Listen To The Little Voices

When Jim (GeoSpyder) invited us to join a group of cachers to snag all of this years GBES rally caches, we eagerly accepted his invitation. The only problem was that we had scheduled a local charity to pick up some old furniture on the day of the run, so we called to reschedule. After all, what’s more important anyway. Unfortunately the next pickup date was next month so we agreed we would move it out of the house and leave it on the front porch. On the day before the run we tried to move the furniture but the couch was too big for the door and way too heavy to carry out the back door and around to the front. We couldn’t get the furniture out of the house by ourselves so we had to make a decision. Should we stay home or collect 44 rally caches. We should have listened to the little voice telling us to stay home.

On the morning of the run we all met at the prescribed location and started the day by climbing up onto Peavine Mountain. After finding only two caches we took a wrong turn and ended up sliding down a very steep slop to a ravine below, then up another steep but shorter slope to a road. We could go back up...NOT!... or we could follow the road back to...YEP!...the beginning. An hour after starting our trek we were starting again. A little voice tried to tell us something but we didn’t listen.


After making sure we turned right where we had turned left, we settled down and started enjoying the company of some really nice folks and the scenery and the ride. Enjoyed it until Jim’s year old fancy Rubicon died. It wouldn’t start no matter how hard the men stared at the engine. Eventually the idea was hatched that it must be the chip in the key and Jim had a spare...back home in his safe. We reconfigured GeoJeep to accept three people and an hour later he stuck his spare key in the ignition switch, turned it and...nothing, zip, nada, well crap! Another little voice was trying to get our attention but, again, we didn’t listen.

GeoJeep stepped up and towed Jim’s fancy Rubicon to the top of the hill. We unhooked the tow strap and took off down the hill. Michele (Moonchaser) gave the Rubicon a gentle push and it, too, took off down the hill. Before this all happened we did have the foresight to determine that the Rubicon had brakes but, unfortunately, no power steering. As we were tootling down the hill I looked in the rear view mirror and saw the Rubicon coming very fast down the hill and realized that we shouldn’t be any where near a Rubicon as it’s careening down a steep hill. We pulled off the road just in time to see the Rubicon fly past us with it’s occupants rattling around inside. At the bottom of the hill we reattached the tow strap and GeoJeep towed the Rubicon to pavement where it sat waiting for a tow truck. Jim stayed with his Jeep and the rest of us decided to go back up onto the mountain...AGAIN...and continue on without our leader. And no one heard the little voice shouting at us.

The route took us to the top of the mountain and over the other side into a heavily wooded forest. The views and scenery on this side of the mountain were spectacular and again we all began enjoying ourselves completely unaware that we were all about to meet the road from hell (do you hear the little voices now?)

You see, because of all the wrong turns and delays, we were running out of time and realized that we had to modify the plan. There wasn’t enough daylight left to run both the day and night routes and get all the caches so we had to make a decision. Do we follow the plan and go north or do we take a shortcut over to where the majority of the caches are hidden. Well, in my defense, the map did show a road. I know it said it was a Jeep trail but the map is 30 years old...it’s probably much better now. I thought I heard someone say, “GO BACK”! but it was just the wind in the trees. The next hour and a half can only be described as terror mixed with dead ends forcing us to experience the same terror from the other direction. At some point, we came upon an intersection where we could turn left and go down into the mouth of Hell or we could go right. We went right, naturally, but after two dead ends we were back looking into the mouth of Hell again. Just beyond oblivion we could see salvation. It was a road...a real road!

In general I hate backtracking and will avoid it whenever possible but it seemed we didn’t have a choice. But I really hate to backtrack and that road over there was calling my name so I had no choice. I had to see what was beyond the mouth of Hell. I got out of GeoJeep and walked down the steep slope that led to the mouth. Only it wasn’t the mouth of Hell, it was only a deep dark ravine with water running through it. That’s all well and good but another dead end is still a dead end. Or was it? As I got closer to the ravine I could see that the road made a sharp turn to the left just before disappearing down into the ravine. I carefully followed the road through the forest and around a turn and there up a short slope was the road we were looking for. All we had to do was slowly drive/slide down to the ravine (making sure we didn’t fall into it), turn sharply to the left and over a large boulder that was placed there to toss Jeeps into the ravine. Once past the boulder it was smooth sailing.

Once the other folks saw GeoJeep survive the gauntlet they followed with clenched jaws and bulging eyeballs. But we all made it. It was a testament to the skill and fortitude of the drivers but it also demonstrated the lengths otherwise sane people will go to to find little containers hidden in the forest. Go figure!

Eleven and a half hours after we started (the first time) we had 40 more caches. But more importantly we were home safe and sound and enjoying a cold frosty mug of Moose Drool.

Whales, Sharks, Buffalos and Moose Drool-OR-The Quest for 6000

This weekend the age old question was answered. Is it all about the numbers or is there more to geocaching? The answer is, “YES!”

Friendly competition between us and L3-Geo and a mutual love for geocaching has kept our numbers about equal. Sometimes they’re ahead and sometimes we are. As we both neared the 6000 mark, the team leaders began formulating their strategy. First, L3-Geo needed to catch up a bit so, before the weekend, they cached hardy in their home territory. Then the plan was for them to come up to Reno and we would take them around the area “letting” them get more than us so that by the end of the weekend we would celebrate the same cache for our 6000th find.


Friday, June 6 - The Virginia Range

After the mandatory visit to Starbuck’s we headed up Geiger Grade (Hwy 341) into the Virginia Range. After only a couple of miles we turned off onto a dirt road that is a “shortcut” up into Virginia Highlands, a rural mountain bedroom community of Reno. This is the same area that I described on the previous blog as “Brandy Territory”. Our main goal was to take L3-Geo to Whale’s Spout but first we grabbed three caches in the opposite direction; Baobab Tree, Shark Rock and Curti Ranch Overlook. Once those were out of the way we headed over to Whale’s Spout so that they could enjoy it as much as we did. After Whale’s Spout we decided to forgo anymore caches deeper into the mountains and headed to Virginia City for lunch.

When in Virginia City we almost never pay for parking but, for some reason, this time we did. I asked the attendant for a recommendation for lunch. He unhesitatingly swore that the Palace had the best food. That was good enough for us and as we were entering the Palace I noticed they were featuring Buffalo burgers and Moose Drool beer. SOLD! A definite must have when in Virginia City! The burger was excellent and I may have found my new favorite beer. Move over Shiner Bach, here comes Moose Drool! After lunch we tackled two new caches along Ophir Grade. One was easy to drive to but the other was up on the ridge and the ride proved to be very exciting. I’m pleased to report that the burger and beer behaved themselves.

We continued caching down to and around Dayton before we called it a day and came back home. We were exhausted from all the bumping, rocking and jarring. And besides, the next day we had a hot date with John of Jahoadi and John at the gates of Jack’s Valley Recreation Area. Us old folks needed our rest if we hoped to have any chance of keeping up with him!

Saturday, June 7 - Jack’s Valley


A couple of years ago (well, maybe longer) we briefly explored the Jack’s Valley OHV Recreation Area and grabbed some of the easier caches. Today we teamed up with John and L3-Geo and did some serious 4-wheeling and caching. The area north of Jack’s Valley road is almost exclusively decomposed granite so there were few if any rocks to contend with. We all had a blast “racing” up and down and around looking for caches. We managed to find all the caches except two. Those required steep long (well, long for us old geezers) hikes. The area south of Jack’s Valley road is much more rocky so naturally that slowed us down considerably and reduced the “fun factor” but we managed to find all the caches on that side too. After finishing the Jack’s Valley caches we were saying our goodbyes to John when he asked us what our plans were for Sunday. We told him we were going to cache around Tahoe and we could tell from the way his eyes lit up that he wanted to go. So we made a date to meet the next morning. He then went his way and we decided we wanted to have some more fun.

One of our goals this weekend was to complete a series of five caches based on the board game Clue. After determining who done it, the object is to translate that information into coordinates which leads you to the sixth and final cache. We had found one of the clues previously and needed four more before we could snag the final cache so we decided to spend the rest of the day tracking them down, and, of course, finding other nearby caches as well. Our rides in Voltaire Canyon and south of Prison Hill were sandy and smooth with virtually no rocks affording us some great fun. The best time was when we had to rock crawl through a small gap in some rocks at the peak of a hill. The rest of the Clue caches took us to Brunswick Canyon, a water tank off of Goni Road and, the final cache, at the mouth of Ash Canyon. Here, while we were doing the happy dance and congratulating each other, a Highway Patrol officer appeared on the dirt road. He saw us and stopped about 500 feet away and watched. Then, as quickly as he appeared, he turned around and left in a cloud of dust. I would run too if I saw four old folks dancing around a burned out stump! I guess even the State’s finest have their limits.

After that we had had it too, so we headed home. There was lots to do for our trip around Tahoe.

Sunday, June 8 - Lake Tahoe

It was the perfect day for the five of us to drive up to Tahoe, wander aimlessly around residential streets, make endless hair-raising U-turns and scramble up hillsides. Truth be told, John did the scrambling, we eventually brought up the rear. The quiet strolls through the forest along streams provided the perfect balance from the hectic driving and scrambling.

The plan was to get both us and Linda and Larry (L3-Geo) to 5999 and then celebrate our 6000th find with one of applejohn’s caches, Sunken Meadows (GCXB7T). It sounded like the perfect cache for this milestone but when we got to the end of the pavement, the gates were still locked. Rats! On the other hand, a 0.67 mile hike through snow would definitely have taken the fun out of it. John took out his frustrations by racing his FJ through a huge puddle. We, of course, demurely followed. The next cache down the road was another applejohn cache and it too required a walk but it was a much shorter walk. Nevertheless, it was the perfect cache to claim as our 6000th. Thanks Ron for all your quality caches.

After that we leisurely cached to South Shore where we had lunch and then we wandered around the area trying to find a few more caches with limited success. So we decided to leave Tahoe and take Kingsbury Grade down to the Carson Valley. We picked up a few more caches on the way to and around Genoa. We backtracked to Minden for a pit stop and ice cream (John paid!! Thanks John). By then it was getting late, we were pooped and John had a long drive back to Fallon, so we reluctantly said goodbye to John and headed to Reno.

Yes, geocaching is about the numbers, but it’s much more than that. It’s about being with family and good friends. It’s about exploring and discovering. It’s about living - even if you are an old geezer.

The Whale's Spout

Every once in a while a cache pops up on the radar that leaves an indelible impression. “Whale’s Spout” was definitely one of these. Not because it was particularly hard to find but because of the challenge presented to my old decreped and handicapped body. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

When this cache was published I took one quick look at the map and knew exactly where it was and how to get to it. It was in Brandy Territory. Before Brandy (our golden retriever) died, she and I spent many hours wandering around the hills between Reno and Virginia City. Many times I would find an out-of the-way place on top of a hill and read a book while she ran around and explored. Even though I couldn’t see her most of the time, I knew she could see me and she never ventured too far, always coming back for a drink of water and to tell me with those big brown eyes what a great time she was having. Her final resting place is about a mile from “Whale’s Spout”.

So I knew where it was and how to get there.

The first time we arrived at “Whale’s Spout” we knew exactly where the cache was located. Cynthia groaned and I got all giddy because I really like climbing rocks. Once there I could stand on one large rock and see the cache on another larger rock. Unfortunately there was a large space between rocks, too large for an old man with only one good ankle to jump across. The rock with the cache was huge and had few if any real hand grips and foot holds. At least nothing arthritic hands and fingers could get a hold of. I was left with only one option...I had to think. Fortunately, I can still do that.

As I slowly circled the rock, a plan started forming. If I could tie off a rope on one side and throw it over to the opposite side I might be able to “walk” up the side of the rock while pulling myself hand over hand up the rope. So I went back to the Jeep and dug out a tow strap and carried it back to the Spout. I tied it off and threw it over the rock. After a few failed throws I managed to place the strap where I needed it. Then I walked around to the other side and discovered that the strap was about five feet short. And besides, REALLY! What gave me the idea I could walk up a rock anyway! I had to think some more. But it was really cold and the wind was blowing so I decided I could think better at home with a glass of wine.

While I was thinking other geocachers found it and posted their stories. Some just hopped across from one rock to the other. Others scrambled up the Spout commenting about how smooth it was. One cacher even did it in a hail storm and almost slipped off the side of the Spout. When I was young and stupid I did stupid things too and now look at me. Still thinking.

I had all kinds of great ideas and visited Home Depot several times. I was prepared to spend whatever time and money necessary to get on top of that rock. But reason and good sense finally prevailed and when the weather improved I put Cynthia and a ladder in the Brandy truck (Cynthia got to sit up front) and we returned to the Spout.

I’m happy to report that it worked but I have yet to admit that I was the only one that used a ladder. I posted a note after the first attempt and another when we finally signed the log. Here they are.

April 28, 2008

Ahoy, Mateys! Call me Ahab. ARR! I’ve sailed these seas fer many a yearrr so the route was clear. Shiver me timbers! Me 'n' me trusty hands boarrrded GeoJeep 'n' sailed a circuitous voyage ta the treasure. At the end o' the journey we spied the beast 'n' I gave the order ta heave to. We climbed ta the crow's nest 'n' handsomeley found the cache, but blow me down! The beast’s hide was absent barrrnacles 'n' I couldn’t gain no purchase. I tried riggin' lines over the beast 'n' pullin' meself up onto its spout but the wind she was a blowin' 'n' me crew was a shivern’ so I surrendered. Arrrrrrrr! I’ll be back!!

May 30, 2008

Ahoy me mateys! I be back with me hearty crew. Arrrrr! And dis time I brung riggin t’ help git me ole carcass t’ the top. Me crew she did steady the riggin’ and hold me true and I made it t’ the top and snagged the booty. Blimy, thanks for the fun and adventure!