Geocaching Fundamentals - 4/17/2010

After attending the 6th Annual GOWT Gathering back in January, I promised myself that I would make an effort to attend more local events. When two events were published for this day in Cameron Brown Park in Germantown, TN, including a CITO, I signed up for both.

In spite of the great weather on this day, I didn't give myself much time to cache on the way to the event. Traveling east along Poplar Avenue, I did manage to find a few caches - certainly more than I had expected. My first stop was The Beaver Fever Cache by Bigcachedaddy (GC1QP9K). This was along a typically busy stretch of Poplar, so I parked about 500 feet away in an empty parking lot. I found the cache quickly and confirmed other cache logs that pointed out that the paper log was destroyed. Unfortunately, I left my spare logs back in the car. The container was cool and a picture would be a definite spoiler.

Next, I hunted Loblolly by Berlan Eligab (GC21WDW) at Sea Isle Park, just to the south. I had been here before and couldn't find the cache because I trusted my GPSr. This time, although the GPSr took me to the exact same location, I took a successful guess at what nearby location held the cache. This would have been a great place (and day) to relax, but I had a few more places to go.

[ Walking trail at Sea Isle Park]

ACME-2010 by giardia_boy (GC22GND) was my first cache find by this hider and was an excellent example of a cache blending in an urban environment.

My final cache of the morning was Wolf River Blvd. Extension by ProntoPup (GC25N3B) at Riverwoods State Natural Area. Prontopup had put out several new caches in the area for the event, but I generated my pocket query too early. This cache managed to be on my list, though, and was within a mile of the event.



This is a really nice area and I wished I had more time to thoroughly explore the trails. Alas, I'm not a warm weather cacher, so this might be my last trip into the woods for awhile.

I made it to Cameron Brown Park on time, but the parking lots were packed! Lots of baseball games were going on all over the park. I had to park a good ways away.

[ The event from a distance ]

Prontopup was the host for the Geocaching FUNdamentals by Geocachers of West Tennessee (GC2440D), and does a pretty good job of explaining geocaching and demonstrating different cache containers. He had some of the experienced cachers tell about their favorite caches. I talked about Mingo - GC30, that I had found last summer.

When the event was over, I wrote down tracking numbers of several neat coins. I saw an Arkansas State Parks geocoin and wondered if this was the one that was missing from Robert & Casper's Vacation Travel Bug Hotel when I went to look for it (the coin) on Easter Sunday. I later found out that it was and that 76Stinger had taken it from his own cache without logging it as "retrieved" at the time. One of the things that 76Stinger hopefully learned at the event was the importance of logging coins properly and promptly.


During the hour gap between the two events, I spent some time walking around. I explored the short boardwalk and bought hot dogs from a concession stand while catching the last moments of a baseball game.

CITO in Germantown by Geocachers of West Tennessee (GC253F5) was well organized with plenty of options for areas to pick up trash. I was sent along with Jaybirder to the north wooded side of the park. We both ended up with nearly full bags. I even found 8 or 9 baseballs. Some people were sent to some other nearby parks to pick up trash. It was interesting to learn that Germantown parks are cleaned largely by volunteers.

[ Dalls made it after all! ]

After returning to the pavilion with our trash, I hung around for awhile listening to stories before finally leaving. I had hoped to get an Oreo Blizzard at the Dairy Queen just to the north, but their ice cream machine was broken.

City Treasure - 4/16/2010

CITY TREASURE by MagicRock (GC1YXMY) is another excellent cache by the author. I used instinct, rather than hard work, to figure out where the cache was and invited jbgreer to go along with me on the hunt. Another good friend went along as well. I took lots of great pictures - none of which I can post because they would be spoilers. I can't even say much about the journey.

[ the logbook ]

Upon opening the cache, we found the logbook and the TFTC geocoin I dropped off in a Collierville cache back in January. I added a Pirate geocoin, because I thought it was an appropriate place, as well as to entice future seekers to put in the work necessary (or perhaps unnecessary) to find this cache. Happy hunting!

Southaven - Olive Branch, MS - 4/4/2010

It was a beautiful day for a cache hunt, but because it was Easter, I had other plans for the afternoon. I decided to spend the early part of the day caching in Southaven, MS - which is not far from Whitehaven, where I lived as a college student.

I decided to take Hwy 51 south which meant I would have the opportunity to hunt two South Memphis caches before making my way to Mississippi.

My first find was at a gas station at the corner of Winchester and Elvis Presley Blvd. - BittenApple's Imaginary Lines #1 – Winchester Line by BittenApple (GC22101). I lived in several places near here as a child, and it was "interesting" to see how the area has changed. Not far away was Aerotropolis TB Hotel by GC4EVR (GC1Y1KC). The way to this cache was surprisingly difficult for the last 100 feet, I can only imagine what fun it will be in the summer. For a TB hotel, there is no reason that I can see for it not being closer to the parking area...

I drove south to Shelby Drive and west to Elvis Presley Blvd. and passed by the Southland Mall. I have many fond memories of this place as a child and didn't wish to spoil them by going inside.

Before reaching Southaven, I had one more stop to make. I wanted to see the house I lived in with my Dad and brother while going to college. It is still a relatively nice area, but its heyday appears to be long gone.

[ My home between 1982 and 1987 ]

Onward to Southaven. As I crossed the border into Mississippi, I saw a "Crips" tag on a sign. Nice.

My first stop here was Emerald of Vicksburg by Sea Scout Ship 349 of Southaven, MS (GC1YAHX). It was a nice cache in a children's park. nice, except for this sign...

[ Sorry, I left my dice at home ]

I skipped two caches - one at a busy little church and the other in soneone's yard, but found a few others in the area and pretty much cleaned out this part of North Mississippi.

It ain't easy being green(Wal) by Will&Amy (GC1QPG5) was at a nice Walgreens and even had an interesting view of an old farm.

[ next to Walgreens ]

I ventured south and found May I see your License? by mrjlsmith (GC1FB1B). A well hidden ammo can near a driver's testing station.

Heading back north, I avenged a DNF at Bridge to Terabithia by Jschway901 (GC1Z563)

[ Bridge to Terabitha ]

Back to the north, I found Rutland Place Muggle Compound V2 by accarp04 and the Monkeys (GC1WQGX) under the (possibly) watchful eyes of local law enforcement and Business in Southaven #3 v2 by accarp04 and the monkeys (GC22D5P).

I headed east to Olive Branch and avenged DNFs at Got Groceries? by accarp04 (GC22N88), Catch some zzzzzz by accarp04 (GC22N8B), and You can't see me from here by fzxfazer (GC1WWKH). That last one is at a Chick-Fil-A, so Sunday was definitely the best day to hunt it.

My last cache of the day was Mooney and the Mooniacs by Sprout (GC112EF) back to the north in Memphis. My GPS was still acting flaky, so I used instinct to point me in the right direction.

[ View of the park ]

After this find, I plotted my way north to celebrate Easter with my family. I had to be there at 2pm and made it with 10 minutes to spare.

Oakland, TN - 3/27/2010

I didn't want to get up hunt caches before dawn like I did the previous week, so I made plans to go somewhere closer. Hard to believe, but I'd never cached in Oakland, TN before. I usually pass by it on my way to points east. On this day, I decided to hit Oakland around 8am. My first find of the day was Haunted Silos by kailuasquid (GC1H2NZ).


This cache was located on the far west side of Oakland, and was an eerie sight to behold. There was lots of potential for injury as well. I think I spent more time watching where I stepped, than looking for the cache. The acoustics inside the larger silo are quite interesting. After finally finding the first stage, the second was a breeze.

I hunted a hand full of park and grabs along Hwy 64 before a brief detour south to pick up a couiple of caches that sounded cool.

First on this list was The Leaning Tree of Pruitt by carterson2 (GC17M50). It turned out to be in the front of someone's yard on Pruitt Rd.

There were kids and a dog playing further back off of the road, so I parked to minimize being seen. The cache was an easy find and the tree looked like it had sustained some damage recently. The dog had to come out and say "goodbye" before I left.

On the way back to Oakland, I hunted Cypress Creek by Tiger130 (GC14TK3). It was in pretty good shape. It happened to be my 3300th cache find and the only Tiger130 multicache (out of 3) that I could find.

All-in-all, I enjoyed caching in Oakland. There were two nice parks that I struck out in, but I enjoyed their walking trails. I was disappointed that Oakland Trackables Depot #130 by Tiger130 (GC15K9H) had no coins, but that happens.

---

After leaving Oakland, I made some spur of the moment choices as where to cache next. I got gas in Somerville and hunted I.P. Yancey Park by kailuasquid (GC1H2MZ). I struck out at the nearby Frank's Windows by Somervillian (GC21E05), but there were lots of muggles around.

I headed south to Rossville and "The William B .Clark Conservation Area where I picked up The Nature Conservancy by kailuasquid (GC1QM8X) and the first stage of Six Sicks Icks by bitbrain (GCWD3A). Those were both along a nice boardwalk that traversed a cypress swamp. There were only a few people out here - one of whom recognized that I was geocaching. I took lots of pictures before heading into Collierville for more caching.


The caches I found in Collierville were somewhat interesting. What a "Pine" Library by TNLarry4 (GC24EYD) was at a familiar park (Halle Park) and cound have been tough if the camo had been a little better. It wasn't a park and grab, though. I found three caches by arcking, including Dead End: Nonconnah by Arcking (GC22YAF). That was a pleasant stroll along an abandoned road.

A Game of Cards by Arcking (GC22YB3) led me to a walking trail that I'd never noticed before on two previous caches to the area looking for other caches.

After hunting all of the remaining "easy" caches in Collierville, I decided to go north to the Dairy Queen near Scrumdillyishus by Berlan Eligab (GC1NMQ5). After striking out on this cache twice before, I expected to just enjoy an Oreo Blizzard and move on. I got lucky, though, and found the cache after dessert.

Back on the road, I headed west towards home. My last find of the day was Germantown Greenway Revisited by Prontopup (GC24J6X).

Brian Brown Memorial Greenway - 3/20/2010

[ This is an excerpt from a trip where I cached in a triangle bounded by Humboldt, Dresden, and Martin, TN.]

I arrived in Martin, TN in the early afternoon and immediately starting hunting caches while looking around for a place to have lunch. I struck out on my first three caches, so I headed for the Brian Brown Memorial Greenway. I had read enough of the cache pages to know where to park, and there was plenty of parking available.

[ Just east of the entrance ]

It was sunny and around 70 degrees. Perfect weather for a long hike. I estimated the length of the greenway as about one mile. I went after Brian Brown Greenway Cache #1 (a 2-stage multi) first, and for some reason could not find it.

Brian Brown Greenway Cache #2 by PharmD93 and pcsenn (GC218N8) was an easy find, but could be tough after a rain. There were walkers on the path ahead of me, so I needed to be careful about going after the caches along the path.


Greenway Micro by pcsenn & PharmD93 (GC21922) was another easy find. I was worried because it was a micro, but the cache area made it easy to spot.

[ What used to be here? ]

Brian Brown Greenway #3 by pcsenn & PharmD93 (GC2192T) was next on the list. Another 2-stage multi, the first stage took me towards the east end of the greenway. Since I was near the end, I kept walking to see what was at the end. It was a basketball goal and some kids playing.

After reading the sign at the end of the trail, I hiked back to short distance to the first stage of BBG 3. The coords were dead on, but it was a tough hunt. When I got the container open, the stage two coordinates were blurred, but readable. They kindly led me back west to a nice spot where the cache was easily found.

As I headed back towards the greenway entrance, I decided to give Brian Brown Greenway Cache #1 by PharmD93 and pcsenn (GC218KM) one more chance. I found the first stage easily this time, but the second stage coords told me I'd be rehiking most of the greenway again! First, though, I walked back to my car for a drink.

It was a peaceful walk back along the greenway. I think about a lot of things when I'm hiking on trails like this. On this day, I was thinking about my nephew Jay. He was supposed to start school at the nearby UT-Martin last fall. He unexpectedly died one month before his 18th birthday and just a few short weeks before fall classes started.

Anyways, I found the second stage and was happy that I had managed to find all four caches along this pleasant greenway. I'd say "beautiful greenway", but I imagine it looks nicer when the trees have more leaves and the flowers bloom.

I left the greenway around 3:30. My immediate needs were food and gas. I got gas at the nearby Shell station, but I ended up putting off eating until sunset.

I found a few more neat caches in Martin, including John by Skyhawk13 (GC115MN) and Sally by Skyhawk13 (GC115MV). I also avenged two DNF's - Taylor's Treasure by PharmD93 (GCYHVX) and Goal Find by Sherlock121 (GC107QY) before heading south towards Jackson.