Wolf River Wildlife Corridor - 11/27/2010

For the 6th anniversary of jbgreer and I discovering the joys of geocaching, we naturally celebrated by hunting more caches. Because of the cool temperatures and relative dry weather, I suggested that we hunt a few caches in the Wolf River Wildlife Corridor in Collierville, TN. We met up at jbgreer's house around 8:15am.

We have hunted caches in this area at least three different times and under varying seasons and conditions, and knew that this could be a tough area to traverse. Most of the caches were way off of the main trail, and depending on the time of year, many caches could involve wading in swamps.

As we were approaching our destination, I noticed a cache that must be fairly new, because I didn't know it was in the area. We stopped and hunted The Life and History of Toys and Games by ItchyScratchyBumpy (GC2AKGP). It was a nicely-stocked cache and easy to find. I like starting the day with at least one easy cache.

[ nice place for the first cache of the day ]

After a minor routing error caused by old mapping data, we made it to the parking area on the northwest end of the Wildlife Corridor. Hopefully the county will make a better parking area there, but it was fine for our purposes. We had both brought tall rubber boots, but decided at the last moment to no use them. All of the caches we went after in this area were created by peanutpapa.

The first cache we went after was Beaver Falls Cache (GC1WGTW). During our previous trips to the area, this one always got left off of our list. Mostly because we were exhausted from hunting other caches. We took an interesting path to this cache, and at times couldn't see our feet. We found the cache and then spent some time observing the handiwork of the beavers.

[ no beavers in sight today ]

Next on the list was Slough Cache West (GC24H48). It was a short distance to the southeast and we encountered no difficulties reaching it. After finding it, we used a provided waypoint to lead us south to the main trail.

[ the dry sloughs made hiking from cache to cache very easy ]

From the main trail, we used another provided waypoint to lead us to the entry point for Old Logging Road Cache by peanutpapa (GC24CVR). We saw were the logging road started, but it was easy to lose track of where it went on the way to the cache. It was the lowest rated of the caches we found, but on this day it seemed no easier than any of the others. Once back on the main trail, we hiked east until we found an entry point to go for Slough Cache (GC1PP10). This was one we hunted on two other occasions only to be stopped by high water. On this day, it was a simple walk in the park. This cache was maybe 20 feet north of its posted coordinates, which might have been another reason we didn't find it before, but on this day it was easy to spot.

Our final cache of the morning was Cotton Farm Cache (GC1W34K). This area gets deep during the rainy time of the year. This day was definitely a good day to hunt it.

[ most of the caches in this area are obviously subject to flooding ]

After finding the cache, we headed north to the cotton fields and took the trail back to were we had started.

[ north of the cotton fields and an easy hike back to the truck ]

We got back to the truck around 11:30am and since we were going to move the truck to a different area for our next group of caches, we decided to grab lunch in Collierville first. We had many delicious options and finally settled on a fast lunch at Lenny's Sub Shop.

[ In honor of the Thanksgiving holiday - a big turkey sandwich ]

After lunch, we decided we had just enough time to tackle three caches in W.C. Johnson Park. This park is just to the south of the area we hunted in the morning and on the other side of the Wolf River. These were the only three caches we had left in this park to find, and they were deep in the wetlands.

[ W.C. Johnson Park wetlands feature nice boardwalks ]

We took the boardwalk from the parking area all the way north to the Wolf River before cutting west and paralleling the river. All of the caches we went after here were created by peanutpapa.

Our first find was South Beach Cache (GC1PY9F). It wasn't too far off of the boardwalk and was an easy and dry hike.

[ This possum seemed oblivious to our presence ]

Slough Cache South by peanutpapa (GC1Q1VB) was next and was another great cache and hike. The most difficult cache of the afternoon was Weir #3 Cache by peanutpapa (GC1PYBM). The terrain was tough in spots and could have been a nightmare if there had been any water around. From here, it was a 0.83 mile hike back to the boardwalk. Just before reaching the boardwalk, we spotted a trail that we didn't notice on the way into the woods.

[ spotted on the way out of the woods ]

Before leaving the park, I took one more picture from the boardwalk. This picture is more representative of what the area normally looks like.

[ near the entrance of the wetlands - the most water we saw today ]

We were very impressed by the quality of the wetland caches we found on this day. All were in water-tight containers and were tethered to their locations to prevent them from floating away during the times the area is flooded. There were a few that were exposed due to lack of available natural covering. Some could be spotted from a good distance away at this time of the year. I don't know if hunting game is allowed in the area, so I imagine that not too many people wander this far off of the main trail system.

Lucius C. Burch Natural Area - 11/20/2010

[ this web was created by a spider who was afraid of heights ]

I got together with my caching buddy, jbgreer, around 8am to go geocaching in the Lucius C. Birch Natural Area. Most of the caches we went after on this day were to the south and southwest of the Agricenter. We started the morning with two easy caches by drew274. Both were near the newly paved parking area at the southeast corner of the Natural Area. Something Fun, Something Dark (GC2D6TG) , a nice magnetic keyholder was our first find. Something is Rotten in Denmark (GC2D6TW) was our second find. This one was in a little rougher terrain and was nicely stocked and well-hidden.

Our next cache ACME-3025 by giardia_boy (GC2473T), was close by, but we decided to move the truck and come at it and the others from a different location. I had looked for this one once before, and it took some work to find it. The hint was technically inaccurate unless you are a giant. The next cache was an interesting one - The horse eats no cucumber-salad by Abiectio (GC2DV8E). The accompanying puzzle wasn't that difficult, but neither jbgreer nor myself could get evince to confirm our coordinates. We ended up using the coordinates I had come up with - which put us right on it.

We only had one more cache on the list: ACME-Oh Brother Not Another by giardia_boy (GC2DX2E). Since we knew it had a lot of stages, we decided to take a break and get some breakfast at the nearby Chick-Fil-A. Once back at the starting point for the cache, we hunted stage after stage. Most stages were quickly found and all stages used interesting hide techniques. The final had a special surprise! This cache may have been my favorite multicache of the year (for those anxiously awaiting my picks for cache of the year). I met giarda_boy and an event in Collierville last May and have enjoyed the many caches of his I have found.

With this cache done and no more on my list for the area, jbgreer and I drove back to his house and parted ways. Since it was still early in the afternoon, I decided to hunt three more nearby caches that were basically park and grabs before going home.

Bye, Bye, Boneyards???

I noticed the other day that FTF Pirate #1: Boneyards by Chance Encounter (GCYX0Z) has been disabled as mostly likely a prelude to archival. This 3-stage multicache is set in three of Memphis' grittiest cemeteries and hasn't been found in almost three years.

[ from Chance Encounter's geocaching.com profile ]

It would be simple to say that this cache was disabled because some noob filed a "Needs Maintenance" log on a cache he had never visited, but the truth is that this cache along with many others was abandoned by its owner years ago. I, myself, tackled this cache back in March only to get to the final stage and not be able to find it. The coords placed it near a stream of sorts. Maybe it washed away, or maybe it is simply buried under a ton of brush in the area. It would be nice if the cache could be saved, if only because it represents a time before we were flooded by pointless Park and Grabs.

If this cache ends up archived, I will post the pictures I took at the various stages.

Tunica RiverPark - 11/7/2010

It was a beautiful and cool Sunday morning and thanks to Daylight Savings Time, I woke up bright and early. My plan for the morning was to head south into Mississippi and visit Tunica RiverPark to hike and hunt caches. This park was where GOWT hosted a geocaching event last month, so I knew that there were 11 new geocaches there.

As a warm-up, I picked up three caches in Whitehaven before leaving Memphis. Read between the signs by jamey1 (GC2BQP0) was across the street from what used to be the Whitehaven Public Library.

[ Whitehaven Public Library ]

Since I was at the Whitehaven Plaza shopping center, I decided to drive around and see if any of the stores I remembered were still there. It turned out to be mostly empty and boarded up.

[ Whitehaven Plaza - this building was last a Dillard's and before that Shainberg's ]

Im loving it by jamey1 (GC2BQP5) was behind a nearby McDonald's.

My third find was the social network by F Tom (itcomagic) (GC2DHVK). I had solved the puzzle for this one the day before. It was in a nice area and I relaxed a bit here. Afterwards, I thought about exploring the neighborhood (where my grandparents had lived, and I had covered extensively by bike as a kid), but I was kind of depressed by how much it had changed. Maybe next time.

The trip to the RiverPark was uneventful. Traffic was light and the day was great. I got to the park entrance around 9:30am and found my first cache: Welcome to Tunica RiverPark! by Tunica RiverPark (GC2FC3P). As I was about to leave, a man pulled up in a truck, got out and waked over to the sign and asked if I was a geocacher. He then asked if I had found the cache. I said, "Yes", took a picture at the sign and moved on.


I continued on into the park and parked in a nearly-empty lot and set out on the hunt. I found all of the caches along the ecotrail (to the south) and came back to hunt the ones around the parking area. The eco-trail was 1.9 miles long and parts were paved, parts were boardwalk, and parts were dirt. I spent some time watching boats out on the river and spotted deer in the woods. The last cache I found near the museum was on the dock for the Tunica Queen - a paddle boat.

[ heading south to the ecotrail ]

[ turning east and into the woods ]

[ the boardwalk ]

[ the other side (east) of the boardwalk ]

[ one of the three deer I saw ]

[ the Tunica Queen ]

I think I was in the park for maybe 2.5 hours. Sunday mornings are a great time to visit this park if you enjoy peace and quiet. I didn't attempt to go in the museum itself because - there were no caches in there!

Once I had left the park, my main goal was to find a place to eat lunch. I stopped at a tiny KFC and had some chicken before hitting the road again. I wished I had done some research on restaurants, so I could have picked a better place.

After lunch, I continued north on Hwy 61 into Southaven where I found The Dollar Jar by krosnit (GC27X86) in back of a Dollar General store on the western end of town. Normally, I would have cut over to I-55 at this point and headed back into Memphis, but today was such a nice day, I decided on another course of action.

Coming north on Hwy 61 into Memphis, I made a last minute decision to go after Weaver Park by dguyusnavy (GC2A0PJ). Weaver Park is in a neighborhood I lived in 40 years ago. In fact, I passed within 1000 feet or so of my old house while on my way to the park. Of course, the area is so different now, there is no way I could have recognized my neighborhood. I found the park just to the west of Mitchell High School (which appears to be fairly new). Since it was early afternoon, I figured I'd have to deal with muggles. The only kids around were practicing with band equipment and I'm pretty sure they weren't paying much attention to me.

With 16 caches found, I decided to head on in to work. It ended up a pretty good day with no DNFs and few muggles.

Caching for the Cure - 10/30/2010

It was tough getting up Saturday morning, even for an event as much fun as Race for the Cure. I had signed up as part of a team from work and was looking forward to it. That morning was tough to get started. It was cold and I was exhausted, but I made it to the race location by 7:15am. It took a while for our team to get assembled, so we just stood around in the cold. Even in a crowd that large, I didn't see anyone I knew, so I was surprised when tinksdad01, a geocacher from GOWT, came over. We talked for a little bit about the race before he moved on. He was wearing a kilt, an odd choice for running attire, especially in 40-degree weather.

Race for the Cure is a tough race to try and finish well in. There were roughly 19,300 people signed up and most were walkers. If you start in a bad spot, like I did, the first mile of the race uses up a lot of energy getting around people anyway you can. The race ended soon enough and after hanging out with my team for a bit, I made the long walk back to where I parked my car.

I didn't know if I would feel about doing anything after the race, but I had brought along my geocaching equipment and some maps just in case. I decided to tackle four relatively easy caches that were on my way home and were along the western end of the Germantown Greenway. That part of the greenway is in the process of being expanded and will eventually connect to the Shelby Farms Greenline (which is about a mile north).

The amazing thing about three of the four caches I did, was the beauty of the area, which is adjacent to a busy area of town.

The first cache I hunted, Swamp Thing by giardia_boy (GC2EJK5), was retrieved while standing in a parking lot behind some medical buildings. I managed to spot the cache and then had to figure out how to retrieve it. Putting it back was tough as well. This was definitely not your average "park and grab" and if not for the cache hints, I would have never found it. The picture below was taken from roughly where I signed the log. If you look hard, you can spot the greenway (roughly mid-height of the picture).

The next cache I found was It's All Greek to Me - Apollo by ArtemisInTheWoods and TNmonkey (GC2AWN6). For this one, I was glad I had looked at satellite imagery before going after it. It was in an area across the road from the greenway - more of an urban find.

The last two caches of the morning were by GC4EVR and were WEST Lake (GC28JD2) and Lake or Pond? (GC28JDH). They were both around the northern perimeter of West Lake and would have been a lot harder to reach before the greenway was expanded. Because I was wearing running shorts, I was careful to stay out of the vegetation as best as I could. They were both excellent caches, with the first being a little tougher to spot than the second.

While I was in the area, I spent a little bit of time running along the adjacent parts of the greenway. I look forward to running out here in the spring!

[ Approaching the greenway after finding my last cache of the morning. ]

[ This will look better after some rain washes away the dirt ]

[ The small bridge on the right of the trail leads north to Shelby Farms. ]

Raleigh, TN - 10/10/2010

It was another in a long string of rain-free weekends. I had no plans for caching, but when my sister-in-law called me Saturday night and invited me over for dinner the next day, I figured I'd pick up a few caches on the way.

I spent Sunday morning messing around with my GPSr. I updated the software on it for the first time since I bought it 4 years ago. I loaded a pocket query on it for the first time since July and made sure my batteries were in good shape. I picked out three caches near the Raleigh WalMart. This was convenient for me, since I needed some stuff from there. My Palm Pilot was still dead, so I had to spend some time reading cache descriptions before leaving. When I finally left, all was good - except I forgot to make sure I had a pen. No worries, though. I was going to WalMart, so if I had no pen, it would be no big deal.

It also turned out that Groundspeak was trying to set a record for the most cachers logging a find for a single day. Cachers who posted a log were rewarded with a "souvenir", which in this case was a graphic showing 10-10-10 and the words - 10 years of geocaching and 10 years of Groundspeak (or something like that).

The three caches I found were all "park and grabs" by three different cachers:
put out the fire by jamey1 (GC2BCXB) was just south of the Raleigh Springs Mall behind a building.

Goodwill Hunting by dguyusnavy (GC2A0QH) and wal mart has platinum by crownjewel (GC29Y5R) were located a short distance apart in the shopping center that had the WalMart in it. All-in-all, I spent about 15 minutes caching - a warm up for the days to come.

Fundamentals of Geocaching Event

I spotted this event a week or so ago and thought it might be of interest to some people in the area.

Tunica RiverPark is hosting Fundamentals of Geocaching Event by Tunica RiverPark (GC2FCA8) on October 16, 2010. The description states that the event instructor is a member of the Geocachers of West Tennessee, which is most likely Prontopup. He does a good job hosting these kinds of events, so I'm sure the experience will be worth the trip for those interested. The Tunica RiverPark and Museum is a cool place to visit. If they add more caches in the area, I might make a return visit.

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Update 10/18/2010: After finding out that 13 caches were placed in the park just prior to the event, I thought about attending. I'm glad I didn't. The park was quite crowded, in part due to the success of the event. I'll make a trip over there one peaceful weekend this fall.