Originally posted on Monday, January 05, 2009
Yesterday was the most incredible day. I knew I was going to be hitting my 1000th geocache and decided I wanted that one to be memorable. So I chose the most extreme semi-local cache I could find. I knew Kris was going back to Kansas City and we pushed to make it his 100th cache. Did I choose a doozy! I picked an extreme puzzle cache called High & Low that was about two hours away in Pennsylvania. I had solved the puzzle a long time ago and was itching to climb/cave. I originally had asked my best buddies Jim (BlitzNMore) and Chuck (Uncle Fuzzy) to go with us and word spread like wildfire. Kris was going to hit his 100th (we had to seriously power cache to get him there), Chuck was ready for his 600th. And I was ready for 1000! Next thing you know our friends Jesse and Amy (the Bubblerocks) were pushing to get their 500th. And others wanted to come along for the fun. We wound up with 13 geocachers ready to take the trip. We organized and came up with a plan. I was staying in Bordentown with Kris and Jim would meet us there and we would ride together. Chuck, Jesse, Amy, Jack (SofieCat), Pete (Grunriese) and Audrey (GuentherGal) would leave from Lawnside and Jay and Deb (The Greene Team), Kathy (SacyKeebler) and Lauren (SacyBlaze) would meet us at the parking coordinates. Uh-oh. 13!
We were the last to arrive at the parking coords to find our first mishap of the day. Keebs had locked her keys in the car! Blaze got them out and we set off. Got to the first stage of the cache and looked for awhile until some one looked up. Thirty feet in the tree was a string of washers. I was on a high rock and I tried to get to the branch but some of the tree was dead and I couldn't get to it. Chuck started at the bottom and shimmied his way up and made the grab. He sat up there and deciphered the coordinates and shouted them down. He never learned the lesson about keeping some numbers to himself until he was safe. We teased him about leaving him up there, but waited until he got down anyways.
We went on to the second stage. Some of the crew bushwhacked the entire way there, but the group I was with took the long way on the trail and had some great conversation and a lot of fun. When we arrived at the coords, we each took our time looking at the box and hung out for a bit before looking for the next part.
Some of us had an idea where the final was located but would not tell until after we confirmed it. We headed to the cave entrance. Very cool. It was deceivingly large inside for having such a narrow entrance. It took 2 1/2 hours to find the container. We must have explored every inch of that cave. It was awesome. Dirty, icy, tight, but awesome. All of a sudden Pete points out a spot that hasn't been explored yet. In the middle of one of the pathways is a triangular shaped rock with a point jutting upwards. Above that is a muddy passageway. Oooh, right up my alley! As I am getting ready to climb up, I say to Blaze, "Get under me in case I lose my footing, you can grab my foot." As she starts walking towards me, I don't wait. Take my first step. Lose my footing. I fall directly backwards and land on the triangular rock. A couple of inches more and....??? A lot of people in the cave said they heard the thump and my groan. Blaze freaks thinking that I broke my back. I walk my way out determined to go back in when the find the ammo box. I am oohed and aahed over and then someone shouts, "I GOT IT!" I get up to go back in and when I get to the part that I have to squeeze through I realize that I am not going to make it. So I go back out and sit. Turns out there was a letterbox in there too and it wasn't the treasure we were looking for.Eventually some local walks up and we get to talking to him and he tells us where the room we are looking for is. Blaze heads back in and meets up with Kris and Jack and they make the find! How freaking cool! Everyone heads back out and it turns out that Blaze has brought cupcakes, champagne and noisemakers for everyone! Lugged it all over and never said a word to anyone. We got the local to take some pictures, hung out and partied and had a great old time. Best day ever and what a milestone! Some of us headed to a nearby restaurant to share a meal and the rest went home. Kris, Jim and I headed home and the rest grabbed some caches afterwards.
Yesterday was the most incredible day. I knew I was going to be hitting my 1000th geocache and decided I wanted that one to be memorable. So I chose the most extreme semi-local cache I could find. I knew Kris was going back to Kansas City and we pushed to make it his 100th cache. Did I choose a doozy! I picked an extreme puzzle cache called High & Low that was about two hours away in Pennsylvania. I had solved the puzzle a long time ago and was itching to climb/cave. I originally had asked my best buddies Jim (BlitzNMore) and Chuck (Uncle Fuzzy) to go with us and word spread like wildfire. Kris was going to hit his 100th (we had to seriously power cache to get him there), Chuck was ready for his 600th. And I was ready for 1000! Next thing you know our friends Jesse and Amy (the Bubblerocks) were pushing to get their 500th. And others wanted to come along for the fun. We wound up with 13 geocachers ready to take the trip. We organized and came up with a plan. I was staying in Bordentown with Kris and Jim would meet us there and we would ride together. Chuck, Jesse, Amy, Jack (SofieCat), Pete (Grunriese) and Audrey (GuentherGal) would leave from Lawnside and Jay and Deb (The Greene Team), Kathy (SacyKeebler) and Lauren (SacyBlaze) would meet us at the parking coordinates. Uh-oh. 13!
We were the last to arrive at the parking coords to find our first mishap of the day. Keebs had locked her keys in the car! Blaze got them out and we set off. Got to the first stage of the cache and looked for awhile until some one looked up. Thirty feet in the tree was a string of washers. I was on a high rock and I tried to get to the branch but some of the tree was dead and I couldn't get to it. Chuck started at the bottom and shimmied his way up and made the grab. He sat up there and deciphered the coordinates and shouted them down. He never learned the lesson about keeping some numbers to himself until he was safe. We teased him about leaving him up there, but waited until he got down anyways.
We went on to the second stage. Some of the crew bushwhacked the entire way there, but the group I was with took the long way on the trail and had some great conversation and a lot of fun. When we arrived at the coords, we each took our time looking at the box and hung out for a bit before looking for the next part.
Some of us had an idea where the final was located but would not tell until after we confirmed it. We headed to the cave entrance. Very cool. It was deceivingly large inside for having such a narrow entrance. It took 2 1/2 hours to find the container. We must have explored every inch of that cave. It was awesome. Dirty, icy, tight, but awesome. All of a sudden Pete points out a spot that hasn't been explored yet. In the middle of one of the pathways is a triangular shaped rock with a point jutting upwards. Above that is a muddy passageway. Oooh, right up my alley! As I am getting ready to climb up, I say to Blaze, "Get under me in case I lose my footing, you can grab my foot." As she starts walking towards me, I don't wait. Take my first step. Lose my footing. I fall directly backwards and land on the triangular rock. A couple of inches more and....??? A lot of people in the cave said they heard the thump and my groan. Blaze freaks thinking that I broke my back. I walk my way out determined to go back in when the find the ammo box. I am oohed and aahed over and then someone shouts, "I GOT IT!" I get up to go back in and when I get to the part that I have to squeeze through I realize that I am not going to make it. So I go back out and sit. Turns out there was a letterbox in there too and it wasn't the treasure we were looking for.Eventually some local walks up and we get to talking to him and he tells us where the room we are looking for is. Blaze heads back in and meets up with Kris and Jack and they make the find! How freaking cool! Everyone heads back out and it turns out that Blaze has brought cupcakes, champagne and noisemakers for everyone! Lugged it all over and never said a word to anyone. We got the local to take some pictures, hung out and partied and had a great old time. Best day ever and what a milestone! Some of us headed to a nearby restaurant to share a meal and the rest went home. Kris, Jim and I headed home and the rest grabbed some caches afterwards.
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