Nelms3 Grand Time At The Roost - 6/11/2011

It had been awhile since I attended a 1K event for a geocacher in my area. Because I had a lot of work to do, I had initially decided to skip Nelms3 Grand Time At The Roost by 76Stinger (GC2WECC). Sometimes, though, it doesn't really matter how much work is on your plate, and you have to get out and do something else. I figured I'd also pick up three caches in Shelby Farms that I failed to go after during my visit there last weekend.

Saturday came and it was another really hot day. I slept in late and pretty much skipped everything I had planned to do in the morning. I left home around 11:30am, which gave me almost two hours to cache before heading to the event.

I parked at the new Woodland Dicsovery Playground which was a little over 1/10 of a mile from the first of the three caches. My GPSr arrow pointed towards an area where a lot of people were having a picnic. As I got closer, I discovered a trail leading into the woods that would take me out of sight of the picnickers.

[ I was excited to find this trail. ]

I had no recollection of this well-used trail being here, so was pleased that it took me close to Banjo Muzak by thefamilybush (GC2VEAV). a fellow geocacher, GC4EVR, had said something to me about this cache at the "Meet The Reviewer" event last weekend, and I'm glad it turned out to be an easier find than I had thought. The same trail that led me by this cache also led me to Yeti's Path by thefamilybush (GC2WWQ2). The coords were really good and coming from the right angle led me to discover the cache fairly quickly. It did, however, take some time to get my hands on the container. I had to be careful not to be seen by bikers using the trail. I left a Signal FTF geocoin in this cache that I had originally intended to take on an upcoming trip to Oregon later this summer.

[ well-maintained bridge ]

The third cache, Meadowlark by thefamilybush (GC2X251) posed an interesting dilemma. It wasn't terribly far from the other two caches, but I couldn't find a trail that took me close to the cache. I didn't want to risk getting dirty cutting across the woods, but that is what I ended up doing. I saw at least one interesting sight just before getting to the cache.

[ This suggests there may have been a trail or road here at one time. ]

When I found the cache, its holder was sitting on the ground and the lock of the lock-n-lock container was underneath the cache. The contents were in good shape, though, and after I signed the log, the lid went back on with no problems. I noticed in the log book that it appeared that muggles signed the logbook. That was strange, given the apparent lack of a trail nearby. Speaking of the trail, my biggest problem of the hunt was finding my way back out onto the trail. That helped keep me out in the heat longer than I should have been.

[ Nice and shady ]

Once I got back to the original trail I started on, I hiked back to my car, shaded by the tree canopy. At one point, I discovered a offshoot of the trail that may be the one needed to find "Meadowlark". Anyways, I made it back to my car, drank some Gatorade, and used the restroom at the Woodland Discovery playground to clean myself up. I was hoping to stop at a nearby Wal-Mart to help me cool off and clean up before heading the the event, but I was running out of time. I ended up just heading straight for the restaurant where the event was being held.

I got to the event about 10 minutes before start time (2pm) and met up with 76Stinger (the host) and the Nelms family (the guests of honor) while waiting for our reserved section of the restaurant to open up. The event was well-attended. I knew most of the people there and should have made a better effort to meet the ones I didn't know. I always enjoy listening to new cachers describe with enthusiasm the caches they have hunted. Since the event was hosted by the Geocachers of West Tennessee (GOWT), I was pleased to see not one, but both banners displayed at the event.

[ I didn't take any pictures at the event, so I may borrow some from the cache page. ]

There were neat door prizes handed out and the food was good. I was feeling kind of rough because I was awfully sweaty and the restaurant had their A/C on high making me a bit chilly.

The event ended around 4pm, and I headed straight home to take a shower and relax.

Meet The Reviewers - 6/5/2011

It was a third day of record-setting heat for early June and under normal circumstances, I probably wouldn't have set foot outside of my air-conditioned comfort. This day, however, I made an exception to attend Meet the Reviewers! by The Disorganization of MidSouth Geocachers (GC2WJCK). This event was designed to allow geocachers in West Tennessee the opportunity to meet and ask questions of Tennessee's two volunteer reviewers.


I had planned to arrive early and hunt three caches that were clustered less than a mile from the event. As usual, though, I left later than I had planned and arrived at Shelby Farms Park around 10:15am. That was too late to hunt the other caches and too early for the event, which started at 11am. It was already pretty hot, so I decided to hang out in the shade at the pavilion where the event was to be held.

My old friend 76Stinger was the first to arrive. We talked for a bit before the others showed up. It turned out that only one reviewer, "The Seanachai" , was able to make it. He and his family along with two other geocachers from Middle Tennessee spent the weekend touring West Tennessee before the event on Sunday.

After asking everyone to introduce themselves, The Seanachai (pronounced "shawn-a-key") spent nearly three and a half hours answering questions about guideline-related issues. He also told a few stories about working with Groundspeak, other reviewers, and geocachers in general. After the event, there were some interesting travel bugs to discover.

When I got back in my car, I was amazed at how hot it was inside. I burned myself on just about anything I touched. At this point, I knew I was done geocaching for the day.

The temperature on this day turned out to be 99 degrees which tied the record set in 1977.