try geocaching

I did my first nighttime caching – the initial starting point was a trailhead specified by the GPS coordinates on the tick sheet. Because I wasn’t sure how long the route would be, nor was I keen on carrying a flashlight in hand, I used the helmet-mounted bike light, its battery tucked into my rain jacket pocket. The route was marked with a white trail tack every few hundred feet. “Trail tacks” are little reflective thumbtacks that you’d completely miss during the daytime, but stand out moderately well with a flashlight aimed in the general direction. (I guess they’re primarily used by hunters?) Even in the rain, they worked well.

There were several turns onto other trails. The off-trail portion was marked by an additional orange trail tack. After ambling down and into the bush for another 20-ish feet, we spotted the pair of orange “eyes” marking the final, a camouflaged ammo box.

Like Chris, I will need to check myself into Geocacher’s Anonymous.

As of this morning, I’ve found thirty caches, plus I placed one (jokingly titled “U-pick blackberries”) Sunday evening.

Of the ones this weekend, Saturday’s multi-cache was probably the most fun since there was enough (but not an insane amount of) challenge, inclement weather, and a fun selection of toys at the end. That night, I found a bookcrossing-style cache located a stone’s throw from Redmond Town Center.

I tried three caches along my ride home today. I found the “hard” one buried in a nook along Alp’d’Eastgate , but had no joy with the other two “easier” ones, including one “right in the open.” Clearly that cache was missing a blinking neon “Yo!” sign. :-)

The tricky part about this was finding the right trail. The obvious and incorrect one led me past a community garden then some kind of construction site with a steep drop. I turned around when I saw garbage and bear scat.

The small, windy fork was pretty easy to follow. When the GPS beeped, I found the jar nestled inside a hollowed-out log at ankle level.

I picked one close to home for my first try. The GPS got me within 50 feet, then there was some sleuthing. The cache was ingeniously designed. Took a plastic dinosaur, left a couple of cool rocks. (I wanted to leave the Wienermobile, but was vetoed. It wouldn’t have fit anyway.)