This was my 4th year participating in Race for the Cure. The race was a 5k where the start and finish is located near the Saddle Creek shopping center in Germantown, TN. Race organizers estimate they had around 15,000 entrants this year (same as most years) and I was one of about 500 timed racers. The weather was cold, but sunny, and other than the crowds during the first mile, I had a great race.
Afterwards, I enjoyed some pizza and a banana and lots of water before running back to the Agricenter (roughly 2 miles north) where I parked my car.
After getting back to my car, I decided that I would hunt a couple of park and grab caches nearby. I don't normally like caching in my running clothes because I figure I'm more likely to lock my keys in the car, but this time I risked it.
Germantown Parkway is a very busy street on most days, and this day (morning) was no exception. The first cache I went after was Where A Kid Can Be A Kid by Pixiemama (GC1EMZX). I had to outwait a carload of muggles parked next to the cache, and after they left I felt a bit exposed, but I made the find. Had I been here on any other day, I might have gone inside for pizza. Anyways, I got back on the road and headed less than a mile south for the second and final cache of the morning: Preggo #1 by Pixiemama (GC1FA46). There was an open door near the cache, and I could have easily been spotted if someone had stepped outside. I got lucky, though, and got in and out of the area undetected.
There were a few more caches I could have gone after, but I needed to go home and get cleaned up before eating lunch.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Caching at Glen Springs Lake - October 18, 2008
I met up with my caching buddy, jbgreer at his place around 8am. I was a little late because I was taking advantage of the lower gas prices to fill up. Gas had gone down 80 cents a gallon since I had last filled up.
I was in charge of coming up with the caches to hunt, and chose the area around Glen Springs Lake in Tipton County in order to meet jbgreer's goal of hunting high difficulty/terrain caches and my goal of hunting at least ten caches, hard or easy. The weather was cooperative being both dry and cool.
After arriving at the lake and circling the parking lot looking for the optimal parking spot, we headed off on foot in search of West TN Mega Multi series - No Way1 by Riskit323 (GC13WVN). We decided to approach it from the north after scouting a suitable entry point into the woods. The lake has a number of "fingers" in this area so we tried to avoid extra hiking by staying away from the lake, itself. This area is nice and hilly, but the hike to the cache was short and we found it in good shape and signed the log. There were two other caches in the immediate area, so next we went after Burhs by prontopup (GC11XNB). We stumbled upon the trail leading us most of the way to the cache - actually to within 200 feet before cutting off and heading toward the coordinates. After some searching of the area, I read the previous logs that mentioned the coordinates being off by around 30 feet. Sure enough, I found it to be about 30 feet (east?) of the coordinates. I liked the camo on this one, it really blended in well. While we were standing around the cache, we noticed some guys on a boat coming within sight of us. We backed off to avoid compromising the hide.
After walking back uphill to the trail, we headed for Nature's Redundancy by prontopup (GC11XNH). It was an easy walk to this cache (just a few hundred feet), but the hide area was surrounded by falling trees and thick brush - plenty of places to hide a cache. Reading netinator's log gave me sufficient insight to spot the cache without too much work. It was a good hide technique that nature was beginning to encroach upon.
The last cache we had to hunt in the area was Dogwood Dead by prontopup (GC11XN7). The hide area was between us and where we parked, so we tried taking the trail back out of the woods. Unfortunately, it didn't do that - it ended up behind somebody's backyard. We managed to skirt around that area without being spotted by the residents or crossing onto their yard, but it probably wasn't the best way to go. Anyways, we made it out the road, followed it for a bit and then cut back into the woods. After a lot of searching, we came up empty-handed. We did find a chewed up plastic bowl near the coordinates, but it didn't look like a cache container. I was disappointed to leave one cache unfound, but jbgreer reminded me that at least it was easy to get back to, being just a short distance from good parking. We walked back to the truck and I snapped a few pictures of the lake area, and we left.
Our next destination was Valentine Park in Munford, TN. Even though we had both been to this park before, for some reason our autorouting had us going around in circles. Finally, I used my paper map to guide us in. We parked in an area, where I had parked the last time I was here - not realizing that the road would have taken us much closer to where we needed to be. It was a nice day for a walk, though, and we eventually made it to the Boy Scout Trail after first visiting a small cemetery.
There were muggles picnicking near the trailhead, but none were in the woods. We followed one trail to need a light by djpoochie (GC1AJY0) and the followed another section of the trail to Wolves, Tigers & Bears?? by bevofan (GCZ39Q). The latter hide had been there awhile and was originally stocked with some neat stuff. By the time we hunted it, all it had was the logbook and some junk. Both of these caches were good hides, though, and we enjoyed finding them. By the time we got back to the truck, we decided to get something to eat. Not being familiar with any of the eating establishments, I picked Sparky's BBQ in nearby Atoka, TN. I should have called my sister-in-law, who lives in Atoka for some advice... Maybe next time. Anyways, after lunch we heaaded for Atoka Ball Park to hunt O, IC ! by minismiths (GCW3E9). The coords led us to a caboose, that had had two previous caches (we had found at least one of them), so we were quite surprise by the creativity in this hide.
Time was running out for us, so we headed south to Orgill Park where we found Squirel's Revenge by SirFrog (GCYBGD) in short order. There were a surprising number of excellent potential hiding spots with a few yards of the coords. Our last hunt of the day was What is my ID? by cgeek (GC10QM3) it was in a nearby park that was familiar to both of us. It had a simple puzzle component that I had solved a long time ago, and jbgreer solved the day before. The theme of the cache was dedicated to the 2007 GOWT Executive Committee, so I paid my respects in what I felt was an appropriate manner. ;-) Easy hike in and out. We did see a sinkhole off of a trail that was impressive in its size. The opening was relatively small, but it was cavernous underneath.
We got back to the truck and made the drive back to jbgreer's house, where we parted ways until the next adventure. It was a good day and we both met our caching goals for the trip.
After getting home, I decided I still had time to hike over to Joe's by Berlan Eligab (GC1H83J). It was a short walk from my place to the cache location. I was a little hesitant to grab the cache after seeing a sticker on the object on which the cache was placed that basically said that all calls were being monitored by the police. Apparently some unsavory folks spend time here... None on this day, though, so after signing the log I headed off in search of dinner.
I was in charge of coming up with the caches to hunt, and chose the area around Glen Springs Lake in Tipton County in order to meet jbgreer's goal of hunting high difficulty/terrain caches and my goal of hunting at least ten caches, hard or easy. The weather was cooperative being both dry and cool.
After arriving at the lake and circling the parking lot looking for the optimal parking spot, we headed off on foot in search of West TN Mega Multi series - No Way1 by Riskit323 (GC13WVN). We decided to approach it from the north after scouting a suitable entry point into the woods. The lake has a number of "fingers" in this area so we tried to avoid extra hiking by staying away from the lake, itself. This area is nice and hilly, but the hike to the cache was short and we found it in good shape and signed the log. There were two other caches in the immediate area, so next we went after Burhs by prontopup (GC11XNB). We stumbled upon the trail leading us most of the way to the cache - actually to within 200 feet before cutting off and heading toward the coordinates. After some searching of the area, I read the previous logs that mentioned the coordinates being off by around 30 feet. Sure enough, I found it to be about 30 feet (east?) of the coordinates. I liked the camo on this one, it really blended in well. While we were standing around the cache, we noticed some guys on a boat coming within sight of us. We backed off to avoid compromising the hide.
After walking back uphill to the trail, we headed for Nature's Redundancy by prontopup (GC11XNH). It was an easy walk to this cache (just a few hundred feet), but the hide area was surrounded by falling trees and thick brush - plenty of places to hide a cache. Reading netinator's log gave me sufficient insight to spot the cache without too much work. It was a good hide technique that nature was beginning to encroach upon.
The last cache we had to hunt in the area was Dogwood Dead by prontopup (GC11XN7). The hide area was between us and where we parked, so we tried taking the trail back out of the woods. Unfortunately, it didn't do that - it ended up behind somebody's backyard. We managed to skirt around that area without being spotted by the residents or crossing onto their yard, but it probably wasn't the best way to go. Anyways, we made it out the road, followed it for a bit and then cut back into the woods. After a lot of searching, we came up empty-handed. We did find a chewed up plastic bowl near the coordinates, but it didn't look like a cache container. I was disappointed to leave one cache unfound, but jbgreer reminded me that at least it was easy to get back to, being just a short distance from good parking. We walked back to the truck and I snapped a few pictures of the lake area, and we left.
Our next destination was Valentine Park in Munford, TN. Even though we had both been to this park before, for some reason our autorouting had us going around in circles. Finally, I used my paper map to guide us in. We parked in an area, where I had parked the last time I was here - not realizing that the road would have taken us much closer to where we needed to be. It was a nice day for a walk, though, and we eventually made it to the Boy Scout Trail after first visiting a small cemetery.
There were muggles picnicking near the trailhead, but none were in the woods. We followed one trail to need a light by djpoochie (GC1AJY0) and the followed another section of the trail to Wolves, Tigers & Bears?? by bevofan (GCZ39Q). The latter hide had been there awhile and was originally stocked with some neat stuff. By the time we hunted it, all it had was the logbook and some junk. Both of these caches were good hides, though, and we enjoyed finding them. By the time we got back to the truck, we decided to get something to eat. Not being familiar with any of the eating establishments, I picked Sparky's BBQ in nearby Atoka, TN. I should have called my sister-in-law, who lives in Atoka for some advice... Maybe next time. Anyways, after lunch we heaaded for Atoka Ball Park to hunt O, IC ! by minismiths (GCW3E9). The coords led us to a caboose, that had had two previous caches (we had found at least one of them), so we were quite surprise by the creativity in this hide.
Time was running out for us, so we headed south to Orgill Park where we found Squirel's Revenge by SirFrog (GCYBGD) in short order. There were a surprising number of excellent potential hiding spots with a few yards of the coords. Our last hunt of the day was What is my ID? by cgeek (GC10QM3) it was in a nearby park that was familiar to both of us. It had a simple puzzle component that I had solved a long time ago, and jbgreer solved the day before. The theme of the cache was dedicated to the 2007 GOWT Executive Committee, so I paid my respects in what I felt was an appropriate manner. ;-) Easy hike in and out. We did see a sinkhole off of a trail that was impressive in its size. The opening was relatively small, but it was cavernous underneath.
We got back to the truck and made the drive back to jbgreer's house, where we parted ways until the next adventure. It was a good day and we both met our caching goals for the trip.
After getting home, I decided I still had time to hike over to Joe's by Berlan Eligab (GC1H83J). It was a short walk from my place to the cache location. I was a little hesitant to grab the cache after seeing a sticker on the object on which the cache was placed that basically said that all calls were being monitored by the police. Apparently some unsavory folks spend time here... None on this day, though, so after signing the log I headed off in search of dinner.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Upcoming Events
I haven't made it out caching in a couple of weeks, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to mention a few upcoming events in the area:
2nd Annual Old Liberty Hill Haunted Adventure by lacey38655 and sniperchicken (GC1AC2A)
This event on October 18th is being held just east of Oxford, MS and should be a lot of fun for those fortunate enough to make it. I enjoyed it last year, but I don't think I'll make it this year. I'm pretty sure that this event (last year) was the last geocaching event I attended.
The Great Pumpkin Geocaching Party! by Team Sprout (GC1G888)
This Halloween event will be held in Olive Branch, MS. I would never go to an event that required wearing a costume in order to log the event, but it would be cool if there was a contest for the best Halloween-themed cache container.
Geocaching Introduction by Geocachers of West Tennessee (GC1GD8C)
This event on November 1st will be hosted by prontopup at Cameron Brown Park in Germantown, TN. This will be the perfect opportunity for the host to pose for pictures with fellow GOWT member tiger130. All most folks will get out of this "introduction" is who you can call when you can't find the cache.
2nd Annual Old Liberty Hill Haunted Adventure by lacey38655 and sniperchicken (GC1AC2A)
This event on October 18th is being held just east of Oxford, MS and should be a lot of fun for those fortunate enough to make it. I enjoyed it last year, but I don't think I'll make it this year. I'm pretty sure that this event (last year) was the last geocaching event I attended.
The Great Pumpkin Geocaching Party! by Team Sprout (GC1G888)
This Halloween event will be held in Olive Branch, MS. I would never go to an event that required wearing a costume in order to log the event, but it would be cool if there was a contest for the best Halloween-themed cache container.
Geocaching Introduction by Geocachers of West Tennessee (GC1GD8C)
This event on November 1st will be hosted by prontopup at Cameron Brown Park in Germantown, TN. This will be the perfect opportunity for the host to pose for pictures with fellow GOWT member tiger130. All most folks will get out of this "introduction" is who you can call when you can't find the cache.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Caching in Olive Branch, MS - September 24, 2008
I planned to take my car to a repair shop in Olive Branch that I have used before. Knowing that there were eight new caches in the area since my last visit, I decided to take my GPSr with me in case I had time to cache a little after the repairs were done. I had done very little research on the caches I wanted to hunt, but knew most would be simple park and grabs.
After I left the repair place, I went after two caches a short distance away. Zoned out by fzxfazer (GC1FZT5) was a skirtlifter at a nearby AutoZone and was a quick find. Headache Fix #1 by fzxfazer (GC1FCPT) was at a nearby Walgreens. Another skirtlifter on the edge of a parking lot that had just been repaved. I'm not sure if you can be observed from the drive-thru pharmacy window, but took a chance in going after this one.
Next, I headed after three near Olive Branch City Park. First, I hunted Home Run at Maples by Fairchase (GC1G0F3). I parked at Maples Memorial Methodist Church (which was busy on a Wednesday morning) and was surprised to see the small ballfield below the parking area. The approach I took deserved a high-terrain rating, but at least the location of the field was out of sight of any muggles at the church. The cache was in an interesting container and nicely tucked away. Coming out of the area, I noticed a much safer way back to the parking lot, but I went back up the way I had come.
I detoured back to the area of Heartbreak Hotel and Cache by tinksdad01 (GC185HX) and checked out the area. I knew the cache was hidden in the owner's yard, but wasn't interested in being spotted by the neighbors or anyone else, so I moved on.
There were two caches to find in Olive Branch City Park. I had been there at least three times before and had hunted other caches in different areas if the park. The first cache I went after was The Air Force's Best Kept Secret by Sprout (GC1FKP7). Had I read the cache description, I would have known about the nice hiking trail that leads you to within 100 feet or so of the cache. Instead, I cut across the woods and stumbled upon the trail just a little bit before having to go back off trail to find the cache. After signing the log, I took the trail south towards the next cache on my list: Home Run at The Park by Fairchase (GC1G0F5). When I got to be roughly 400 feet from the cache location, I discovered I had two obstacles. The first was a woman and her kids picnicing just off of the paved path I was standing on. The other obstacle was a groundskeeper on a tractor less than 50 feet from the cache location. I waited out the groundskeeper and made the find without the picnicing muggles watching me. I had a bit of a hike getting back to my car and observing a police car patrolling the area.
My next cache was Mmmm Mmmm Good! by Fairchase (GC1G0EW), located near an ice cream parlor. The parking lot was empty except for a car parked at the cache spot. Good thing it was a park and grab. No time for ice cream, though, I had one more cache on my list. I drove to the area of A Sticky Entrance to The Meadows by Fairchase (GC1G0ER) and decided it would be too easy to be spotted by the neighbors so I drove off. It was another cache where it turned out that the neighbors knew about it, but I really don't care to be observed while caching.
Having found 6 caches in roughly 45 minutes, my work was done and since it was lunchtime, I drove over to Chik-Fil-A for a quick lunch before heading back to Memphis.
All in all, it was a good morning. My car problems were fixed (hopefully) and I found six caches before lunch. My one regret is that I didn't have my camera with me on this trip.
After I left the repair place, I went after two caches a short distance away. Zoned out by fzxfazer (GC1FZT5) was a skirtlifter at a nearby AutoZone and was a quick find. Headache Fix #1 by fzxfazer (GC1FCPT) was at a nearby Walgreens. Another skirtlifter on the edge of a parking lot that had just been repaved. I'm not sure if you can be observed from the drive-thru pharmacy window, but took a chance in going after this one.
Next, I headed after three near Olive Branch City Park. First, I hunted Home Run at Maples by Fairchase (GC1G0F3). I parked at Maples Memorial Methodist Church (which was busy on a Wednesday morning) and was surprised to see the small ballfield below the parking area. The approach I took deserved a high-terrain rating, but at least the location of the field was out of sight of any muggles at the church. The cache was in an interesting container and nicely tucked away. Coming out of the area, I noticed a much safer way back to the parking lot, but I went back up the way I had come.
I detoured back to the area of Heartbreak Hotel and Cache by tinksdad01 (GC185HX) and checked out the area. I knew the cache was hidden in the owner's yard, but wasn't interested in being spotted by the neighbors or anyone else, so I moved on.
There were two caches to find in Olive Branch City Park. I had been there at least three times before and had hunted other caches in different areas if the park. The first cache I went after was The Air Force's Best Kept Secret by Sprout (GC1FKP7). Had I read the cache description, I would have known about the nice hiking trail that leads you to within 100 feet or so of the cache. Instead, I cut across the woods and stumbled upon the trail just a little bit before having to go back off trail to find the cache. After signing the log, I took the trail south towards the next cache on my list: Home Run at The Park by Fairchase (GC1G0F5). When I got to be roughly 400 feet from the cache location, I discovered I had two obstacles. The first was a woman and her kids picnicing just off of the paved path I was standing on. The other obstacle was a groundskeeper on a tractor less than 50 feet from the cache location. I waited out the groundskeeper and made the find without the picnicing muggles watching me. I had a bit of a hike getting back to my car and observing a police car patrolling the area.
My next cache was Mmmm Mmmm Good! by Fairchase (GC1G0EW), located near an ice cream parlor. The parking lot was empty except for a car parked at the cache spot. Good thing it was a park and grab. No time for ice cream, though, I had one more cache on my list. I drove to the area of A Sticky Entrance to The Meadows by Fairchase (GC1G0ER) and decided it would be too easy to be spotted by the neighbors so I drove off. It was another cache where it turned out that the neighbors knew about it, but I really don't care to be observed while caching.
Having found 6 caches in roughly 45 minutes, my work was done and since it was lunchtime, I drove over to Chik-Fil-A for a quick lunch before heading back to Memphis.
All in all, it was a good morning. My car problems were fixed (hopefully) and I found six caches before lunch. My one regret is that I didn't have my camera with me on this trip.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Caching in Hernando, MS - September 20, 2008
[continued from previous entry]
Our primary goals for Hernando on this trip were:
1) Get some lunch
2) Get some batteries
3) Attempt Elite Cachers # 1 (Strength) by bomb280 (GC14129) - a 1.5/5 cache
Passing by the location of the cache, we saw that a football game was going on and there were muggles aplenty. I figured that we could pick a place to eat from one of the "Hungry in Hernando" series. Stopping at Hungry in Hernando #3 by htowngs153 (GC1EAHY), we made a quick find of the cache near stage 1 of a previously hunted cache. I wasn't really sure of the eating establishment related to this cache, so we just went down the road to a Wendy's.
After lunch we headed off to Hungry in Hernando #1 by htowngs153 (GC1EAHP), making a quick stop at a nearby Walgreens for batteries on the way. The cache was another quick find thanks to the lack of muggles. Next was the last for the series, Hungry in Hernando #2 by htowngs153 (GC1EAHT).
We made a quick pass by gshome by htowngs153 (GC18M7G) and the groundskeeper was watching us so we left.
We made another pass by Elite Cachers # 1 (Strength) by bomb280 (GC14129). Still busy.
We avenged a DNF at Urban Shell Shock #1 by Pyxis Centauri (GCY3DA). Looks like the coords are off by at least 30 feet and the log is mush.
The next cache, and the only multicache we hunted, was Sons of the South by tinksdad01 (GC1D9HP). The cache took us through Hernando Memorial Cemetery which had a number of Confederate soldiers buried within.
Thanks to jbgreer knowing what a "filial" is and my visual surmising of a projected waypoint, we made quick work of finding the cache.
The last cache we intended to hunt was 55 South by CamoHunter297 (GC16QVW). This cache was located on the grounds of a really neat rest stop. I spent some time after the find exploring the "Hospitality House" where I ended up buying a soda.
Heading south, we missed our exit for turning around so I suggested we hunt Ranger Futbol by chimps8mybaby (GC1DVT1), which was just off of the next exit. We had a few delays finding the proper entrance to the area, but managed to arrive where we needed to be. While I stood roughly 10 feet from the cache location, jbgreer did a masterful job of not telling the security officer what we were really doing. After the officer left, we retrieved the cache and signed the log. All in all, a successful day of caching and just having fun. We got back on I-55 and headed back to Memphis.
Our primary goals for Hernando on this trip were:
1) Get some lunch
2) Get some batteries
3) Attempt Elite Cachers # 1 (Strength) by bomb280 (GC14129) - a 1.5/5 cache
Passing by the location of the cache, we saw that a football game was going on and there were muggles aplenty. I figured that we could pick a place to eat from one of the "Hungry in Hernando" series. Stopping at Hungry in Hernando #3 by htowngs153 (GC1EAHY), we made a quick find of the cache near stage 1 of a previously hunted cache. I wasn't really sure of the eating establishment related to this cache, so we just went down the road to a Wendy's.
After lunch we headed off to Hungry in Hernando #1 by htowngs153 (GC1EAHP), making a quick stop at a nearby Walgreens for batteries on the way. The cache was another quick find thanks to the lack of muggles. Next was the last for the series, Hungry in Hernando #2 by htowngs153 (GC1EAHT).
We made a quick pass by gshome by htowngs153 (GC18M7G) and the groundskeeper was watching us so we left.
We made another pass by Elite Cachers # 1 (Strength) by bomb280 (GC14129). Still busy.
We avenged a DNF at Urban Shell Shock #1 by Pyxis Centauri (GCY3DA). Looks like the coords are off by at least 30 feet and the log is mush.
The next cache, and the only multicache we hunted, was Sons of the South by tinksdad01 (GC1D9HP). The cache took us through Hernando Memorial Cemetery which had a number of Confederate soldiers buried within.
Thanks to jbgreer knowing what a "filial" is and my visual surmising of a projected waypoint, we made quick work of finding the cache.
The last cache we intended to hunt was 55 South by CamoHunter297 (GC16QVW). This cache was located on the grounds of a really neat rest stop. I spent some time after the find exploring the "Hospitality House" where I ended up buying a soda.
Heading south, we missed our exit for turning around so I suggested we hunt Ranger Futbol by chimps8mybaby (GC1DVT1), which was just off of the next exit. We had a few delays finding the proper entrance to the area, but managed to arrive where we needed to be. While I stood roughly 10 feet from the cache location, jbgreer did a masterful job of not telling the security officer what we were really doing. After the officer left, we retrieved the cache and signed the log. All in all, a successful day of caching and just having fun. We got back on I-55 and headed back to Memphis.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Caching at Arkabutla Lake - September 20, 2008
My good buddy jbgreer had contacted me earlier in the week to ask if I'd like to go geocaching on Saturday. When I asked if he had an area in mind, he said he would be busy all week and would call me on Friday. I was busy as well so I only spent a little time trying to find an area to cache in that would meet his goal of hunting high difficulty/terrain caches and my goal of hunting as many caches as possible.
I picked the Arkabutla Lake area knowing that if we had time, we could eat lunch and cache in nearby Hernando, MS as well. We had both cached in the area before and the familiarity would help us on this day.
We met at the casa de jbgreer at 8:30am on Saturday and after fueling up the cachemobile, began our day's adventure.
Heading south on I-55, we passed several new caches in Southaven in order to have sufficient caching time further south. We decided to approach Arkbutla Lake from the south via Coldwater, MS and our first cache was The Arkabutla Walk by Team140 (GC1FHBC). We had hiked these trails before, and on this occasion, noticed a sign that made us both laugh.
It had rained a bit on Friday and that made the terrain a bit tougher everywhere we went. Spiderwebs were also a nuisance. After finding the first cache and returning the way we came in, we headed for Blue Hole #1 by mrjlsmith (GC1FHA8). When we got to the area of the cache, we noticed that the area was off-limits. We failed at a quick search and when we got back to the truck, we found a ranger driving around. We decided to skip the nearby Blue Hole #2 and move on.
We headed northwest and hunted Coyote Hill by Duckman63 (GC1AYTC). It was a nice hike and even though the coords were off, we were rewarded by find a nice ammo can. The ratings seemed a little high for this cache, but no big deal.
Going up the road (Hwy 304) a little further, we made a quick find of Wolf Creek by Duckman63 (GC1F767). We then headed east to a cluster of three caches in a recreational area. Hiking along muddy trails, we found Baldwin Rd. Dead End by Duckman63 (GC1AY5G), Baldwin Rd. Dead End #2 by duckman63 (GC1F75X), and JBSB#1 by mrjlsmith (GC1FFC7). These were all great caches and we enjoyed the hikes to find them. At one point, we heard people riding ATVs and the occasional rifle shot, but we managed to get in and out of there without being noticed or shot.
Our final cache in the area was Old 304 Access Area by bomb280 (GC11Z4J). After a brief hunt for the access road, we were rewarded by finding the cache. I took a few pictures of the area while there.
We were happy with the caches found so far. Most were by new cachers and recently placed. Most were in excellent containers and well-stocked.
At this point, we were hungry so we headed into the nearby town of Hernando.
[to be continued]
I picked the Arkabutla Lake area knowing that if we had time, we could eat lunch and cache in nearby Hernando, MS as well. We had both cached in the area before and the familiarity would help us on this day.
We met at the casa de jbgreer at 8:30am on Saturday and after fueling up the cachemobile, began our day's adventure.
Heading south on I-55, we passed several new caches in Southaven in order to have sufficient caching time further south. We decided to approach Arkbutla Lake from the south via Coldwater, MS and our first cache was The Arkabutla Walk by Team140 (GC1FHBC). We had hiked these trails before, and on this occasion, noticed a sign that made us both laugh.
It had rained a bit on Friday and that made the terrain a bit tougher everywhere we went. Spiderwebs were also a nuisance. After finding the first cache and returning the way we came in, we headed for Blue Hole #1 by mrjlsmith (GC1FHA8). When we got to the area of the cache, we noticed that the area was off-limits. We failed at a quick search and when we got back to the truck, we found a ranger driving around. We decided to skip the nearby Blue Hole #2 and move on.
We headed northwest and hunted Coyote Hill by Duckman63 (GC1AYTC). It was a nice hike and even though the coords were off, we were rewarded by find a nice ammo can. The ratings seemed a little high for this cache, but no big deal.
Going up the road (Hwy 304) a little further, we made a quick find of Wolf Creek by Duckman63 (GC1F767). We then headed east to a cluster of three caches in a recreational area. Hiking along muddy trails, we found Baldwin Rd. Dead End by Duckman63 (GC1AY5G), Baldwin Rd. Dead End #2 by duckman63 (GC1F75X), and JBSB#1 by mrjlsmith (GC1FFC7). These were all great caches and we enjoyed the hikes to find them. At one point, we heard people riding ATVs and the occasional rifle shot, but we managed to get in and out of there without being noticed or shot.
Our final cache in the area was Old 304 Access Area by bomb280 (GC11Z4J). After a brief hunt for the access road, we were rewarded by finding the cache. I took a few pictures of the area while there.
We were happy with the caches found so far. Most were by new cachers and recently placed. Most were in excellent containers and well-stocked.
At this point, we were hungry so we headed into the nearby town of Hernando.
[to be continued]
Saturday, September 13, 2008
In the Neighborhood
Last night I ran in the Cooper-Young 4 mile race that kicks off the yearly festival in this neighborhood. The start of the race was near a cache I found over three years ago. On May 2, 2005, I was the FTF on Neighborhood by Mr Lost adopted by Andy/Memphis (GCNNZ3).
Standing at the start of the race, I was reminded of the enthusiasm I once had whenever I saw a new cache pop up. As I raced down the streets in the zigzag course, I noted several places that would be great places to hide caches. When the weather cools off, I will head back over to check these places out.
The race itself went pretty well. It had around 600 participants and I finished in 278th place with a time of just under 36 and a half minutes. It was blistering hot and I was appreciative of the people standing in their yards spraying runners with water as they passed by.
Standing at the start of the race, I was reminded of the enthusiasm I once had whenever I saw a new cache pop up. As I raced down the streets in the zigzag course, I noted several places that would be great places to hide caches. When the weather cools off, I will head back over to check these places out.
The race itself went pretty well. It had around 600 participants and I finished in 278th place with a time of just under 36 and a half minutes. It was blistering hot and I was appreciative of the people standing in their yards spraying runners with water as they passed by.
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