First week back to work after cracking my ribs and I diligently worked Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday night, my extreme caching buddy (Uncle Fuzzy aka Chuck) calls and says he is out of work for the rest of the week because of the weather. He is thinking of going to to another state on Thursday to do some 5/5 cache called "Dark". "Without me? No way!", I say. "I will check my schedule for Thursday tomorrow and if I have nothing scheduled, I am taking the day off."
Lucky me, my schedule is empty. I arrange to have the day off and leave my house at 6am to meet Chuck. Meet him at his house at 7am and two hours later we are sitting at parking coords with all our gear. We hike up the mountain and get to the spot where the coords take us. It is in the middle of a foundation with no hiding place in site. Knowing the cache was a 5/5 and that we needed flashlights, we begin scouring the area for a way under. Finally I find an old manmade drainage tunnel and shout for Chuck. We put our gear on and head in. The tunnel gets narrower and narrower until we cannot stand up anymore. Water is flowing through it but there is no where else to go. We come out a half hour later defeated. Damn! Two hour ride (three for me) for a DNF? We are sitting there deciding what to do when I look at my GPS and remember that there are two 5/5 caches nearby that I have been dying to go to. One I had done already but was dying to go back to and the other I was dying to get. I mention this to Chuck who is all for it. He insists on doing the one I hadn't done before first so I am guaranteed at least one smiley.
We get to the spot of the cache and start climbing up to the fort. We are at the top of the concrete bunker and GZ shows directly under us. So we walk to the bottom of the bunker and enter. Count off feet and it is showing that it should be directly above us now. We look up and see a concrete "rafter". It must be up there. Damn! How do we get up there? Back outside we go and find an open spot but no way to get to it. Start searching the ground and find an entry. A tree is growing in the path and it is a tight squeeze. I hand my jacket and other stuff (phone, bluetooth, gps, hat) to Chuck and squeeze through the space. Not too bad as long as I stayed down low enough. OK, now what?
Iam in the bowels of the bunker and need to find my way up. I start yelling back and forth with Chuck, determining where GZ is. I get to the general area and look up. Aha! A "rafter". Follow it back almost to the opening and see where I have to climb. I climb up and see the top of the rafter. Maybe a foot between that and the ceiling. Hmmm... I shimmy up onto it, lying flat on my belly and I begin to pull myself along the rafter. I come to an opening, my (cracked) ribs killing me and sit looking out to the ground below. Call to Chuck and let him know where I am at and he finds a way in underneath. I shimmy back to the rafter and start feeling around. Coffee!!!! I got it! I call to Chuck and he comes out under me and starts taking pics and we sign the log. Replace it and I crawl my way back out. I squiggle past the tree and stand up. The pocket on my sweatshirt is torn off and I am covered in filth.
We walk back to the parking area and the same cars parked there before are still there. Imagine what they were thinking? Two go in, semi clean and come out a little bit later. The girls clothes are torn and she is filthy....
On to the next....
Lucky me, my schedule is empty. I arrange to have the day off and leave my house at 6am to meet Chuck. Meet him at his house at 7am and two hours later we are sitting at parking coords with all our gear. We hike up the mountain and get to the spot where the coords take us. It is in the middle of a foundation with no hiding place in site. Knowing the cache was a 5/5 and that we needed flashlights, we begin scouring the area for a way under. Finally I find an old manmade drainage tunnel and shout for Chuck. We put our gear on and head in. The tunnel gets narrower and narrower until we cannot stand up anymore. Water is flowing through it but there is no where else to go. We come out a half hour later defeated. Damn! Two hour ride (three for me) for a DNF? We are sitting there deciding what to do when I look at my GPS and remember that there are two 5/5 caches nearby that I have been dying to go to. One I had done already but was dying to go back to and the other I was dying to get. I mention this to Chuck who is all for it. He insists on doing the one I hadn't done before first so I am guaranteed at least one smiley.
We get to the spot of the cache and start climbing up to the fort. We are at the top of the concrete bunker and GZ shows directly under us. So we walk to the bottom of the bunker and enter. Count off feet and it is showing that it should be directly above us now. We look up and see a concrete "rafter". It must be up there. Damn! How do we get up there? Back outside we go and find an open spot but no way to get to it. Start searching the ground and find an entry. A tree is growing in the path and it is a tight squeeze. I hand my jacket and other stuff (phone, bluetooth, gps, hat) to Chuck and squeeze through the space. Not too bad as long as I stayed down low enough. OK, now what?
Iam in the bowels of the bunker and need to find my way up. I start yelling back and forth with Chuck, determining where GZ is. I get to the general area and look up. Aha! A "rafter". Follow it back almost to the opening and see where I have to climb. I climb up and see the top of the rafter. Maybe a foot between that and the ceiling. Hmmm... I shimmy up onto it, lying flat on my belly and I begin to pull myself along the rafter. I come to an opening, my (cracked) ribs killing me and sit looking out to the ground below. Call to Chuck and let him know where I am at and he finds a way in underneath. I shimmy back to the rafter and start feeling around. Coffee!!!! I got it! I call to Chuck and he comes out under me and starts taking pics and we sign the log. Replace it and I crawl my way back out. I squiggle past the tree and stand up. The pocket on my sweatshirt is torn off and I am covered in filth.
We walk back to the parking area and the same cars parked there before are still there. Imagine what they were thinking? Two go in, semi clean and come out a little bit later. The girls clothes are torn and she is filthy....
On to the next....
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