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.