buckyd's Geoblog

Dec 30, 2009

Secret Southern Trailhead

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

Found a very damp log, without a container. Signed at the end around a rip. Checked with Walruz and I'll try to get an appropriate replacement done for you while I'm on vacation this week, if you don't have extras lying around.

Pleasant One

By: XeviousNK Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 3.0 Container: Small

Took a nice little walk today to see what I could find. The cache was in great shape and it was a great day to be out on the trails in Pleasanton Ridge. Thanks for the cache.

Hippo Crossing

By: donvsop Difficulty: 3.0 Terrain: 3.0 Container: Not chosen

It looks like a local squirrel has aspirations to be a brain surgeon; the hippo was on the ground and missing some parts... I put the hippo up in an obvious manner, hopefully away from critters. Log was damp so I stopped awhile to air it out in the sunlight (and breeze). I've been noticing with some surprise how these containers aren't very watertight. Thanks for the cache.

White Witch of Niles Canyon

By: swmorrisroe Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 3.5 Container: Small

Enjoyed the walk to this one from the Hungry Hippo, it really highlighted the difference between using a high sensitivity receiver and not using one. Super big thanks to Marky for selling me his Colorado -- I don't think I would have been successful using my LegendCx. I signed on the last numbered space, but there's still plenty of room all around the logsheet for future visitors. Thanks for the cache.

Neato Thermalito

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

As others have noted, this one is in bad shape. I wasn't prepared with cache angel items today, and I had pre-decided not to plant any caches on my hike, so I was ill-equipped to do anything meaningful here. The critters had eaten a hole in the ziploc, and everything was just soaked. I stayed a while for the logsheets to dry out a bit in the sun, and picked through my bag for anything that might make for a good container for the cache contents given the critter problem. I found a coated metal container that seals tightly and might do the trick against water and the critters, but it is by no means cam'od near as well as the original (and quite broken) cache container. I picked through the swag that would fit into the new enclosure (the rest ended up at Team Supergenius - Why Not? up the road a bit), found a small ziploc for the semi-dry logsheets, and then tried to cover it all up the best I could with the old cache container and some natural materials. I'm not sure how long this will be good for, as the container I left may begin to rust and then be hard to open. Future searchers might just want to make sure they've got some keys or an all-in-one tool to pry it open...

Sunol View

By: Maverix Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 3.0 Container: Regular

Beautiful morning for a hike up the mountain. WalruZ was on baby and preschool-pickup duty today, which allowed me a fabulous day of hiking wherever I chose. Thanks for the great parking instructions; they really helped make my mind up where to go today.

Put a Cork In It

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

I've been meaning to come hike around Pleasanton Ridge for about 4 years or so, and have been carrying around a cork from my favorite winery in my cache bag since about that time! So, I was super happy to sit, have some trail mix, and add my Sterling Vineyards cork to the multitude that have collected in the ziploc. You'll have some corkboard someday... Thanks for the cache.

Log In

By: Bear N Grin It Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Regular

I started out at the super secret downtown Sunol trailhead, hiked all the way out to Sycamore's n Logs, then nabbed this cache on my way back up the hill to Team Supergenius' cache since the place was completely mugglified on the way down. Later in the afternoon there were only a few bikes whizzing by to contend with. Thanks for the cache.

Sycamore ?s N? Logs

By: SARCRZY Difficulty: 3.0 Terrain: 3.0 Container: Regular

Wow -- no finds in six months! I wasn't sure I was going to find it either, as the area is covered over with natural camo from the tree right now, but I left no leaf unturned. I whacked around for a bit, then read the description and hint, whacked around some more, and eventually spotted the cache very nicely hidden. I was out in Pleasanton Ridge today for the first time ever, unbelievably enough; WalruZ was kind enough to hang out with lil'brother and pick up Geo Baby from her preK class in order to give me a day to work off some of that baby weight. Thanks for the journey and the smiley at the end.

SuperGenius #15-Why Not?

By: Pepper Difficulty: 2.5 Terrain: 2.5 Container: Regular

This was my final cache in a day hiking all around the southern end of Pleasanton Ridge. It was very nice to find such an old cache in excellent shape, with nearby convenient seating! Had my afternoon snack of trail mix here and watched the ground squirrels play across the way -- they've sure pockmarked the side of the hill across the trail! Thanks much for the cache.

Like An Extra Virgin

By: fizzymagic Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 2.5 Container: Regular

I was fortunate today to have Geo Baby signed up for preschool and WalruZ willing to do lil'brother duty as well as pick-up, so after drop-off I headed over to the new-to-me downtown Sunol trailhead for Pleasanton Ridge to work off a little baby weight. It's amazing that I've been caching for something like 6 years now, living in Fremont for over 4 years, and have never ever been to Pleasanton Ridge. The cache was in great shape, sitting right next to someone's woody home, in a great little grove. Such a pleasure to find the oldies in excellent shape! Thanks for the cache.

Dec 26, 2009

Neil MacKenzie Trail Redux

By: Wood_Rat Difficulty: 3.5 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Small

It was a little confusing that I had a cache here on the map, since I just did one, but the pull of the little green box was there, so we were. WalruZ bashed around for a while then tagged out. It took about a half hour of inspection, but I finally discovered it's hiding place. That one should last a while, unless the neighbors get wise to adults playing around in that area... Thanks for the cache.

Ren & "Stumpy"

By: Atomsoup & Ica187 Difficulty: 2.5 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Regular

All quiet down at the end of Weddell today... Thanks for the cache.

Center of America

By: Oaknest Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

Wasn't sure if we should leave this one for a "planned outing" day rather than a "random driving" day, but here we were... Bet the developers are sorry they decided to increase the office space in this area now. Thanks for the cache.

The Woods

By: atomsoup Difficulty: 3.0 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Small

I was checking everywhere except the ivy, which I suppose was wishful thinking. The second time I found myself looking at toilet paper between ivy leaves and some cut logs, I decided to break out the hint. Then it was off to Taco Bell so Geo Baby could use the potty herself.

Just One Dave

By: evi1chef Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Small

Wow, that's a bold "hide" just sitting there! Perhaps it's a little different in the spring and summer...

Droopy Cache

By: Bloopy901 and Co Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Micro

Seems to me this park has a cache already... Been here before in my childhood to hang out on the nearby picnic tables and be adolescent and then a couple decades later to be geeky and do the multi. This time Geo Baby was along to enjoy the excellent playground structures, so this was a great stop for the family on our caching outing. Thanks.

Kaylee

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

Out and about in the cache jalopy with the family today after a nice Hobee's breakfast. Deja Vu as we drove up, and it took some time to convince WalruZ that he hadn't done this one before. Tried to get Geo Baby to do the retrieval, but ended up having to call WalruZ over... Thanks for the cache.

River

By: X Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

Quick find. Log is damp but signable. Thanks for the cache.

Alcove

By: cc Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

Pretty quiet around here on the day after Christmas. Saw it as I walked up. Thanks for the cache.

NoH2O

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

Meeting up with extended family nearby and had a few minutes to waste, so we swung around and found this cache. This is water conservation at its finest, really... It was almost graveyard quiet here on Boxing Day (a Saturday,too boot). Thanks for the cache.

Get Thee to a Meadery!

By: Alpharomero.com Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

Lots of hiding spots here, good thing it was all quiet on a post-Christmas Saturday at the neighboring businesses! Thanks.

Light Around the Bend

By: vtluu Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

Took a little back-and-forth, and pulling out the description to rule out more devious hides, but I finally laid my hands on the cache. Thanks.

Dec 25, 2009

A Pint in the Shade

By: frostyspeed Difficulty: 4.0 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Micro

WalruZ and I snuck out on Christmas morning after paying tribute to Santa, with the idea that this place would be deserted. Nope. There was even convenient coffee for sale nearby. My conversation with people near the site was at our last visit around Turkey Day, but perhaps the loiterer with dog and backpack today was the same reader from a month ago? Who knows, I'm just glad to have this off my nearest-to-Grandma's list. The hint is definitely a red herring of monumental proportions, as the two interpretations I came up with had us searching other nearby-and-totally-in-theme objects. Thanks for the smiley.

Dec 19, 2009

Park & Cache #14: 680/Mission

By: dalemac57 Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Not chosen

Definitely qualifies as a CITO-friendly area! Thanks for the cache.

Ohlone Trailhead Nano

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

Took a not-so-itty-bitty walk today, in preparation for the upcoming event... ;) Paid my fee and started it off here.

Local History

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

Led astray by some mole bait (yes, mole bait), then read all the info to find the cache. Nice work on the container! Thanks for the cache.

YAR's Revenge

By: Markle2k Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 2.5 Container: Small

Negotiated passage with the local bovine sentry and found the cache in great shape. Thanks for the redux.

Dec 15, 2009

Soggy Marsh

By: C.W. Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Regular

retrieved cache today.

Dec 11, 2009

Trust in Rust II

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

Wow, I coulda done both of the caches I went for with the frontpack and got some extra exercise today! Instead I brought the stroller, which worked just as well, really. Thanks for the cache!

Practice, practice

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

lil'brother and I took a stroll to this cache in the light rain, testing out the plastic covering of the stroller that has been sitting in the back of my car for about 4 years (it really belongs to Geo Baby's stroller, but I'm pretty good at improvising). Our objective was to find a trackable that was left in this cache, as requested by zuckermn, and that made for a good reason to get out in the fresh air and go for a stroll. I figured that I wasn't going to get any work done today, anyway, as lil'brother has decided to only nap in 45 minute increments this month. Alas, there were no trackables in the cache at all, however there were two signatures on the paper logsheet between my visit and the drop of the trackable, so perhaps it's in play with one of those visitors -- one of which sounds like their based in PA. thanks for the nice paved stroller walk!

High Five & Clueless

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

edited on request

Erected 1910

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

Very cool location and rockstar parking available to boot! Thanks for bringing me here.

Dec 8, 2009

Cultural Exchange

By: Felix Eisenhauer Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Regular

I was in the area for a dentist appointment with lil'brother in tow, looking for an appropriate cache with him and the weather in mind. It wasn't as much of a cultural exchange as a wax nostalgic to visit this cache. I grew up about 2 blocks from here and was a regular at the Ocana house at the end of the street, as well as having gone to school with the Chinn brothers that lived a few doors down from the cache site. I have great memories of playing at the end of Dawn and Sunnymount Drives and visiting Chuck's Produce just around the corner. After our stints at Hollenbeck/Sunnyvale/Fremont High, all the Ocana kids, and at least one of the Chinn boys, have grown up and moved out of state with kids of their own. Although I'm sure the neighborhood is different now, it was nice to have an excuse to drive around the old unpaved county roads, particularly with my youngest in the car. I hope my kids can form as good memories of whatever neighborhood we end up in (currently 94536) for their primary and secondary school years.

Dec 6, 2009

Puzzle cache for kids (Milpitas)

By: UPSgirl Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Large

I made my best effort to get Geo Baby to solve this one, but the abstract reasoning was just a little beyond her. Maybe next year, when she starts elementary school and she needs to pass encrypted notes below the Kindergarten teacher's radar... Nice cache for trading, and we contributed a few things for a red ruler that Geo Baby really enjoyed! Thanks for the cache.

Xing

By: Baron88 Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

Found one like it before, so I could follow the arrow and it all makes sense. Glad to be here on a Sunday!

Just Cuz....

By: Lanny3k Difficulty: 2.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Other

I < 3 Hobees!!

Wild Corner

By: Baron88 Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Small

There should be a "Truck parking" sign here.

Lunch Around the Corner

By: Baron88 Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

Not too busy on a Sunday at lunchtime...

The Unofficial Puzzle Challenge

By: candcfamily Difficulty: 3.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

I typically only look at puzzles when their posted coords (or some other form of information, mostly via social engineering) indicates that I'll likely be walking by a little box during a planned outing. We planned to hang in Baylands park today, so I gave this one a look. I made it to the point that most others probably did sans hint, and then read the hint and thought "well, duh". I was already there and doing a bunch of really complimicated things that were totally off-target. After exhausting the ideas from both Geo Baby and Walruz, I had to extend the help outside the household. Turned out a previous finder was on FB chat and could give me a little nudge and fairly soon I felt I could enter something into the checker. This was funny because I had recently solved a puzzle with just this type of encoding and should have seen it immediately -- but unfortunately I was trying to "see" something else at first. I was a bit disappointed that finding the cache wasn't going to fit with the plans, but as it turned out it was too cold/rainy this morning to take the kids out for a long walk, so we drove around instead. Thanks for the puzzle.

Dec 5, 2009

It's a Colorful World

By: Wood_Rat Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Small

Arrived in the cache-jalopy around 3pm, pretty sure that no FTF was in our plans. Sure enough, Xklondike had shimmied over before us. Took TB that was rather large for the environs, and left Geo Baby's stickers. Then came home and noticed that we coulda swung by and picked up another on hetch, darnit. I'm not sure Geo Baby is gonna go for another half-day of caching in the car tomorrow... Thanks!

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