BATTING A THOUSAND

Some days work out well, others not so much.  Friday was  great day, we batted a thousand--four for four at Pipestem State Park.  Check 'em out:

The Pipestem Quick Cache nearly defeated us right at the start.  It was our first hide to work on during our trip and we wandered nearly an hour in fruitless error.  Finally I had an idea, instead of going where we thought it should be, why not try where the GPS said it was located.
Took less than 10 minutes that way.  Newbies still learning I guess.

 

Second on our list was the Harris Homestead Cache, named in honor of an early family in the Pipestem area.  We found this one in about five minutes.

Batik Freak 10, my GC'ing partner and sister.

Joyce is busy learning the basics of digital photography.  This is truly evidence that the blind can indeed lead the blind.

We walked right to the Law Hollow Cache, also named for an early family.  The cache was downhill about 1/4 mile from the parking area, but the return uphill seemed like a mile and a quarter.

Lastly, Joyce found the Turkey Spur Cache by simply looking in the right direction at the right time.  This cache is not in good shape and is leaking badly.  Hopefully it will be cleaned up and repaired in the near future.







We also were treated to a group of antique cars while eating lunch.  Pink over charcoal '55 Ford Crown Vic's and '57 T-Birds were almost a dime a dozen.  Nice things to see.

CACHES ARE LIKE PEOPLE--THEY COME IN ALL SHAPES & SIZES

All caches are created equal--they are all worth finding. But like people, they come in all manner of shapes, sizes, and colors. Check these out:

This isn't actually a cache, but this group of Indian Paint Brush (I think) was located at an Earthcache as an extra added bonus.

An Earthcache at Sandstone Falls on the New River

A more typical small cache at the Richmond Cemetery. This one actually cantained swag.

Can you see it? A mini-cache hidden in the guard rail. This one near Barger Springs.

GEOCACHING, LIKE LIFE, IS FULL OF UNCERTAINTIES

Our second GC'ing road trip occurred a couple of days ago with Sally and Joyce (patient wife) along for the ride. It was on this trip that we learned that this is not a hobby full of certainties. You would tend to think that armed with the very latest in high tech, loads of paper maps and written directions to "exactly" (their words) the right spot that this would be easy. Not so Joe. Caches can die--their owners abandoning them for some unknown reason. They can be destroyed by animals and worst of all, they can be stolen--kidnapped--by muggles. Read more below:

Finding an Earth Cache is easy. An EC is a site you visit to learn and observe the local flora, fauna, and geology, like this site less than five minutes off I-64 but a world away.

Here is another Earth Cache, the lower overlook at Sandstone Falls in the new River Gorge.

And check out this small cache located near Barger Springs WV. This is one of a series of seven caches that are presented as a group known collectively as "On the Road to Granma's House".

And finally this small cache known as the "Cemetery Cache" near the New River Gorge Visitor's Center. This was our first cache find of the day. Yes, the rain hat was necessary. It was raining a little at the time, but nothing a dedicated GC'er can't handle.

The uncertainty comes to the forefront with what you don't see here. We busted on two caches. Extensive searches at the two sites left us with nothing but broken dreams and forlorn hopes. No cache--no joy--no pictures. But that's actually a good thing in a way. If this was too easy, there would not be any challenge. If you were always going to be sure of finding the gold at the end of the rainbow, why bother to try? The getting out and seeing places and things is the reason for going in the first place.

THERE'S A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING

So a few days after first calling, Sally received her GPS (see--this is what I meant about buying more stuff) and set it up for use...and we went Geocaching. But you have to understand here, GC'ing is hard work. First we needed to fuel up with huge plates of ribs from Dirty Ernie's Rib Pit in Fayetteville WV. If that sounds like a blatant plug, it is. Great ribs and plenty of cold beer to be had.

Fueled up (ribs) and mentally fortified (beer--remember), we set out with Joyce (wife) and Jane (cheering fan base) waiting on the sidelines to find our first cache--a hidden container filled with log books and swag. For those muggles (see post below) reading this, swag means "stuff we all get". Some Geocaches contain swag while others do not and the GC'er knows beforehand if he or she will find SWAG at the end of the chase. This is one of the features of Geocaching that allows the participant to relive those thrilling days of yesteryear, when we were children and could believe that there really was gold at the end of the rainbow.

We arrived at the suspected (actually well mapped) location of the cache and after a few minutes of search-- yes you do have to actually look for things a little--this is the "hide and seek" component to the game--we found the cache!! And there was swag to be had!! But we didn't take any this time. You see, if you take something you are honor bound to leave something in return...so the cache never runs dry but the swag always changes. Clever indeed.


We returned home full of ribs and beer and happy in our success to the cheers and applause from Joyce and Jane--well maybe not so much cheers and applause as relief that we hadn't gotten lost or arrested or anything like that.

Geocaching--it's fun.

IN THE BEGINNING

If you had asked me a few weeks ago about Geocaching, all you would have gotten was a blank stare.  Geocaching?  Never heard of it!!  Doesn't sound like something I'd be interested in.  But  a couple of weeks ago my sister Sally (see her Geocaching blog here-Batik Freak 10's Geocaching Blog) called and said "let's go Geocaching"--or something like that.  When she explained what GC'ing was, I was immediately sold.  Now I've tried it, I've found four or five caches so far and feel like a kid at Christmas.  Imagine, a whole secret world, hidden from the "muggles" (the unknowing and therefore unanointed--thank you J.K. Rowling)  where you can go places to learn things you never knew before or to even find buried treasure (well sorta).  What fun!!  Bigtime!!

And besides, like I told Joyce and Sally, any hobby that makes you buy more stuff is always good ;-)