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!

For those of you who don’t know, we are obsessed with geocaching. After completing the Nevada Delorme Challenge we thought if would be cool to do the California Delorme Challenge. By default, if one completes the Delorme Challenge one also qualifies to complete the California Counties Challenge. Over the last year or so we have picked away at the quads and counties in California and not long ago we realized we were only 4 counties away from completing the County Challenge. We needed at least one cache in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, San Diego and Imperial Counties. A plan started taking shape.

It had been awhile since we had visited our daughter in Riverside so we decided to combine a visit with her and the completion of the Counties Challenge. The trip to Riverside took two very long days and in the end we were 4 caches richer, but...FINALLY...we were done. Well, not really because traveling all over California spending countless hours and dollars only allows you the right to receive the location of the final cache. As you can imagine, there were many adventures in our quest for the gold but those stories pale in comparison with this story.

When we plotted the coordinates for the final cache in Google Earth, it was in the middle of the San Jacinto River in Lake Elsinore California. Fortunately the river didn’t look like it had much water but when was the image taken? There was a road on the north edge of the river and a large building and parking lot on the south edge. The road would get us closest to the cache and it had three possible access points. The plan was to find a way onto the road and park as close to the cache as possible. The alternative would be to park at or near the building and hike over to the cache.

When we arrived we tried two of the possible access points to the road and struck out. While searching for the third way in we discovered that the building was a church and this was Sunday (Mother’s Day) and church was a very busy place. Fortunately the last possibility was a winner and we were able to drive within 94 feet of the cache.

For a river there wasn’t much water but what we didn’t expect was an impenetrable jungle and beyond that was a dark foreboding swamp. The cache was somewhere beyond the swamp but the vegetation was simply too dense to see more than 20 feet. GeoJeepette and I walked up and down the road looking for a geo-trail but found nothing but gnarly branches and six foot tall stinging nettles. We tried making our own trail but quickly found the way blocked and had to turn back.

We were determined to get this cache! After all we went through we weren’t walking away without the final prize so I told GeoJeepette to stay behind with our daughter and if I didn’t come back they would know where to send the rescue squad.

Before I could even take my first step into the jungle I had to stomp down dead branches and vines at my feet and break more branches overhead. I created a “doorway” into the jungle and what I saw reminded me of a movie I once saw when I was a kid. You may have seen it too, you know, the one where the young maiden is frantically struggling through a swamp when, out of nowhere, a slimy scaly three fingered reptilian humanoid hand reaches up out of the goo, grabs her leg and...she’s gone in a scream. Or maybe it was the movie where the mad scientist used a swamp very much like this one as a repository for his failed genetic experiments.

I know this cache is important to GeoJeepette and this is Mother’s Day and all, but jeees, do I really have to?!

It was the longest 94 feet of my life. Every careful footstep and handhold stirred up all manner of insects, reptiles, amphibians and mammals. At least I think that’s what I heard running up the trees or slithering through the water. I actually never saw them because the flies and insects flying around my face blocked the view. I eventually found an old rotten log that held my weight and I was able to cross over a particularly foul hole of stinking decaying organic goo. I was sure this was where the swamp thing was waiting for me but somehow I managed to reach the other side alive and intact. After a short euphoric walk through a small bog I came to a small spit of dry land. In 94 feet I managed to become covered in sweat, mud, flies, bugs and various chunks of plant material. But I was close! It had to be nearby, it just had to be! Please.....

My GPSr was worthless with the jungle canopy blocking out both the sun and satellites so I had to use my wits but how do you use your wits when you’re scared witless?

OH, PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER, MAN!!

So, I asked myself, “Where would I hide a cache?” The obvious answer was “NOT IN THIS GOD FORSAKEN SWAMP!!”, but that wasn’t a helpful response so I started to think. I would hang it in one of these trees so the flood waters wouldn’t wash it away. Good answer!! Unfortunately, it was the wrong answer. It wasn’t in the trees. Rats! The only other place was on the ground but there was so much debris that it could be buried anywhere. I wandered around on the little spit of land kicking at debris and poking my walking stick into scary dark grottoes and in only a few very long minutes I found it!

After taking all the trackable items and signing the log, I replaced the cache and followed my trail back to sunlight and GeoJeepette and our daughter. To everyone’s dismay I seemed to have brought all my insect buddies with me along with the mud and debris. GeoJeepette reached out to help me brush off some of the jungle but quickly retracted her hand realizing that most of it was still moving. I took off my hat, shook it off and used it to scare off most of the winged creatures except for the one that was already nesting behind my left ear.

Now I want you to pay particular attention to the last picture of GeoJeepette and myself. Understandably, she’s happy because this Challenge is finally over but look at my face. I’m happy too, honest. It’s just that my arms and legs are burning from the stinging nettles, I’ve got cuts and bruises and...I just know something has already laid eggs somewhere and all I can think about is hosing them off.

Stop!!

Today we volunteered at the Creek Week CITO in Folsom. I was the traffic control person at one end of the road and Linda of L3-Geo was at the other end. We have a whole new respect for flag people. We were ignored, yelled at, shown people's IQ of 1 that involved a hand gesture and more. The questions were the most interesting part of being a flag person. What happened? What are you doing? When are they going to repave the bridge? How the heck should I know!! Other cachers told me I should have said we start next week.

While I was directing traffic, Mike was using GeoJeep to winch up trash that people had thrown over the bridge. He pulled up tire after tire, a child's jeep toy, an old basketball hoop, parts of old cars, and lots and lots of bucket of miscellaneous trash. It's amazing what people will throw over a bridge. Have they ever heard of dumps????

We met lots of other cachers and we worked well as a team. After we were done, we went to lunch with Dennis and Dorothy of 2Dee2Dee and had more fun. Then it was off for more caching. Considering we didn't even start to cache until 2pm, we were pleased to have found 17 caches by 5pm. We headed home, creaked our way into the house and collapsed. We pretended to watch TV, but don't ask us what we saw.

Caching Up Reno/Carson

Saturday we joined up with Linda and Larry (L3-Geo) to catch up on the new caches around Reno. We decided to do the easy ones first so we could get numbers. We started in the Northwest, headed over to Sparks, and finally found those in the south near our home. We found 19 caches and L3-Geo found 22. What a great day.

Sunday we were intending on spending the day in Carson City, but when we checked our email we found three new caches on Peavine. We’ve never been able to resist the urge to go for FTFs so we packed up and headed north again. The road to the top of Peavine has never been our favorite place to go. Its a bumpy, miserable road, but up we went. We followed the right road and ended up FTF on the first cache. As we were signing it, several cars went by and we were just sure they were cachers on their way to the next two caches. We hurried up and took a short cut to the second cache. Again FTF. Wow, we were on a roll! Now on to the third and most difficult. We found where the owner parked and walked straight up the mountain, but we decided there just had to be a closer place to park at the top. So up and up we went. Along the way we checked out several roads that all led us to dead ends. Finally the fourth road led us to within 500 feet of the cache and the hike would be a gradual downhill instead of a steep uphill. We were delighted - but only for a short time. As we walked we went into heavy brush that we had to duck through and then we ran into snow or rather ice. We were beginning to get discouraged when we finally found ourselves within 80 feet of the cache. No stopping us now. Finally L1 yelled out the all important words “I’ve got it”. Another FTF!!! We did the happy dance and then tried to find our way back to the jeeps. Luckily we had marked them with our GPSrs so we at least knew which direction to go since we could see nothing through the brush. Eureka, we found them.

It was such a beautiful day (80 degrees), that after lunch we headed down to Carson City to pick up those caches. We ended the day with three FTFs and 14 caches.

We weren’t done yet. Today, we tagged along with Linda and Larry as they headed home and claimed one more FTF and two other caches. What a great weekend we all had!

Coastal California and More

What can you say about California in the Spring. Its green and lush, and the hills are covered with wildflowers and poppies. The hawks are all soaring in the sky and the egrets and water birds abound everywhere. The seals and sea lions are either playing in the ocean or sunning themselves on the beach. Today (Friday) we saw all of this and more as we headed up the California coast on Highway 1 to grab some quads for the California DeLorme Challenge.

We started our day at 4am and as usual our first stop was Starbucks where we parked next to a K-9 police car. The 90 pound German Shepard inside the patrol car made it very clear what he would do if we got too close. The policeman inside Starbucks said the dog was just getting his voice for the day. I don’t know, he sounded pretty intimidating to me already.

Since it was Friday, we tried to avoid as much traffic as we could so we traveled south on Highway 99, north on I-5, and then across 113 from Woodland to I-80. Much to our relief there was no traffic to slow us down. Next stop – approximately 2 hours down the road – would be Quad 103 near Stinson Beach.

We left 101 S at Tamalpais Valley and made our way through the eucalyptus trees on Highway 1, a small winding road over to the coast. The wildflowers on the hills were in bloom making them a beautiful shade of purple. As we traveled over to the coast we began to smell the sea air. The sun was trying to break through the fog but as we got closer to the coast the sun lost the battle, temporarily. Not too long after we began our drive up the coast on Highway 1, the sun finally burned away the fog and it turned into a beautiful day to be driving up the coast of California.

On our way we stopped at several beaches to find caches. We found ourselves in Jenner at lunchtime and we stopped at the River’s End for a very good lunch. As we ate our lunch a hawk was riding the wind just outside the window. From there we went only a short distance to a cache that gave us a great view of the sea lions and seals sunning themselves on a beach. At first we thought they were dead fish, but then some of them moved into the water and began to play. It was an amazing site.

After leaving this cache we wound our way back and forth up switchbacks to reach the top of a mountain with a fantastic view of the ocean. Unfortunately there was nowhere to stop to take a picture. And then, as we rounded a bend on the Pacific Coast Highway, someone yelled, “Slow down, cows in the road!” Traffic in both directions came to a halt and waited for the lazy cows to decide to get out of the way. We commented that no matter where we go we always find ourselves in at least one cattle drive.

Next we visited Gualala for a cache or as Mike said “I’ve always wanted to visit LaLa Land. It was a quaint little town with lots of restaurants where we were supposed to eat lunch, but by the time we were there it was 2:30pm.

Finally we got to see a lighthouse - The Point Arena Lighthouse. Larry and Mike hopped out to take pictures, but as we arrived at the lighthouse we discovered we had to pay to see it so we decided not to go inside. The pictures were enough.

We finished our last cache of the day around 5pm and headed over Highway 20 to Highway 101 and Ukiah to spend the night. Highway 20 was quite a ride down a winding narrow road. We were glad to reach Highway 101. After arriving in Ukiah, and checking into our hotel, we went to the nearby Raley’s and got some picnic food for dinner in our room. We all crashed early in preparation for the Sonoma Geo rally the next day.

Saturday morning we headed down to Sonoma to get our directions for the rally. We spent the day touring the area looking for answers to questions. We also managed to find 12 caches. We came in second for the rally, which was pretty good since we didn’t even know the area. After the event, we headed back to Ukiah to spend the night before heading north again for one more quad and number 5600 for us.

Sunday morning we headed north to claim the infamous Quad 62. We were expecting sun but awoke to rain. After a quick breakfast, we headed to Raley’s to buy some extra equipment – rain ponchos, knit hats, and warm gloves. Finally we were on our way through the fog and rain. We traveled north about and hour and a half passing through the Richardson Grove State Park and following the Eel River for quite a while.

We turned off Highway 101 just north of Garberville and started our trek into the Sinkyone Wilderness State Park via Briceland Road. The first part of the road was paved, but when we entered the state park the road became dirt and we bounced our way down to the ocean. While traveling along Briceland Road, we saw emu, horses, deer and huge redwood trees. It was a beautiful drive, but a long one.

An hour later we finally reached the Needle Point Visitor’s center. It was raining and cold so we bundled up with all our warm clothes, put on our ponchos and headed down the path. Very soon we came upon a herd of elk. They were grazing in the hills above the trail and were quite unconcerned with us. We were able to take lots of pictures. We headed on our way and just around another bend were more elk. These elk were right along the trail and didn’t even move as we stood there and took their picture and walked between them. We continued on up the trail until we were quite close to the ocean and then headed down a game trail to the area of the cache. We found it pretty quickly and besides putting another quad behind us it was our 5600th cache. We headed back down the trail and 2 and ½ hours later and with 3.2 miles under our belts, we were back at the car for a tailgate party. After eating, we headed back to Highway 101. Five hours from the time we left Highway 101 this morning we were back and headed to Roseville for the night.

We ended the weekend with six new quads completed and only 14 quads to go to finish the Northern California DeLorme Challenge.

For the rest of the story visit The Adventures of L3-Geo.

Broken!!

GeoJeep has been making unpleasant and strange noises lately or so said Cynthia. I, on the other hand, am deaf and live in my own little noiseless trouble-free world. Actually, I’m only deaf to high frequency noises so when the obnoxious squeak that drove Cynthia mad evolved into a very nasty low frequency grinding vibration...that’s when I decided to take action. But by then it was too late and GeoJeep couldn’t make it to the shop on his own power. Oh the indignity of it all!! Being towed through the neighborhood and onto the freeway for all to see! When we arrived at the shop the tow truck parked next to a scrap yard. No, not this time but this isn’t the first time in the shop and the scrap yard is looking pretty good. But it’s really all my fault. If I had only taken Cynthia more seriously. Rats!!

View from the Top

Yesterday Mike and I climbed two mountains.

The first was only 350 feet away, but it was straight up a mountain of loose rock. The incline was so steep we were worried that if we fell we wouldn’t stop until we hit GeoJeep. We dug in our heels, took baby steps, and eventually made it over the top. Once at the top, we could survey the surrounding slope and were able to pick a less treacherous way to head down. Little did we know that this was only a dress rehearsal for the second mountain.

North of Hazen was our second climb of the day. This cache was a multi. The first stage was at the bottom of the mountain and the second stage was .18 miles straight up Black Buttte. We gathered up our walking sticks, water, hiking boots and hats and set off again. We zig zagged back and forth as we worked our way up over loose rocks, dirt and finally big rocks to reach the top. As we went, we kept hoping we’d reach the cache before reaching the top of the mountain. Not to be - as with most caches, this one was at the top. It took us 30 minutes to ascend the mountain and about 20 minutes to stumble down. When we reached the bottom, Mike informed me that that would be the last mountain we climbed that day.

We sat at the bottom eating our lunch and being amazed that we had actually climbed it. After lunch, we headed into Fallon for some fast caches on the sides of roads. We ended the day with 27 caches and an enormous amount of pride.

Your mission should you choose to accept it is to find GeoJeep in the pictures. FYI, he's in all three.

Whenever we visit California around this time of year we are surprised by Spring. It’s there in all it’s glory, the hills are bursting with verdant pride and the trees are ablaze with blossoms. But here in Reno, just a couple of hours away, winter still holds us in its firm grasp. We know that while life is beginning anew on the other side of the mountain, we are doomed to “dead” trees and brown grass until late May or early June. This was the perfect weekend to get away and sneak a taste of Spring. Right!! Don’t believe it! The real reason for the trip was to grab some much needed counties and quads in California. Spring was just the icing.

After two days of planning, we realized we wouldn’t be able to get seven quads, five counties and mine the Dublin area for numbers in three days. Well, Ok...I know we could do it in less time but we wanted as much time for the NUMBERS! So we left Reno Friday afternoon and drove down to visit L3-Geo in Roseville. That gave us another 2 hours on Saturday. The farther we got on Saturday the farther we could get on Sunday and that would allow even more time to get more numbers in the Dublin area Sunday afternoon and Monday morning. That was the plan...and it worked beautifully.

Saturday, March 1

Saturday morning we were up and out by 7AM. Our first cache was about 100 miles away in Oakdale, a small town 30 minutes east of Manteca. Once in Oakdale, we quickly found the requisite cache to qualify us for Quad 108 and now we were off to the next Quad! Not! It seems GeoJeepette wanted to grab more caches in Oakdale while I wanted to stick to the plan. After a lively debate regarding policies, philosophies, schedules and plans “we” decided to cache around Oakdale. I shouldn’t have spent valuable travel time debating a losing position. Fortunately there weren’t that many caches in the area and it wasn’t long before we were on the road heading east to the Sierra foothills and the Gold Country.

As we drove east on Hwy 108 toward Jamestown and Sonora, GeoJeepette started making little squeaking noises every time we passed up a cache. Sometimes she would spontaneously begin reading the description of an upcoming cache and silently beg with her beautiful big brown eyes. “NO! We are on a mission!!!” Besides, I was mesmerized by the spectacular scenery. The fertile farm land and blossoming orchards were giving way to lush green rolling hills studded with trees and capped with a layer of dark brown basalt. Everywhere you looked there were horses and cows grazing on the rich green velvety grass. I was fantasizing about what it would be like to live here when another squeak snapped me back to reality.

The first cache in Quad 109 took us to the Masonic Cemetery in Jamestown. Like so many old pioneer cemeteries, this one was on a rural road sandwiched between two houses. And like so many others, the grave markers are all gone and the property neglected. Sonora is just a short distance up the road from Jamestown and it’s similar to so many of the old quaint mining towns that you find along Hwy 49 in the Sierra foothills; historically interesting and very touristy. A couple more caches here assured us Quad 109 and we then headed up Hwy 49.

Just inside Quad 99 there is an ammo can cache at a historical monument. You would think that we had enough experience with ammo cans to spot one “behind the monument”. The ground around the monument was free of debris and vegetation and the trees were small and sparse. I expanded the search and even kicked (gently) the rocks adhered to the monument hoping for a secret compartment. Nothing. Not even a questioning stare from the muggle sitting in the car nearby. Very unsatisfying. But, fortunately, the next cache up the road was easy and very clever.

The return trip back to Oakdale was interrupted by a few stops for caches because...I’ll admit it...I relented, gave up, surrendered to the brown eyes. I’m weak. But, I felt better after having lunch in Oakdale and after a few more caches there we headed off on the next leg of the trip. The plan required us to take Hwy 108 to Modesto and then Hwy 132 west to I-5. The next cache was about 40 miles south on I-5 just north of the intersection with Hwy 152. An hour and a half later we had another quad and still had plenty of daylight left, but, just to be safe we called and made hotel reservations in Watsonville. Now we were committed to stick to the plan. No dawdling over unnecessary caches! The ensuing debate regarding the true meaning of “unnecessary caches” helped pass the time.

By the time we reached Gilroy, Geojeepette was much more amenable to grabbing the first cache and heading south on Hwy 101. No, it wasn’t a result of my persuasive debating skills. It was getting late, we had three more counties to get and I could hear a glass of wine calling my name all the way from Watsonville. Luckily (or was it my masterful planning), we quickly found caches in San Bonito, Monterey and Santa Cruz County and still had time to check in at the hotel and find that glass of wine.

Sunday, March 2

The bags were packed and the car was loaded before the 6 AM complimentary breakfast was even served. This was going to be an easier day but we wanted to be in Dublin around noon to start the mining operation. But first we toured Watsonville and Freedom looking for caches. We were disappointed with what we found. The caches were either missing or we couldn’t figure out how to get to them or they were camoed under too much garbage. And then there were the indigenous residentially challenged population prominently represented along the sidewalks and gutters. Our tolerance for Ick and Yuck ran out so we cut our visit short and headed up Hwy 101 to Santa Cruz. Once we thought we were far enough away we stopped at a vista point somewhere south of Santa Cruz. After finding the cache I wanted to get a picture of the ocean in the distance but I needed a higher vantage point. The nearby rock wall fit the bill but when I placed my hand on top of the wall in preparation for climbing up onto it, I touched something slimy. When I looked down at my hand I nearly puked! My hand was sitting in a puddle of spit next to a used cigarette. The ultimate in yuck! I may never be the same. I’m still having nightmares.

We skipped all the caches in Santa Cruz. We didn’t need them and GeoJeepette was wise enough to allow me time to recover from the shock. At Santa Cruz we turned north and headed up Hwy 17 to Scott’s Valley. By then I was returning to normal so we stopped and found a couple caches. Now we had to make a decision. We needed one more quad and county and both could be gotten with one or more caches in the Redwood City/Woodside area. Do we take the quickest route north on Hwy 17 and into the bowels of freeway hell or do we take the scenic route up Hwy 9 through the coastal redwoods. I would have consulted GeoJeepette but she was asleep so I made an administrative decision. The redwoods won, of course.

Majestic is the only word I can think of to describe the trees along Hwy 9. The winding road added a measure of fun to the trip but all the bicycles caused some very tense moments. Cars and bicycles shouldn’t be allowed to share the same narrow twisting mountain road. From some of the looks I received from bicyclians I knew they agreed with me, but obviously had a different perspective. Once in Quad 114 and Santa Mateo we found the required cache and continued on into Woodside. The plan was to cache around Woodside for a bit but when we got there this small...no... tiny town was wall to wall with motorcycles and scary people wearing leather so we pulled a quick U-turn and headed west on Hwy 84 to Redwood City. From there it was a relatively quick trip up Hwy 101 to the San Mateo Bridge and eventually Dublin.

Now we were in our own element. We were home. The Dublin/San Ramon/Pleasanton/Livermore area is our old stomping grounds. We lived in San Ramon for six years and knew this place like the back of our hand. Or so we thought. When we got off the freeway and tried to look for a place to eat we were lost. This wasn’t Kansas anymore! Everything seemed different, there was more of everything and we didn’t recognize anything. A quick calculation explained it all. It’s been 28 years since we left!! You feel really old when streets that didn’t exist before are old and cracked and full of potholes. But then, if you think about it, so am I now.

We did manage to find the familiar and reassuring yellow arches but were taken aback when we saw that it had sofas. What’s that about! I briefly worried that we had fallen down a rabbit hole but quickly decided it was better to go with the flow than to make a scene. It was comforting to discover that Big Macs were still Big Macs. After lunch we spent some time in the car reviewing maps and consulting the laptop in order to orient ourselves to our new old stomping grounds. We spent the rest of the day being relatively successful racking up some numbers before we checked into our hotel, grabbed some dinner and crashed.

Monday, March 3

San Ramon is just a short freeway ride north of Dublin and we decided that would be a great place to cache and see if we could find our old house. Thirty four years ago, our neighborhood was the first to be built in San Ramon. When we moved there cows and horses outnumbered the people and there were no stores, gas stations, parks or office buildings. Nothing. Now the cows are gone and the hills are populated with houses. Every amenity known to exist is there now, only a short distance from our old house. And the traffic and the number of people was nearly overwhelming. One moment I was wishing we had never left and the next I was glad we did.

We spent the morning caching and being amazed at the changes and then we headed back to Dublin, over to Livermore and then I-580. We continued east on I-580 stopping for the caches along the road and eventually found ourselves on Grant Line Road. After getting a cache near the off-ramp we decided to continue on Grant Line and see if we could pick up a couple more out in the country. One of these was at the Altamount Speedway. When we arrived it was quiet and the gate was closed. Good, no Muggles today. As I got out of the car I heard a strange yet familiar sound and by the time I reached the cache I was convinced there was a cat in extreme distress trapped high up on a nearby power pole. The cries and yeows were heart wrenching but, no matter how hard I looked, I just could not spot the cat. GeoJeepette had heard the cries too and was also searching the pole. She had a different vantage point then I and discovered that the feline cries were really coming from a bird. I wonder if that’s where the phrase “cat bird seat” came from. Do you suppose there really is a cat bird?

Now time was getting short and it was a long way back to Reno but that didn’t stop us from picking up a couple more before we found I-5 and headed north. Three hours later and, yes, a few caches more, we arrived back in Reno just as the sun was setting.