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.
During the presentation ceremonies, the backup orchestra (not shown) played Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March Number 3.
GRCs have their place and you're right - during the winter the distance from the ground makes them findable even with snow on the ground. I'm glad you remembered that I found that one cache so easily.
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