Uncle Mack's Cache Awards 2009

GOWT is taking nominations for favorite caches for 2009. I won't be officially submitting my nominations, however, below is my tentative list of favorite caches found within the GOWT area (West Tennessee) during 2009. Over the next day or so, I will elaborate on my selections as well as post my list of favorite caches found across the country in 2009.

Uncle Mack's Favorite Caches of 2009

Traditional: Graduation by Jamie Z (GC1R3VE)

An ammo can hidden out in the open. I used to pass by this spot nearly every day 20+ years ago. I was amazed when I finally spotted it.

Micro: Whatever Floats Your Cache by Rd King (GC1YHDP)

It was hard to pick a favorite micro mainly because I've found hundreds this year (2009) alone. I'd even forgotten about this one until I reviewed my list. It was my last find on Thanksgiving Day and I didn't read about it beforehand. This turned out to be a good thing because the cache owner includes too many hints in the cache description. He probably does this to prevent people from destroying the hide spot as they retrieve the container. For me, though, it was a complete surprise what I needed to do!

Multi: tie: Jaybirder's Roost by Jaybirder (GC209W3) and National Treasure Cache by FamilyInFilm, CodeMission, GirlinFilm, & CoolZX11 (GC17VF6)

I hunted Jaybirder's Roost at the beginning of 2010 with my caching partner jbgreer. Although it had wayyyyy too many stages to it, the hike was enjoyable and the stage containers were easily spottable. We hunted it on a day that was 27 degrees and sunny and hiked just over 10 miles over a little over 5 hours. I look forward to hunting many more caches in this area.

I hunted National Treasure Cache at the beginning of 2009 with jbgreer and MaximusWilliam. If this cache had ended at the fourth stage, it would have been a perfect multicache. Early stages have a lot of creativity to them, but after the 4th stage, it just drags. Still ranks high on my list, though and I regret not blogging my experience while it was still fresh in my mind. Maybe the current owner will shorten it the length of it.

Both caches were made more enjoyable by having company. None of whom had found the cache before. No phone-a-friends were necessary either.

Mystery/Puzzle: Johnson Road Park Cache by prontopup (GCZZVV)

I enjoyed this cache because all parts of it were within the same nice park - Johnson Road Park in Germantown. The cache hunt included an interesting surprise that kept me busy (and entertained) for nearly an hour.

Night cache: Bats-R-Up by prontopup (GC1MGVK)

I enjoy caching in Germantown's Cameron Brown Park. This night cache was enjoyable because it was relatively short, had a nice twist to it, and was close to parking. I hunted this cache with a small group (jeffbouldin and jackthebear) and enjoyed meeting them.

Earthcache: Jackson Artesian Well Earthcache by dalls (GC17RPJ)

I only hunted one earthcache in West Tennessee this year and it was memorable because of the location. This is near a train museum that I visited on my first cache run in Jackson, TN in 2005. I didn't finish gathering the requirements to log this cache because I noticed after taking my picture that my head was bleeding form an earlier "incident".

Event: Techniques, Tools, and Tips by Geocachers of West Tennessee (GC1XC3T)

I only attended one event in the GOWT area this year and it sucked. I enjoyed the display of cache containers, but the mini-course on puzzle solving was worthless. You would think that a geocaching organization that has been in existence for five years would have a wealth of knowledge about various aspects of geocaching. Also, this event seemed more like an advertisement for the Jackson Area Geocachers group. They couldn't even be bothered to put up the GOWT banner. Arrrgghhh, at least I got a smiley out of it.