mjp303's Geoblog

Apr 30, 2005

Hetch Hetchy Trail - Hippity Hoppity

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

A little cache outing with the kids today; they really enjoyed this find, and had quite a suprise when they pulled it out of the hiding place. Oh, BTW, we found 4 red dots. TFTC. mjp303

Hetch Hetchy Trail - Purple Wisteria

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

A quick find and sign since people were coming down the trail. Thanks. mjp303

GeoBeads #5 ? Teal Tressel

By: zapboy with help from workerofwood Difficulty: 3.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Small

Nicely hidden. We continued on to the top of the bridge hoping to see a train pass underneath, but it wasn't to be. Not too many trains on Saturday. TFTC. mjp303

Creekside Park

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

Thanks for the cache here at a playground. The kids went off to play, leaving me to find it. By their glances, I think a couple of parents were wondering what the heck I was doing that could possibly be more interesting than watching my children. Fortunately, it was a quick find, and then I returned to parent mode (before rushing everybody off the the next cache!) mjp303

View From The Office

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

It's been a while since I've been caching with kids, and this one was a perfect fit. I was in this area a while back, but for some reason I didn't include multicaches in the PQ. Quite fortunate. Everybody traded, and then we explored the creek bank. TFTC. mjp303

MiddleField Madness

By: MadDad (maintained by bullit) Difficulty: 2.5 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Small

We enjoyed finding this cache since there were all sorts of trails nearby through the bushes. I was a little worried what we might stumble upon, but the kids enthusiasm for exploration won the day. Thanks for bringing us out to the Stevens Creek trail today. mjp303

Apr 29, 2005

No Undertakers or Blacksmiths

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

Easy, huh? Lotsa stares from drivers passing by. I'm not sure when would be a good time to avoid those, but in retrospect, 7:45 on a weekday morning was not a good choice. There's always next time. mjp303

Parking Citation

By: anotherone Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

There were two snails on the cover of the container, and, looking quite comfortable, I let them be. Too bad the camera was at home. TFTC. mjp303

Along the De Anza Trail 9 - Los Altos Hills

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

TFTC. mjp303

Along the De Anza Trail 8 - Los Altos

By: Marky & Joani Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Regular

I struggled a bit for parking on this one, but having overcome that obstacle, enjoyed a pleasant walk and a quick find. Left a TB. TFTC. mjp303

Bridges of San-star Counties

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

Thanks for a fun, interesting, and informative cache. I was a bit concerned when approaching the final since there was a city truck parked on the path. Fortunately the worker was underground in a maintainance tunnel, and didn't disturb my search. TNLNSL. mjp303

Olympic Wannabes

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

Nice. Thanks for bringing me to this park. mjp303

Margarita Trail

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

I nabbed this one between cyclists and dog walkers this morning. Interesting reflective sculpture nearby. TFTC. mjp303

Crossings Circle

By: RodnSon Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Regular

Given the traffic in this location, I'm amazed this large cache has survived. Good job everybody! mjp303

Apr 27, 2005

Car Be Chiffon

By: pdx55 Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

I waved to the windows, but couldn't see anyone waving back. Nice hide. With hint #2, I learned a new vocabulary word, but was still puzzling over the significance of hint #1 as I drove away. I'm pretty slow on the uptake, but now I get it SMILIE. mjp303

Shields Orizaba Rocky Outcrop

By: Woof! Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Small

Pretty tough to find, and in full view of the neighbor's windows. There were a couple of cars out front, so I hope nobody was watching me. The cache was hidden lid side down, which means that the cache contents were basically sitting in a dish. All of the water that seeped in had been adsorbed by the log book. It should be fine once things dry out, and so I left it out of the baggie to help that happen. Great view. Thanks for bringing me up here. mjp303

Brooks Park

By: Woof! Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Small

Nice park and nice hide, but I felt a little guilty tromping through someone's efforts to establish a garden adjacent to the cache. There are lots of new plants and evidence that weeds have been pulled up. Future finders should take care. TFTC. mjp303

Apr 26, 2005

Bay Area Multiple Hills - 5

By: mhop Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Regular

I was hoping against hope that this really was a new cache, and not the unveiling of the bonus cache in the previous series. Alas, it was not to be. Congratulations to all of you who earned this find the way mhop intended. I had plenty of chances myself, but never seemed to get to the one down past San Jose. In any case, thanks for a fantastic series. San Bruno mountain is an amazing place. I stopped counting different types of blooming wild flowers at about 20, and it goes without saying that the views are incredible. I sat for about 20 minutes after finding the cache just surveying the horizon. TNSL; Left my sig item. mjp303

Apr 25, 2005

Greenhorn

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

This was a quick lunch-time find, and a cache that I could walk to from work [8D]. I could hear lots of coming and going close by, but enjoyed my own little hideaway during the search. Eventually I found the well concealed container, and then stuggled to open it since I didn't realize the purpose it served in a previous life. (Those scratch marks are my fingernails [;)].) Eventually I got it right. Thanks for placing a cache on the peninsula, and welcome to geocaching. mjp303

Catamaran

By: Sierra Hikers Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Micro

Thanks for bringing me to this very pleasant park! The setting sun sparkled on the lagoon. After enjoying the water, I watched a very competitive soccer game with quite a few spectators. TFTC. mjp303

Apr 23, 2005

WOW! Look what I found.

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

What a blast! Especially after we found the right access point. The wrong one brought us to within about 150', but there was no way any of our group was going to bushwack the last stretch...too much PO! There was lots of trading going on, but interestingly enough for us, all of that could have been done down in the parking lot. Kinda makes you wonder why we hiked up here. TFTC. mjp303

Zone of Serenity

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

I found this cache with a group of diehards after the trail building event. Thanks everyone! mjp303

Trail Days: Almaden Quicksilver

By: sammydee and workerofwood Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Small

I found it with WoW and Motorbug. Took the CKayaks coin, and left my sig item in return. Thanks! mjp303

Trail Days: Almaden Quicksilver

By: sammydee and workerofwood Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Small

Thanks for organizing a fun event; What a pretty trail in a very pleasant canyon! I can tell my muscles will be sore tomorrow morning, but the sense of accomplishment is well worth it. Plus, I'm sure the goodwill extended by a great group of geocachers will have long-lasting impact. WoW pointed out several cacheless stretches of trail...I may have to poach a little, if someone else doesn't beat me to it. Thanks for a new icon on the stats page [;)]. mjp303

Alien Mother Ship

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

Lots of dogs and little league on a Saturday morning. A bit of stealth was required. A cone of invisibility would have come in handy, since it's tough to linger in this area without a dog. TFTC. mjp303

12 Months of Caches

By: workerofwood Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Regular

I found this cache on the way to the trail building event nearby. An intersting place with friendly folks. I spent about 15 minutes talking to some future geocachers. (I hope!) TFTC. mjp303

Flash of Inspiration

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

This one was a quick find on the way to the trail days event...after the casino bus cleared out. Frankly, I prefer my way of spending free time, don't you? mjp303

Apr 22, 2005

Ethel the Earwig

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

Scios was looking the other way for the 3 minutes this one took. I would have walked from the others, but rain was threatening. TFTC. mjp303

Buelah the ButterFly

By: GeoWomyn_SF_CA Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Regular

I couldn't search at first since there was a guy waiting for the bus. After returning from WW, I wandered around for a few minutes before the right angle gave me a glimpse. Somebody's feeding ferral cats just a few feet away. mjp303

Benny the BedBug

By: GeoWomyn_SF_CA Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Regular

Benny suggested I take one of those cool trading card sig items. I swear that thing's got more information on it than a baseball card. Maybe next time you could make one with a holographic image on it? Nothing seems too artistically challenging for you. Wow! Thanks. mjp303

The Professor's Cache

By: hcat Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Regular

Like the previous finder, I had the place to myself this afternoon. The flowers were in still in bloom, and the cache was surrounded by a swath of little purple and white ones that I didn't recognize. Perhaps the Professor can enlighten me? Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera to show you a picture. In any case, thanks for bringing me out to this side of the bay for the first time. I would have lingered longer, but the skies were threatening rain. TFTC. mjp303

Forbidden Bridge?

By: WalruZ Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Micro

It just goes to show you what lengths a developer will go to put in a few houses here in California. "Look!" they say, "there's this funny little tract of land between the tracks and the canal that nobody wants. Let's 'create' a community." Amazing. I'll bet anybody $20 bucks that they were able to sell those houses for at least $100k more by building that overpass. Now everyone who lives out there doesn't feel like they live on the 'wrong side of the tracks'. Worth every penny, IMHO. mjp303

Whimsical Wonders

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

Nice. I was sorry the kids weren't with me on this one. After drawing an 'Eli-dile'...wait, no, it was a 'Crock-o-phant', I scrounged a tiny blanston12 signature button from the depths of the box. Cool. Thanks for the interesting cache activity. mjp303

Apr 19, 2005

Bay Tree Park

By: Sierra Hikers Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Micro

FTF!!! 7:15am. Thanks for the moment of quiet reflection. The sunlight streaming through the branches of the tree made wonderful patterns. Along the way, I met a couple of dogs, and watched a jogger stop and do a handstand against the trunk of the tree. mjp303

Apr 17, 2005

Around Ten Birds

By: digitalfish Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Small

This one earned it's two stars. No way I would have found it in the dark last night. Future finders: trust your GPSr. mjp303

Pacific Shores Point

By: digitalfish Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

Between the fishermen and the dog trainers, this was one stealthy find. That noise you hear is me...patting myself on the back. TFTC. mjp303

Altamont Silo

By: Kenny162 Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Small

We found it, and then, with 4 kids trading, completely switched out the contents. Thank goodness there were 4 trade items in there! TFTC. mjp303

Forget me not

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

Kids inside for a bio-break, gas pumping, I check the GPSr...what?!? a cache nearby...GO! GO! GO! Ouch, $50 to fill the tank. Can I multi-task or what? [;)] mjp303

Halbert's Altamont

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

Quick find. Continued up the road a bit, and passed a CHP sitting on the side of the road. What's he doing out here? TFTC. mjp303

Rip Van Winkle

By: Ron Streeter Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Regular

Well, we finally got it...thanks for the hunt. mjp303

Apr 16, 2005

Around Ten Birds

By: digitalfish Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Small

Like I said on the other nearby cache's page: No Entrada after hours.

Pacific Shores Point

By: digitalfish Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

I showed up about 10:30pm, and was turned away by a security guard. I think he mumbled what the restricted hours were, but I didn't quite catch what he said. Too bad, so sad.

Apr 14, 2005

There Is A Safeway Of Doing Things

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

Plenty of coming and going, but everyone intent on their own business. I got a handful of spiderwebs grabbing this one [:O]. mjp303

Take A Rest

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

About 30 minutes behind first and second. There was an accident on the freeway, and while I was reaching down to grab the cache, a CHP whizzed by with siren on. It startled me, and for an instant I thought he was coming after me. It's my guilty conscience I guess. TFTC. mjp303

Apr 13, 2005

Do I Need A New CD or DVD?

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

I came this morning. With a deserted parking lot, I thought, "Yes! an easy one!" Wrong! FYI, there's a security gaurd. I must have looked suspicious, but felt pretty tricky using the car as a shield. Thanks for the fun. mjp303

Hill View

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

I parked on Shasta. The climb up the hill was very nice. I never knew that there was a park here. Given the situation, my GPSr was bouncing around a bit, but finally I spotted a TPS sig item on the ground, and that led me to the hide. If you're interested in this one, come quick cuz the muggle index is extremely high, IMHO. mjp303

Crystal Springs

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

#3 of 3 from Navysparks this morning. I could feel your dental pain (mouth and wallet [;)]) as I sat to sign the log. mjp303

Apr 12, 2005

Serpentine

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

FTF!!! 8:15am What a great cache, and great to take a guided tour through this park once again. [:D] From start to finish, this cache took about me just over an hour, with plenty of stops to snap pictures. I found the final location with no trouble, and took an Edgewood Park flower guide as FTF prize, leaving my sig item (#2) and a TB. The waypoints in the park were thought out well, and didn't ever tempt me to go off-trail to get from one to the next. On the way back, I took the Ridgeview loop / Franciscan trail, and suprised a trio of does along the way. Pictures to come later on. Thanks! mjp303

Apr 9, 2005

Bay Laurel Curve

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

After a bit of a struggle to get the log out of the cache, we signed it and were on our way back to the car. There's more adventure out there, but the shorter legs were getting tired. Thanks for brining us to this beautiful trail. mjp303

Toyon Trail North

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

This was a great day for a family hike: a beautiful green trail, lots of flowers, and MUD! Several of the kids thought the object was to step in each and every bit of it. Poor reception in this stretch of switchbacks made the find pretty confusing, but eventually we got it. TFTC. mjp303

Green Finger Alley

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

Our second find of the day after making the loop the long way around on the Toyon trail. The cache was wet inside, and so we did our best to dry things out. Those alcohol wipes someone left were mush, so I packed them out to the trash. A very nice trail on a beautiful sunny day. TFTC. mjp303

Apr 7, 2005

Marsh View

By: NavySparksandtheMrs Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Regular

It's nice and green out here compared to the last time I visited. The walk was very nice, although the wind was a little bit nippy. While signing the log, I noticed bullit bead #16, which I took. TFTC. mjp303

Cherry, Cherry pie. ohooo oohh oohhhh

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

2nd time is the charm! mjp303

Marsh View Parking

By: WalruZ Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Micro

Actually found this lot on the geek cache hunt, but only cuz it took me 4 trips to find it. That was probably the most frustrating search of my early geocaching days. Anyway, thanks for making this visit a two-fer. mjp303

Apr 6, 2005

Monster Mountain

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

What a lot of fun [:D]. Parked within about 0.2 mi, but that was what seemed to be vertical distance, not horizontal [;)]. I followed the trail as far as I could, and then set out along the ridge line. Pretty quickly a little path developed among the flowers, and a spectacular view unfolded to both the north and the south! Fantastic! Thanks! mjp303 Added a waypoint since the posed coordinates seemed a little bit off.

Apr 5, 2005

Anchors Aweigh

By: crawburr Difficulty: 3.0 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Micro

Fun puzzle! My sister-in-law had the solution after 5 minutes of listening to the music on the web page. I solved it by brute force searching on the internet, which took a looooonnnng time. Finding the cache had me bamboozled for a bit, but then I remembered another one of your hides, and things fell into place. Thanks! mjp303

Cherry, Cherry pie. ohooo oohh oohhhh

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

I must be blind. I'll have to come back after hours....oh, wait, it's open 24 hours. mjp303

City on the Hill

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

Hmmm...cache site looks like a herd of WalruZ passed through. Either that, or it's crop circles [:P]. mjp303

Apr 2, 2005

Green Grass Cache

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

Thanks for the warnings about the water hazard; I would have stepped in it. TFTC. mjp303

Comic Relief aka The Big Cheese

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

Plenty of activity on a Saturday afternoon, however, most attention was focused on the orphaned dogs up for adoption next door. TFTC. mjp303

Kosher bacon soldier

By: Team Shadow Cat Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Small

TFTC, but the most interesting thing about this location was the home across the street, completely surrounded by office parks. mjp303

Gotta Love It

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

I got skunked the first time around. After a shopping trip spent pondering the clue, I knew just where to look. TFTC. mjp303

Whisman Whimsey

By: trode Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Small

Deserted on a Saturday afternoon until a father and son showed up for a little pitch and catch. I was looking in all the wrong spots until practically bumping into the cache. mjp303

House of the King

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

I cast about for a bit until noticing something close to the cache slightly askance. I was a bit nervous to retrieve it since it sounded like someone (who I couldn't see) was working in their backyard just a few feet away. mjp303

Stevenson Surprise

By: ladybug54 Difficulty: 3.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Small

Busy, busy! In addition to about half a dozen T-ball games in the distance, a family was playing their own game of pickle right next to the cache. Eventually they moved over to the baseball fields, and I was able to make the grab before the next wave of families made the trek back to their cars. mjp303

Apr 1, 2005

I Wish Lunch Could Last Forever

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

I found it in the dark. What a pleasant walk with the sound of the waves along the beach, and then the frogs croaking underneath the bridge. TFTC. mjp303

Piedras Mojadas

By: PisoMojado Difficulty: 4.0 Terrain: 4.0 Container: Regular

What a great adventure! After wending my way out to the cache, and decripting the hints one by one while searching, I began to dispair that I was going to have to go home without finding it. After another 10 minutes, and with the sun sinking fast, the hiding spot appeared. Ironically, it was only inches from where I had laid my GPSr down as I started to search. Plenty of people enjoying the sunset, including a guy with crutches who probably shouldn't have hiked that far. Thanks. mjp303

HMB Hoosegow

By: digitalfish Difficulty: 1.0 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Small

Thanks for bringing me to this interesting building. mjp303

Ferrosaurus

By: digitalfish Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Small

Last one of the evening. I'm sure I looked pretty conspicuous poking around in the dark with my flash light. No matter, mission accomplished. TFTC. mjp303

Still Standing

By: Woof! Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Micro

I was one of those people with a flashlight poking around at odd hours. Hopefully no one noticed. The place got it's revenge though...walking around the back of one of the buildings, I triggered a motion detector light. It scared the dickens out of me. TFTC. mjp303

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