Memphis Riverwalk

About a week ago, I went to replace the cache container for Memphis Martyrs by Tuck Sackett (GCN59Y), a cache I'd adopted a few years ago. It hasn't received many visitors in recent years so I had little motivation to check on it until recently. When it was originally placed, the Memphis Riverwalk ended about 1/4 mile before getting to Martyr' s Park. This meant that you had to drive to the park in order to visit it.

[ Near Union/Beale and Riverside Drive ]

[ Looking south along the river ]

Recently, I learned that the riverwalk had been extended to Martyr's Park. I was excited to hear this because I enjoy walking along the Riverwalk and now my cache was near the south end of it. At this point in time, there are six caches along the riverwalk. Starting from the Welcome Center at the north to Martyr's Park at the south. These caches are:

Welcome to Memphis - Downtown / Riverwalk by sskaysee (GCRVTQ)

Beale Street Landing by sskaysee (GCRVTJ)

Ups & Downs by Loosahatchie (GCY7C0)

Go See Tom Lee by sskaysee (GC111CJ)

River View by sskaysee (GCRVT3)

Memphis Martyrs by Tuck Sackett (adopted by Mackheath) (GCN59Y)

It takes me about an hour to walk the entire loop. I highly recommend it for people visiting Downtown Memphis. For those of you who aren't fans of long hikes, the Riverfront Trolley takes you close to all of the above caches, as well as two near the Pyramid.

[ Nice view from above ]

[ Looking to the north ]

Union City, TN - 3/14/2010

Union City, TN is a town that has always gotten missed by me when caching in the area. The closest I had been before this day was Martin, TN to the southeast.

After visiting Reelfoot Lake and heading up to Hickman, KY for a few caches, I came back down into Tennessee and Union City. Most of the caches I found here were placed by Team KC whom I'd met back on my last trip to Jackson, TN.

[ Across from Union City Depot ]

Most all were simple park and grabs, which were enjoyable on this day. I think I spent 3 or so hours here and would have had lunch, but was drawn by the lure of one more cache to the south of town..

One of the last caches I found inside of Union City was Unknown Confederate Dead by Titansfan (GCRGRN). The below monument was nearby. It was interesting to say the least. It kind of reminded me of a big wedding cake.

[ This is on the National Historic Registry ]

After leaving Union City, I headed south for Memphis via Dyersburg and Blytheville, AR.

Reelfoot Lake - 3/14/2010

Over the past 5 years, I have found caches in all of the counties of West Tennessee with the exception of Lake County - home of Reelfoot Lake. This was a 3-day weekend for me and I had planned to spend Saturday and Sunday in the area between Reelfoot Lake and Dresden, TN. The weather had rain off and on all three days, particularly in the northern part of West Tennessee, so my decision to press forward was made in the wee hours of the morning on Sunday.

My plan was to hunt two caches just to the north of Dyersburg and the head up to Reelfoot Lake and hunt the caches around the lake. Afterwards, I would head northeast to Hickman, KY and then southeast to Union City.

I arrived at Stinky Ditch by pcsenn (GC19PVJ) around 8am and found it and the nearby Hornridge Cemetery Cache by pcsenn (GC19T17) before heading further north. The roads leading to these two caches got my car a little muddy and I hoped the rest of the roads would be in better shape.

After finding one more cache, my next stop was Tiptonville, TN for gas. I decided at this point that I would skip the earthcaches on this trip unless they were easy. It was raining off and on all day and I didn't feel like spending a lot of time in the rain gathering data and pictures for earthcaches.

I decided to hunt the caches around the lake in a counter-clockwise direction. This made my next stop Reelfoot Lake State Park for What's Shaking? - Reelfoot Lake, TN by CUSEC (GC1XEAH).

[ Reelfoot Lake State Park Visitor Center ]

After finding the cache and buying a soda at the visitor's center, I decided to go check out the lake. The rain had stopped for a bit, so I spent quite a bit of time here.

[ Imprisoned symbol of freedom ]

Directly behind the Visitor's Center is a large pen with an eagle in it for viewing. The eagle actually followed me as I walked from one side of the pen to the other.

I decided to take a walk on the boardwalk towards the lake.

[ slippery when wet ]

[ just before arriving at the lake ]

[ ahhhhh.... the lake ]

There were a few people in boats off in the distance. It was really peaceful here and I wished I had brought a lunch.

[ more boardwalk ]

[ a view south after leaving the boardwalk ]

[ one more site before returning to the parking area ]

After leaving the park, I continued on a counter-clockwise trip around the lake. None of the caches I hunted in the area were difficult, but there were a lot of great views.

At Running (sometimes) Reelfoot Bayou by pcsenn (GC1FJFY), I found a 12-pack of Bud Light in a box sitting by the side of the road. I considered having a beer or two, but decided against it.

Pitcher This by pcsenn (GCD072) was a cache I had on my radar for years. It wasn't quite how I had pictured it, but it was there and in good shape! The coordinates were taking me towards the lake, so I was glad I looked up and around and spotted it.

Reelfoot Airpark Cache by pcsenn (GCN9TT) and Earthquake Lake by Paper_Doll and Girl Scout troops 1629 & 1632 (GC112BZ) were two near each other at the north end of the lake. The airpark was abandoned on this day. "Earthquake Lake" was the only earthcache I found on this trip. It only had three simple questions to answer.

Black Bayou (revisited) by pcsenn & wifey (GC1CYB3) was the last cache I found near the lake before heading north to Hickman, KY. I ended up finding 10 caches around the lake, leaving 5 earthcaches and a regular cache or two in the area for another trip. I was glad to have made the trip and glad the weather was cooperative enough to have a fun day.

Saint Andrew's Cross - 3/14/2010

Coming back home from the Reelfoot Lake/Union City, TN area, I needed a small number of caches to reach 50 for the day. The last cache of the day for me turned out to be Saint Andrew's Cross by Titansfan (GC1PP9T).

I hadn't read about the cache in advance and hadn't seen the area on my previous trips to Trimble, TN. When I saw the giant Rebel flag waving in the distance, I knew that was where I'd be going. It was no surprise because I know that Titansfan is a big fan of Civil War history.

The cache itself was a quick find even though the coordinates were off a bit. After finding the cache and signing the log, I walked over to the cemetery itself to see the cross and read the various plaques. It was cold and very windy, making the flags stand out at times.

[ Confederate Memorial Plaza ]

[ Monument to Fallen Soldiers ]

[ The Big Cross ]

[ The Charge ]

This was an excellent example of geocaching taking you to interesting places that you might not have seen otherwise. It was a great cache to end the day with.

FTF Pirate #1: Boneyards - 3/12/2010

This was to be a three-day geocaching weekend starting on Friday, but weather forced me to take my plans day-by-day.

When I got up on Friday morning and saw a good chance of rain where I had planned to go (Reelfoot Lake), I decided to get my oil changed in Olive Branch, MS and pick up 10 caches before traffic got too bad.

Even though I got to the oil change place by 7:30am, they were extra busy on this day. It took nearly two hours to get my oil changed and my tires rotated. Oh well - I had the whole day off of work. I found 11 caches - including my 3200th find just before lunchtime. There was a big cluster of caches to the east in Southaven, MS, but the traffic was getting heavy so I figured I would head home.

On the way, I made a snap decision to hunt FTF Pirate #1: Boneyards by Chance Encounter (GCYX0Z) a three-stage cemetery cache hunt that hadn't been found in nearly three years.

The cache hunt was set up to go through three adjacent, but very different cemeteries. I had done some aerial recon on the area before and thought I knew how to get in the first cemetery - Forest Hill Cemetery. I ended up looping the area and entering off Elvis Presley Blvd. This cemetery was the nicest kept of the three, but was still in need of repairs. I found the first stage of the cache easily and took a few pictures of the surrounding area.




The next stage of the cache took me south to Mt. Carmel Cemetery. Autorouting took me to the corner of Elvis Presley Blvd. and Elliston Ave. which is the entrance of the cemetery, but not a good place to park. This section of EP Blvd. is nasty and had a hooker pacing across the street from the cemetery. I ran back to where the 2nd stage was and found it quickly. The container is still functional although it has small holes chewed in the top - the final stage coordinates were laminated, though, so no problems.


No problems, or so I thought. The coordinates I wrote down took me far to the west of the cemetery area. I ended up having to go back and re-read the coordinates from the previous location. Aaaarrrggh!!!

Ok, now with the final coordinates, I made my way to the final stage. I parked in a cemetery that turned out to be the wrong one. I got to within 60 feet of the stage coordinates and ran into a big ditch. After surveying the area, I figure out where I needed to have parked and hiked back to move the car.



Upon arriving at the last parking area, I began my hike back to where the coordinates led.

This cemetery was a lot sparser than the previous ones, and since I was looking for an ammo can, I knew I would have to enter the brushy area in the back. I got to within 20 feet of the cache location and did a lot of looking in a lot of rough places. I spent about a half an hour before finally giving up. I'll save the final coordinates and make another attempt next winter. This cache was last found in 2007. Subsequent seekers never got past the second stage.

After visiting all of these unkempt, neglected cemeteries maybe I'll just get cremated and spread to the wind. Exiting the area, I once again passed through an area of Memphis that looks like a scene from a third world country.

The Original Buster Brown - 3/7/2010

[ This is from part of a trip to Jonesboro-Paragould, AR ]

As I was leaving Paragould, AR and heading east on Hwy 412, I started looking for a gas station. My GPSr helpfully told me that all of the nearest gas stations were behind me. I had planned on heading south towards Monette, AR to hunt a few more caches, but the next nearest gas station was just past the exit. After getting gas at the world's lamest BP, I noticed that I was within striking distance of The Original Buster Brown by Bulldog Duo (GC1P047) near Hornersville, MO (pop 629). It was a beautiful day to be hunting caches and I still had plenty of daylight left, so I decided to make the detour.

The cemetery where Major Ray AKA "Buster Brown" and his wife Jennie are buried seems out in the middle of nowhere. The road leading to the cemetery transformed from nice pavement, to pothole-scarred road to gravel road.

Upon pulling up to the entrance and getting out, I spotted a golf cart near the rear of the cemetery. The coordinates told me that I would be heading towards them.

This was a simple puzzle cache - the start coordinates lead you to the grave markers of Buster Brown and his wife. As I was writing down the information needed to compute the second stage, a boy walked up to me and asked what I was doing. Ever the ambassador, I simply responded "treasure hunting". He yelled back at his dad to tell him what I said I was doing. He told he that he and his dad were just looking at graves. I thought he would hang around to see if I found what I was looking for, but I guess he got bored watching me write stuff down.

The GPSr and the coordinates took me on a roundabout way through some rough thorns to finally get to the container. I was fortunate to be just out of sight of the kid and his dad. I opened the container to sign the logbook and found an Original Stash geocoin, which I took to move on.

I hiked back to my car and took a last look out at the cemetery before leaving. This was probably my favorite hide of the day (and why I chose to write a separate blog entry).

After leaving the cache area and making my way back to the highway, I decided to head east to I-55 and head south to Memphis.

[ Note: I was going to avoid posting spoilers to the cache hunt, but the cache log pictures and other information on-line pretty much allow you to plot the second stage from your computer. ]

Cemetery Caches Still Illegal in Tennessee

Some of my favorite geocaches are in or near cemeteries. I especially enjoy hunting for geocaches in really old cemeteries. While at one time, there was an effort underway to re-legalize geocaches in cemeteries in Tennessee, they are in fact still illegal.

Today I read a post under a thread called "Cemetery caches - still banned?" on the Middle Tennessee Geocacher's Club forums by monkeybrad AKA reviewer "The Seanachai" that states: "Official policy is 528 feet away from the property boundary of the cemetery."

Hmmm... That would make the following caches in violation of the guidelines: Jackson Pioneers Are Nearby by dalls (GC18BPD) and Ghost Hollow by Bluff Boys (GC1ZBTH).

Both of these caches were published after the banning of new cemetery caches. One was approved by "The Seanachai" and the other by "Tn cacher".