Running out of easy local caches!

Aside from the single car family issue that we're dealing with right now, I'm bumping into a problem that's really impacting how often I get to go out and cache.

I have run out of easy, local caches on any of the routes that I use to travel to and from both work sites.

Exhibit A - the caches near where I live:

The one green icon cache on the map is called Cookies, and it's currently disabled. I even went looking for it after 3 people with over 10,000 finds between them logged DNFs.

Exhibit B - the caches near where I work:

In this case, I have everything that's close to work, and the ones that are within my longer range driving area are all ones that I need to devote some time to, and right now, with one car, I'm not even taking lunch breaks  so as not to log too few hours at work.

I like that I've managed to pick up all of the shopping center LPCs and guard rail caches along the Blue Route and Rt. 320, and all of the easy hides along Lancaster Ave., but now that I've had a few weeks with almost no caching time, I really miss being able to just stop by something on the way to work.  Sure, those type of hides are not exactly a challenge, but they are still caches, and they still require stealth and ingenuity to pick them up.  Without practice I fear that I'll soon revert back into my normal bumbling giant ways and have to start over from scratch again.

I guess I'm really just whining, and on top of that, I really miss caching.  Blogging about caching is a poor substitute for getting out and finding caches, but it's all I have at the moment I guess.

Oh well, whining session over.  With the holidays right around the corner I'm pretty busy outside of work anyway, and at least I get to focus on my plans for my new hides.  I've been planning a really neat multi hide, and if I'm trapped in the house I may as well make the most of it.

12-12-12

Just a quick post.  I haven't had a chance to get out caching in a few weeks, and it looks like we're going to be a single car family for at least he short term, which puts a damper on things.

I was able to pick up two quick caches today up at the Plymouth Meeting Metroplex shopping center.  My wife and I both had  the day off, but she needed to stop by her work for a little while.  My parents had reminded me about the 12-12-12 souvenir, and since I had an hour to kill I picked up an LPC right in the middle of the main parking area near Best Buy, and another hide around the back of the shopping complex.  Easy peasy.

With the holidays right around the corner and one car available for both my wife and I, I don't expect that I'll get much caching done until January at the earliest.  This isn't really a bad deal, as it gives me time to get more work done on some new cache containers (Pac-Man, Joust, and Plants vs. Zombies) and get more material together for the blog.

Caches in this post:

• Camp Pns Still Hungry
• Food 4 Thought

On solo caching

I haven't been able to cache for a little while, due to the holidays and work schedule, but I've still been frequenting the forums, checking blogs, and watching YouTube videos about caching.  One thing I've been wondering about is how many people cache solo, vs. how many people cache in groups.

I'm a solo cacher.  Not totally by choice, mind you - I'd be perfectly happy to go caching with a local sometime, but I don't happen to know any of the local cachers.  I've cached with my dad and my father-in-law, and occasionally Emily mentions that she'd like to take a short caching day trip on a weekend (when we have time), but aside from Jack joining me on some weekends, I really just cache by myself.

A lot of what I like about caching is the solitude.  When I first found the Springfield Trail, my favorite part of the discovery was that there was nobody there.  Nobody was in the park on the way to the trail, nobody was on the trail, and I had this whole private nature area to myself.

Now, I know that people go back there. I saw some bike tracks and footprints in the dirt, and the path was pretty clear of leaves and debris, but just having that 20 minutes of privacy was awesome.

There have been plenty of hides where a second set of eyes would be useful, though...  Dunno.  Maybe I'll look for a local event, just to meet some of the people whose Geocaching names have become so familiar.  That would be neat, and for some hides at least, it would be great to combine skills and brainpower and whatnot.

Tips for new cachers

February 23, 2103 UPDATE - I have been updating and editing this a bit now that I am actively caching again.

This topic comes up quite a bit on Reddit (example, another example), and since I'm relatively new at caching and have learned a great deal in the past few months, I figure I'd share what worked for me.  Feel free to use the comments section below this post to add your own input, or even better, get on the Geocaching subreddit and join some great discussions.

A little history - I officially started caching in July of 2012.  If you count my non-logged DNFs (did not find), I would estimate that I was actually finding less than half of what I was looking for.  Sometimes this was simply due to the fact that I didn't have a lot of time to cache. There were many times when I only had about 5 minutes to look before I had to get in to work.  Other times it was due to the placement of the hides. I live in a very developed area and my initial finds were a lot of LPCs (lamp post caches) and Nanos that were in busy parking lots.  Again, because I usually cache before work and on lunch break, I had a very limited time to wait around for the area to clear out.

I've since found over 170 caches, with over 150 of them being solo or with my 7 year old (so pretty much solo, ha ha!).  I now know so much more than when I first started out, it amazes me that I was ever able to find caches in the first place.  I'm also much more aware of how much I don't know.  Sure, I'm a caching machine compared to when I started out, but I have seen more than a few local cachers with thousands of finds, and the amount of experience they have is staggering.

Long story short - I have put together a list of the top things I wish I knew when I first started out, and am presenting it here.  Enjoy!

1 - Cache with an experienced cacher.  Even if it's only once.

I think the thing that helped me the most early on was a short caching trip I took with my dad and my son. My dad has been caching for a few years and I learned more in 2 hours caching with him than I did the rest of the first month. If you don't know a local cacher, check the Geocaching website for local groups - I ended up finding a group in my area (Philadelphia suburbs) and they have a Facebook page where people post questions and suggestions, and plan meetups. Very helpful.

If you don't like dealing with people face to face (believe me, I understand), look for online communities, such as Reddit.  There are plenty of conversations that are helpful for new cachers.  It doesn't beat actually getting out with someone experienced, but at least you'll have some place to turn when you have questions.

2 - Familiarize yourself with the basic kinds of hides.

The most common types of caches in your area really depend on where you live. I'm in a heavily developed area, so there are a lot of ones hidden in shopping centers and public areas. There are some parks in the area that have a lot of caches, but by and large, the easiest caches to find (and learn on) are the ones in shopping centers. They are usually hidden behind signs or underneath the skirts of light poles (more info on both below). These days, I don't really go out of my way to find that type, but they were great to learn with.

• LPC - Lamp Post Caches.  These are caches hidden underneath a lamp post skirt - the little boxy thing toward the base of the light pole.  The lamp post skirts lift up, and people hide bison tubes, magnetic keyholders, or pill bottles underneath.  I'll post an example as soon as I stage and take a picture of one (no spoilers, remember!)


• Nano Caches - Nano hides can be confusing for several reasons.  The first is that these containers are really, really tiny.  The second is that there is come confusion about how to categorize them.  Technically, nano hides are a subset of micros, so if you see a cache listed as micro it may actually be a nano.  A lot of people don't classify them as micros, though, so occasionally you'll see a cache listed as "Other" that's actually nano sized.  I'd say that it's a 50/50 chance that the cache owner bothers to note that you'll be looking for a nano anyway, so if you've checked all the obvious places for a larger hide, start thinking smaller.
  
  A common place to hide nano containers is behind street signs.  There is a little magnet in the base of the container, and a little gap between the ferrous metal of the sign pole and the sign itself.  Check in that little area for the nano.
  
  Once you find your first nano, most of the rest of them become much easier. You may occasionally run into a tricky nano, and people have been known to hide nanos in the woods, which is really just plain wrong.
  
  Here is a picture of a nano container, and where to look for them 90% of the time:

A nano on a Post-It, next to a Travel Bug.  Weird stuff for size comparison,
but it's all I had on hand when I took the picture.

Nanos are hidden in the little gap between the sign and the sign post 90% of the time.
If there is a sign near the coordinates, you should check here first.

• Guard Rail Caches - These are typically magnetic keyholders, or similar magnetic containers, that are hidden in the end of guard rails.  Guard rail hides are some of the easiest to find, as the end of the rail is usually the only hiding spot.  The only real issue is when the guard rail happens to be on a busy road and you need to dodge traffic while still looking inconspicuous.

The end of a guard rail.  Most of them have a curved metal bumper on the end, but this was easier for taking pictures.  NOTE - The cache may be hidden behind any of the support legs, not just at the end.

Almost all guard rail caches are magnetic, but only some are key holders.  It's easy enough to tape or glue magnets onto regular cache containers, so they are common as well.

This isn't a real cache - I'm just demonstrating.  No spoilers, remember?

• Tree hides - Tree hides are very common.  There are numerous places on a tree where a cache can be hidden.  The obvious spots are holes in the tree or root system, but small bison tubes are often zip tied to branches.  Trees and shrubs of all sizes are used for this, though in areas where leaves actually drop off the trees in the autumn, evergreen trees may provide more camouflage.


• Other common containers - Common containers include bison tubes, pill bottles, film canisters, lock and lock containers, and ammo cans.  Urban and suburban hides tend to be micro and small sized, while caches off the beaten path or in less populated regions can get a bit larger.  This is a rule of thumb - I've seen video of 5 gallon bucket cache hidden in plain sight right on a main street of a city.


• Geopiles - Even the best containers sometimes don't quite blend into the environment.  When that happens, it's accepted practice to make a little pile of the nearby debris to conceal the cache.  Sticks, rocks, bark, pine needles, or a combination thereof.  If you know you are in the right area and can't see the cache, start looking for little piles and then check underneath.
  
  Please note that critters sometimes take advantage of geopiles and make homes out of them. I have disturbed two snakes (both harmless) and a mouse in geopiles.  It may be a good idea to poke around with a stick first, and gloves are also very, very handy.  I don't think that's a pun, but hey, I tried.
  
  Enjoy these pictures of simulated geopiles (no spoilers!)

Rock piles I happened to find.  Not geopiles, but you get the idea. Look for artificial piles of natural material, like rocks or sticks.

A closer look.  Just a pile of rocks.  Easily ignored, but if you know what to look for you're set.

3 - Check the Difficulty and Terrain ratings before looking for a cache.

While they are not 100% accurate, Difficulty and Terrain ratings usually give you a good idea of what to expect. Look for 1 or 1.5 difficulty hides when first starting out.  There are usually a lot of them, and they shouldn't be too hard.  Search for caches with Terrain ratings that you are comfortable with.  Again, a 1 or a 2 shouldn't be all that bad.

4 - Check the logs.

Before you go looking for a cache, make sure to check the recent logs.  I can't stress this enough.  If you use a smartphone, just read the logs on your phone.  If you use a GPS with paperless caching you will have the last few logs from when you copied the GPX file to your GPS, so make sure that you update your GPS at least once a week if you want current data.  A few more tips:

• There are often more hints in the logs than in the cache description.
• If the last few people didn't find it, odds are that you won't either, and this will just be an exercise in frustration.
• While you're not supposed to post hints or spoilers, some people post pictures that give away more than they should.
• Logs also give you insight into the local caching community.  You'll soon recognize the active cachers, and will learn to add weight to the comments from the successful ones.
• There are often more hints in the logs than in the cache description.  Yes. I said it twice.  The logs are just as important as the cache description, especially if the cache has been around for a while.  It's much easier finding a cache with 40 logs than it is to get the FTF. 

5 - Expand your search radius.

Your GPS position is only as accurate as the coordinates, and it's reasonable to expect to be up to 30 feet / 9 meters off of where you think you are.  The most inaccurate coordinates I have found showed up on my GPS as being around 90 feet / 27 meters off.  This could be due to my GPS bouncing around under tree cover, or the original coordinates may be off.

If you have checked the logs as per #4 above, keep note of anyone who mentions that the cache coordinates were inaccurate.  It's not uncommon for people to post revised coordinates in their log, so jot them down and adjust your search accordingly.

It's also a good habit to use GZ as your base point and then expand your search to check likely places.  Do you see any trees with lots of knots or holes nearby?  Is there a pile of rocks with nooks and crannies where a cache may be hidden?  As you cache you'll start being able to judge distances by eye a bit better, and while 30 feet sounds like a lot, it's almost always within sight (unless you're on a high terrain difficulty cache) and you will eventually be able to find it with a little looking.

6 - Learn the Geocaching jargon.

In order to understand the logs, you should be very familiar with the Geocaching jargon.  I have a short guide here, though it's more focused on terms that I use on this blog.  TFTC, GZ, SL, TNLN, CO, DNF, etc... all can have meaning on a log, and if you're looking for hints you'll want to make sure that you understand what's being said.

When looking at hints, something like GR may mean "guard rail".  An LPC or LPS is a "light pole cache" or "light pole skirt".  A "cache and dash" or "park and grab" implies that you should be able to park very close by and it should only take a few minutes to find.

There are plenty of lists of terms online, and a good place start is on the official Geocaching Glossary.  As always, Google is also your friend.

7 - Double check on Google Maps

I have a whole post on using Google Maps to find Geocaches, but even if you have a GPS or a smartphone, it's a great supplement.  My post goes into a lot more detail, but the gist of it is to look for landmarks on the aerial photos to help orient yourself when you get close to GZ.

8 - Don't hesitate to log DNFs or ask for help.

The Geocaching community seems to be one of the friendlier online communities around.  I have messaged cache owners and always received responses, and I have been messaged in turn by people looking for hints. I had once made a find on a very difficult local cache, and a much more experienced cacher messaged me out of the blue looking for a hint.  It was great to be able to chat with someone who had so many finds, and now I have someone to shout out to if I get stuck.

Look for local caching groups (check Facebook), and as I've suggested before, online communities such as Reddit are great as well.  The Geocaching web site also has its built-in messaging feature, if you need to contact someone directly.

9 - Never assume that you know what you're looking for.

There's a lot to be said about not assuming stuff anyway, but it's doubly important when caching.  On more than one occasion I have made an assumption about what a hide must be, only to waste a long time looking in the wrong spot.  I once spent upwards of an hour looking for a bison tube on a tree branch, when the actual hide was a camouflaged pill bottle hidden near the roots.

Even if everything in a cache description seems well defined, there is a lot of room for interpretation.  There are no real hard and fast rules about cache sizes, just guidelines.  Some people list bison tubes as small rather than micro.  Sometimes people intentionally list the wrong size, just to throw cachers off.

A key here is to check the logs, as repeatedly mentioned above.  Sometimes people take pictures of the cache, even though it's frowned upon.  Look for logs on micro sized caches saying that people left or traded trinkets - that implies that you're looking for something at least the size of a pill bottle.

As long as you go to a cache site without many preconceived notions of what you're looking for, you'll be in decent shape.

10 - Keep trying... but know when to take a break.

Geocaching can be both an incredibly rewarding and incredibly frustrating pastime.  Many caches are intentionally very difficult to find, and as a new cacher you may be unable to find well over half of what you go looking for.  They key is to keep plugging away at it, and hopefully the tips above will give you enough of an edge to make it a bit easier for you.

As you gain experience you'll also be better able to make the judgement call on when you just need to stop looking for a cache and try again later.  Early on, it wasn't unusual for me to spend upwards of an hour looking for a cache and just getting myself more and more frustrated.  At the time, giving up was the last thing I wanted to do, but I did it to maintain my sanity.  Weeks later, after having found many more caches and gaining experience, I would retry a cache that had stumped me, and 9 times out of 10 I'd find it within minutes.

These days, if I get stuck I'm pretty likely to move on after searching for a few minutes.  That gives me time to think about it without having the pressure of actually knowing that the cache may be 3 feet in front of me staring me in the face.  Always feel free to take a break and come back to it later.

Experience only comes with time, and each cache you do find gives you knowledge that may help you find something in the future. Keep plugging away at it and look forward to getting those milestones!  I remember how excited I was when I found 20, then 50, then 100 and 150 hides.  I'm looking forward to reaching 200 relatively soon, and this hobby has given me something to keep me busy on lunch breaks, boring weekends, and when I travel.  Persistence is the key - keep at it, and you can only get better.

Hopefully you'll find these tips helpful. As mentioned above, feel free to use the comment section below to share your thoughts.

Now get out there and get caching!

Pre-Thanksgiving fun in Skunk Hollow

I have been working a lot of extra hours recently, and with half of my coworkers starting their vacations early, I figured that I could take a slightly longer lunch and pick up a few of the caches in Skunk Hollow.  I had been getting them in ones and twos, but I really wanted to pick up a few before the holidays start and my caching time diminishes significantly.

Alas, I was unprepared and did not bring a camera again.  This sucks, because winter is right around the corner, and I'll probably wait until spring before coming back here to take some scenic shots with actual leaves on actual trees.

Google Map view of the area.  Click to enlarge.

This area is by far my favorite place to go caching.  It's less than 10 minutes from work, and it has a really high cache density.  It's also one of the most beautiful areas I have come across recently.

I started today's trip picking up the first stage of Saw Mill Two-Step, and then walking across Sawmill road to Skunk Hollow, where stage two is located.  As I approached GZ, I saw that there was a major outdoor gathering of a group of youngish folks, exactly where my GPS was directing me to.  I didn't consider that people would actually be over here when I went looking for it, though with schools closed for the holidays I guess it makes sense.  There were so many people there, and I would have been so out of place looking, that I just turned around on the trail and went back toward where I could reach some of the other trails that would take me to other hides in the areas. Sure, it was a bit anti-social, but I deal with people every day at work and have grown to like the solitude of my caching lunch breaks.

I spent about 40 minutes wandering the trails and picking up three caches.  One of the caches took me near the community garden area - in the pic above, it's that big brown blobby area in the upper middle.  There are huge mulch piles there, and a fenced off garden area.

I had actually visited this area on a previous caching trip, but from the other direction.  The Willows is a park located just to the northwest of that garden area, and I have parked there for a few other caches.  I didn't know that the Skunk Hollow nature trails intersected over there, but now that I do I'll be better able to plan my parking for future trips.

That being said, I don't know how much time I'll have in the coming weeks to get back over here.  the holidays are upon us, and much of my lunch time will be spent either working or shopping, so I'll probably be limited to caches in the vicinity of shopping areas.  Not as much fun, I guess, but it's just as well.  I definitely want to take some pictures back here, and I'm sure it's impressive in the spring.

Caches in this post:

• Saw Mill Two-Step (Stage 1 of 2)
• Skunk Hollow #5
• Skunk Hollow #2
• Skunk Hollow #3

My third cache is live!

Cache number three is officially live!  Local Movie Locations / Celebrity Stalker Memorial has a new home in what's officially known as Recreation Park, but what everyone actually calls ABC Field.  This cache commemorates the time spent in 2011 filming Silver Linings Playbook in the area. This movie was filmed in and around Ridley, Upper Darby and Lansdowne, among other places.

Google view of ABC Field.  I should try to take a kite aerial photo here.

I learned a few lessons with this cache.  My original site was located near where this picture was taken by my cousin-in-law:

Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence.

Unfortunately, the walkway they are standing on overlooks the local freight rail line, and a cache placed in that area would be in violation of Federal law or something.  I took great care in selecting an area that was safe, but getting local cachers in trouble with the feds would probably diminish this hobby a bit, so I moved it.

I have run into plenty of caches near train tracks, but when I thought about it a bit I realized that those were all near local passenger lines.  I'm not 100% sure that it makes a difference, but it was a no brainer for me to just move this to another park that had previously has no caches in it.

My wife played a huge role in the creation of this cache, as she spent the weeks that they filmed here stalking Bradley Cooper.  She denies it, of course, but if you describe what stalking is without actually using the word "stalking", she totally agrees that that's what she was doing.  I'm not going to argue with her about this one, because deep inside I think she knows that I'm right, and she did stalk him.

The cache container I made for this one is like nothing I've ever seen before.  Internally, it's nothing more than a Bison tube, but it has been crafted into something totally unique.  I had previously run into some waterproofing issues, but quite a few more coats of a few different types of varnish seemed to do the trick, and my location is at least slightly protected from the weather.

All in all I'm happy with how this came out.  It's different than what I've been working on with the Videogame History series, and 98% of it was inspired by my wife's suggestions, but I still enjoyed making it, and I hope that plenty of local cachers enjoy finding it.

Cache in this post:

• Local Movie Locations / Celebrity Stalker Memorial

Great Cache Location - Houston Park in Nether Providence Twp., PA

I have a new favorite cache - Let The Sun Shine In, located in Nether Providence Township.  This one kept popping up on my GPS every time I drove up Rt. 252 - my "last resort" route I take to work if I see that the Blue Route is jammed.   It's a pretty scenic drive, actually, especially when you get up to the Springton Reservoir, but it takes upwards of 40 minutes (due to the lights) to get to work this way.

But I digress...

The GPS showed the cache only a little bit off of Rt. 252, but you actually need to go to Houston Park and walk down a nature trail.  There is plenty of parking, and the start of the trail is right next to one of the parking areas.

Start of the trail.

About 2 minutes down the trail, if you look down the little valley to the left, you can spot some ruins.

It's hard to see.  You can click to enlarge, for what it's worth.

A little farther on, and the stone bridge comes into view.

The ground is deceptively steep, but I've been doing this kind of thing for almost four whole months now, so I knew what to expect.  When I got down to the bottom I wandered around the bridge for a few minutes.

Closer to the bridge.  It's missing some chunks, but that just makes it look more interesting.

It was a lovely fall day with lots of fallen leaves.  Yes, I said "lovely".

The area is actually what remains of the grounds attached to the Houstonia estate, which was the home of the mayor of Chester, PA from around the turn of the 20th century.  To be clear - he was mayor then, the house and buildings are a little newer.

The house is there and still in use for... something?  Not sure it it's a residence or open for tours.  A little Googling shows that it's available for movie shoots, so that's something I guess.

On the path toward the house.

The hole was at least four feet deep.  The graffiti has dates ranging from the '50s on,
but honestly what's to stop someone from carving an inaccurate date?  I could even
carve a date from the future if I was so inclined.

The fun thing about the house is that the no trespassing signs all warn about the attack dogs that will be sent after you if you approach.

For all the warnings about dogs, I didn't see or hear any of them.

After being warned off by the signs, I walked back down to the bridge again and wandered around a bit.  My GPS showed the cache several hundred feet up the path past the bridge, but I had time to kill and I love ruins.

On the bridge, looking downstream.  Loads of fallen trees.

There were lots of fallen trees and we're only a few weeks after Hurricane Sandy, but most of them looked like they had been down for a while and starting to decay.

The bridge dates from 1921.

This would be a good place to take artsy pictures.  Alas, photography is not one of my strong points.

Steps to nowhere.  Very pretty, but functionally a bit odd.

Once I crossed the bridge, I took a short detour in the direction opposite the cache to check out that little building that I originally spotted from the trail up the hill.  I'm not 100% sure, but it looks like it might have been a little spring house or something.

The barred windows give it such a welcoming, homey look.

About 2-3 inches of water.  There were brackets on the wall where it looked like shelves were attached.

It's still in good shape, even without a roof.

After checking that building out I decided to finally make the walk up to the cache.  The trail is easy to walk, as it looks like it was a well kept road sometime in the past.

There are some really neat old non-working street lamps lining the path.

Closer shot of the street lamp.  Again, note how I'm good at making my shots blurry.
I guess that's a hot thing with Instagram and all, but I've never attempted to sell my
technique to Facebook for $1 Billion. Lost opportunity I guess.

A few minutes up the path takes you past this neat place:

It looks like some kind of cinder block bunker.

Stone stairs lead down.

Over the fallen tree.

What remains of a generator or something, and some rude graffiti on the wall.

This was still a little ways down the trail from GZ.  After exiting the building I went a little farther down the path and started looking for the hide. The cache took me a few minutes to find, as my GPS put me about 20 feet away near a spot that was full of potential hiding areas.  I'm getting better at relying less on my GPS, but sometimes it takes me to a promising place and I can't help but check things out for a few minutes.  In this case, if I had used my geosense I would have made the find a bit quicker.

This is one of those caches where I love the site, and the cache is just an added perk of exploring back here.  I have found quite a few caches that were fancier containers or more complicated hides, but this location was just so cool it was totally worth a favorite point.  It meets quite a few of my criteria for a good location:

• Scenic
• Off the beaten path
• Ruins
• History

A little farther down the path.

After finding the cache, I followed the trail to the end, right before it hits Rt. 252.  I really just wanted to see what it looked like from this side of the road, as I've driven by it often enough.  After that I made the 10 minute walk back to the car and headed out.  I'm planning on taking Jack here in a few days, because he likes ruins almost as much as I do.

Apparently there is a puzzle cache somewhere in this park as well - Houston, we've had a problem is somewhere back here.  One of these days I'll take the time to solve the puzzle, as it'll give me an excuse to come back!

Caches in this post:

• Let The Sun Shine In
• Houston, we've had a problem

Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy made its way through the area a few days ago. Watching the news, it's pretty apparent that this was a massive storm that did severe damage to areas that are not too far away.  We had a ton of rain, and a good bit of wind, but all it all it wasn't that bad.  Nothing near the soaking that we saw during Hurricane Floyd a number of years back, at least as far as I remember.  A decent sized chunk of the neighboring town was out of power since the storm, but I think it's back on now.

There are quite a few trees down in the area, though, including one very close to the very first cache we ever found - View of the Lake. The road that passes by there has been closed, and when I took a walk through the park to check on that status of my two Video Game History caches I could see that a pretty massive tree actually fell down on top of the boat house that is pretty close to View of the Lake's GZ. I''ll check up on it as soon as I can, once they clear that tree and take down the police "Do Not Cross!" tape.

Not much else to report.  Both of my caches were fine, and I swung by my adopted cache while at work today, and it was fine as well.

There is a cache very close to work that I'd been meaning to check out - Keara's Monkey Cache.  This is in a park that's split between fields with trees and a huge playground area.  There is something interesting about the placement of the cache, and it's attached to GZ with....

Ok, well, it was attached to GZ with something.  When I attempted to get the cache, the thing that attached the cache to GZ fell apart.  I temporarily fixed things up, and have a plan to replace the attachment thing tomorrow.

My lesson learned is that I should be a little more prepared to patch things up if I visit a cache in bad shape (or if I cough break it cough).  I have seen plenty of cache logs where people replaced wet / missing log sheets, or changed out cache containers when the original went missing.  I'm not talking about the cache owners, either - random cachers make the effort to keep a cache alive.

I've noticed that, at least locally, the community of cachers is a true community, looking out for each other and each other's caches.  I've read online about people causing problems for cachers, but haven't seen that all around here, and that's just fine by me.

Cache listed in this post:

• Keara's Monkey Cache

Awesome location - Saw Mill Park, Skunk Hollow, and The Willows

I'm going to have to get some pictures before posting an official location review, but I wanted to give a quick mention about my new favorite caching area in Radnor, PA- Saw Mill Park, Skunk Hollow, and The Willows.

All three parks are connected, and wow, just wow.  Great scenery, hiking trails, and more than a dozen caches within an area small enough to cover on foot, but big enough to take half a day if you wanted to pick them all up.  I have been stopping by on lunch break and picking up caches in ones and twos, but I have not been bringing my whole Geocaching kit, so I haven't had a camera with me.

As soon as I get some pictures, I'll make an official post about it, but I had to post something, because I can't get enough of these parks and would love to run into a fellow cacher there someday!

Birthday Madness Part 2 - My busiest caching day ever!

Welcome to Part 2 of my Birthday Madness blog post!

Before yesterday, I had never had a full day by myself to cache.  I have done the bulk of my caching on short trips during lunch break at work, and even on the weekends I can sometimes squeeze an hour or two at most.  95% of the time I have other, "more important" things to do, or plans with Emily and Jack.  The closest I've ever come to a whole day caching was one of the days we spent at the shore back in August. Even then I may have had about 4 hours caching time, and I had to check in with the family a few times - they're beach people, I'm not, so they spent the day on the beach while I cached.

Yesterday was different.  I had time to myself from 8:30 until 5:30, so I spent the entire time caching.

I submitted my first few caches right before I left the house, and while I was on the computer I noticed that a new multi cache showed up right down the road from Video Game History #2 - Frogger, and that nobody had found it yet.  With my odds of getting an FTF being pretty good, I drove the 3 minutes over to Hangin' Here Watchin' The Trains and made the find.  Both parts of the multi were within walking distance, so I was in and out of there with the FTF within 10 minutes, tops.  Not that I was going to take it as an omen or anything, but this bode well for the rest of the day, and it was my second FTF within a week!

I have been spending a lot of time on the Geocaching web site looking into areas with high concentrations of caches, so my plan was to go toward a few of these spots, picking up anything else that popped up on my GPS on the way.  Indian Orchard Park in Middletown is about a 10-15 minute drive from home with 6 caches listed within its borders, so I headed in that direction, picking up Taylor's Cache on the way.

Indian Orchard Park consists of a series of hiking trails right off of Rt. 352.  The park itself is about 1/4 mile off the road, and I never would have known it existed without reading the cache descriptions.  This also bode well for the day, as I love finding places that are off the beaten path a bit.  The park itself is worthy of more love, so I'll post a location review for it sometime in the future, after I go back and get some decent pictures of the place.

On Google Maps, just search for Copes Lane off of Rt. 352 

I wandered the trails for a total of about 90 minutes, picking up all of the caches along the way.  I did have a bit of an adventure - I had just picked up Wish it was summer and decided to work my way over to I am friends with Russell Crowe.  The nearby trail looked like it circled the woods along the edge of Linvilla Orchards, but my GPS was pointing me through the woods.  Here is where an experienced hiker or cacher would have stuck to the trail and made it to GZ in 5 minutes.  Me, being a city boy (Ok, well, suburb boy) thought, "How bad could a walk through the woods be?  I have GPS, so I won't get lost!" and decided to go off trail.

Dumb move.

I went about 100 feet before everything became incredibly overgrown.  Being the abnormally large guy that I am, I decided that I could just walk over any undergrowth.  That worked well enough to get me stuck even farther in the undergrowth and thickets.  Still feeling upbeat, and now realizing that it would take a lot of effort to go back to where I left the trail, I decided to press on.

Dumb move.

40 minutes of bushwhacking later, I finally reached GZ, and then spent about 10 minutes of crawling around rotten logs looking for the cache.  After my little trek through the woods there was no freaking way I was gonna leave here without logging it, even if it meant that I needed to live there and feed on berries and wild animals to survive.  I had spotted a box turtle a little while back and marked the location on my GPS, just in case...

Poor little thing had no idea how close it came to becoming lunch.
I even planned to make primitive survival tools out of its shell.

Luckily, I found the cache a few minutes later.  I skipped going back through the woods (best decision that I made that day) and took the trail back, and yeah, it took me all of 5 minutes to get back to where my adventure all started.  I'm sure I'll look back on this and laugh someday, but as it only happened 24 hours ago I'm still a little pissy about it.  Oh well.

I only had two more caches to find in the park before leaving, and both of them were pretty easy.  I did't have any more weird urges to leave the trail or anything, so I guess I learned my lesson.

After leaving the park, I drove right down the road to a quick cache and dash LPC.  I know that some people get all hateful about LPCs, but personally, I have absolutely no problem with them.   Sure, I wish some of them were a little more creative, but honestly, it puts caches in places that otherwise would have no other suitable option. After sweating out about 3 pounds of water weight on a misguided hike through the woods, this was just what the doctor ordered.

I picked up a few more local hides before heading down toward Delaware.  I took a quick stop in Aston to pick up one of my DNFs from when I was first starting out - Ice Ice Baby.  Wow, this is another one of those situations where a little experience made a world of difference.  My first time there had been about two weeks after I started caching, and I spent a solid 20 minutes looking for it.  This time, it took me all of 45 seconds to grab it.  I was much more dependent on GPS (or in that case, Google Maps) back then and am now used to expanding my search a bit.

On the way down to Delaware I stopped by BAAAH HUMBUG!!!, which had been another DNF from back in August.   This one has a lot of favorite points, and the logs imply that it is very tricky.  Damn, they weren't kidding.  I spent about 20 minutes looking around GZ, pretending that my GPS was a cell phone (it's still better than my actual "cell phone") when the workers from the nearby restaurant came outside to take their smoke breaks.

I was on the verge of leaving when a stray bit of sunlight reflected off of something I needed to see.  30 seconds later, cache in hand, I was laughing maniacally and signing the log.  This one had been bugging me for two months, so I was thrilled to have picked it up.

I made the short trip to Delaware and picked up two more easy caches, and then headed home for the evening.  All told, I found 16 caches, and only had one (expected) DNF.  Not bad for a solo newbie cacher!

Caches found (or not) on October 18th:

• Hangin' Here Watchin' The Trains (FTF)
• Taylor's Cache
• X-Men Marks The Spot: Colossus
• Phobia #10
• Wish it was summer
• I am friends with Russell Crowe
• Snake Trap
• Scouts' Stash
• Holy Sh??
• Phobia #2
• Playtime
• Your Choice!
• Ice Ice Baby
• BAAAH HUMBUG!!!
• Pond Loop
• Red Wing Pond
• Wide Open Spaces (DNF)

Birthday Madness Part 1 - My first two caches are live!

The past few days have been so busy, cache-wise, that I'm splitting this into two separate blog posts.

As I mentioned before, my 40th birthday fell on the 17th, so it was the perfect opportunity to use up some of my excess vacation time and take a few days off to both go caching and to officially submit my first few caches for review.  I'm happy to report that my first official caches (not counting my adopted one) went live yesterday!  Video Game History #1 - Breakout and Video Game History #2 - Frogger are officially out in the wild, and several people found both caches on the day they went live.

Breakout from the Atari 2600 version.  Wikimedia Commons image shown.

I live within walking distance of Eastlake Park In Ridley Park, and there was only one cache in the 14 acre area, so this was a natural spot for me to place them.  I was able to find spots that fit the theme of both caches, and I'm sticking by my "no generic cache container" rule.  Each container is pretty unique, though I have to admit that while Breakout is like nothing I've ever found, Frogger was inspired by a few caches I picked up when I first started caching.  Frogger is probably the more fun of the two containers as well.

Frogger.  Wikimedia Commons image shown.

This whole process was a series of firsts for me.  Originally, I wasn't sure what to put in the cache as an FTF prize.  Since Breakout was my first cache ever, I ended up splurging and left a new 8 GB thumb drive.  Frogger is a smaller container, so my choices were pretty limited. Conveniently I had a Where's George? dollar that I picked up at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire about a month ago.  Considering that it's kinda sorta trackable (not many people bother logging them) AND it's worth $1, it was a win/win for everyone involved.

I had spent a little time over the past few days getting averaged coordinates, and finally dropped both caches off on my birthday this past Wednesday.  I had been writing up the cache descriptions for a little while, and since I knew I would be in the area caching yesterday, I submitted them for review first thing in the morning.  I wasn't sure if the local reviewer would actually come out and check the caches or not, but I guess the answer is "or not", as they went live within about an hour of me posting them.

Cache number 3 was also ready to go, but apparently my placement is in an area that is unsuitable as it is pretty close to a train overpass.  The area itself is safe - there is a huge fence blocking anyone from getting near the tracks - but its very proximity to the train could be an issue due to federal law or something.

It's really no big deal as I had a "Plan B" spot picked out already.  It's less related to the theme of the cache, but it's in a busy park that has no other caches, and I'm sure it will get plenty of cacher traffic.  when I took it down to move it I noticed that I needed to beef up the waterproofing, so this being told that I had to move the cache alerted me to a problem that I may not have caught until it was too late. Sweet.

All in all, I'm pleased with how the caches came out, though I can foresee the next ones being more unique.

Shameless plug - if you're in the area, come check them out!  The three caches in this park are all within walking distance of one another, though it may be a bit of a stroll.  Come out on a nice day, check out the scenery, and find some caches!

I adopted a cache today!

While I have only been caching for a few months, I have been interested in it for much longer.  My Geocaching.com account actually dates back to 2005, and over the years I would periodically check to see if there were any local caches and pine over my lack of a GPS.

Back when I found my first cache in 2011, I had about a week where I was on the edge of obsession, much like how I am now.  One day at work, I checked out the map and saw a cache right around the corner, less than five minutes away.  The cache was called Bryn Mawr Park and Memorial and was located on one of the main roads in the area.

The Google Map of the coordinates showed the cache in a parking lot, so how hard could it be to find?  I printed the cache page, with the hint, drove to the parking lot, and spent 15 minutes wandering around in a clueless manner.  What I didn't know then, but do know now, was that I was looking for a Nano hide.  The hint basically told me everything I needed to know except for the fact that I was looking for something that small.  I didn't know that those types of containers existed, and would never have thought to look in what I now know to be a very obvious spot.

Well, here we are in 2012, with me now having over 100 finds, and the cache has been disabled since May. I have been picking up all of the other local hides, and this one disabled listing has been nagging me more than anything else, as it is so freaking close to work.  In going over the logs I noticed that the only issue appeared to be that the log was full, so I figured "what the hell" and took the little trip over there on lunch.

Google Street View of the parking area.

Sure enough, the cache was still there. The log had gotten wet over the months, and a little bit of rust messed it up a bit, but the cache was otherwise fine.

Yes, I took this with my "cell phone".  It has a "camera".

I posted a note (I didn't want log credit for a cache that didn't technically exist) with the pic and left it at that. A little while later, I received an email from the CO explaining that he had moved away and would be unable to take care of it anymore, and offering me the chance to adopt and maintain the cache.  So I did.  I printed a new log, dried the cache out thoroughly, and put it right back where it's lived for the past few years.

This whole cache adoption thing was a bit of a surprise, coming as it does a few days before my other caches get posted, but it's also a no brainer.  It is very easy for me to maintain this cache, and anything I can do to keep active caches in the area means that I'm doing my part keeping other local cachers entertained.

Cache in this post:

• Bryn Mawr Park and Memorial

14 Consecutive Days, and my first FTF!

Well, I did it!  I found caches every day from September 30th through today, so 14 days straight.  This may not be a huge accomplishment for some folks, but it was incredibly challenging getting out either before work or on lunch break on every weekday, and squeezing enough time in on busy weekends to pick up a cache or two.

Part of the problem is that I am rapidly running out of easy caches.  Because of my time constraints caching on lunch break, I have been going for a lot of easy nano hides and LPCs.  As those are running out, I have ended up having to look for more challenging hides, and the time crunch of an hour (including drive time) is making things tough.

I did manage to nab my first FTF yesterday - Don't miss the target.  I have alerts set up to text me if a new cache shows up in my area, and I got the alert just before 10 AM, while I was at work, for one that was about 15 minutes away by car.

I sprinted out of the building and made it to the nearby parking area, right as two people were getting out of a car three spots over.  I totally thought that they were there for the cache, and my first thought was one of disappointment, as I really wanted the FTF, but my second was one of interest, as I don't know any other local cachers and would like to meet some of them.

Alas, they were actually just there to park their car, so when they walked off I made the quick grab and got my first FTF.  Pretty exciting, though it did mess me up for lunch break as I basically took it 45 minutes after I arrived.  It's a good thing I don't get hungry in the middle of the day anyway, or I would have been screwed.

I'm looking forward to next week!  I'm taking a few days off for my birthday (Turning 40. Yay?) and plan to release my first two caches into the wild, and also plan to spend at least one whole day caching.  There is an old DNF in PA down near Delaware that I want to try to go for again, and I'd like to make another stop in DE while I'm down there, just to add to the two I picked up there previously.  Can't wait!

Two notable caches, and getting close to personal goal.

I was able to take another crack at the Springfield Trail today, and found the next cache down the trail - Cobras Rock!  Just like before, it was a scenic walk to ground zero, and this one was actually close to a little picnic area near a rock wall.  As I had no clue that anything like this was back here, this was pretty exciting.

Rock wall.  Not sure if that's the correct geological term for it, but oh well.

Nobody had found this cache since February, and there were a few DNFs logged by others, so I wasn't sure if it would even be here.  After a few minutes of poking around, and after needing to break out my pair of work gloves, I found it!

I was the first person to find this in 8 months,.

I'm totally going to take Jack and Emily back here soon.  He'll like the area back here, and this cache was places as part of a boy scout project, so he'll appreciate that as well.

On lunch break today I took another crack at another one of my non-logged DNFs that has been driving me nuts - Addendum.  This is a short drive from work, in a little park off of a little street, and I have already been here twice before looking for it.  It has quite a few favorite points, and the logs imply that it's tough, but now that I found it I have to say it was more of a lateral thinking puzzle than a difficult hide.  When you arrive at GZ, there are so many possible hiding spots that it's almost overwhelming.  I was actually walking back to my car today when I had my "Aha!" moment and turned back and immediately found it.  It wasn't what I expected, but in a good way, and it was totally worth a favorite point.

Speaking of favorites, I've reached a point where I need to go through and reevaluate what caches I logged as favorites when I first started out.  My whole view on caching has evolved quite a bit in the few months that I've been caching, and what I like now is nothing like what I liked then.  I like the favorite point system, but damn, I'd like 30 points to spend, rather than the 10 or 11 I have now.

Personal Goal

I'm almost at 14 consecutive days of caching!  I know that this is not a big deal, compared to the people who go at least a cache a day for over a year, but considering that I work full time and am busy most weekends, this has been quite a challenge.  I seriously hope that I can pull this off!

Caches in this post:

• Cobras Rock!
• Addendum

GSAK

I have been using the trial version of GSAK for a while now and finally registered last night.  For those of you unfamiliar with it, GSAK - the Geocaching Swiss Army Knife - is a Geocaching database.  You link it to your account, and it is able to download and update cache information to a database stored on your computer.  This allows you to easily create GPX files for your GPS receiver with whatever information you require.

It has some very impressive features.  You can  define areas on a map and download just the caches in that area.  You can have it download any pocket queries that you run.  You can filter and sort by all sorts of criteria, and you can then take that filtered data and create a GPX file of it.  You get the idea.

There are also tons of macros to automate tasks, so for example, I am using a tool called FindStatGen to create a detailed cache report that I post to my Geocaching profile.  I am also setting things up so that I can download current data for about 4500 local caches (this covers pretty much anything within reasonable driving distance) that I can update once a week and keep in my Garmin.  I will be posting a tutorial on this shortly, as it's been incredibly handy.

All in all, this has been a great tool, and well worth the $30.