9 Years

9 years ago today I found my first geocache State quarter cache

I had signed up for a gc.com account months before and I planned to try it when the weather got better. The day before I found my first cache I ordered a GPS online. While I could have waited for it I decided to try to find a cache without it the next day, and I did.

Today I decided to find a cache to keep my one a month streak alive. Didn't need a GPS for this one

Housed

Maybe when the weather gets nicer I'll look for more then one at a time.

Memories of an odd bench

A little backlog for a cache earlier in the month. I got a call from Cliff (aka Turner) asking if I was going to the Discover Roseburg event. Sadly I had other plans but while we chatted he mentions he resurrected an old cache of mine and called it

Horse Lottery? Revisited

Of course my original cache wasn't much and certainly not one to be remembered, but those first couple dozen caches you find always seem to stay in memory. Anyway he mentioned it and I saw it hadn't been found... so I went and grabbed the FTF. Very rare for me these days. Only my second cache of the year and I didn't need my GPS for either of them. My new GPS is probably wishing it was purchased by a real geocacher so it could go on adventures. I'll have to dust it off soon.

One cache, new phone

A whole month gone by and I only have one cache to show for it

Dutch & Lucile

This cache was so easy that I didn't use my new GPS or even my new phone.

Previously I had an Android phone. I have used the geocaching app to find caches before but I didn't think it worked all that great. Android was buggy and in my opinion doesn't work all that well even when its running right. So I switched to the iPhone. I never thought I'd own an Apple product. It would seem to be against my very nature. But I've never been happier... it works so well. Best of all I can actually answer it. Probably 25% of all calls before my phone would freeze when I tried to answer. The only app I have purchased is the geocaching app and I'll have to try it out someday.

Sadly I am going to miss the Discover Roseburg 2 event this weekend. Might be able to grab a couple this month... we'll see

Last Day of 2011

Well its the last day of 2011. Its been an interesting year, and my slowest to date geocaching wise. Honestly I have lost some of the "fire" that geocaching use to spark in me. When I started you could find amazing places and cool caches. Today it seems you just find micros along the road where there is no place to park. I still like to cache in groups, events, finding a few on a road trip, and hiking to find good caches. I just don't do it as often...

Highlights for the year include:

• Completed the Discover Roseburg challenge
• Found 42 caches on 7/30/11 with Biggieet_al
• The Great Amazing Cache event
• NBA lockout ended!

My favorite caches of 2011 include:

• Willow Creek Rock Pile  
• BIG BEAR WHERE ARE YOU 
• Warmth from within  
• Stagecoach Roadhouse  
• The Great Amazing Cache  
• Transparent Wetness  
• Grants Pass Photo Cache 

Overall 2011 was still a fun year. Thank you to everyone who hid the caches I found this year. Maybe some of that spark will return in the new year. Hope to see you all out on the trail in 2012 and I hope the world doesn't end.

Tom Pierce Trail

Decided I needed a few more caches today so I could hit the 2222 find milestone. Sadly I guess I only needed 6 and now sit at 2223. I swear it said 2215 last night. Anyway it doesn't matter I'd have to pass it up someday.

Just to bring up old times 2223 caches ties me with the famous Rooster- for finds. Of course he quit caching a long time ago.

Today's finds included

T.P. Starter
millview#1
T. P. Trail #1
T. P. Trail #2
T. P. Trail #3
T. P. Trail #4
T. P. Trail #5

These were all on the newer Tom Pierce bike trail. Someday this should be the start of the greenway bike path all the way to Ashland. I just hope they finish it before I'm too old to ride on it.

Merry Christmas!

Hope all of you out there had a very Merry Christmas.

As I've done in the past I went out to find a geocache today. Just one this holiday. Probably could have squeezed in a couple more. Wasn't as cold today but it did sprinkle a little as we found it.

Reflections 1 

Depending on how cold it is tomorrow I might try to find a few.

One more year

Well its very well know that the world will probably end December 21, 2012

So I compiled a small list of "Bucket List" caches

Bombsite Cache
Pyramid Rock 
Mt. Elijah Cache
3 Corners (SE Oregon Hatrick) 
Alice's Rabbit Hole
DR. Who. 
The Government Duck 
Ramblin' Rogue aka Whoopee Tyee! 
Five Bar
Hot Cache 

I'm sure there are many more. Like any of the ones needed for The Oregon History Challenge!. If anyone local thinks they would like to try completing this challenge let me know.

All slow on the geocache front

Its been rather cold around her for the last several weeks. Colder then usual I'd say, but dry and sunny for the most part. The sun might warm it up to the high 30's but that's about it. I have no problem with saying I am a fair weather geocacher.

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night..."

Bull$#!^ the postal service can have it... all of that stops me from geocaching on most occasions :)

With that said I have not found anything but an event in several weeks. I'll find at least one cache on Christmas day to keep with tradition, but that might be the last for 2011. The event was the

Second Annual Holiday Pot Luck Extravaganza

Great to see everyone and talk about old times. I even won a couple of raffle prizes. Lots of good food too.

Tomorrow is the shortest day of the year and after that the days will get longer. I'll soon have to write my summary of 2011. It might be a little shorter then past years with how slow I've been.

Slow

I don't think I have done any geocaching since the last event. Even then I only went to the event (and I showed up late.) I'll admit to being a fair weather cacher. Maybe soon I'll get out for a dozen or so.

Until then I have been selling some things on eBay. I got rid of my old PDA. I wanted it so I could have cache pages and hints especially when I traveled. Plus it had built in Wi-Fi so I could surf the internet at any number of new hot spots that were popping up. I bought it March 23, 2005 and I don't remember what I spent but it was over $500. I sold it for $40. My new GPS keeps all the hints, pages and logs that I want for under $200.

Its funny all of the electronic gadgets I have had over the years. GPSs, phones, cameras, PDAs, computers, video cameras, web cams, CD players, MP3 players and a Kindle. All eventually replaced with something better and usually cheaper.

Rogue River Greenway

Last weekend I tested my new GPS out on

Grants Pass Photo Cache

It was a fun walk around town. Also a good chance to test out the GPS with multiple waypoints of sorts.

Today I decided to try some newer caches along the Greenway from Rogue River to Valley of the Rogue state park. It was a great day for a bike ride and the path is now paved to just past the rest area. My finds for the day were

BERRY BUSH SAFARI
YA GOTTA LOVE IT!
RIN TIN TIN
"DANAGER" a Turner Cache
WATCH THE RIVER FLOW.
Don't look down yer nose,to find this one!
Many Trunks

The GPS works great I just have to get use to the menu. Was great to have the hints and logs available at my fingertips. Took a few pictures (Go milepost 1 1/4!)

 

New GPS

Today I got a new Garmin eTrex 20 GPS. I've been wanting one with paperless geocaching for a while. The new Garmin eTrex line offered paperless caching at a more affordable price. Plus it can track GLONASS satellites giving you even more accuracy... and it is fast to get its position. Tomorrow I'll try and find a cache with it.

Oregon DeLorme Challenge

5 years ago today SallyC and I completed the Oregon DeLorme Challenge. It still ranks as the top accomplishment of my geocaching career. Days of big numbers can't compare to those 77 caches.

I'm a big fan of challenge caches and feel they should have there own icon. Though personally I find it hard to compare say the ABC Challenge to those like the DeLorme or CCIO. I guess just like caches there is a challenge for everybody.

I want to visit Japan!

So I just read this story about the Japan Tourism Agency's plan to give away 10,000 round trip tickets to promote a return of tourists to Japan. The catch you ask? You have to publicize your trip on blogs and social media sites. I have no problem with that... I'll gladly go to Japan and play tourist. Maybe I could find some geocaches over there. Take pictures of all the monuments. Eat at interesting restaurants. I'd gladly blog about it, tweet about it and facebook about it.

Never Forget

More waterfalls

So I visited a few other waterfalls. My GPS was having trouble keeping signal. Bad satelite day I guess. So I gave up geocaching and just went to the waterfalls.

Starting with Watson Creek Falls



Then continued on to Toketee Falls which I had visited before with SallyC



And last Dry Creek Falls

Waterfalls

Today I took a trip along HWY 138 between Diamond Lake and Roseburg. There are many waterfalls along there. It wasn't a great day for GPS though. Coords bounced on me all day I started at National Creek Falls. I didn't find the cache as I didn't have the hint, but it was a nice hike.



After a stop at Diamond View. We went on to Clearwater Falls which was the location of an old Mailleman cache Transparent Wetness. Which I did find.




After that we stopped at Whitehorse falls and found the cache BRIDGE WHITEWATER which turned out to be the last of the day, but not the last waterfall.




Next three tomorrow

Found after nearly 6 years!

After last being logged 09/18/2005 my Travel Bug Mosquito Trap is on the move again. Found in the wilds of Canada... where it has been a complete mystery.

Of my original 4 travel bugs it is now the last. I hope it can move around a bit more now. Geocaching has changed a lot in the last 6 years...

Pictures

Decided it was about time to add some pictures from my trip to Denio and Fields. See my blog on Jun 25.

Camping

I went camping with the family this weekend. Took our usual trip to Waldo Lake. Found a few caches in the Union Creek area. Only looked for one at Waldo which I did not find. There are a lot around there, just not enough time to get them all. A couple of them are on small islands. Someday I'll come with a boat and time.



Then We went on a brief trip to Odell Lake and to Salt Creek Falls. Found a couple more caches and called it a trip



Caches for the trip were:
Road to Mill creek
Old Hat
Cachers Camp
Broken Tree
Old Ugly Snag
Mt. Mazama Viewpoint
Mt. Thielsen Wayside
Odell Troll
Afraid of Heights?

The story of a Cache

Its been almost 6 years since I hid my cache Haines Apple Tree. I hid it with SallyC just before Iseek's (once) annual Wilderville event.

When I first started geocaching this was the first place I wanted to hide a cache. My grandpa had shown me this location years ago and its the kind of out of the way historical item that makes geocaching so much fun at times. However at the time it was already the location of a virtual called They Didn't See it Coming. J-Freaks who hid that cache had quit the hobby by the time I started. I spent a lot of time looking for a few of their missing caches. One of these caches was called Over the River and Thru the Woods. It was a multi cache and after confirming the final was gone I collected the first two stages which were mint tins. I used one of these tins for this cache after the virtual was archived.

Despite a recent DNF it is still there pretty much in the same spot SallyC and I left it. The marker itself is a bit crooked and the site is as overgrown as ever. Without giving away the details the apple tree itself is generally considered the second oldest in Oregon being planted somewhere around 1852-54... and it still has apples...