buckyd's Geoblog

Sep 30, 2007

X Marks the Spot

By: TJMoon Difficulty: 3.0 Terrain: 3.0 Container: Regular

Being in the academic research field myself, I understand that truth really doesn't exist. We all search for information, really, that can be put into a model that might predict some "answers" that are closer to truth than the answers that someone got from their model a few years (or decades) ago. I suppose that information can be called "fact". That said, after finding a decoy and reading some very helpful information in one of the cache logs, a good ole' semi-informed brute force search was what did it for us. Very much like what my research career has been like thus far. Thanks.

Brick Pile

By: TeamZombie Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 2.5 Container: Micro

The two of us spent quite a bit of time looking for this cache, perhaps because of some preconceived hiding notions that we had. WalruZ got a little simpler in his thinking and found it at a place that, if it has been there the entire time, I really wonder how it lasted this long. I'm pretty sure that it wasn't its original hiding spot, but we'll take the find. Thanks.

Lava Rock

By: antiqueaddict Difficulty: 4.0 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Micro

Yeah, between the walk from the closest legal parking and the dead dog, this cache adventure got the heart rate up just a bit more than I'd expected. I'm not sure a wheelchair could make it out this far, even if they were dropped off at the nearest access point to the road, so the terrain 1 is a bit misleading. Not a biggie, in the grand scheme of things, but then I'm in average physical condition and those sorts of concerns don't haunt me (like the dead dog will). Lots to look at near the zero point, and it was probably harder than it needed to be since we didn't pull out the description, but we prevailed. Thanks!

The BLM Rules!

By: Touchstone Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Small

WalruZ and I were out and about in the northern section of Ft. Ord today, just in case. It appears that we missed a few caches as Koolrat was enabled them today. Bummer. Anyhow, this puzzle was on our route, so for fun (as we usually don't have unknowns in our queries) I decided to look at all the question marks last week and see what should come along in our GPSrs. I'm all for rules that make things work better, and the BLM typically doesn't have unreasonable rules, but I'm not all that fond of the new "no-cache-hiding" rule they've got. Maybe they'll wo rk something out soon? Thanks for the cache.

Big Wheels

By: el Jim Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Micro

"...Proud Mary keep on burnin'". Looks like this was out there for target practice. We were at the site for longer than we had intended. Coords put us in the middle of the fire road, so after our first pass through the title object, we both were sort of wandering around aimlessly in the road, staring at our little etrexes. Fin ally I went back and looked over an area that I was sure I had not done a good job on, and still didn't come up with it. That area was next to an area that I [i]did[/i] do a good job (or so I thought) on, but my second pass there revealed the cache. Thanks!

Eight-Seater

By: LFoucht Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Small

WalruZ has always commented that these locations in Ft. Ord certainly needed caches to mark them. Me, I wouldn't mind it if they'd left some of these for public use around here! Thanks for the hide.

Are You Kidding Me!

By: MrJim005 Difficulty: 2.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Regular

I usually don't download puzzle caches, but on this special trip to Ft. Ord for the closure, I decided to take a look at the nearby question marks and see what could and couldn't be solved. Since this one appeared to be an "onsite" solution at the posted coords, it was included. I've definitely done this type of cache before -- one was listed as a traditional, another was listed as a multi (although, to be fair, it had 4 stages before the final opening of the canisters, so it really was a multi). This is more along the lines of a traditional, IMO, since the log is at the posted coords. I opened 27 before finding the right can. WalruZ had a pile about as big as mine, so together we opened, like, 50. Thanks.

Not Exactly Yankee Stadium

By: Koolrat Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

I was not expecting such an extensive area developed for CSUMB family housing. I was wondering what classes of student/staff/faculty qualify for this as we drove to and from the cache site. Looks very populated, although there were only two people playing at the facility near the cache site. As WalruZ said, it was a bummer about all the disabled caches we walked by today -- ran my query Thursday and didn't look at the disableds to see if they were removed or scheduled for relaunch. Thanks.

Bopata

By: Koolrat Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Small

This cache was the first in our day at Ft. Ord. We were concentrating on the area between Watkins Gate and Intergarrison Roads in anticipation of the FORA closures and the nearby parking was the place to ditch the car. Thanks for the cache!

Bring Me the Pickled Head of Joaquin Murietta

By: Touchstone Difficulty: 3.0 Terrain: 4.5 Container: Regular

Of course, "Kealia's statement" is actually a quote from WalruZ, so he should've known what he was getting into when this was our target cache for the day! We hiked down from Intergarrison and picked up the caches that we could on the way here. There was some consternation from WalruZ as we walked by this one in favor of Big Wheels nearby, but I was Cruise Director today and I thought it best to get those pesky traditionals out of the way before undertaking an epic letterboxing adventure. When we got to the coords, there was much stomping around trying to figure out where to start the um, more animal, portion of our journey, and I must admit that I was a little skivved out that I might have been waltzing through a whole mess of poison oak sticks during that time. Anyhow, I wasn't skivved out about that after finding our first artifact -- took my mind right off poison oak. We follwed the instructions with varying degrees of ease until we arrived at the cache. Only a little blood was lost. Perhaps I should have brought gloves and worn my long-sleeved tshirt. When we explained the adventure later to LeChuck, he commented that there must be some really twisted cacher on the loose out there. I'm not prepared to disagree with him! Thanks!

WestLog Penney Cache

By: westlog Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Micro

It was a great day to be out at Ft. Ord today, not too hot and not too cool. We hiked to this cache from the most direct route at the Intergarrison Road parking. As we were walking to this cache a caravan of dog training people drove up and stopped to have some conversation about the base closure with us. When we weren't all that concerned, and already knew about it, they travelled on. I doubt they were actually supposed to be driving back there...

Markasaurus

By: Doug & Jennifer Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Regular

Coords seemed right on for me, and the cache was rather exposed (although with all that trash dumped nearby, it doesn't stand out all that much). I tried to cover it better with the intended hiding material. Thanks.

Fishing for Nemo

By: Touchstone Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Regular

Poison oak doesn't count if you can't see the leaves, right? [;)] Sometimes I like hiking the central coast more in the fall, because then I don't really stress about the leaves of three because I can't seem them. Who really knows what the twigs are when they don't have leaves... Anyway, we made our way to the posted coords today, in what was phase 2 of my hik ing plans. So, in effect, we were pushing the time limit for Geo Baby and Lechuck to be hanging around on Grandma Katie's couch today. As we walked up from our newly-found parking spot on Giggling ave, we noticed quite the unmanned garage sale on the plateau. Indeed, the pack-n-play was in better shape than the one we had for Geo Baby and a toy Dyson vacuum looked like it could please a toddler or two. Alas, we won't be needing a pack-n-play for much longer, and we can't even get our own Dyson out to do what it's supposed to so how can we expect Geo Baby to learn how to play with one we bri ng home for her? We ended up not CITOing those items down from there. Oh well.

I digress. Back to the cache. WalruZ claims to have done this cache before, so you think he might be of more help, but he remembered nothing of that first stage. We scoured the area (poison oak twigs don't count, rem ember) of the posted coords and I was just about out of ideas when a glint from the late afternoon sun caught my eye. BIngo! You'd think after all that, we'd go off to get the cache, right? Wrong. There was another to grab in the other direction. Then WalruZ wanted to go for the other one reall y far away (okay, not so far at .4 ATCF) as long as we were walking around out there. Since I hadn't see any good legal parking for that one on 8th, off we went. We ended up making a horseshoe around the maintenance depot to get there, then walking back down 8th and finding an entrance point for t he second and third stages for Nemo. This made it almost the last cache of the day. Pentultimate, really.

Anyhow, I found the second stage right away, and the third not too long after. Retrieval went well, replacement was a bit more challenging. I'm sorry to see this one go. I hope you find an other cacher's "playground" to hide this sort of cache in. Between the FORA closure-development and the BLM policy wonking, Ft. Ord isn't going to be much of a caching recreational area (at least for those of us that have the old stuff found already...). Sniff.

Equine Shrine

By: bikenxs Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 3.0 Container: Regular

This was a very cool area for a cache, and we certainly wouldn't have seen the object of the title without a cache to lead us here. WalruZ spent quite a bit of time taking pictures and such. I liked reading the obit. I hope this one stays when the developers come through -- it's really interesting. Thanks for the cache!

Cooter's Cache

By: The Biggeeks featuring Cooter Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Regular

We found the cache in good condition, although this is a rather spooky area these days. We visited in broad daylight on a nicely sunny Sunday afternoon, and hardly a soul was around. Just a mtn biker riding through here and there. The foliage was such a start contrast with about .1 mi east where the fence is up and the dozers have done their work. Such a lot of natural beauty lost. Such a whole bunch more to be lost. Progress. Humph. Development. So sad.

Lookout

By: Just a Short Walk Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Regular

It was a nice day to walk around Ft. Ord today, and we came to this cache from the Giggling Road entrance in the second phase of our hiking today. I think coyforce is a little confused in their logs, the carcass was on the way to Lava Rock. No evidence of predatory beings around here, unless you count the emminent FORA closure of the area to "remove munitions" (cough cough, develop the land into something other than a recreational mecca, they mean)... Thanks for the cache.

Sep 29, 2007

Up close on Industrial

By: Danzig1030 Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Small

It sounded like a weekend morning would be a great time to look for this cache, so Geo Baby and I headed over after coffee, milk and scones at one of my favorite nearby local community college java houses. Found cache almost instantly, hope it stays dry! TFTC.

Don't Light A Match

By: TK7464 Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

Geo Baby and I were out and about this morning, and thought we'd stop by. No patrons nearby when we arrived, but I can see where at some times this would be a tough grab. Thanks.

Last Spanish Passage

By: el Jim Difficulty: 4.0 Terrain: 4.0 Container: Regular

The Friar WalruZ and I were out today, and finally stopped by to visit the passage. We've driven by this cache area time and time again, saying we were going to do it but then not bothering to pull off for a number of reasons. I enjoyed the walk to the first stage, found getting to the second stage to be somewhat challenging in my footwear, and then the last stage had me climbing up knee-deep in leaves. Funnily enough, not a tick to be found after all this... I definitely don't recommend Kswiss court shoes (with no socks) for this adventure, as I'm sure that's not what our predecessors settled this area wearing! Thanks!

Islands In The Stream

By: el Jim Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Small

The sizzling pavement gave way to a beige sea of crackling pods on the sunny Saturday afternoon. The Geo Kids were awake in the shadows of the backseat, resting their bones in the parked car and reading their books by the window to provide some respite from the persistent worries about bored law enforcement personnel dropping in. WalruZ and Bucky scaled the side of the brown hill, wandering back and forth like a pendulum from a grandfather clock as they approached the first crest, in full knowledge that they could be prey to any number of meadow-living beings on this sunny afternoon. It was he who found the cache, blending in like so many ice cubes in a margarita. He called her over, teased her gently as if he were a hairdresser from the 1960s, and motioned to the object of their hunt. It was at that moment that the adventure started...

Sep 27, 2007

5 Years Down; 25K Found, > 460K to Go

By: TeamAlamo Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Other

Last I checked 11/11 is a Sunday, which is not a workday for us, so we'll all be there (party of 4, we think)!

Sep 24, 2007

Where are the fish?

By: jellis50 Difficulty: 2.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Not chosen

Since I've had such *great* luck with this cache in the past, I decided to come find this cache after work today while it was still fresh, particularly since I was able to leave work at a fairly reasonable hour to get over here. I was delighted to look around and find a nice pristine, unsigned logsheet, after thinking that I might have dropped the cache in the drink (I didn't, whew). That was where the nice part of the commute home ended, as the T ride was thoroughly obnoxious thanks to a crackhead woman periodically yelling at the driver to 'get going' in slightly more colorful language (before turning to a diatribe on STDs and visiting the doctor), coupled with the three pubescent girls on the other side of the car yelling their own obscenities while telling a particularly x-rated story. I was actually happy to be getting on BART by the time I reached Embarcadero, just for the relative silence. Thanks for the cache, though!

Sep 22, 2007

Shell Game

By: Team COHO, delroy61, mcornelio Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Small

Just after this cache listing was posted, I had an errand to run at an incredibly large store that sells incredibly large packages of things and also happens to be situated nearby the building depicted in the puzzle. Unfortunately, I don't have access to a Mac-compatible printer at home with which to do the arts and crafts that groundspeak has decided are more fun than computer interaction. The cache owners were nice enough to point me to the alternate method after my note on the page, but alas I had just returned from my errand... I know it took me longer than 8 minutes, but it wasn't any longer than it takes for dinner to be prepared. And it was fun, to boot. Fast forward to this lovely rainy Saturday, and our bike-down-the-Coyote-Creek-trail plans were summarily scrapped when we looked out the window this morning. The alternate plans? Not so exciting, but involved a trek to a local furniture store or 5, some of which were r easonably near to the cache location... We picked the cache up on the loop back to get Geo Baby down for a nap. Thanks!

Sep 20, 2007

Sig Item Exchange/TB and Coin Hotel

By: dimkasmir, Benya, & OwlCacher Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Regular

I'd been by here before, but had no luck locating the cache that time. This time, as I was walking around watching the arrow jump here, then there, I was wishing I had WalruZ's new etrex H with me. I looked in a couple places and finally spotted this one. Only one TB (and not of the diabetes type), so I swapped out the one I was carrying for the one in the cache. I covered with some natural materials, as it appeared to be viewable from passers-by. Thanks for the cache.

Hidden Dock

By: spofahl Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Small

This was a neat little area to visit this morning. I was wishing that I didn't have work clothes on, though, since it was a little drizzly and all... Anyhow, I found the obvious search area, but it still took some time to located the cache. A fisherman was out at the end of the dock, but I was well-concealed to make the find. Swapped TBs. Thanks for the cache!

Sep 19, 2007

Shell Game

By: Team COHO, delroy61, mcornelio Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Small

Well, I know the location that the puzzle pieces depict, but I have to wait until Friday until I'm at a printer I can use for this purpose... {sigh}

Sep 16, 2007

Uvas Park & Ride

By: triplep220 & SCOTUS Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

It was sort of surprising to find a park and ride there, but I suppose it is useful for getting to calrain and such? Anyhow, the first thing I noticed is that we were spittin' distance from the ballfields of my nephew's middle school. We had just been at his birthday party before going to this cache, listening all about what 7th grade is like (ya know, it's just a world of difference from 6th grade at elementary school!). Then I grabbed the cache and laughed -- it was quite in theme for my thoughts about middle school at the moment of the grab! Thanks.

Parque Oloroso

By: Travieso Difficulty: 2.5 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Micro

The park was sorta busy today, with a few kids learning how to ride bikes on the loop and a toddler enjoying a lunchtime swing. It is rare that one can come by here in daylight on a weekend day and not have at least a handful of people to contend with, though. After surveying the situation we were faced with, I popped out of the car, in all my suburban soccer-mom finery, to produce the least amount of suspicion possible. Coords put me in sort of a, well, conspicuous place to search. If Geo Baby could have been pursuaded to join me it would have been much better, but I'm pretty sure the patrons of the park weren't watching me all that closely at the find. Well, I hope so, anyway, I mean it isn't like it was WalruZ stomping around out there... TFTC.

Jackson's "Beat It"

By: TLHarrell Difficulty: 4.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

I was taking a while, because I was averaging some different coords for the cache. I wandered around in some rough stuff looking near where the arrow was pointing, and let me tell ya, that wasn't working for me. It looked like I wasn't the first being to trek down those weeds, either. So I broke out the hint and had it in hand (about 35 feet away) within a few minutes. As I was walking back, whom should be running along yelling out "PLAYGROUND! PLAYGROUND!" but my little girl, fresh from a carseat nap, making her way across the grass. Hmm, I thought, that's gonna make us a little late for my nephew's birthday party, but it ended up that WalruZ wanted to see the cache too, so we went through the hunt all over again... WalruZ wasn't so lucky as I to spot it quickly once I pointed him in the right area! That's some craftsmanship there. Thanks.

San Pedro Ponds Trail

By: dpsmedic & Daughter Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Micro

Out with the family today before hitting my nephew's 12th birthday party. This was a quick walk, even with the toddler with us. We enjoyed watching the birdies on the pond. Thanks.

Sep 15, 2007

Rent-A-Cache

By: candcfamily Difficulty: 2.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

That was one expensive rental, but a very pleasant place to walk around with Geo Baby looking for cache! Thanks!

Oakland Creek to Bay Day 2007

By: TeamAlamo Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Not chosen

Geo Baby and I joined the "under 12s" litter patrol with Bellatrix and Anna. We made it about an hour or so before we had to turn back to GZ (and, more importantly, away from the street we were near). There was also a little interlude from our trash collection as we went by the playground. We bumped into the better half of TeamAlamo with LeChuck on their way to picnic on the nice lunch items provided to the larger group. After a while, most of the GBA cleanup crew joined us at the tables. A very nice CITO, thanks!

Milo, Mike and Sam

By: 4wheeler Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Small

Quick find today on a little afternoon walk around MLK jr. shoreline. I found ample space on the log to sign in both Geo Baby and I, plus someone left an 8 x 10 sheet of lined paper and that only has one signature on it. I guess maintenance has been performed, if you want to take that attribute off. TFTC.

Oakland Travel Bug Hostel

By: akerue Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Regular

Ran up during our picnic lunch after CITO-ing to trade some bugs. There was a crew working in the area and the cache's natural cammo seemed to be close to being "compromised" by the cleanup, so I alerted that group to its presence. They thought the geocaching concept was pretty cool. TFTC.

Apeeling Trees

By: biker-chick Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Regular

Geo Baby and I enjoyed our stroll out to the cache this afternoon. As we neared we noticed a big family nearby, but were able to look around for the cache without causing much suspicion at all! Thanks!

Healing View

By: CoolCache Difficulty: 2.5 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Micro

I was back here with a whole crew about 2 and a half years ago, and I don't know if that was the time it was missing or if we were just totally stumped, but today the excellent coordinates took me right to it. I know that the hide has changed, so I'm sure that has a lot to do with why I could find it on just the first try back! Thanks.

Sep 13, 2007

SF Chronicle - South Bay

By: TeamAlamo Difficulty: 2.5 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Micro

Working on a daily find streak that I started while on vacation last week. I'm finding it really difficult to manage just a cache a day during the weekdays, so I think my streak is about to end -- not without somewhat of a fight, though. Today I was working from home, with actual work to do. Ugh, my home area is pretty darn clean -- except for a couple quarry lakes caches I'm supposed to save to do with WalruZ. So I started looking at low-difficulty puzzles in the area in the hopes that I could wrap up some local coords quickly. This was the quickest to solve (used the hint after a few minutes of looking at other possibilities), and so I decided to have cache for lunch... Nice location for a cache. Thanks!

Sep 12, 2007

Ron Wiley's Cache

By: jellis Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Other

I'm making a small attempt at streaking (no, not that way) and so I just had to have one today. This means I'm doing all sorts of creative things to arrive at work just a tad late or leave work just a tad early while doing some weird public transit commuting, just outside the normal routine, in order to catch one here and there. Today, I walked over from the office a few minutes after everyone else had left (which is about an hour before I usually do), and looked around for this cache. They are progressing well on the buildings across the street, and soon there will be a pleasant park-like walkway over to this cache from work. Not yet, though. Still all fenced off from 3rd. I don't think you could hide any other type of container on this particular spot, but it did take me a thorough going-through to find it. Luckily, even though there is a Giants game tonight, there wasn't anyone around in the area to be stealthy for. Then it was off to the nearest T stop to get over to the BART station. Thanks!

Sep 11, 2007

Lake Reflections

By: Team COHO, delroy61, mcornelio Difficulty: 2.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

Last night, it was a family affair to solve this puzzle. WalruZ and I agreed that we'd just visit the solution coords separately this week since Geo Baby was already in her crib for the night and it was pretty close to closing time for the cache location. I needed a cache today in order to extend my meager streak of finds (vacation last week, doncha know?) and so I swung by after work and the newly-more-expensive BART commute (parking fees now at Fremont, which jimmies up the whole street-parking strategy I had been using, ugh) and still managed to get home in time for dinner. Thanks.

Sep 10, 2007

City Landmark #78

By: K9Krazy & Catracha Difficulty: 2.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

I've been out on vacation for the last week or so, but had a TB that wanted to go to SF and be picked up by its owner. I felt bad that I hung onto it for so long, but I wasn't about to commute in to SF when I didn't need to! Today, I looked around for caches walkable to BART that might be large enough to hold the TB, and this was the one I chose. I'd been here before for a previous cache, and really liked the area. Visiting the conservatory was a nice way to start the day. Swapped TBs. Thanks.

Bart: Glen Park Station

By: TheAprilFools Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Micro

This is an interesting place to stop and search for a cache. I hope the woman at the bus stop was enthralled enough with her phone conversation to not get too curious about what I was doing. Got a few honks, too. I had just replaced the cache when a crazy-looking person ambled on into the area, eyes not really focusing on much of anything in particular (so no need to worry about him seeing me), and two elderly chinese ladies hung back, obviously a little worried about him. It was all harmless enough on a bright SF morning. I love The City! Now, off to work...

Sep 9, 2007

Fret It - Don't Sweat It

By: Team COHO, delroy61, mcornelio Difficulty: 3.0 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Small

Our coords weren't correct, so we did a brute force solution on this puzzle. This method was particularly easy since WalruZ knows the area and it's retail options really well. Thanks for the cute cache!

Koopman Tree

By: clubjackie Difficulty: 3.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Small

Out for a Sunday drive after breakfast this morning and somehow ended up here, which was farther than we were planning on going. Nice hide, very simple yet effective. Thanks for the cache.

UC Periphery

By: SnoWake, Panza -n- Dingo Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

Niles Canyon Road always makes me a little frazzled. Actually, the road doesn't frazzle me as much as the idiots that insist on going about 15 mph over the speed limit, which is already too high for this kind of road. We've put in $4k worth of work on the front end of WalruZ's car because of this road, through no fault of his. With that history, it is no surprise that I think this is an extremely dangerous road to put a cache by, although the cache site is only marginally dangerous (the danger comes from other drivers gawking at why you're out of the car along the side of the road at this spot, rather than paying attention to where they're driving). Of course, the themed object narrows the search substantially, but that still doesn't protect you from all the idiots...

Sep 8, 2007

No More Giggling

By: coyforce Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Small

Seems like it was time to revisit Ft. Ord and do some caching, just in case those rumors of closing off the SW area paved access points were true. WalruZ and I drove around for a bit to whet our caching appetite before unloading our bikes at Parker Flats. So, technically this wasn't on the way, but close enough! Thanks.

The Hitching Post

By: X-ray Tech Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Micro

Our bikes both have road tires on them, so we ditched 'em near the road to hike up to this cache. For some reason, WalruZ especially liked the collapsed latrine near where we parked the bikes. Once near the cache, we wished we had the bikes to ride along the well-packed trail that was sort of going in the direction of the car. Oh well, the walk back to the bikes wasn't strenuous at all (mmmm, downhill) and the rest of the road to Parker Flats parking was surprisingly level! Thanks for the cache here!

Car Wash

By: MrJim005 Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

WalruZ and I were planning a nice bike ride into Ft. Ord backcountry, and decided to do a few drive-by Ord caches for a warm up. WalruZ spotted this one from the car. Then he commented that we've probably been doing this way too long. He might be right! Thanks.

Emperor Pu Yi

By: WildmanJ & E Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Small

WalruZ and I decided to visit Ft. Ord today, mainly because we had our bikes with us on this trip to Monterey and wanted to see what it was like to take 'em out here. We also heard some rumors of some access points on the SW side closing next month, so that sealed the deal as far as where we were going to take the bikes today. To warm up for the ride, we decided to hit a few drive up caches. After passing a couple law enforcement personnel nearby, I was wary of doing anything but parking in the legal spot across the street from the pretty mural! We both walked over and WalruZ found it in short order. Those nearby buildings really need to be used for something other than target practice! Thanks for the cache.

Griffin's Lair

By: westlog Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Regular

Nice placement with convenient parking! I had not yet taken the opportunity to drive through the CSUMB campus and see how things were shaping up. Today was the day. This cache gave me that excuse to meander through the university streets and look at the newer buildings. I wonder how this area will look in 20 years, given a need for expansion of higher public education in California. I had no idea that GGU had any sort of relationship to CSU... Odd, that. Thanks for the cache.

frisbee golf

By: lacrossejunky Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Large

WalruZ and I came by on our way back to Grandma Katie's after a nice day in Ft. Ord. I've always liked this park and it seems like they've found a way to bring people in to recreate here that has the nice effect of chasing out the drunk/homeless that were populating the park for so long! Thanks for the cache here!

High and Dry

By: TJMoon Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

WalruZ and I were determined to get a few caches in Ft. Ord, since we'd heard a rumor that some of the western access points may be closed off in October. In the morning, we did some drive-ups and a bit of hiking around the Ardennes access area. Then lunch and checking in by phone with Grandma to see how things were going, and then we unloaded the bikes at the Parker Flats area. This was a very very very quick stop from that point! We're just not used to biking around back here -- getting to caches really doesn't take much time at all! Thanks for the cache.

4DaKidsII

By: tweet_ip (maintained by WalruZ) Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Regular

WalruZ and I had a quick walk over from the nearby Coyote Council cache, over some newly-turned manzanita and oak trees. I think they're probably making a fire break, or maybe preparing to extend the nearby residential area? The cache has survived all the plowing, though, so that's a good thing. TFTC.

4DaKids

By: tweet_ip (maintained by WalruZ) Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Regular

Ah, an area between Ardennes and Eucalyptus that has been spared the big plows! We had some trouble finding this one, as there are so many places it could be within GZ, but as I was re-reading the last 5 logs on my palm out loud to WalruZ, I looked up slightly and said (midsentence) "I think I'm looking right at it". Indeed, I was. Thanks!

Coyote Council Clearing

By: dgwille Difficulty: 2.5 Terrain: 2.5 Container: Micro

We took a very odd path to this cache, given nearby construction, accessing it from the nearby residential neighborhood. Some of the pathways have temporary barricades with caution tape strung across them, although not all access points to the general vicinity of the cache, so it is unclear if the actual cache area is inaccessible (legally-speaking). The area quite close to the cache has heavy equipment on it for some reason (grading, perhaps?), so if the cache comes up missing I would not hesitate to blame whatever "progress" they are effecting in the area (hmmm, extending a housing development, perhaps?). Thanks for the cache.

Woody Woodpecker

By: Koolrat Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Small

Heh, we saw the title-like object from a ways away and amazingly enough spotted the cache pretty soon after. Nice to have a little cluster to coast on the bikes for a bit. No ticks today that I saw, so I guess tick season is over for the year... Thanks for the cache.

Remodeled Barbershop

By: Koolrat Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Small

On a nice bike ride with WalruZ today, we extended our Ft. Ord boundaries a little farther than we would have hiking from the same access points. We've heard a rumor that some of the western access points may be closed off in October, so we were all about heading out from those while we could. This was our first time on bikes in Ord, and it was amazing how much distance we could cover from Parker Flats parking before needed to get back and relieve Grandma of toddler duty. WalruZ had the cache in hand before I even dismounted the bike. Thanks!

Nearly Bear

By: Koolrat Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Regular

WalruZ and I were determined to get a few caches in Ft. Ord, since we'd heard a rumor that some of the western access points may be closed off in October. In the morning, we did some drive-ups and a bit of hiking around the Ardennes access area. We probably could have easily hit this cache as part of that trek, but the cache is so close to a paved road on the map that we decided to leave it until after lunch when we were going to unload the bikes and see what we could see. After a Burger King repast (well, it was the only convenient food around...) we unloaded at the Parker Flats area and zipped down (and then walked up) the hill to this cache. Neat place! Thanks.

Bonquee

By: Cache_Monkey Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Micro

It was a really fun ride from Nearly Bear to this cache, kind of like a roller coaster on the bike. Normally we'd be hoofing it to all the Ft. Ord caches, since our bikes are, well, rather beat (and road-type bikes at that), but today we decided to see what we could do with them. I was amazed that it took, perhaps, 5 minutes to cover the 1.25 miles from Nearly Bear to Bonquee. Hiking, well, that would have been a half hour or more given the hills! We had actually passed up this cache in January due to time when we were out here hiking after a backcountry CITO. If they do close off these paved access roads next month (we heard a rumor), I'll really be disappointed... Thanks for the cache!

King of the Mountain

By: Dagwood & Blondie Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 3.0 Container: Regular

We've had this cache on our radar for quite some time, but it was always one of those caches on the outskirts of the area we had planned to hike in, and so it always got passed by. WalruZ seemed to really be itching to do this one, so we put it at the top of our list today. We started out nicely enough, from the nearest point in the Ardennes neighborhood right near a nice fire road that should have led directly up to the cache site. We were caught behind a construction fence, though, about .15 from the cache. So, we went down the way we came and parked the car at the other trail access point to do the 3 caches in the same area. After a nice little hike for those caches, we then headed back up on foot to the other side of all that construction. That access point did the trick, and we were feeling like kings of the mountain in no time. Thanks.

Fort Ord Back Country

By: Dagwood & Blondie Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Regular

Nice little jaunt up from the road and the barbershop. I was able to find this cache and let WalruZ see how the interesting cammo blended in. Thanks for placing the cache here!

Sep 7, 2007

Exceptional Firefighters of Aromas

By: el Jim Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Micro

We were on our way down to Grandma's for an early weekend, and decided to hit the backroads for lunch in Aromas (and some caching that I had really wanted to do). We parked in the lot and all piled out of the car since there was lots to look at here. As Geo Baby and I were walking by, a nice fireman came out and saw my GPSr and guessed what w e were up to. Well, half of what we were up to. WalruZ was already fawning over the peace pole and taking photos of the cool mural. Found cache rather easily. TFTC!

Aromas Park

By: #1 geobears Difficulty: 3.0 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Micro

This was our lunch stop on our way down to see Grandma this weekend. On Fridays, two of the nearby grocery/deli establishments get out their slow-cookin' BBQs and offer up some good tri-tip sandwiches. The park was a great place to enjoy them, except for the yellowjackets that seem to also enjoy people's BBQ! Found the cache in short order (har har), ate some lunch, and we were on our way through the backroads! TFTC.

Lucy's Loop

By: quirkykelly Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Regular

Tough one to see, but finally after traipsing around through the bushes I spotted something that resembled the description. WalruZ and I biked in from the unofficial entrance at David Ave. in Pacific Grove. This was my first time biking in PB, and aside from the cars on the same streets, it is an interesting way to see the area. I suspect the Holman Hwy entrance would be a better choice if cachers are only going to this cache, though. As it was, we were knocking off the other oldies in town. TFTC.

Woodsman West

By: CBN Difficulty: 3.0 Terrain: 3.0 Container: Micro

Whaddya know, a film can! We had a lengthy search and an even lengthy-er conversation about helping out CBN and/or the Cache Medics. With 2 receivers basically agreeing for a half hour (after disagreeing for the first 20 minutes on site) on the location, we just went with the replacement. We biked in from the unofficial entrance at David Ave -- my first time on two wheels in Pebble Beach. Thanks.

Unit Cache

By: compass_bearing_north Difficulty: 2.5 Terrain: 2.5 Container: Regular

WalruZ and I were both attracted to the wrong side of the path to search, which made this cache take much longer than it should have to find. Eventually I pried myself from that other location and started searching on the other side. Lo and behold, there it was! Thanks for the cache.

Sep 6, 2007

Evil Empire

By: Stiv Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Regular

Definitely a goner. Got a weird look from an employee coming out to his car, just for sitting in mine with the door open, so perhaps strangers on the campus is also an issue?

Northern CA Solar System Model: Ganymede

By: bthomas (Maintained by MotorBug) Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Small

Third time back to the site, and it seems that each time I'm here the cache is missing. Checked all the likely spots near our lunch stop on a bench, but no joy.

A Cache for Vince

By: stbk Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Small

A fitting tribute cache along a nice shady, contemplative spot of the trail. Geo Baby and I strolled to the site, and the coords put us right at the cache. Nice when that happens. Geo Baby was a little whiny after waking up on the wrong side of the stroller (figuratively) so this was the last find of our day. Thanks.

Something to read?

By: pao_flyers Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Not chosen

This was the last downtown stop this morning for Geo Baby and I. We spent so much time at the playground in Eagle Park that I thought I was going to have an early-napping toddler on my hands for this cache, or be unfortunate enough to hit this spot right at lunchtime. Luckily she fought off the sleepies until hitting the car and we were just a little early for the lunch hour by the time we strolled over here. About 4 spots left on the logsheet. Thanks!

Hetch Hetchy Trail - Hippity Hoppity

By: Marky & Joani Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

Geo Baby and I were out with the stroller in Mountain View today, and walked down the Stevens Creek Trail from the L'Avenida entrance for naptime. I got bored with that long stretch where there are no caches (which gives me a pretty big clue that lots of puzzles must end there), and so I veered off at Whisman School to check the Hetch Hetchys out. Cute cache, thanks!

Hetch Hetchy Trail - Purple Wisteria

By: Marky & Joani Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

Geo Baby was starting to wake from her nap, so I had to be quick searching for this one so that I could attend to her disorientation... As we strolled up, I couldn't possibly think of where a cache would be hidden there, but after a few minutes I keyed in on the hide. Geo Baby wanted to see the cache container, but I was sure that I'd never get it away from her if I let her look at it up close. Thanks.

Portkey

By: zapboy Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Micro

Geo Baby and I were around today, getting our morning coffee, milk and scones nearby, so we sauntered on over to touch the portkey. Nicely done! Geo Baby was drawn to the nearest building, because of some nice stairs to climb up and down. Thanks.

WALK YOUR BIKE

By: trode Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Micro

I was out with Geo Baby and the stroller, taking a first look at the Stevens Creek Trail. I'm glad that we timed this one to be enough after lunch so as not to be that busy, and enough before quittin' time to not be run over! I spent enough time looking at one set of spots, before realizing that trode wouldn't want me to be living that dangerously, would he? Thanks for the cache.

Forgotten Plaza

By: sammydee Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Small

Geo Baby and I started our day this morning in downtown Mountain View. First, we hit a nearby coffee place to have our coffee, milk and scones, then it was off to the Plaza that everyone seemed to forget! Thanks for the nice walk.

Eagle Park

By: DavidT21 & Fisherwoman Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Micro

Geo Baby and I were in the area doing a little caching and walking and playing and coffee-drinking (well, that last one was me, Geo Baby finished her scone and milk long before we hit the park). After finding the cache and having a small conversation about the swimming pool, we found the playground. The diaper set was in full force there in the late morning, and Geo Baby had a great time! Thanks.

Stroller Friendly #4: That's not my diaper!

By: Geo Baby Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Regular

dropped a bug at maintenance visit.

Sep 5, 2007

Play Ball II

By: ChrissySkyking + Blaze (adopted by CaliSeaSta Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Small

Geo Baby and I were out and about today, as we're both on vacation, and after lunch with WalruZ down near the Los Gatos-Campbell border, we came up to Palo Alto to ostensibly maintain some caches ('course we ran out of time for all of that today, so maybe tomorrow we'll finish up -- between the three of us we have a lot of caches that need checking on). Geo Baby took her nap between there and here, so I spent some extra time here just chilling out and doing a suduko puzzle waiting for her to wake. I managed to find the first incarnation of Play Ball, and expected something a little closer in distance to that hide, but I suppose this might work better for the muggle issues. TFTC.

A Shady Spot

By: Camille Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Small

Geo Baby and I visited this cache in search of a park with a playground (and a cache) in Los Gatos. This park was a little too much for the toddling Geo Baby, although she did a pretty fine job of walking around to the two caches there. At A Shady Spot, though, she couldn't do the terrain (or, rather, found it "scary" or "dirty" alternately), so I heaved her up and over the rough spot to find the cache. We traded out an egg with a toy compass that Geo Baby had to have in exchange for a toy car. Thanks!

Tee Time

By: MotorBug Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Small

Geo Baby and I were having some pretty good cache mojo today. We only had one DNF, well two if you count the boarded off stage 3 for the nearby multi, and that's pretty good with the toddler in tow. This was our last stop of the day, and Geo Baby was tired enough to both want to walk and want to ride. So we did both. She walked about .15 until she just couldn't (wouldn't) remember to walk on the proper side of the yellow line. I could just see some bicycle commuter whoooshing around a corner and running over the little thing... So in the stroller she went, with only a little whiny protest. We saw a couple bicycles, and more importantly, doggies on the way there/back. TFTC!

Traffic Patterns

By: bullit Difficulty: 2.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

Geo Baby and I are on vacation this week, so we're pretty much spending it by looking at birdies and visiting parks with caches. Too bad the playgrounds are all too hot during the day... Anyway, we were by here since its a park and I needed to drive a ways to allow Geo Baby to nap after lunch with WalruZ in Los Gatos. After she woke up, we checked the playground equipment (yep, too hot), used the facilities, got some water, and moseyed on over here. Found it rather quickly and she and I sat down on the grass examining the cache container (well, she was, I was signing the log). It was only pushing 3 and already the southbound 101 traffic looked rather slow. Thanks!

Stumpy

By: geekster Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

Nothing is much of a drive up with Geo Baby in tow, but this was a nice walk just as the heat of the day was starting to come down from its peak temperature. I found nearby parking that was not marked "no parking", so I took it to be legal, then unloaded the stroller, diaper bag, water, Geo Baby, pacifier, etc. After a few minutes we were off to find the cache and then over to stage 1 of The Three Women who Cared. Thanks.

Electric Kiss

By: TeamAlamo Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Other

Yay! I'll be sending along the code later today and then editing this log to found. Yay! -----Permission granted to log the find:

I've been sort of ignoring this cache lately, like the strange Uncle that you're not supposed to pester too much or he'll spit at you or something. I've been here at least 5 times over the past year, many times with Geo Baby waiting in the car with Dad, o r sitting in the shade under the nearby tree, or wherever. I've searched so much here that there were times I was so filthy that I decided I would never come back. Today, I found the cache in a matter of minutes (once we stopped fooling around with milk and cookies at the table, that is). I know that I put my hands/fingers in just that place umpettyteen times before... I think it was replaced at one point between my visit, right? Maybe I'm just going nuts. Slowly, very slowly. I'm glad that I carry baby wipes around with me everywhere, though...

Worcester Cache II

By: halhal Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Regular

Geo Baby wanted to play on a playground, so I looked around for caches in the vicinity that were in "parks". Well, this park didn't have a playground from our access point (near A Shady Spot), but we decided to look for the caches anyway and maybe we'd bump into one. She was a real sport, since she wanted to walk rather than ride on my shoulders today. She tried getting up that last hill but needed a little ride when it got too steep. We had snack on the nearby bench, took some photos, and looked through all the toys. TFTC.

Sep 4, 2007

ROP

By: soupercamp Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Small

Geo Baby and I stopped by on our way from here to there today. Well, we had no real itinerary except to get to the Alameda shoreline eventually. This cache seemed to be all lonely on my map, and on the way to boot. Very nicely done. At first I looked at the area and panicked a little, then read the description about the no ivy hide thing and relaxed. It took just a bit of time to located after that. Left a travelling geocoin. Thanks for the cache!

Kuba's Revenge

By: fence_climber Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

We were nearby so I just had to go for it. I was a little put off by the half-full lot and the security camera at the gate, but no one came around to ask what I was wandering around for. Coords were pretty bad, but I didn't want to spend the extra time getting new ones with the businesses in full swing. Too bad it couldn't stay in the adjacent shoreline park area. That would have been a nice walk with Geo Baby. Thanks for the cache.

Duckies on the Pond

By: the_navigator_25 Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

The newly updated coordinates were right on for Geo Baby and I. We planned on hitting this cache around lunch, but Geo Baby took a nap earlier than expected in her carseat, so we headed up a little farther and worked our way back to this cache instead. Armed with some bread from the fridge (of unknown age), we headed out to see the duckies. On the way there (we both walked, so we had lots of time to do and see all sorts of things), we had some snack of our own, found the cache (got some great photos of Geo Baby looking, but most are too close to spoilers), saw the doggies, watched a train, and -- finally -- got to a place where there was a group of duckies (as opposed to seagulls). Thanks for the cache.

Ship 66

By: DavidT21 & Fisherwoman Difficulty: 3.0 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Small

Geo Baby and I are on vacation this week and I decided that today we would sort of take it easy and just see what seemed like fun. Well, getting that Hunter's point quad seemed like a fun thing to do, particularly since neither of us has ever been to this area. We had fun standing on rocks and sitting on the boat and all sorts of stuff before going and actually finding the cache. I scraped my leg doing a one-handed retrieval (the other was holding the toddler since she didn't want to touch the rocks for some reason), and later Geo Baby scraped her knee walking to a different cache. So I guess we're even for the day. Afterwards, we went to a nearby playground and met some kids and doggies there (which also meant no searching for the cache, even though we were there for about an hour and a half). TFTC!

Sep 3, 2007

Good Still Hunting

By: Team COHO Difficulty: 2.5 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Small

It is nice to finally pull this one off after I'm not sure how many visits, both casual and planned, to the area. We were by at what seemed to be a good time of day for the opportunity to crash around without alerting security (they've got to have a note on their bulletin board about my car parked at that location by now). I wandered around a bit and regretted wearing shorts today, but WalruZ was the one to finally grab it from its place. TFTC.

Obese Geese Puzzle Cache

By: walrusdad,wombat & peanut Difficulty: 2.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Small

After coming home empty handed yesterday afternoon, I spent some time and thought about a sticky point that we had at one point on our walk. We had been able to "work around" a particular issue with a stage, but perhaps our problem with clue 8 was somehow related to that issue... Hmmm. What to do, well, brute force of course! I did a little work at home and we returned with some idea of where to look. I was skeptical about the location my brute force was taking us to, but plan B was actually to return to the site of our initial misdeed to do some work and I was willing to give my brute force a try first. So, I pointed WalruZ to a place to look and lo and behold there it was! Yay me. Thanks for the nice cache and the pleasant walk with the family after breakfast yesterday.

Homestead gardens

By: jellis50 Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Micro

The only turkeys I saw at the park today were the three that were riding in the car there with me. We were right by this park to pick up the Dread Pirate LeChuck for the Labor Day BBQ fete nearish to here, and WalruZ suggested that we stop for a little family walk (that apparently those three had already done). Well, it was hotter than a turkey on fire out there, but off we went. Geo Baby and WalruZ found a cool spot nearby the cache site to sit, and I went and did my thing. Gardens are looking really nice right now -- the one nearby had some really giant hot peppers next to some nice-sized bell peppers. Bone dry out here, though... Thanks for the cache.

Deficit Spending 3.2

By: jellis50 (adopted by dkata) Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Micro

There are just some caches that are so much easier to do on holiday weekends, and this is one of those caches. Nice to have the AC staying on in the car while we did our thing. Thanks!

Don't Blink

By: Team COHO, delroy61, mcornelio Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Micro

Back when I used to be a part of an Intro Psych teaching team, we used a lot of these illusions to get students motivated to listen to us during lecture. I'm not sure that it really worked, but whatever. Me? Well, some of the visual illusions just make me feel seasick, but they're a great tool nonetheless to start a discussion of how and why the brain is wired to do its thing! While I was solving this one, I had a little discussion with myself about what mental omen it actually was to see the illusion in just this manner. At the cache site, I was the one with the patient visual system today. Geo Baby availed herself of some shade and coaxed Daddy into giving her his pen to write all over her legs and hands with... Talk about a visual. TFTC.

Sep 2, 2007

udated - Just in time for the holidays

By: howeler & Mira Jade Difficulty: 3.5 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Small

Okay, so this was my first visit, and it seems that others take more than that. But I gave it a good shot: the posted coords putt me in someone's house and I had only a vague 100 feet away hint about the area from the logs, with no bench within 250 feet of the posted coords. I gave up after searching every tree around a couple reasonably close (well, 130 feet away) picnic tables. I did find a ziptie in one of the branches, but since the cache has been found so recently and the coords are so bad, well, I wouldn't necessarily say a zip tie in the park is a death knoll for the cache, if you know what I mean. I'd appreciate some better coords that would at least let me know that I was searching the correct half dozen trees... WalruZ and Geo Baby came out of the car to help after a half hour or so, but they couldn't find it either (which is pretty funny considering WalruZ is a previous finder of the cache).

Soon to be park - Temp

By: howeler Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Micro

I found it where I had looked before. Perhaps the catcalling construction workers distracted me when I was last here. Usually I can ignore that sort of thing, though. Today was Sunday, so no distractions and a quick find. I still wonder whether the inmates were watching, though...

Evatt Park - Temp

By: howeler Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Micro

Not sure what the original hide was, since the attachment was off and the lid busted, but this lot has seen better days. Wonder what they'll do with the park next door when they get done tearing it up?

Obese Geese Puzzle Cache

By: walrusdad,wombat & peanut Difficulty: 2.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Small

I debated on whether this was a DNF or a note for me. I think if it had been a proper multi, it surely would be a DNF, but since its listed as a puzzle, well, that means that I need to go do a little solving at home after collecting the necessary info, so I'm going to post my visit as a note. We got all the way to stage 8, then had trouble figuring out what the longitude for the next step should be. Then read clue 9 and figured that, well, I need to do more thinking with the info I have to derive a location from that... Geo Baby enjoyed our walk around the lake, nevertheless. Tired her all out and she took an early nap today.

the elms are gone

By: howeler Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Micro

They've started landscaping the park now, and it appears that the sign will be going in next week or so. I think this will be a very nice place to walk around when the trees fill out and they get the groundcover finished up. They'll need a place like this, with all that high density housing going in. I don't know where people will put their cars in this neighborhood -- and I don't mean parking (although that should be interesting as well). Cache is just away from all the hubbub, and is in fine shape.

3331

By: howeler Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

I can vouch for Motorbug's coords, so you don't even need to gimp out there on your bad knee to check them -- just change them on the website. That would be doing a real service to cachers that show up with only the last 5 logs and the waypoint that leads you 40' away from the correct search area! Those palm trees are unnecessarily pokey. Met lundykid as we were leaving, always a pleasure to run into another cacher in the field. TFTC.

A Bridge Too Far -- NOT

By: Team COHO, delroy61, mcornelio Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

It seems like WalruZ's solution had us about 180 feet into an area we couldn't get into, but WalruZ persisted and was searching at the closest point we could get to the coords anyway. I was ready to go home and have another look, but miraculously, there it was! Thanks.

Berryessa Creek Trail - #4

By: cjspontiac Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

Someday I think I'll actually get my bike out and ride down the full expanse of these creek trails (Coyote, Berryessa, Los Gatos, etc) so that I can really see their extent and where they go. I seem to be caching my way through bits of them these days... Thanks for marking a good entry point.

Berryessa Creek Trail - #3

By: cjspontiac Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 2.5 Container: Micro

I gave WalruZ two parking options, and instead of just doing one of them, he wants to get all cute and hop fences and such. Well, homie don't hop fences to cache, so there. Besides, these two caches were saved for last this afternoon just so we could do a little family hiking with Geo Baby actually propelling herself the short distance it took to get there. She loves that. She liked that so much that when it was time to get back in the car, she took one look and turned back around to propel herself a little too far away from us. She was halfway across the bridge before I caught up to the little imp and carried her back. TFTC.

Sep 1, 2007

Pony Tracks Ranch

By: crawburr Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Small

Our destiny today was for a day of downhill (mostly) hiking, but we stopped by this one as WalruZ's route to the trailhead took us right by it. I'm not sure how I would have reacted to all that big killing-type machinery, but I enjoyed finding the big cache. Now I'm confused by the description of the cache here, good thing I read it after the fact...

Follow the Tags

By: The Un-cachers Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Small

WalruZ wasn't sure how much exploring for tags he wanted to do, with Geo Baby riding on his back at this point, but we managed to find what we needed to see between the four eyes that were open (another two were a bit droopy at this point). Thanks!

Fight Back

By: The Un-cachers Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Not chosen

For some reason, I had this listed as an U cache size in my GSAK/GPSr and so I started thinking rather evilly and looking all over that mountain lion. Then WalruZ reads the description and there was sort of an "oh" moment before finding the cache. Geo Baby was nodding off, so she was no help at all. Those anti-bike-logs at the trailhead are sure useful for propping a carrier though! Thanks.

Bouquet #3

By: The Un-cachers Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Small

I was fairly sure I had the right area, but I just couldn't spot it and Geo Baby wasn't doing much in the way of helping. She was working on her version of "Giddyaup Mommy" and I eventually had to point at various places and whine to WalruZ that he should pretty please look there (he was off someplace else trying to roll in poison oak or some such thing that he likes to do when his Geko points him all over the place). Thanks for the aromatic cache!

Another End of Alpine Road

By: The Un-cachers Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Micro

And off we go! After staging the cars and unpacking the baby and slathering her up with sunscreen and making sure we had bug spray and retrieving the pacifier from wherever it was dropped and getting hiking boots on me and re-putting the hat on Geo Baby for the 18th time and changing the batteries in the GPSr, we were off! I was quite suprised that no ot her cars were parked in this area today, but maybe it was because of the lack of Montebello access across the street. WalruZ came up with this one pretty quick, which is more than I can say for the lost binky we had to retrieve 3 minutes later. Geo Baby ambulated herself to this cache and most of the way to the next one. TFTC.

Virus Bravo Ten

By: TeamOttlet Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Small

I would have been following that arrow another 40 feet hence if it weren't for WalruZ's cunning geosense. Well, that and the 30 pounds of toddler and toddler gear strapped to my back after an uphill climb from Alpine road... We ended up making a loop of this area before returning to Alpine. It was a good workout, although I hadn't quite prepared myself for this loop mentally prior to the hike. TFTC.

The End of Alpine Road

By: crawburr Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Micro

I had a preconceived notion about the hide location based on our initial stop on this journey, and WalruZ took great pride in suggesting alternate locations while gasping and moaning about how much we must feed the child. Thanks for the great trip down Alpine!

Romancing the Stone

By: The Un-cachers Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Small

I hated that movie, and remember leaving the theater with my date before it ended. Of course, my date and I enjoyed the arcades in the mall far more than romance movies anyway. I was scrambling around, following the arrow and such, when WalruZ calls out "found it". No idea how he did that, since he was carrying the toddler and acoutrements at this point, but I'll take it. Thanks.

Trailside Post

By: The Un-cachers Difficulty: 2.5 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Small

This was a quick find for us on our way down the road. Geo Baby was still riding here, and still fighting off naptime by playing with my water mouthpiece. Thanks.

Trailside Trunk

By: The Un-cachers Difficulty: 2.5 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Small

We sauntered on down from having a bunch of trouble with Vee Tree, and Geo Baby still none too happy about that unfortunate poke with a tree branch. As we got close to the scene, we could hear people somewhere, but just couldn't see them. They might have been coming our way, they might not have, who knows? I saw the eventually-revealed hide spot, while WalruZ was convinced he wanted to go off the side of that hill and avoid those people, wherever they were. I didn't have my headache yet so I wasn't going to help him do that and insisted that he come over to where I was and help me search (since Geo Baby isn't fond of slowing down on these hikes, for some reason -- she'll have made a riding crop during craft time at school by next year, I'm sure). Thanks!

Ode to Bullit

By: The Un-cachers Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Micro

We were moving quite well along the road/trail now that we were alert for downward-going bicycles and Geo Baby was busying herself playing with my water (she has mastered the camelbak mouthpiece apparently, good thing I brought extra bottles too). I spotted the themed placement right away, and we ducked over there to wait for the remaining cyclist of the group going down. Thanks.

Tree of Heaven

By: The Un-cachers Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Small

After the unplanned detour UP to Crazy Pete's (and then down again to Alpine road), I unloaded Geo Baby onto Daddy for the rest of the trip so she could beat on his shoulder with the water hose. I had originally thought I would do the whole Alpine road trip, but it was his idea to veer off to grab the other two caches... Anyhow, I found the tree of heaven and did the thing and stuff. I somehow had it in my mind that this was called "Tree of Hearts" and I was riffing on that in my head for part of the way down from the cache to the next one. TFTC.

Vee Tree

By: The Un-cachers Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 3.5 Container: Regular

We decided to take the trek down Alpine road today, with all three of us participating. Well, Geo Baby walked to the first cache and got halfway to this one and decided that maybe she'd like to ride instead. It seemed that most of the bicycle traffic was heading uphill [:O], so nothing "scary" coming from the other direction, but we put her in the backpack nonetheless. WalruZ had a tough time at the cache site, so Geo Baby and I forayed into the wilderness to help. After an errant branch snag on the backpack, we forayed ourselves right back out to the road and directed from there. WalruZ apparently takes direction from his cell phone better than from us, so it took a little while longer to find it. Thanks.

Solitude

By: The Un-cachers Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Small

We approached from below, as we ended up taking the road from the letterbox instead of continuing on the trail (didn't know where it went, didn't need the tired WalruZ complaining anymore about the size of the toddler). That is some hike up to the cache! I crashed around a bit about 30 feet away before resorting to description, then hint. Hint is off by one now, but the cache is safe and sound. Thanks.

Lake? What lake?

By: homermayor Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Regular

Our last stop on a geocaching journey along Alpine road today. Well, not quite the last for me, since we had a late lunch at Alpine Inn afterward, but the last of the journey, I guess... I 'm glad that I have small hands!

CASA de TABLETA

By: Rain734 Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Regular

WalruZ, Geo Baby and I stopped by here for a late lunch after hiking down Alpine road for the new series of caches there. Although I have been a frequent visitor to the parklands around here as a kid and recently, I have never actually been inside this establishment. Aside from the fact that it was hotter than anything inside, it was a nice place for an after-hike repast since I didn't feel strange about being in there all dusty. My GPSr was leading me all over the place at the final location, including across the street and back, so it took a while to uncover the cache. Glad I was in my boots for this one, wouldn't have wanted to show up to this 1/1 in my work shoes. Thanks.

Crazy Pete's Money Cache

By: Jim and Jeanette Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 2.5 Container: Small

Ah loops! We weren't entirely prepared for this part of the hike, as I hadn't studied the trail map for this area thinking we were just going to do a little downhill thing on Alpine Road. Well, that was going so well that we decided to detour off to get the two caches in Coal Creek too. Wow, that added some elevation gain. Luckily Geo Baby was having a power nap during a big part of it, and then she woke up just prior to us figuring out that we needed to continue up to get to this cache, so she got to do some uphill walking too (well, she [i]did[/i] ask to get out!). It felt good, though, especially the part where I switched the baby to WalruZ's back when we got back to the Alpine Road trailhead! Thanks!

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