Extreme Geocaching

2010-03-04T19:58:00.001-05:00

I can't believe that I left this blog off where I was still practicing climbing...aaaargh! That is a lot of catching up to do, hehe. But I will try...

2010-03-04T19:55:00.002-05:00

Hmmm...I guess I will leave the blog in place. I used my web space for the new PMCs coming up and until I decide what I am gonna do with those sites...I will leave this blog here!

Now I think I have to catch up. Look forward to a bunch of posts....

No more...

2009-11-30T14:31:00.002-05:00

I am moving my blog to a website that I am working on entitled "The Other Side of Geocaching". For now it will be hosted on Weebly, but eventually I hope to make it into something more professional.

It is under construction for now, but I will be doing some major work on it in the next couple of weeks. Although I am still working on it, it is going to be published every time I add something to it. So you are welcome to keep checking it out and see how it progresses.

For now, the address is gipsie.weebly.com

Thanks for stopping by!

The practice

2009-03-29T22:32:00.003-04:00

I have been rappelinga bit, but only made a couple of short ascents. And never with a setup like Dutch's. So the plan was laid. We decided to meet the day after scoping out the PUC#13, to practice and learn ascension techniques.

Four of our team members (Linuxxpert - Dutch and DJ, me and Mike from the Peanuts) met up bright and early (another leaving the house before daylight day for me) to do a little practice and learning. As I pulled up, Dutch, DJ and Mike were laying the lines over the pillar nearwhere Dutch has a cache. It was at least 40 feet in the air. They got the lines laid and the rope over.

Dutch made the first ascent. I guess to show us how "easy" it was. Then I climbed. Went up about halfway, struggling to work the new type of ascender and the gris gris. I came down to give someone else a shot. Mike went up and made it to the top. Dj went up. In the meantime, my friend Mark (4wheelin_fool) stopped by and he made a couple of attempts. Then Dutch went up again. When he came down, he said that if I didn't make it to the top, he was going to tell everyone what a girl I was. Grrrr... So I harnessed up and ascended. All the way up! So there! I guess I am not a "girl", but I am, really I am....

Way tired from two days of way too much driving I headed home. Exhausted with very sore and tired arms, but feeling pretty freakin' good about myself!

OK, so

2009-03-29T21:40:00.003-04:00

OK, so now I have done it......

I am always talking about extreme caches. Now I am obligated to do one of the most difficult caches ever. Psycho Urban Cache #13. Look it up. It is in the middle of the Potomac River on a 70 foot pylon from an old railroad bridge. It was placed by helicopter. A few teams have gotten it and it is legendary.

So the story is that Groundspeak contacted the CO, Vinny. The want to do a TV special on extreme geocaching and use PUC13 as one of the featured caches. So Vinny, knowing our interest in getting this cache, contacted me and my friend Dutch (Linuxxpert) and asked if we would be team leaders on this mission. So we began an interview process and chose 12 team members. Me and Chuck and Dutch and DJ were givens and we wound up interviewing a lot of people and came up with 8 others. There is one other female on the team, an army medic. We have two people that have done the cache before, one a climbing teacher. And six newbies. All have a ton of experience though. We have soldiers, firemen, cops, even a magician (not sure how that fits in, but it is very cool).

So yesterday Dutch and I decided to meet up with one of the people that had done it before at the cache site. I left my house at 4:30 AM and made the long haul to West Virginia to meet up with everyone. We got there and scoped out the area (those pillars are IMPOSING!) and get some kind of plan in our heads. Couple of hours later we decided that, being in the area, we would grab a couple other PUCs. Numbers 3 and 14 to be exact.

Number 3 took us through storm drains in Frederick, MD. 3stages crawling through water filled storn drain tunnels that went under the roads (did I mention it was raining?) Interesting but not nearly Psycho enough!

Number 14 was definitely Psycho! The first stage was in a cave of sorts. DJ, the skinniest of our trio went in first and wound up making the find. Dutch and I made it in as far as we could, with DJ bringing out the coords to the next stage. Funny thing, DJ went the farthest and came out the cleanest...go figure....

Stage two was a hole in a cliff that was only accesible by rappelling. It was the dirtiest rappel I have ever seen or thought about attempting. "Dirty" meaning not only muddy and nasty but just a nasty rappel. Loose rocks and slippery slope. Dutch went down and made the find, and after watching him slip and slide and not want to climb back up, I decided to be the rescuer and carry down the gear, so he wouldn't have to come back up.

Regardless, another PUC completed....

Fires!

2009-03-16T13:04:00.003-04:00

We are meeting some friends at two o'clock to run through Chuck's 8 stage multi. Never liking to start that late, we decide to go get his daily (and his 800th) cache a few hours beforehand. As usual, we have plans to meet on Quaker Bridge, Chuck coming into Wharton from the west on Quaker Bridge and me coming in from the east behind Batsto. I am just turning onto Penn Swamp Rd (which turns into Quaker Bridge), when my phone rings. "Have they been doing any controlled burns out here today?", Chuck asks. They were, I tell him, but not now. He informs me that there is a ton of smoldering spots all along the road. I ask him if he sees any brush trucks and he tells me that he hasn't seen any. So I call the emergency number for Wharton and the guys asks where I am. I tell him that I am not sure of the exact location of the brush, but will call him when I get closer. I run into a lost old man and tell him to follow me in his Jeep to get him out of the woods and make my way towards Chuck. I meet up with Chuck, direct the old man the rest of the way out and get back on the horn with the emergency guy. He asks me a million questions and I give him all information and then tell him I have GPS coordinates. He wants no part of it. He tells me he is sending someone and we drive of of one of the side unnamed roads. More smoldering brush all the way in. Still no signs of help, I call a fireman that I know. Tell him where we are and he tells me that they were doing a controlled burn in the area yesterday, but it got away from them. They must have thought they had it out, but didn't quite get it. He promises to call Central and have them check it out. He calls me back and tells me that they are sending someone. We drive further in. Spend about a half anhour looking for a cache on the banks of the Batsto River, find it and head out. We still haven't seen any brush trucks. Halfway out, we saw flames. Get out of our vehicles and grab the bucket. I start to beat the flames and Chuck goes down to the river and gets water. Two bucketfuls of water and shovelfuls of dirt, we get it under control. But it is still smoldering. I call my fireman friend back and he says to call 911. I think about this and decide that it would be too much aggravation, they would never know where we were. So we get in the trucks and rush to the ranger station, passing little patches of fire on both roads. Get to the ranger station at Atsion and it is closed. I see a number for Batsto and dial it. Finally! A very nice lady answers and as I am explaining to her what went down, she asks me if I am the person who called the emergency number before. I tell her that I am and she says that they got the message but had no idea where to send the trucks. I gave her the coordinates and she assured us she was sending someone right out. We left and went to meet our friends.

We met the people we were supposed to on time and walked them through the multi. They left and me, Chuck and another buddy., Mark decided to hang out and explore the area a little more. It was an old abandoned underground radar station. We get to the station and there is smoke pouring out from the roof. Some kids had started a fire and left it burning in a "pit" they had made. They may have thought that they put it out, but the cushion of an old chair they were using must have stayed smoldering and then flamed up. So we beat that one down, made sure it wasn't going to cause any damage and left.

I swear I am going to join forest fire services......

Waterfall caching

2009-03-16T12:34:00.002-04:00

Saturday we had a plan in mind. We were going to do half of the First State Challenge.

A few weeks back we finished the Tour de Cache. Between the two of us, we needed nine more counties and they were all in North Jersey. So we picked out some easy caches and started out bright and early. Chuck had noticed a cache called Rook in the Reeds up in Liberty State Park and was told it was very impressive and that we HAD to do it. So on our third cache stop, we made a side trip through the marsh to get this cache. The cache was easy to find and nothing special but there were bonus coordinates and we went to them. Having no idea what we were looking for, we followed the thin trails through reeds taller than us until we got close. I was in the lead and when I got to GZ, I was amazed. There in the middle of the reeds was a perfect miniature castle made of little stones . It was beautiful. We took lots of photos and then hurried on our way. We rushed through the next 6 counties, called the CO for Tour de Cache and he gave us the bonus coords on the honor system. We grabbed the final and went home. 403 miles and 13 hours later.

So this time, we smartened up. We decided that it would be much more fun to split the challenge up. Do only half of it so we could explore all the different areas. And we did. But before we even started, there was the cache in Delaware that had been driving us nuts and we HAD to get it.

Back in the beginning of February, we went to do this cache down there called "Walk On Down - How Nutz Are You?" It was the coldest day of the winter but we went anyway. We see the cache is only 50 feet off the road, so we figure how hard can it be? We get out of the truck and see that the coordinates are taking us to a waterfall. Right on the side of the waterfall was a rock embankment. Kind of like a "wing wall", but looked natural. We see the spot the cache looked like it could be in and try to reach it from above. No luck and no rope. So I climb down the hill and try to get it from the bottom. I try standing on the pool of ice, but feel it cracking under my feet. So I try to "boulder" my way over to the spot on the wall. I get about half way and I have no safety equipment on and Chuck tells me to stop. I tell him that I can make it and he says that if I get wet, hypothermia is going to set in real quick. Half jokingly, I tell him that if I fall in, he needs to run back to the truck (even though it was 50 feet off the road, we had to park a quarter mile away), crank the heat and rush back to get me. I see the look of horror on his face and he says something about dropping dead of a heart attack before he even reaches the truck. So common sense prevailed and we scrapped it.

Now here we are back in Delaware again and having to drive right past that same cache. We had rope this time, but I forgot my harness and a coin I wanted to drop off. Who cares? It is warmer (although still cold) and we decide to park illegally right on the side of the road. So back we go. Chuck asks which one of us is going down and I tell him that I am of course. So I tie off and he belays me down. Right to the area that we just KNEW the cache was in. I move some rocks, reach in and...nada! Damn! I mess around a little more and thoroughly aggravated, I tell him that I am coming up. I get to the top and we walk around a bit, looking for another spot. Nothing. He asks me if I am SURE it is not in there. I tell him that if he doen's believe me, he can go check himself. So I belay him down. And he searches. He loses his footing a little and kicks a rock. Clunk! Both of our eyes go wide and we grin. I give him some more rope and he goes down a little lower and comes up with an ammo box! Yippee! I sign us in, hand the box back down and then we start our challenge. Cool way to start our day. We are going back on Saturday so I can drop off that coin. Now that I know where it is, I will be climbing down....again.

Snow!!!

2009-03-05T15:25:00.003-05:00

So my geo-buddy Chuck calls me Monday morning to tell me a new cache came out late the night before called "Yad Wons" It had been snowing like crazy all night and I figured this would be a great adventure. The snow was still coming down when I arrived at Wharton. You couldn't see the road becasue all the trees were bent over it. Here is my log from the cache:

"Who could resist playing in the snow in Wharton? Fuzzy approached from the west and I approached from the east meeting at this cache. It was an amazing ride in, with trees, heavy with snow bent over the road.

Bump them with my truck.
Snow shakes off.
Covers my truck.
Get out.
Wipe off windshield and wipers.
Repeat.

Talking to Fuzzy, I re-thought my approach.

See tree.
Get out.
Shake snow off tree.
Watch it spring up.
Shake snow off of my hat and out of my shirt.
Repeat.

Another fool drives past Fuzzy and is heading in my direction. I am busy shaking snow off a long stretch of trees when I see headlights. I shout and they stop. They tell me that they saw the trees shaking and thought it was the Jersey Devil. Somehow we made it around each other and I met Fuzzy close to the cache."

It was a blast. We drove back to the main road, and grabbed one other cache on the way. Soaking wet, we headed home.

Over the next day or two another cache popped up and we went for that one too. We made the fairly easy, but tricky grab and played in the snow wheeling and staying a lot dryer than the previous excursion.

I never used to like snow....funny how things change....

Which One?

2009-02-27T08:32:00.003-05:00

My partner in "crime" and I solved a puzzle one morning and went for a FTF (which we missed by moments). As we are sitting there deciding what to do next, two new caches pop up within 5 miles. Both by the same CO and very close to each other. The dilemma? One is a 1.5/1.5 and the other is a 4/4. Some discussion ensues. The lesser D/T seems to be just off the road and the 4/4 seems to be in the middle of a swamp. If we go for the easier one first we are pretty much guaranteed two FTFs. We look at each other and the answer was obvious. Let's go to the swamp!
What a journey. The cache was only .25 away from the main road, but we decide to drive around and see if there is easier access. Nope. Back to the highway, we stop at a pull off and gear up. And into the swamp we go. After our first water hazard crossing, we found what looked like a trail and began our journey in. Our trail quickly turned to those evil South Jersey thorns and briars. Then more water. Funny thing about swamp water hazards. They seem really small. The water is never more than a foot or so across. The problem is the mud around the water. If you misstep by an inch or two, you are getting sucked in. So these crossings usually require a large leap to clear all the mud and water. The last water crossing had us having to either leap across into a wall of briars or walk across a small log to another wall of briars. My favorite thing. We took the log route (aaargh!) and made it to the other side. Found the cache in short order, signed in and decided to explore and see if we could find another way back.
Eventually we found what looked like a deer trail and followed it. No briars there (smart deer). The way back out was much more scenic. We found a beaver dam and a birdhouse.....
A great cache all the way around, and we decided to go for the other recent published cache just knowing someone else got the FTF. Opened it up to a blank log sheet! Wow!

Liars cache

2009-02-27T08:18:00.003-05:00

My best friend Kris called me because he was out in Phoenix visiting his brother and noticed this cache that had been out since September with NO FINDS! He said the puzzle looked impossible and emailed the cache page to me. We spent some time looking over it and throwing out some ideas. There were a bunch of questions that just seemed silly. I got to the fourth question and it was a math problem. Now, I consider myself a math-a-maniac and spent some time looking over this problem until I realized that it was unsolvable. So I email the CO and tell him my suspicions. "I believe that it is a Liar's Cache," I tell him. "And if we go to the coordinates posted, I feel we will find something."
He emails me back almost immediately. "CONGRATULATIONS!" he says. "You are only the third person to figure it out. And it has no finds yet."
Well it does now. And that is how an unsolveable, unfound cache got solved from 2000 miles away and gets a FTF by some guy from Jersey. HeeHee!

I don't care who you are...

2009-02-01T20:25:00.003-05:00

Every extremist, no matter how brave has their "one thing"....

Forever, I thought I was invincible..

But I also have my one thing.

I tried to hide it for a long time.

It was bound to come out sooner or later.

Here goes...

I get ear infections. Somehow they effect my balance. I can climb trees and mountains, rappel, do the cave thing. I am a climber. But put me on a plank or a log, or any thin thing and ask me to walk it and I can not. I cannot balance myself. This became VERY clear when I went to do a cache called "Slippery When Wet". Well, I knew it for a while, but kinda kept it quiet. Now they all know.

Chuck and I went to do this cache which entails walking up two trees that are lying at a 45 degree angle. Maybe 25 feet in the air. Get to the tree they rest upon and it is a couple of feet above your head. I made it halfway up but could not go any further. I was stopped! Damn! That sucks! I will be back though. And I will get it! I am signed in but I do not feel right about it. Guess I gotta go back.....

Manunka Chunk Tunnels

2009-01-19T18:57:00.003-05:00

My best friend calls me and tells me he is going to hit his 900th cache. And he wants to do Manunka Chunk Tunnels. These are frickin' awesome. I got this cache almost a year ago, but it was one of those areas that I would return to again and again. They are abandoned train tunnels, side by side. One has collapsed and they both fill with water. It is only about a 1000 foot hike but it is a difficult hike even when it is not freezing and everything is covered with ice.

So I call my extreme caching partner in crime and we decide to head up there. And off we go.

We get to the area and the ground is covered in snow. Same as last time but it seems...colder. We make the trek through the tunnel which is a lot more difficult because the water it is filled with is now frozen and makes for a difficult hike.

Eventually, after a lot of laughs we reach the other side. Our relief is short lived when I get a look at the wall of the ravine. It is covered in at least a foot of ice. There is no way we are geting this cache. The guys check some areas and chip at the ice for a long while, but eventually we all realize it is futile. So we explore the other tunnel which seems like an easy walk, until it turns into semi-frozen mud that just starts sucking our boots in. A half an hour later, we make it out with all of our limbs and head back the way we came.
We eventually got my friends 900th cache, but it was a lot easier. Andmaybe we will be back to make it his 1000th. And it turns out there is another cache out there that was the original and becasue of a collapse, it was buried. There is a trapped TB in there. Maybe a rescue mission at the same time?

Crazy Caching Part Two

2009-01-19T18:32:00.003-05:00

That cache under our belt, we head on to the next. I had done this already but couldn't wait to visit it again. It was a multi and took us all over an amandoned bunker/fortress.

We get to the parking area and start heading to stage one. GZ was at what looked like guardhouses outside of a bunker. I stood back and watched Chuck search and gave an occasional hint. Finally he got the coords and we headed to stage two.

Stage two took us behind what looked like ammunition storage houses. There was a tunnel that lead around the building. Again, I looked on as Chuck searched.

Stage Three is one that I had been wanting to do again since the last time I was here. The person I was caching with at that time retrieved that stage and I didn't get to go in. This time I knew that Chuck was too big to get in the space and I knew I could. Underneath a set of stairs, where a gun turret should have been was a small hole. I got onto the ground and again shimmied/crawled in until I found the coordinates. I yelled them out to Chuck and tried to get out. Going forward was too much work so I decided to back out. Dummy me. Move backwards, shirt hikes up. The ground was cold and dirty against my belly, but out I came.

Stage Four was an old. empty wooden building with an "attic" which was basically rafters and hardly anything to walk on. I didn't get to climb it last time, but with my ribs, I was not climbing it this time. There was a box with a huge rock on it that Chuck quickly pulled himself up from. I couldn't have done that! He searched around in the "attic" for a while and seeing how the CO was working, quickly grabbed the next set of coords.

Aaaah, onto the final. Boy do I remember this. When I completed the cache, I remembered the clue for it. "Hope you like bugs". Now most things do not bother me. Snakes, rats, heights, darkness, cliffs, rocks, whatever. No Problem. But I hate bugs! They skeeve me. When I did this last time, I walked into the area behind the bunker with my light. Wondering what I was going to run into. Nothing. The walls and celing were black but I ran into no bugs. Laughing, I said to myself. "This is cake". Then I shone my flashlight on the "black" wall. And the blackness moved. The walls were actually white and the darkness was the bodies of thousands (millions?) of "cave" crickets. They scattered and I cringed. I got to the back room and we started looking around. There were a couple of holes in the ceiling and I just knew that was were the cache was. I started to reach into the holes and the crickets would jump. I had to leave. I let my then partner search. He came out empty handed and I went back in. Eventually he joined me. Finally we found it. I was NOT looking forward to this part of the return trip.

Chuck and I head in and the number of mutant crickets was much less. Nevertheless I stood in the middle of the room and let him do the digging becasue even though they were not as many, they were still there! Cache found. Trip complete. ANother day of 5/5s and an awesome one it was!!!!

Crazy Caching Part One

2009-01-19T17:24:00.007-05:00

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....

Cool thing from a cool person

2009-01-19T17:22:00.001-05:00

Originally posted on Wednesday, January 10th, 2008

So all day yesterday I was swamp tromping with some geocaching buddies. We were having a blast going through the mud and the cedar swamps. I know I over-exerted myself both yesterday and the day before because when I got home last night my ribs started making a weird crunching/clacking noise when I moved. Hurt like hell. No worries, though. I was going to take it easy today and do some house stuff. Relaxing and not getting out of my PJs all day.Around 11 I get a phone call. Chuck (Uncle Fuzzy) is in the Batsto area. Hiding something. And I have to go out there before it gets published because there is something in it for me. I decide to finish up a few things and then head out. I keep my PJs on (so I won't get any crazy ideas to continue finding things...) and throw on a sweater and a hat. Off I go. I drive to where the coordinates are taking me. The road gets narrower and narrower until I am 250 feet from the cache. I get out of the truck and start walking. Aaargh! A cedar swamp!Thinking that Chuck is being a wise ass and he thought that i didn't have enough of swamp tromping, but not going to let it get the best of me, I continue. Mind you, I am in slip-on shoes and refuse to go back to the truck for my waders. I get to the area and search for a little bit and then call Chuck to let him know I am there. He is laughing when I tell him that I crossed the stream and the marsh and how I was dressed. Finally I spot the cache. Pull it out and open it and what is there? A brand new shiny unactivated geocoin (with a matching pin)! Around the edge it says "Geo-Achievement One Thousand Finds". Inside that area it says "This geocoin certifies one thousand cache finds". Very cool! I flip it over and my name is inscribed on the back!!!He has had the coin for a while and was looking for the perfect opportunity to give it to me. He couldn't have picked a better way or time.Funny thing, whenever I am feeling a little down, or lonely, or just plain hurting, a friend comes through and does something to make me feel all better, lol. I was always hesitant about who I called a friend before. Sometimes they are just sitting there waiting for an opportunity to smack you upside the head and realize how lucky you really are. Thanks Chuck!

And the Ugly....

2009-01-19T17:20:00.002-05:00

Originally posted on Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Oh and it was ugly! My great adventure yesterday. You musta read it by now. Well, I was an idiot. I was the most experienced climber/caver in the group. But my little "invincible" issues got in the way AGAIN! Pete points a way. I was smart enough to ask Blaze to spot me, but not smart enough to wait until she actually does. Climb up, fall down. I felt myself going and I have to tell you that it scared the shit out of me. I knew what was under me and I knew that if I hit it, my back was breaking. I put my hands out knowing the risk, but it may have saved me. I did not hit the point dead on. But I hit it. It is amazing how many thoughts can go through our head in an instant. I know I was lucky. The mark on my back was ugly, what may have happened was even uglier.
I dealt with the pain yesterday. I hiked out and rode home. Even taking the "bumpy" rode home through Wharton to clear my head, no matter how painful it was. I came home and slept thanks to a percoset or two from friends. I woke up in the morning and could not move. So I decided to see what kind of damage I did. They took some x-rays and saw a chip and a crack to my ribs. Sucky-sucky.
So I am off for a week. Originally taken to say goodbye to a friend and grab some furniture. The first is done, but the second is looking like it won't be completed this week!
Lesson learned. No matter how invincible you are.... It won't kill you, but it hurts like a bitch!!!!

My 1000th cache

2009-01-19T17:17:00.002-05:00

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.

Here is why I love geocaching...

2009-01-19T17:14:00.002-05:00

Originally posted on Sunday, December 14, 2008

It is not about the cache most times. It is about the journey that takes you there and the people you meet along the way..

Last night was the perfect example of this. A group of us from South Jersey Geocaching decided to go for a couple of exteme night caches. A few of us (me, Pete Galap and Jack) had already done it, but we couldn't resist the urge to watch the others go for it. The other none of us had gotten yet.

We met at the first one (that I had already done) and settled in to watch the fun. We had conversation and homemade brownies (thanks Mel!) and waited until everyone got there and for darkness to start to fall. When it started to get dark, off we went. Arriving at the posted coordinates, you could see the first flashlights start to shine up into the nearby trees. Soft groans and mumblings of Oh My God! were heard. Way up in the trees were 17 film canisters in 5 or 6 different trees with red reflective tape on them. Which one held the coords for the next stage? Those of us that knew huddled and watched the fun. They tried and failed, tried again. They made strange guesses. "Gipsie sat by that tree when we first got here. It is the biggest tree. It must be there." They tried to ply us for information with promises of beer and goodies. If we even mentioned one particular tree, they were up it like a shot. "You said that tree looked good," was the accusation. To which Jack replied, "Well, it is a nice tree as far as trees go." Every time a film canister was reached, and a huge "Awww" was heard, we giggled louder. We watched people push themselves to the extreme. We watched people climb higher than they have ever done. We watched people standing on each others shoulders, faces and hands. Finally the cry of "Coffee" (SJG speak for "I found it") was heard and a cheer went up from the crowd. The numbers were read out. All except the last three. "What about the rest?" was the cry. "I will tell you when I get down to preserve my safety," Joe joked. Off to the last stage we went. Cache in hand, everyone signed in and off to the next cache.

We all met at the next cache and followed the firetacks to the cache location. Uh-oh. We arrive at the final tacks and they are shaped like an arrow, pointing straight up. WAY up. We send one up to retrieve the cache as we all hold our breath. He gets the cache and we all sign in. Then someone else climbs to return it. Deciding it only fair that to log the cache we should all climb the tree, we each took turns going up. WOW, that was high!

At the parking spot we re-grouped and a couple of us broke off from the main group. One went home and another extended an invitation as they were leaving that when we finished our last easy night cache we should stop by their place for beer and snacks. Hmmm......

We quickly dispatched the last cache and to the Bubblerocks we went. It was 9:30 when we arrived and quickly the beer was flowing and the snacks were being eaten. Musical instruments came out. Next thing you know Joe was playing guitar and we had singers, tambourine players, drummers, maracas. Every song we played everyone knew. We laughed and joked and next thing you know I was getting home at 2am. But back to my original statement. This is what geocaching is about. The trip was great even though I only got one smiley. Hanging out with like minded friends. Having fun. And sometimes just being silly. I have met some great people. People I will consider friends forever. Who cares if we get one cache or twenty one. Life is good.

Puzzle Masters Challenge teaser

2009-01-19T16:42:00.009-05:00

Originally posted on Friday, September 12, 2008

Here is my new puzzle challenge. Lots of work, lots of fun. The "feeder" caches involve difficult puzzles, climbing, rappelling, caves and much more.

The two brothers looked at each other in fear. He was coming closer. They had their treasure, they fought valiantly to save it. They thought they were free and clear, but somehow.....

Two years ago they found it. It was small, but powerful. Somehow they knew that what they had found would change their world. The year was 1706 and the world was plugging along as usual when the brothers made their discovery. They stumbled upon it by accident and at first didn't give it a second glance. After they looked at it more closely they realized what they had. It was amazing, the last of its kind. People had searched for a long time for this. Debates have been had over its mere existence. Wars had been fought to obtain it. Yet there it was, in their hands. They decided to keep quiet about it. They would wait until the talk died down; until people lost interest. They knew that if they waited long enough, it would be safe.

A few months later, talk started up again. People began to search for their treasure with zeal. Numerous times, they were almost discovered as its keepers and they fought with all of their being to protect it. Now, HE was here. And he wanted it. What could they do?

The brothers came up with a plan. They would hide their treasure somewhere that no one would ever accidentally stumble across it as they had. Not knowing if it would ever be safe to retrieve it in their lifetime, they created a puzzle that, when solved, would reveal a code that would ultimately lead to its final hiding place. Still, they were not sure that this would be enough. So, to further complicate things, they divided their puzzle into 16 separate pieces and distributed them to their closest friends on the East Coast with this simple letter of instruction.

"Dearest friends,
Knowest well that we are in danger. We have found a secret, a secret so divine that folks will do anything to obtain it. Fie on them, for we have hidden our secret and hidden it well. Herein, we need thine assistance. Prithee, hide ye well a treasure and in such treasure a code. Protect thee thine treasure with a puzzle of much difficulty to give woe to all who try to solve it. There shall be 16 of you and each shall have a code delivered by messenger in the morrow. In faith, one canst only hope that only the faire of heart shall findest our secret. Perchance one of our descendants. Mayhap, one of thee. Grammercy and fare thee well."

Of course, all being good friends they blindly complied with the request and hid well a puzzle...

Fast forward to 2008. Centuries later, the treasures are still out there. The puzzles have not been solved, the codes have not been pieced together. The mystery of what the brothers found has not been revealed in all this time. Can you be the one to solve this mystery?

As the years have gone by, each friends' treasure has remained protected by their descendants. The hides have been changed, the puzzles re-done. But one fact remains the same. Each treasure chest contains a piece to the final puzzle. And that final puzzle will lead you to a secret. A secret which has been held onto for years. Will you be the one to discover it? Will you take the challenge?

PMC: PUZZLE MASTER'S CHALLENGE

This puzzle is part of a series of puzzles created by the greatest Puzzle Masters of the Mid Atlantic Region. There are a number of Puzzle Masters contributing to this series. Solve all of the Puzzle Masters' creations, follow the storylines, gather the clues and find the final. Will you accept the challenge?

Each puzzle is a unique work of art created and owned by each Puzzle Master/Puzzle Team. In each cache there will be a clue that you must gather and record. These clues will lead you to a final mystery cache located somewhere in the mid-Atlantic region. This series is designed to lead you on an epic adventure that will require Master puzzle-solving skills and extensive travel to unique locations. You must travel and log in at each cache in order to claim a find on the final. Due to the extensive time and effort put into this challenge, the cache can be done as a group but each member of the group must go to each cache site and sign each log. Dividing into sub groups and pooling their efforts will not be allowed.

PMC - Quick Brown Fox +- 25 by Frodo_Underhill (GC1CTQD)
New Jersey

PMC - The Song of the Master Sun by mmammel & Sue-Cat (GC1BJX9)
Maryland

PMC - Clueless Again? by rehobch (GC1FYY2)
Delaware

PMC - I Dislike Numbers by CondorTrax (GC1G2MW)
New Jersey

PMC - The Box by CinderBankers (GC1G8XD)
Pennsylvania

PMC - Uncle Buck's Cards by GALAP (GC1GAYM)
New Jersey

PMC - The Meeting House by we3girlsnaguy (GC1FDHT)
Pennsylvania

PMC - The Message by Team Ekitt10 (GCXX5E)
New Jersey

PMC - Creative Confusion by Dirty_Bird & BigNastyBrain (GC1GK10)
New Jersey

PMC - The Order by hostanut (GC1GJCV)
Delaware

PMC - The Sun, Moon and Stars by M & W (GC1G923)
Pennsylvania

PMC - Professor Stone by Resolution (GC1GW18)
New Jersey

PMC - S.E.T.I. by Kang (mblatch) and Kodos (ericles) (GC1H6J7)
New Jersey

PMC - Urban Renewal by EastVillageFamily (GC1F80V)
New York

PMC - A Tribute To Caching by ODragon (GC1HCQX)
Pennsylvania

PMC - Hibernia by GerIRL (GC1HB4Q)
New Jersey

PMC - Flatlander by Grünriese (GC1HQ4C)
New Jersey

PMC - The Final by Puzzle Masters Challenge Team (GCZZZZ) New Jersey

Another night adventure

2009-01-19T16:39:00.001-05:00

Originally posted on Sunday, April 20, 2008

Every time I go on an adventure, I tell myself to blog it if it was interesting, fun or unusual. And then I forget. Yesterday was one of those adventure days. I spent the day in the Rancocas area caching. Nice and peaceful day out by myself. Exploring little known places and just generally having a ball. I remembered that I was supposed to meet some newbie cachers in Bass River to introduce myself and welcome them to our addiction. Maybe accompany them on some night caches in the area. I called my buddy Mel and she agreed to meet. We met at the office and started immediately talking about this new extra challenging cache that popped up in Atco. A couple of people had already done it, but in their logs they sounded like they had so much fun, we just had to attempt it. So we met the new cachers, talked for a little bit and then made our excuses and high tailed it to Atco. Arrived there at 9pm. It was dark but there was a full moon to guide us. Got out of the jeep and put on our waders. We had heard that the last cachers to do this cache had their car broken into, so I decided to give them a call to see where they parked. Same place we were, oh great. Deserted power line road, no one around and the noise of the raceway in the distance. Oh and frogs! Did I tell you about the frogs? They made this god-awful screaming noise. Creepy. Anyway, we can't drive any further because of the water and logs in the road, so we lock up the Jeep and head out.
OK the water is deep but not over the waders. This isn't so bad. Mel says something like, "This is more like a river, the water is running really fast" and that was it. Down she goes. The ground gave out from beneath her and she went in up to her waist. I grab her and literally pull her out. She is soaked. Then we look and realize that we are in a friggin' river. Did I say it was dark?
There are some logs on the other side from where we tried to cross, so we decide to climb over and around them. Going over, I was originally in the lead when Mel made the suggestion that because she was already wet, she might as well take the lead. No arguments from me. We made sure our phones and GPSrs were safe and secure and on we went. As we were picking our way across the logs, Mel made the comment of how the whole thing reminded her of a beaver lodge. "Nah," I said. "Too many fallen trees or logs, they look like they were cut down." We are climbing these logs, sometimes perched precariously on one while trying to find not-too-deep footing to move forward. Mel gets on one log and slip! down she goes again. Another short rescue operation and we are on our way again. It took us about a half an hour to pick our way through this short crossing. Then we get back on dry land and trek our way to Ground Zero. Found the first stage in the dark after minimal searching. It was a good hide, but after all we went through we were so determined and eager we made it a fairly easy find. Walked the 250 feet to the final stage and found the cache super quick. Opened it up and dumped it out. It was packed with a lot of neat stuff. The CO must have put a lot of time and effort into this cache. Made some trades and wrote a super long adventure tale in the log.
Crap! Now we have to go back. Walked back to the river crossing and saw the front of the jeep and said, "Well, Mel, at least there is the car." To which she promptly replied, "I moved the car remember?" Uh-oh. Whoever was in the car, turned their headlights on and off and then turned flashlights on us. We shouted "hi", with me grabbing my cell and flipping it open. We were safe on the side of the river we were on, because it would take them too long to cross. They started talking about the beaver they saw, jumping in and out of the river and Mel freezes. I can't get her to move. She is absolutely petrified of beavers, and snakes, and geese, and ducks, and spiders and EVERYTHING! I am so busy trying to get her to move so we don't have to continue standing inthe water, I don't see the two on shore step into their headlights. It is GALAP! The husband and wife team who already completed this adventure. Very cool! They shined their lights on the water and, after I got Mel moving, we found an easier way back to shore without climbing over theb beaver dam we went across on the first time. Yes, it WAS a beaver dam!
Just as we are two feet from the shore, Mel screams. "Snake!!!" She freezes again and Mrs. GALAP runs to the car. I look down and it was a long black snake sitting on the edge of the puddle. Mr. GALAP and I approach it to get a better look, Mrs. GALAP is huddled in the car and Mel is frozen to her spot. I skirt around her, check out the snake until it leave and we are out of the water, another days adventure over.

Polar Bear Plunge

2009-01-19T16:31:00.002-05:00

Saturday, February 23, 2008
Polar Bear Plunge
I never did post this right away, like I was going to, but the more I think about it, the more I have to write SOMETHING.
For a couple of weeks now, the buzz on the forums of SJG was a Polar Bear Plunge in Sea Isle City. There were challenges issued, people were taunted, all to see who was brave enough to take the plunge. Somehow, some way, I found myself saying, "I'll do it." Must have been a moment of insanity. But I committed. The day grew closer and it stayed in my head as a crazy thing to do. I wasn't alone at least. There were about 15 of us who were going to do it. Some of the coolest people I know.
The day finally arrived and we all met in Sea Isle City. We got there early to register and hung around watching the festivities. There were a TON of people there! We weren't the only crazy ones! We were all getting anxious as the time got closer and closer. Finally it was time to head to the shore and we all started down. The amount of people there to take the plunge was amazing but the amount of people there to watch, was even more amazing.
Down to our bathing suits, we awaited the whistle. The air temperature was 38 degress and so was the water temp. The whistle blew and we watched the first large group go down, but we waited until they started coming out before we headed down. Running to the water, I kept thinking, "I can't believe I am doing this." Then I hit the water. Hmmm....wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Got out to my thighs and dove in! I had a minute of losing my breath from the cold, but that quickly went away and I was feeling pretty damn good!
We got back to the shore and Doug had brought this huge beach towel and was gracious enough to hold it around a few of us as we changed back into our clothes. I was totally amazed! I wasn't cold. And I felt great! We all put out stuff in our cars and met at the designated meeting place and walked around for a bit trying to find a place open to eat and decided to get in our cars and head to a diner down shore. We had a good meal and headed home. I started shivering when I got to my car and didn't stop until I crawled into my bed with the electric blanket on high!
Thinking back I can't believe I was so apprehensive about doing this. It was an awesome experience and I can't wait until next year!

Stay tuned - this weekend is the climb of my life. Decided over a few Land Sharks at the Pic last night. More to come.

Adventure

2009-01-19T16:29:00.001-05:00

Originally posted on Monday, January 14, 2008

I want my life to be an adventure. I want to live for me. I want to live my life in such a way that I don't know what I am doing next and neither do I care as long as it takes me somewhere I haven't been before doing something I never dreamed that I would do. I will never be the perfect mom or the perfect homemaker and I don't want to be. I love my job because it gives me the freedon to make my own decisions and choose my own destiny. Yes, I have other people that rely on me and their jobs and/or livelihoods are in my hands. I will fight for them no matter what. I have become cynical at times but I do not let that affect my job performance. I have made a commitment to be the best I can be at what I do, but when it becomes time to play.......
I want to live my life like every time I go out, whether it be up to Wharton to go caching or when there is a fire or when I am going on a road trip with friends to god knows where, I want to feel like I am heading into Mirkwood. I don't want to know what the next adventure is going to be. I just want it to be an adventure.
I know there must be one coming up!

2009-01-19T16:27:00.002-05:00

Originally posted on Monday, January 14, 2008

What a long strange trip it has been. We finished our Cerebral Codex adventure yesterday. Yes we climbed a mountain. From top to bottom, no trail most of the way, heading to the end of our journey. Thankfully we didn't have to go all the way to Cape May afterwards. It was long and grueling, but most everyone did really well. All that was left was to sign the log. One of our team members was on both our team and the team doing Chaos, so we arranged it that we would meet at 4 and sign and the other team would meet at 5 and sign there log and we would all meet at the Pic afterwards and celebrate our victories together. It worked out well and all in all there were 22 of us together that night. So we did. The place was packed when we got there and slowed down considerably during our stay. We talked and laughed and told our stories (the Chaos people told their stories of Chaos and we told our own stories of Chaos becasue we didn't want to give too much away to spoil their next adventure). We ate some and drank some and ate some more. We laughed and had a grand old time. Other people must have thought we were nuts, all this talk about caching that they would never understand unless they did it. We were calling each other mostly by our caching names and that had to have sounded strange enough. Then all the talks about swamps and swamp monsters and tree climbing and user names and psswords, we had quite the audience. When it was all said and done, we all hugged and kissed and said good night. Not before, however, I gave a dire warning. "Get the next challenge, read the book, finish all the puzzles and then do the field work. I would wait a little until you started though. I am exhausted." My team agreed and we laughed and then we started a pool to see how long before they finished Codex.
I finally got home and sat down at my computer to log my adventure. Finished up on geocaching.com and decided to check the local boards. Hmmm...no one had posted about our adventure yet. Maybe I will. So I opened up a new thread and wrote a congratulatory post to both our teams. I couldn't resist a little addendum to the owners of these caches that made us think so hard, climb mountains, cross swamps, get scratched by thorns and take up so much of our time.....
"Thank you DB and BNB for putting these together and challenging us. These where well thought out and did their job of bringing us together and challenging us. We made new friendships and strengthened old friendships. We thought and pondered, we argued some and laughed some, we got cut and bruised, dirty and filthy, we tested our brains and strained our muscles. But we prevailed. Hidden Agenda has one more big challenge before they can say this, but I have only one thing to say (to quote Chris):
"IS THAT ALL YOU GOT?????" "
An hour later I check the boards again and this response is there....
"HUGE congratulations to Team Hidden Agenda for completing Chaos and Team Unscripted Order, for completing Codex. Neither of these tasks are small accomplishments. I am glad that people continue to be challenged by and enjoy these caches. Again – Congratulations to ALL for a job well done!
.....And to answer Gipsie and Chris' question.....You haven't even seen the tip of the iceberg yet."
And he had little jersey devil icons all over. Chris calls me an hour later groaning, "Oh, what did you do? We are so screwed." So I issued the two most challenging people I know a challenge. And they accepted. I have to wonder what they have in store for us next....

Choreographed Chaos and Cerebral Codex

2009-01-19T16:18:00.001-05:00

Originally posted on Friday, January 11, 2008

I never did finish my Chaos story. Here are the cast of characters:
Gipsie - narrator of our tale, scribe, organizer and chief pain in the ass.Can solve a puzzle or two but prefers to leave it to the others. Has two 4WDvehicles and is not afraid to use them. Has no fear of mud.
Melcrim - the other half of the geo-duo. Searching skills and photographicmemory of every cache she has ever been on and every road she has evertaken. Just learned how to drive 4WD, can borrow Bessie. Loves sugar sand.
DaddyCoz - the most determined member of our group. He won't quit until hegets what he is looking for. Technical whiz. He has a boat and 4WD.
Grunriese - also determined. He is a scout leader and can read a compass.Good for a bushwhack or two. He also has a boat and a 4WD and is good withtechnology.
NJ4x4fever - new to caching and a 4WD friend of Gipsie's. Part of the "PineyPower" group that solved all of stage one in under four hours.
Greywulf2112 - brother to NJ4x4fever and a puzzle solver extraordinaire.Part of the "Piney Power" team.
TeamBuzzard - last member of the "Piney Power" puzzle solving team. Has 4WDand loves climbing and splashing in it. Sings songs to make the trails gofaster when you wound up further away than what you wanted.
Roadkill14 - The latest entry from the "Piney Power" team. Always good for a call when you are in the middle of nowhere and need some calculations or gas....
What a group and what a challenge.....
Anyone can go to geocaching.com and read the logs and please do. Go to "Hide and Seek A Cache" on the left and then type in under "keywords", "Choreographed Chaos".

This was an awesome accomplishment! A lot of teamwork and time and it felt so good!

So when we were finished with this long adventure and finally signed the log, we asked, "So when are we going to start Cerebral Codex?", half-jokingly. We met the cache owners for dinner at the Pic and they told us to take a break between the two. The result is that we are almost done with that one now. The puzzles were harder and the field challenges more intense. To make a long story short, there is a book you have to read by the same name. It is available in PDF off the cache page, but I bought it a long time ago from one of the cache owners. There are mega-puzzles (I spent all of Christmas Eve working on Trig and Calculus and more) and super-intense field challenges. Swamps and briars and the like. We are staring a multi tomorrow that will take us all the way north. None of us know what to expect. After we do some north Jeresy mountain climbing, it may send us all the way south for the next stage. I am hoping that we can complete it tomorrow, so I can spend some time wheelin' tomorrow. But I have a feelin'......
I will be so glad when this is over, but at the same time, we have come so far and I just have to see it to the end. We have worked so hard for this. And what do we get? A friggin' 'smilie'? And a sense of satisfaction. But, Eric, when you read this...know well, that I WILL start drinkin' heavily! (When in doubt, huh?) I truly do think that we should have taken a break. This one was more intense, but not nearly as much fun as the first. Maybe because we were all burnt out? I think I may have enjoyed it more if we waited. There is a team behind us doing Chaos now. We are going to finish Codex about the same time that they finish Chaos. I am going to give them the same advice that the cache owners gave us. Wait a little bit before you start the next one. They probably won't listen, but I will have a clear conscience!

Choreographed Chaos Puzzle Challenge

2009-01-19T16:13:00.001-05:00

Originally posted on Saturday, November 10, 2007

Well the challenge ends tonight. I am going to post a couple of things about this puzzle that my friends and I are finishing up tonight. It was a long ride that started back in June when a group of us were caching and found the first stage to a puzzle called Choreographed Chaos. It was a pole in the ground carved on three sides. The carvings were all codes. My friend Melissa (Melcrim) figured out one side and I figured out another and then we kinda forgot about it. In October I had met a couple of new friends and introduced them to geocaching. I mentioned Chaos (it had been on my mind more and more) and they sat down in one night and figured out all three sides. Thus the journey began.
They were unstoppable. I had called up the original friends that I found the post with and told them we were going to be working on it again, There were codes to crack and field challenges. 10 stages in all and most of them required multiple puzzles to solve and numerous trips to Wharton. Each time we got further and further, we got more and more excited. It all culminates tonight. We have the final coordinates for the final stage and are going out as a team to get it tonight. I am so excited.
I would like to post the cast of characters as I wrote it for the cache page. We made some good friendships and really accomplished a lot on this. Stay tuned for the rest of the story.

Running into Neighborhood Watch

2009-01-19T16:06:00.001-05:00

Originally posted ??? This was my original log for "First Snow". I eventually changed it, but I wanted the cache owner to see what his neighbors were doing.

Near the end of my Muck-A-Thon I went to these two last caches. I was trying to find a way in and I drove down Grove(?)St. I realized it was a dead end and I didn't feel like bushwhacking as it was getting dark. So I turned around and pulled off to the side of the road to check my navigation system to see if there was an easier way. I had passed by a car when I was coming in and the guy in the car looked at me funny and I guess he turned around and followed me because as I was sitting there looking at my Maggie, he pulled up alongside of me REAL close and asked me what I was doing. He looked like an off-duty officer but he had this little yippy dog next to him, so I rethought that. The conversation went like this (verbatim, almost):

"What are you doing on this street?"
"I got a little turned around and think I took the wrong road."
"Well, what address are you looking for?"
"No address, sir, I was trying to find a location."
"Well we have had a lot of problems with people on this street and I figured I would talk to you before I sent a squad car."(At this point I took him for a neighborhood watch wannabe and decided to have some fun)
"Oh, not me, sir. I am just playing a game and went down the wrong street. I do not want to cause any trouble are you a police officer? Maybe you can help me."
"Yes, I can help you. What are you looking for?"
"Are you a police officer?"
"Where are you going?"
"Are you a police officer?"
"Well, no, but I can help you find what you are looking for."
"Are you neighborhood watch?"
"Well, yes. We have had a lot of trouble with kids playing around down here."
"And is this a public street?"
"Well, yes."
"Is it illegal to be here?"
"Well, no..."
"And the end of this road, is it private property?"
"Well...I....uh....I am not sure."
"Then why are you stopping me like you are a police officer and in charge of this neighborhood?"
"I, uh, am worried, uh, about all the, uh, kids hanging down here."
"Are they your kids?"
"No."
"Are they on your property?"
"No but they are suspicious."
"Suspicious, how?"
"They park here and walk in past the dead end."(I love when an interrogation turns tables, don't you?)
And then he gets a little smart.
"Why are YOU asking me questions? Who do you think you are?"
"Nobody, sir. I am just playing a game. Looking for an area. I turned into what obviously is the wrong road and I pull over to get directions from my navigation system and get pinned in by you and interrogated like I am doing something wrong. Please, sir, call a squad car. First thing I will do is show him the same thing I am going to show you and then I will tell him how much you frightened me by blocking me in and asking me all kinds of questions. I thought I was in danger. (at this point I picked up my cell phone) You know what, never mind. Maybe I will call a patrol car instead. By the way, only people who watch too much TV actually call them squad cars out here."
"No, I mean, you don't have to, what do you mean, danger, frightened, SHOW HIM WHAT?"
So I showed him my badge.
"Oh, I am sorry. I mean I wasn't...oh, never mind."
And off he went.Know this is long, but the point I am trying to make is that I don't think this is the right way in. So don't attempt. I drove around and thought maybe I could get in from the WMA but it was after dark and I didn't think you could be there after dark. I didn't want to break any rules, ya know. After all, I haven't been a cop for 10 years.(plus the rental might not have made it down those roads!)

One of the Best Fourths Ever!

2009-01-19T16:02:00.003-05:00

Originally posted onWednesday, July 04, 2007

The group that I hang with is an avid group of geocachers and most of us love four wheeling too! So today our friend Grun decided that we were going to combine the two, actually, I said four wheeling afterwards, but more of that later. Grun saw this cache that was hidden and it was listed as a 4.5 difficulty, 4.5 terrain (5 is the hardest). So the Coz Family (Amy, Chris, Sam and Daniel), Mel (Melissa), Grunriese (Pete) our dearest Math Teacher (Eric), TSE McLarney (Tom, Sherry. Emily) and me, we all headed out to Menantico to get this cache. We were prepared to say the least! Everyone has been teasing us (the ones who got it already) telling us how difficult it was but not giving us any hints. Mel and I went a week ago to scout it out and knew water was involved and I read the cache page and saw a bastard version of the poem "Trees" by Kilmer and knew we were in trouble. We didn't want to make more than one trip so we loaded up our 4 wheel drives. We had a Jeep Rubicon, a Bronco, a Big 4WD pick-up and my little "Bessie" a Tracker (when she grows up, she wants to be a jeep). The cars were loaded with changes of clothes, water, tow ropes, a ladder, snacks, shovels. walkie-talkies, axes, anything and everything. We even had kayaks and a canoe! We drove in the sugar sand as far as we could then got out and scouted. We were still 400' from the cache. Half of us loaded into the boats and the other half took to the mud. DaddyCoz walked through the life-sucking mud and the water all the way to the island. Mel, MommyCoz and I followed Chris for a ways until Mel's boots got sucked into the life-sucking mud and she couldn't pull them out. I was wearing flip-flops and by then I had taken them off and was barefoot. Mel pulled herself out after a while and I was in mud up to my mid calf so we left Chris to his own and we went back to where the boats launched. We let them know, by radio, what we were doing and they shuttled back and forth to the island and got us and deposited everyone on the island. Another trek through life-sucking mud and eventually we were all there where the cache was. 20 feet in a tree! One more trip in the canoe to get the Little Giant ladder and we were ready. Set up the ladder to its highest point and Chris climbed the ladder and helped tie it down with the rope while Eric was trying to climb a nearby tree and scootch over (not happening). Chris got the ladder tied down and tried to reach for the cache but was still about 6 inches too short. He got down and taller Tom went up and reached the cache (barely), opened it and threw down the logbook and swag. We all signed in and replaced it and then shuttled back to the launch. All except Chris and Sam who walked as far as they could before the canoe picked them up and took them back! The first thing I did was call one of the people from our group who already got it and told them we got it in less than 2 hours and they were amazed! Then we went four-wheeling.
First, the big Jeep got stuck and had to winch his way out and then Bessie got stuck and Chris had to winch her out. But it was a blast. We finally got something to eat around 5. The guy wanted to close his pizza shop and all 11 of us popped in and demanded food. He stayed open for us, then more came in, then more. When we left the were two more big parties in the pizzeria and the owners wife was calling him and yelling about when was he coming home!
Pete, Eric, Mel and I went to get four more caches that 3 of us got and Pete didn't and took a nice nature hike and then went home.
All in all, it was a great day and I am glad I have these friends.because I never know where the next adventure will take us!

First time kayaking

2009-01-19T16:00:00.000-05:00

Originally posted on June 25th, 2007

Kayaking????

OMG, over the weekend I went kayaking for the first time. I met some friends and borrowed a 'yak and off we went. How cool was that??? I was a first-timer and this guy who went with us, Chris had never done a 'yak but had been in canoes before. We decided to do a three hour trip over easy to moderate terrain to take it easy on us 'new' guys. Well, it wasn't what we expected! Even the seasoned kayakers realized we were in over our head. We had beaver dams and fallen trees and whitewater. I tipped twice and lost my GPS'r but it was SO much fun. Our three hour trip took us about seven hours. Afterwards we were supposed to meet the rest of our club at the Pic (the best wing place in South Jersey) at 2:30, but it was almost 7 by the time we got there. Thank God Chris called his wife and she brought me some dry sweats and a t-shirt because I was soaked and my legs were SO sunburned! She said she always loans her clothes to the "other woman" in her husbands life, but the joke was on Chris when he saw it was his sweats she brought! I am mending nicely, but the sisters want me to go again next weekend - I am not sure if I can or not, but it is thought. The next trip is supposed to be easier, maybe I won't go into the drink! We did 10 miles this last one, It might be a little while before I am ready for another 10