence to walk when it outlines the direct line to the hidden cache.  Of course, I chose the right side - which was not the right side!

Oh boy!  Which side should I start down?

Can you see it?  That dark spot in the center between the two fences...

I hope it's too early for snakes and such...

(I had seen the cache in the tree up close when I was on the hill on the OTHER side of the fence.

I had to walk back to the end of the fence and come around on the other side.)

I honestly couldn't figure out how to reach in and get this without getting my hands all scratched up.

I was also watching over my shoulder for other geocachers out to be FTF!!!!

There's suppose to be two tee shirts and some kid's toys inside. Along with the log book, of course.

Nope!. I'm all alone. The coast looks clear to be FTF!!!!

Got it open. A cute toy on top. (My geo purse with all my trinkets next to it.)

I added a red bead necklace to go with the white tee shirts I found nicely pressed and rolled up inside.

Oh! I WAS the first to sign the log book. March 21, 2011 at 12:25 p.m. Starcatcher55

The owner named this cache, "Sherrelwood Nameless". 

I would have called it, "Hold On To The Fence" 

It was a steep hill I had to climb to get out of there!

 Another geocacher pulls in as I'm leaving the site.

I said in greeting, "I'm not going to tell you which side of the fence it's on."

 Ha Ha Ha

Geocacher who calls himself Milestogeo is on the wrong side of the fence!!!

I didn't crop this photo so you can click on it for a close up view.

He is the blue dot in the very center of the photo. 

I pulled up beside him and said, "I did the very same thing." 

We hope to meet 'milestogeo' at another nameless geocache site sometime.

Take Care on the Journey,

~Linda

Colorado Spirit Quest 181

Today was a warm, sunny day here in Denver, so I took advantage of the perfect geocaching weather to make a swipe around for some Denver treasure hunting.  My travels discovered a small but serene cemetery where I gingerly poked around for a geocache that was listed as "off the ground". 

After resting on several benches to nurse my wounds fresh from a tripping fall at the last cache, I discovered a small tin hanging deep inside a lovely Evergreen tree.  It didn't even scratch me as I reached in and opened the lid for the small log book to sign.

The GPS indicated it's within 25 feet of where I'm standing.

Okay. Peaceful (elusive) hiding spot.

I sat on this bench and watched the mountains glow in the sunset.

(Actually, this photo is not in the direction of the sunset.)

My Sheba coin that I leave in all the caches.  Someone wrote me saying they lost two furry pets last year, and they took the coin they found at Lord Mike's Cache to add it to the trinket box of their pets who have passed on. That was very sweet.

Take Care on the Journey,

~Linda

Lord Mike's Lookout and the Cache at the Lake

The Cache at the Park - It's somewhere in this tree.  ha ha ha ha

I'm not climbing it!

 

I searched and lost.  Hubby found it right over my head inside the beautiful Evergreen.
(That's my 'Starcatcher55 "star'. It wouldn't fit into the film container.)

 Can you see it - right in the middle of the photo...

 Got food?

 I'll take that...

What? No bread! Everybody feeds ME

Lord Mike's Lookout - We found this out-of-the-way cache by accident

while searching for a new one just down the road.

Yep, that's a cache, all right!

 The cache is under the rock.  The view was awesome.

Hope you can click the photo for a close-up!

Take Care on the Journey,

~Linda

Our First Geocache PUBLISHED!!



It's in there...somewhere.

If you read the last sentence of the last posting, you will know that I've been on edge wondering if the cache would be approved by Geocaching.com because somehow they thought it was on school property!!!  (I used the word "teacher".)  The cache is actually hidden at the parking lot of our local library at the bottom of a street light there.

After several seriously friendly emails to the reviewer, I finally got a nice apology and word that our cache honoring Billy and Philip as teachers is published and available to all to view.

You might have to do a free sign-up, but when you get to the page, you can click on the map so see a satellite close-up, and or click on the little word "log" to see who has found it and what they said.

No matter, it's quite the thrill to accomplish this little splash in time.

Woo-Hoo!!!!

Click HERE for the link.  (Hope it works.)

Take Care on the Journey,
~Linda

A Geocache for Bibs and Fibs

N 39.54.896 / W 104.55.169.  Plug these GPS coordinates into Google Maps and view the satellite map to see exactly where this geocache honoring Billy and Philip, as teachers, is hidden. 

We hid our first geocache today dedicating it to Billy and Philip who nicknamed themselves as Bibs and Fibs when younger. 

In recognition of their teaching careers, the "Bibs & Fibs Cache" was hidden on the edge of our public library parking lot at the bottom of a street light! 

The hint, "Always use a good light when reading".

Daddy Jim is not trying to disguise himself, but it was a chilling 24 degrees with a Colorado winter snow and ice storm coming in.

The cache, which has taken all day to put together and get posted on the Geocaching website, contains several valuable "Cache Trinkets" including a coveted "First to Find" coin and some "Spirit of Sheba" wooden coins I had made especially for my geocaching.  It also includes a beautiful Geocaching world marble (not pictured), a little flashlight (pictured), a log and pencil, and some geocaching stickers. (The GPS is not included. lol) 

Click on the photo for a close view.

Another "hint' includes the library symbol on the sign...

I call this a 'sign" of a new generation!

The bad news is that Geocaching has sent me an email stating that the cache must be removed because it is near a school. I replied that I'm not aware of that regulation, but of the one that says a geocache can't be placed on school property. I pointed out that this is not on school property, but on the property of our public library. I'm still waiting a response.

Take Care on the Journey,

~Linda