I'LL TAKE ONE OF EACH, IF YOU PLEASE

A couple of posts down, I launched into something of a diatribe against guard rail caches (GRC's). They're nice, but... On Saturday BatikFreak10 (my dear sister) and I got out again, and that is what concerns todays story. Read on:

If the last trip was mostly GRC's, this trip was anything but, although we had a couple of those thrown into the mix just for fun.

Check out the types we found:
* An old virtual cache. Virtuals are no longer being developed, but the oldies but goodies remain active.
* A couple of caches that required a short hike to reach.
* An earthcache--a site that deals with some natural scene or event and you must answer questions via email in order to receive credit for the find.
* A couple of GRC's just for leavening in the mix.
* A cache at an historical site.
* Caches in containers ranging in size from a bison tube (think a hollow tube about the diameter of a pencil and an inch or so long) to a full sized ammo box.
* And just to keep us humble, a couple of DNF'S (did not finds).

BF10 and I hiked into this cache and found it had been refreshed with a complete make-over. New container, log, swag, the whole deal. The old cache had been left as a remembrance of things past.

The new cache in place.

Me with one of the few GRC's this trip, and I got a FTF (first time find) too!!

The Humpback Bridge wayside in VA. We took one of our two DNF's here. Oh well.

The Falling Springs Falls near Covington VA. Thomas Jefferson viewed these falls. This was our earthcache. Earthcaches are nice because they make you stop at those places you always wanted to stop at but never got around to.

You sometimes have to send in a photo of yourself and your GPS as additional proof that you actually visited the spot.

A cache was located near the entrance to this cave.

Finally, our old virtual cache. The larger than life creatures are the cache and you again need to answer a question or two in order to receive credit as having actually visited the site.

Pay no attention to that man in red. He definitely is not larger than life.






We had a good day. Lots of different cache types, lots of finds, a couple of DNF's, and warm weather. Time to go again.

MOTHERLESS CHILD

There's nothing much sadder than being an orphan and having no one to care for you, and so too, with an orphan geocache. I had visited this cache last fall and found it to be abandoned and left to fend for itself in the wilds. For whatever reason, the cache and its location quickly became a favorite of mine. And this winter I decided to do something about it.

First I checked in at Groundspeak, the world geocaching HQ and found that there are steps that can be taken in order to "adopt" a geocache, and yes, I was adjudged to be a fit and responsible member of society and one who would be eligible as an adopter.

Then things hit a snag, I could only adopt a cache by being granted permission from the original owner. And at this point Groundspeaks bureaucratic rules broke down. Check it out: The cache is abandoned and needs a protector. The owner has become unwilling, unable, deceased, moved, yaddaX3 and does not, for whatever reason, answer my emails in order to grant permission to adopt the cache.

So here's where things stood two days ago: There's this cache that needs a protector, there's this kind geocacher (me) who wants to take the cache under his wing and offer protection and guidance into the future, as well as keeping the cache clean and healthy (think new logs, stocking new swag, etc). Once again, I am met with bureaucratic crap in my life. Think bureaucrap and outrage on my part.

So what you see here is: Dan and Sally breaking the law!!

The two pictures show the evil lawbreakers holding the old and new caches. Sort of a before and after mug shot. All we lack are the pistols an Tommy guns and we'd be a reincarnation of Bonny and Clyde.

And no, I'm not listing any details of the cache am I?


I did it and I'm glad. I don't know about "machine gun" Sal.

THE THING ABOUT GUARDRAIL CACHES...

BatikFreak10 and I finally got to go GC'ing (Geocaching) yesterday for the first time this year. The weather was...ok, and that's about it. But it was time to make a start for the year.

The thing was all our caches, with two exceptions, were all guardrail caches. And therein lies something of a problem. While we all inevitably end up finding a lot of guardrail caches (hereafter GRC's), they are, to me at least, not very rewarding. Yeah yeah, yeah, you can really jack up your number of successful finds in a hurry but is what you are doing the best level of GC'ing you can do? Think about it, it doesn't take a whole lot of creativity to put a GRC in place, although I have seen a few that are really first rate--including one that was clever enough that it took me three visits to the site to find it (BF10 found it in less than 5 minutes, which says something I guess). Usually the cache is placed in the end braces and requires only a reach into a dark space possibly housing a swarm of angry wasps to find. More courage than creativity is required here.

Obviously, there are a lot more hide possibilities in the average guardrail than just the end braces when you consider all the nooks, angles, and crannies of the average guardrail, but most GC'ers seem to gravitate to using only the end braces to such an extent that it seems to have become a matter of jumping out of the car, running over to the curved end, reaching in and grabbing the cache. What fun is that?

Having said all that, when you consider the fact that there was still a surprising amount of snow on the ground, the GRC's provide us with a way to get out and do a little geocaching when it might not be able to search for more creative, and more difficult to find, caches.

Guardrail caches, love 'em or hate 'em or (in my case) tolerate 'em, they're still a part of the geocaching experience.

Here's BF10 modeling the latest in midwinter GC'ing fashion. She says this is her best Vanna White pose. And yes, she's standing at the end of yet another guardrail.

One of the better happenings during our outing was being able to present BatikFreak10 with her "Certificate of Achievement and Letter of Introduction" upon the finding of her 100th geocache.

During the presentation ceremonies, the backup orchestra (not shown) played Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March Number 3.