JULY 4, 2009
My Geocaching Adventures
Welcome to my geocaching adventures, for those who don’t know what this sport is about please check out their website. I was introduced to the sport about a year ago by my Aunt and I’ve been addicted to it ever since. Lately I’ve been looking to start keeping track of my adventures/finds and though this would be a great venue for it.
Geocaching has made a lot of positive changes in my life, it’s brought us closer together as a family, I’ve lost weight and built muscle to the point where I’m currently three clothing sizes smaller than I was when I started, it’s brought me to some wonderful places in Vancouver that I never would have found on my own and it’s just a whole lot of fun.
I found my first cache (Tall Twin) on July 9/2008 and have just recently logged my 303rd cache. Not bad for just one year! And I have no plans on stopping anytime soon.
I hope you guys enjoy the stories.
Also note that I do not intend to publish any spoilers about the caches I’ve been to but if you’ve found your way here trying to get some ideas on finding a cache that is currently giving you a hard time than by all means drop me an email and I’d be happy to help out.
That was not there last time
Downtown Marine Park – GC1EFVY
This was my third visit to this frustrating cache and wouldn’t you know it, it took us less than a minute to find the frickin’ thing. With a difficulty of 4 I knew the first time going into this cache that it was going to be a fun one, not to mention the fact that my GPS does not like downtown Vancouver at all as I’ve yet to get a consistent reading down there.
The First Visit: Out caching with Bundah (the hubby). It was not the most productive start, we’d basically just gotten started when we were pulled away by hmmm, the call of nature that couldn’t be ignored. It was put on the list of caches to get back to.
The Second Visit: Caching with Sakidoo this time on one of her west coast caching trips. We must have spent at least an hour looking this time, we looked high we looked low but the cache was not to be found that day. At this point I had been watching the logs for a while so I though I had an idea of where to look, not so much.
The Third Visit: Out with Bundah again and I was determined to find the GD cache this time as I was tired of receiving watchlist notifications from other people finding it. I had the recently updated co-ordinates and I wasn’t leaving until I had the container in hand and the log signed. It wasn’t a great start as the new co-ords placed us in the middle of the sidewalk. Obviously the downtown GPS Bermuda triangle was still at work. I walked around something spotted a geo-suspicious looking object and sure enough had the cache in hand. The thing is I could have sworn I looked there before, apparently I wasn’t meant to find it those first few trips. We signed the log and headed home just as the rain start to come down and I finally got to take this cache of the watchlist.
The Trip to PG
Wow what an awesome holiday we just had, we spent the last two weeks playing Euchre, caching our faces off and getting a little sleep now and then. I believe that I logged 70 new caches while we were there and managed to pass Cooler1 & Lulu again (hehe). There was some nice easy park and grabs and there was some evil ones, here’s a few highlights from the trip.
The first day started early, really early, somewhere around 6ish, I don’t remember anymore and honestly I don’t think my watches work that early anyways. We hadn’t even had breakfast yet and we’d already logged “Dead End Garden,” a nice quick park and grab in Abbotsford. We were on a bit of a time crunch so we didn’t stop at every single cache on the way up but did manage to find 5 more before we got home, including two of the always humbling BC Spirit Park Caches, #6 & #7.
Our first full day of caching, Cooler1 and I set out to find some of the local quick caches that she’s already found but I didn’t and wasn’t able to get at Christmas because it was frickin cold out. Caching in -30 is possible but not quite as much fun. We returned home later that afternoon with another 8 finds to log, a great start. The best of the day was “Can’t think of a name,” as it was completely inaccessible the last visit and it was a type of hide that I knew existed but had yet to find. Another quick park and grab.
JULY 14th, 2009
we took the day of but we were back on track again on the 15th and found another ten. My favorite that day included “Ouch” which was just and awesome hide, completely un-noticeable to the average muggle but quite obvious to a cacher and a didn’t have to dig in the snow this time. After that we tackled “UNBC Rocks“, as we were approaching the location of the cache I began the fear the worst. I have been to several similarly placed caches here in the lower mainland only to be thwarted by them each and every time. Well with a strong determination and a little help from Cooler1 I found the darn cache. Woohoo. On a roll now.
JULY 16th, 2009
Bundah, Cooler1 and I headed east out onto Highway 16 to tackle a few out of town caches. We spent some time in the woods donating to the local mosquito population that is flourishing wonderfully up there and also found a few caches in the process. Our biggest challenge was a terrain 3 cache called “Smarter than a fifth grader” It was only 70 meters from the parking lot so I figured it couldn’t be that bad, I was a little wrong. The hike was not a straight climb, it was instead a nice little maze that included three switchbacks before we arrived at the actual cache, with the skeeters getting thicker and thicker as we went.
Once we got there we signed the log in record time and started our trek back as you did not want to stay still for very long up there. We did have one DNF for the day and that was “A Mooses’ View.” About halfway to the cache I had had enough of the bugs and the hiking and decided it was time to have myself a little bit of a hissy fit. I eventually pulled my shit together and decided we should keep going, damned if I was going to let this cache get to me. We arrived at the cache location and the GPS was all over the place, we spent quite a bit of time searching through logs, trees, stumps, and ant hills all with no luck. We finally decided to head back to civilization and get away from the bugs, I may have yelled at a few of them on the way back, damn little suckers wouldn’t stop buzzing my ears, at least no one can hear you flipping out in the woods and Mom and Simon didn’t seam to mind. We stopped and logged a few more rural caches on the way home and ended the day with a total of 8 more finds.
JULY 17th, 2009
We took another break from the all day caching but did stop for “B09: School of What?” a cache hidden by Cooler1 and inspired by a cache here in the lower mainland (Camo Series #4: It’s there) that was my nemesis for the longest time, with four visits before I finally found it. It made this one a whole lot easier to find.
JULY 18th, 2009
we were back on track and logged another 8 caches, mostly within the PG area. The best one of the day being “JRef 000.10 GEO,” if you’re in the Prince George area and haven’t found this one yet, do so now. It’s a great cache that is completely different than what you’ve ever seen. I won’t say anymore as I don’t want to spoil it at all.
JULY 19th, 2009
another day off
JULY 20th, 2009
Our day trip to Quesnel. The whole goal of this trip was to find the “River Front Trail” cache, if we found any other caches while we were there that was just a bonus, oh and to have lunch at Mr. Mikes Steakhouse. Cooler1 & Lulu had been there twice before, Bundah and I had been there once before so we were determined. Cooler1 finally made the find after about 1/2 hour of searching and I still can’t figure out how we never found it the first time we were there, it looks like such and easy find now. Oh well that’s usually how it goes, we’re just sorry that Lulu wasn’t with us to see where it was hidden. We spent most of the day following our route through Quesnel and managed to find 13 caches before we picked up a Slurpee and some Ice Caps before we headed back home. It’s always nice going into a new area and logging a whole bunch of quick park and grabs.
JULY 21st, 2009
Cooler1 and I set out to do a multi cache (Radius Racing Cache) that looked easy enough, boy were we mistaken. What looked like a quick 130m walk from the gate to the cache turned into a one hour, one km trek around the area. It was hot and there was of course the mosquitos and we just about gave up a few times (kept going the wrong way) but in the end we pulled it off thanks to Cooler1 for finding the last waypoint. We were bushed after that and I think I drank at least a litre of water before we went anywhere else. We were going to head home after that but the call of the GPS kept us out a little longer as there was a traditional nearby (“Regular” Wannabe) that was only 100 meters of the road. After a little re-hydration we grabbed that one as well. Later that evening an email came in for a new cache, Cooler1 and I picked up Lulu and headed out to see if we could get a FTF. Lulu made the find, it was a quick one, but we were only second to find. Oh well back home to relax and play a little Euchre.
We’re getting close to the end of our holiday so we were slowing down a bit and took the 23rd off. Just before I headed off to bed I checked my email and there was 11 new caches that had popped up in the Pineview area. We had a lot to do the next day and I wasn’t sure if we could get them in but I knew we had to try. The next day we got ready and I suggested to Cooler1 that we set out while we had some free time and see how many of the “Going Postal in Pineview” series we could grab. We had to pick up Simon so we had about 1-2 hours to see how much damage we could do. Well I still don’t believe it but 1 1/2 hours later just as we had to head out to pick up Simon we had found all ten caches. Amazing and great series. We had gathered the clues we needed for “Pineview” and would come back later in the day once we figured out the co-ordinates. After dinner we picked up Lulu and off we went with our prospective co-ordinates. It didn’t take to long to find and it was a great urban camo, I dropped a TB and GeoCoin that I’d been carrying around and that was it.
It was a great great holiday, lots of fun, lots of caching and lots of kicking butt at Euchre. Thanks to Mom and Dad for putting up with us.
SEPTEMBER 20, 2009
Fearcacher 201: – Invasion of the Cacher Snatchers
Lots of cool stuff. Many alien artifacts and lifeforms. On approach to the room, Luke we’re goin in. This is not the cantina we are looking for and Mr Scott was nowhere to be found, hence no transporters either. We grabbed our kit from the human looking android at the door and proceeded on our quest. Obtaining the coordinates from various crop circle sightings, we found ourselves outside and found a green alien orb. Entering the cantina once more, utterring in code of green kryptonite, we obtained our prize – The scroll of Endor. Great time and fun, much thanks for the event. — Bundah
Last night Simon & I attended Fearcacher 201 and as you can see by Simon’s log entry and the above picture we enjoyed this event just as much as Fearcacher 101.
Once again there were 10 ammo cans full of miscellaneous goo, aliens artifacts and just general nastiness allowing us to pick up the 10 clues needed to move onto crop circle identification. We then spent some time running back and forth confused while picking up our clues for the final co-ordinates. Simon went off to answer the scavenger hunt questions while I tackled trying to figure out the clues we’d picked up and how to translate it into co-ordinates. By the time he got back I had it figured out and off we went to find our treasure. It was a quick find outside the hotel and we had our secret code to get our certificate and pass yet another fearcacher level. We had a great time and we’re looking forward to the next one already.
On the way home we had a little time to spare before we had to return the car so we stopped for a quick park and grab, Sunset Ceremony, it didn’t take long before we had the cache in hand, the log singed and we were on our way home.
All in all a great geocaching night.
OCTOBER 18, 2009
Burnaby
Spent the day caching with Mom in Burnaby today, story to come.
NOVEMBER 27, 2009
Sun is out, must go caching.
Well mother nature finally relented today and gave us a little sunshine, it was definitely time to go out and get a couple of new caches that had popped up in the area. First on the list was:
GC20TBV – It’s a long way home
A quick find in amongst the trees, it felt great to get out and cache again. A clear sign of the amount of rain we’ve endured this fall, that cache container was floating in about 3-4 inches of water. When I put it back I propped it up on a stick and then covered it up with some foliage found in the area it was hidden. A pretty quiet area for a cache.
The second find was:
GC206NH – Kits Bits #2 – Fiddly Femto:
I made sure I had my tweezers with me as the logs warned they were needed. I was totally luck enough to find the container in the first place I looked once I hit GZ. It took me longer to the get the tweezers out of the geo-bag than it did to find the cache. I had a seat nearby and watched the people moving about the neighbourhood, it’s a busy little intersection, for a while and then made my way back home.
It was awesome to be able to get out and find a few caches, hopefully we see a few more sunny days in the next little while as I just received an order of 25 bison tubes and it’s time to get out there and start hiding some caches. I’m pretty sure I’ve already chosen my first location.