JANUARY 25, 2010 – the whole post’s a rant!!

A solid week of rainy weather had me in a dark mood. Instead of planning the next cache hike (I HATE MUD) or even an urban cache run (too cold & wet) I ended up thinking back on my most negative muggle encounters.

If you think that caching is all positive, fun and full of smiley faces, skip the rest of this posting. I don’t want to upset you.

I firmly believe that a huge majority of muggles are oblivious to our caching activities. Of those who do notice us, many are mildly suspicious but they’re busy with what they’re doing and soon lose interest. Most of the remainder who see us don’t care. The rest are split between those who know about geocaching and those who start confrontations and/or call the authorities. I divide these last into paranoids and haters.

Encounters with paranoids:

Lemonwood Park Cache (GC1EGJR).
While caching near the main sign at a nearly vacant public park, a group of small kids ran up, surrounded me and asked what I was doing. Within 10 seconds 2 parents rushed over and told me to leave the, “children’s playground,” or they’d call the police. Anxious aunts & uncles were striding forcefully in our direction and the situation could easily have turned ugly, maybe even violent. So I left.

A Bug’s Life (GCNBA2).
While signing the log a muggle yelled from the nearest house, well over 100’ away. “What’re you doing? You’re trespassing!” I asked & he ok’d for me to approach. I briefly explained geocaching and that the cache was on COSCA property. He claimed that COSCA had deeded the property over to him and that he wanted to keep arsonists out. By then a delegation of neighbors had joined us and all wanted the cache removed. Planning to relocate the cache, I asked for the location of the property line. The muggle was vague and couldn’t point to an exact spot. Whatever…

Encounters with haters:

Taylor Yards (across L.A. River from Elysian Park) forgot which cache: I found the cache and was walking to my car in the parking lot. A group of guys was having a tailgate party. One of them yelled to me, “Hey, this ain’t Chinatown.” and all of them glared. I was only a few feet from my car so I left.

Viva Las Vegas (GC1DZX5).
On multiple weekend visits to find a cache the GPSr always zeroed in the middle of the street. Each time the same muggle and 1 to 3 of his friends was standing around nearby. Thirty seconds into first visit the main muggle shouted in mixed Spanish/English. I understood “get outta here!” I finally found the cache when no one was around. Just as I was leaving, the muggle came around the corner eating chips from a bag. He was alone and he walked silently around me to get back to his apartment complex.

Thousand Oaks (somewhere near TO Blvd & Reyes Adobe) – don’t remember cache name:
When searching a telephone pole on a residential street, NOT in front of a house, a local walked around the corner and saw me. He stopped and started complaining about “city people,” and called me an “oriental terrorist.” I told him if that’s what he believed then he should call the sheriff. He said, “don’t worry, I will,” and walked back around the corner. Strangely, the guy was obviously half Asian…It was apparently a case of self-loathing.

A hybrid paranoid / hater (s)?

Kaitlin’s First Cache (GCGV8J).
A kindly looking old muggle man seemed to be genuinely interested in my explanation of caching. The rest of the exchange went like this. “Do you live around here?” “No, in the San Fernando Valley.” “Are there geocaches there?” “Yes.” “Then why don’t you go look for those?” “Are you telling me that I’m not allowed here?” “Noooo, I can’t say that. But this park is for local residents.”

Trekking Tapo #1 (GC1WCG4).
Strangely, I had a nearly identical encounter (it MAY even have been the same guy) 4 years later in Simi. This time he ended by claiming to be a retired Sheriff who wanted to keep foreign gangs out of Simi. What could that POSSIBLY have to do with me?! The entire series of caches seemed to be along people’s backyards so I decided to skip it entirely.

YES – IT IS a rant! After remembering everything above, all at once, my B.P. is sky high. I’ll calm down during the week. In the meantime, if you’ve got a muggle experience to share, please do.

JANUARY 18, 2010 – coastal Ventura

A series of 4 big storms was bearing down on Southern California. I took advantage of the last day of sunshine and went beach caching in Ventura with Don_J. We were lucky to find a space in the small free parking lot at Surfer’s Point Park.

We walked West and found no stopping tall people…(GC2104R). There was no stopping us either because we had hiking sticks. We DNF’d dead on the beach (GC1KQYC). There were multiple DNF logs so we’re confident that the cache was no longer there. At least the scenery was good.

Soon afterward we were blocked by a draining estuary. Hiking in soggy shoes & socks isn’t fun.

Here’s how we got across. On the return trip, at this exact spot, we walked up on a nude photo shoot. To get away, I went through with my shoes & socks on. The water level was lower then so the crossing wasn’t too bad.

We walked under and across railroad tracks. But we didn’t walk across the bridges like some stupid people we saw.

A Great Blue Heron wandered in the vacant Seaside Wilderness Park. Don found a hexagonal bison tube cache nearby.

We didn’t find the cache that was hinted to be in plain sight, at the end of this post.

Raccoon?

We spent the rest of the afternoon finding urban and urban-hiking caches. There are still a lot of caches in the area so I’ll be back.

JANUARY 11, 2010 – hiking & urban caching

Saturday was a combination hiking & urban caching day. The morning began with a ride in Elin’s (EMC of Northridge) Prius to the Greenbriar trailhead. I’d already found all of the caches except one. Five feet from one of them, something had taken up residence. Note the gnawed tree trunk on the ground at the right side middle.

Somewhere below we found Davey Jones Locker (GC223GH) an “unknown” cache. I’d DNF’d (Did Not Find) a week earlier. This time Elin walked right up to it. d’OH!! It was 1” from where I’d looked before.

Elin still needed to find “THEY!” (GC1CCB9) a fun, themed cache by Don_J. I’d found it 5 months earlier and wanted to see Elin’s reaction to the unique hide. Whether you hike from Mulholland Fire Road or from the South end of Vanalden Blvd you’ll walk along a 20’ drop off, literally within inches of the edge. Then you’ll turn and walk over the top of the Vanalden Caves.

The path across the top has some skylights!

As I expected, Elin screeched when she found, “THEY!” I highly recommend this cache.

After the fun we drove “over the hill,” to find the Million Tree series by dezdog. There are lots of sidewalk trees like the one to the left below. Currently 12 of them contain a cache. And they’re all non-vegetation hides. You’ll have to find the caches yourself to resolve this contradiction. Driving West to East is a must.
We also took a few short detours to find other nearby caches. Despite the Hollywood sign in the background, the area was somewhat less than glamorous.
A few last caches along Ballona Creek ended the day.

JANUARY 4, 2010 – Mulholland Dr. & surroundings

Since my pre-caching days I’ve made it a point to start every year with a New Year’s Day hike. After finding 214 caches in December & meeting my 2009 goal of 1,200, there was no self imposed pressure for ‘numbers.’ So I chose a short stretch of Mulholland Drive and a southward turn on a big (unnamed?) fire road. I started here Valley Views (GCRF92). I found this cache years ago but the trailhead is here and there’s lots of free parking.

It’s possible to continue driving westward to 3 caches but I hiked to them instead. The view to the east was unusually clear.

The Encino Reservoir was just north of the road. Several websites list it as a fishing lake. But as far as I know it’s owned by the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power and has always been off limits to the public. Does anyone know for sure?

I found 2 caches and arrived at the third, Cold War Cache (GC10BYG). It’s at a decommissioned Nike missile base. It’s open to the public.

Here’s a view of downtown Los Angeles from the top of the tower.

I took pictures and backtracked to parking. Then I kept going East. The sign below marks the southward turn onto a fire road and dshadovi’s 4 cache Canyonback series.
All are on a single track that parallels and sometimes crisscrosses the fire road. North to South the caches are numbered #3, #2, #1 and #0. Numbers 3/2/1 each contain a clue that’s used to determine the true coordinates for #0. All 4 are big containers and easy finds, out of the direct view of main trail muggles. Thanks David for a fun series.

From near the final cache Canyonback #0 (GC1MME3) downtown L.A. and snowcapped mountains were visible to the East..

…and to the Southwest, the ocean at Santa Monica Bay.
The Canyonback Tigertail series of 6 + 2 caches starts less than a mile further South. I’m going back for those caches soon.

DECEMBER 31, 2009 – Piru (NE Ventura County)

A few days ago I was happily caching on Gulberson Road, part of the Hwy 126 series by Max Gold. Then I reached the eastern edge of my pocket query and there were no more caches in my GPSr. At home I saw that there were about 20 more unfound caches on and near the remaining part of the road and dozens more on the other (North) side of Hwy 126.

I went back for those 20 caches to meet my 2009 goal of 1,200 finds. Many of the Gulberson Road caches were 40 year old aluminum 35mm film canisters hidden under a rock at the base of random roadside bush. The cache below was a break in the routine.
Don’t get me wrong. I REALLY appreciate all the planning, time and effort by Max and friends to place and maintain the caches.

It was a work day for many people so the area wasn’t as deserted as it was on my Christmas Eve trip. I had to skip the caches that were near various work crews. That left me a few caches short of 20 when I reached the Eastern end of Gulberson Road. So I turned North on Torrey Road and kept finding caches. I stopped to find River Bottom View (GC1PH9Q), at a bridge over the Santa Clara River.
Crossing Hwy 126 northward, I reached the town of Piru. Even on my quick pass through, historic sites were clearly noticeable. This is the restored railroad station.
There’s a cache 1902 Railroad Bridge (GC12Q6N) 400’ beyond where this picture was taken. A chain link fence prevented access from the west. The eastern end appeared to be on the grounds of an elementary school so I moved on without approaching. Looking on the map later, I saw that the “school,” is a public park. The cache is likely a walk up.
No. This isn’t an image from a colonoscopy. It’s a view into a horizontal pipe where a cache is hiding, complete with guardian mouse. I wasn’t about to end 2009 with bubonic plague or hanta virus so I logged a DNF (Did Not Find).

By noon I knew that I’d finally reached my goal of 1,200 caches for 2009. The finds were coming at the rate of 11 per hour, more than double my usual plodding pace. So I found 10 more for “insurance” in case I’d miscalculated. This was a good thing because on the next day, December 30, it rained. Now, I’m relaxing, free from the stress of needing “just 1 more cache,” until 2010. Happy New Year !!

DECEMBER 27, 2009 – Tarot Series (Antelope Valley)

Me and Don_J needed 66 and 51 finds to meet our respective caching goals for 2009. With only a few caching days left in the year we looked for an area with lots of caches that could be found quickly. We chose f0t0m0m’s Tarot series.

From f0t0m0m’s cache page description:
“All 81 of the Tarot Caches are located along the CA-138 corridor, between Quail Lake and Lancaster. All of the caches are accessible by paved roads, and are no more that 250 Feet from the pavement. Some of the caches will require walking through some brush, so long pants and good shoes are strongly suggested.”

Here’s Don_J at the first cache Area Closed (GC1K0VC). The temperature hovered between 45 and 48 degrees all day long. Don dressed appropriately…
…while I relied on insulation accumulated from decades of consuming cheeseburgers, burritos, pizzas and kung pao chicken.
Where there were no yuccas the terrain was featureless for miles around. But there was still a cache every few 10ths of a mile.

Caches that wouldn’t last an hour in an urban setting can remain unmuggled for years in the desert. In fact, our only DNF (did not find) was an urban style magnetic cache on a sign along the comparatively busy Hwy 138. The one below was a strange urban/desert hybrid. I’ve seen hundreds of these containers and hidden some myself. But this was the first time either of us had seen one attached this way.

True trees were few and far between. They often marked a cache site.

But yuccas (at least 2 species) were plentiful in patches. Searching for caches near them can be dangerous for the careless. The sharp leaves can slice a hand or poke your eye out.

Decons and ammo cans withstand harsh desert conditions. Less robust containers don’t fare so well. Most of the lock & locks we found had broken tabs. Here’s one that was also cracked.

The Los Angeles aqueduct broke up our monotonous view. B3677 (GCMBDQ), an urban style magnetic cache was there too. The sign allows fishing. Assuming that the river “bed” is as smooth as the banks, what fish species lives in super fast moving water with no cover? If anyone reading this knows, please leave a comment. I’m truly curious.

This just doesn’t happen (anymore) back home in the San Fernando Valley.

Toward the end of the day we saw this. There’s an aptly named cache here, Walls to nowhere (GC1K916).

We found 46 caches in 5-1/2 hours of caching. Megacachers can laugh at the “low rate,” but as my profile states, I’m a slow speed, low energy cacher. Don didn’t complain so I assume that he’s the same.

Counting down: only 20 more finds needed to reach my goal of 1,200 for 2009. I think that I can do it. I know that Don can find 5 more to meet HIS goal.

DECEMBER 25, 2009 – Pasadena & surroundings

Christmas Day caching followed by a Chinese restaurant dinner. It’s a tradition started by EMC of Northridge (Elin) in 2004. I participated in 2005 & 2006 but couldn’t in 2007. And last year Elin was in Europe. This year, the tradition was revived and Elin, tozainamboku (Marty), benh57 (Ben) and me cached through parts of Pasadena, Altadena and Alhambra. Three of us use a Garmin Oregon 400t. It was funny to hear 3 identical proximity beeps within 2 or 3 seconds when approaching each cache.

Here’s Elin at Yet Another Chink in the Wall (GCYQD7). If I were Chinese, I’d be offended by the cache name.

We took advantage of reduced traffic and business closures to find many caches that would normally be surrounded by muggles. At As Rare as… (GC1TGC1), at a completely deserted strip mall, Marty pointed to Ooper’s Cache.

In front of another closed business, we looked for The Adventures of Essie Turtlehaunch, Chapter III GC19VNM). It’s supposedly in an “obvious place,” but we didn’t find it.

We DID find Now That’s a Real Fork in the Road (GC21XAT).

There was only 1 place where I didn’t want to look for a cache. Here’s why!

The others didn’t hesitate and rushed to GZ. Ben was a recent prior finder and he pointed out the correct altitude to search. After that, the cache was found in about a minute. I’d already found 9 of the next 10 caches so I dispensed in-person lifelines. We finished just as it got dark and cruised Valley Blvd in Alhambra for a likely Chinese restaurant. We found one a little snooty for my liking. But the food was good.

My 2009 goal: finding 1,200 caches, status: 70 caches and 6 days to go.

DECEMBER 24, 2009 – Toland Park (Santa Paula)

Continuing my year end push to reach 1,200 finds for 2009 I drove to Toland Park for its cluster of 14 caches. It helped that the “Hwy 126 series” was nearby too.
Only the N/S portion of the paved road in the eastern side of the park was open to vehicle traffic. And only this section of the park seemed to be somewhat cleared and usable for picnics. I think that I saw the park host, Bill, walking 2 dogs. I waved and called out to get his attention but he turned away and walked into a parked trailer. Oh well, liking solitude and being the host at this empty park are a good combination.
Four of the 14 caches were park & grabs. Toland Bluebird (GC1MRZB) was in this intimidating looking pepper tree. But the coordinates were spot-on and I got out in 2 minutes with the find and also with some loose peppers down the back of my shirt.
One cache to the North a cable was strung across the road. There’s another gate (locked) to the street here though no barrier to walk-ins. In fact, there was a car parked just outside. I walked out (E) and quickly hiked on the street to 3 caches outside the park and returned through the gate. Back inside the North end of park, most of the caches were on unpaved side trails. No real bushwhacking was needed.
I was surprised to see a signature with the current date on a log. Assuming that it belonged to the occupants of the car at the locked gate I expected that the other cacher was just ahead. Sure enough I heard faint voices and saw a family walking East a few hundred feet away. I went the opposite way, found another cache, saw the same signature and then walked South toward the paved trail. See the southward view below.
Then I ran into the family, cachers “4_ofakind,” who’d backtracked and were also trying to reach the pavement. We exchanged some local caching info and parted ways. I drove back to the SE gate, parked and walked to the 3 caches on the southern end of the park. In just over 2 hours I found all 14 caches. That’s rare for me as there always seems to be 1 “easy” cache that I can’t find. I drove out, found 4 nearby park & grabs and then connected with the Gulberson Road portion of the “Hwy 126 series.” I found 14 more drive up caches and was upset when I reached the Eastern edge of my pocket query with another hour of remaining daylight. Here’s a representative view.
These goats weren’t fenced-in. They could easily have walked into traffic or across the road to eat crops.
I need 96 more caches to go to reach 1,200 for 2009.

DECEMBER 20, 2009 – Chivo Canyon (Simi Valley)

It was the first day of my vacation and I wasn’t about to get up even earlier than on a workday to attend a 6:30am pre-hike event Geo_Connection in Simi Hills (GC21KJK). The hike itself, a loop at Chivo Canyon (northern edge of Simi Valley), was scheduled for 7:45am. After staggering into my car I plugged the parking coordinates into my Nuvi 500 –and- drove…to the wrong place. There were no cachers and their vehicles were nowhere in sight. Fifteen minutes later I finally spotted some familiar trucks. I parked next to them and walked around the corner to the unmarked trailhead at the stairs below. Fresh footprints in the cracked mud at the bottom showed that the big caching group had gone toward the riverbed, to the left. I had little chance of making up their 20 minute lead, especially if I stopped to find caches. Instead I hiked up the short paved path on the right, starting the loop counterclockwise.
The first cache I found Chivo Canyon Trail Head (GCRVBY) didn’t contain the group’s signatures on the log sheet, confirming that they’d gone clockwise. The pavement soon ended and the, now, dirt trail went steeply uphill. Clear windy conditions produced great views. A backward look shows the trailhead stairs in the middle of the picture below.

It’s a running joke that Tozainamboku (Marty) often logs that he saw Ooper’s Cache in the distance from various other cache sites. He then uploads a picture to prove it. I’m thinking of doing the same with robb_dogg’s Ladyface Mountain Goat Cache. See? It’s in the background!!

The upward trek was made easier by temperatures in the low 70’s and hindered by super strong gusts. One of the caches was only 3’ from a 300’ dropoff. I crouched down low to minimize my wind profile. It worked because I didn’t get blown over the side. Approaching the top (northern edge) of the loop I looked down to see the group, about 3/10 of a mile away, obviously searching hard for a cache. I don’t know for how long they’d already looked but I had time to find another cache and wait there before they started arriving.

I joined the group for 3 caches at the top of the loop. A very small rattlesnake was found slithering underfoot. When someone poked at it with her hiking stick, it coiled up defensively. It was time for me to go.
The group continued their clockwise loop. I went counterclockwise by myself.

I reached the spot where the group had searched for a long time Alone Again (GC20RWG). The area was predictably trampled flat. While their 41 eyeballs had eventually produced the cache, I couldn’t find it by myself even after 20 minutes of searching. It was my only DNF of the day. Continuing onward, the trail became narrower and more confined. At least it wasn’t as windy on this side (W) of the loop.

One cache was ridiculously obvious.

The trail led to the canyon bottom / riverbed. The area was strewn with rusting mid-20th century relics. Does anyone know what this was? The “wheels” are welded onto pipes so they couldn’t have turned.
What I first thought was a filthy puddle turned out to be an oil seep (click for video).
There were more relics south of the seep. They didn’t appear to be for oil drilling.
Finally, I reached the last section of the riverbed. The trailhead stairs and the end of the loop are just beyond the picture.
I found 23 of 24 caches attempted. I need 144 more finds to reach exactly 1,200 for the year. More posts will follow as this (rare for me) goal is pursued.

QUESTION: Why are the majority of hiking caches in this area “subscriber only?”

DECEMBER 9, 2009 – Downtown Ventura

Lured by lots of new green boxes on the gc.com map of Ventura I drove 40 miles to get there on a cool afternoon. Plenty of free parking throughout the downtown area was much appreciated. I parked in a random lot and started walking in what ended up as a clockwise loop with a cache every few tenths of a mile.
Right away I was amused by the juxtaposition of the 18th & 21st century squares. Note the CFC bulbs and anti-bird top on the light fixture.
A few times a year I cross paths with Tozainamboku (Marty) on the trails. This was the first time I saw him during an urban caching expedition. He wasn’t his usual gregarious self so I left him alone.
Continuing eastward I encountered the day’s only filthy vegetation hide (FVH). The hint seemed to suggest reaching in deep on the ground. There were caches nearby in every direction so walking past THIS one was no big deal.
A few blocks south an Amtrak train sped by.
The beach was another block further south. Too many muggles were around for me to find the caches hidden there.
But the views were worth the ½ hour cacheless side trip.
After 3 hours of slow walking and finding only 6 of 12 caches reached (mostly due to muggles) I drove north on N Ventura Avenue and found some easy urban caches. The first of these was Ventura’s Gallery Car Wash (GC1V7Y2). The cache is in the front of a colorfully decorated 2 bay self service car wash. A walk around back leads to an impressive wall of license plates. If I lived in Ventura I’d definitely wash my car here.
RANT: A cacher named Puppy Dawg hiked through downtown Los Angeles. He left normal sounding logs for his cache finds but ended each one with a cache quality rating of stars. He rated most of his finds as “1-star= poor quality cache,” with a few “2 stars=below average.” I saw a “3 stars=average” on a virtual cache.

Owning caches in downtown L.A. entails significant planning, careful placement and regular maintenance. Puppy Dawg reduced all of this effort to the one digit equivalent of “SUCKS.” The lack of any followup is what enraged me beyond anything else in my 5 years of caching. I deleted his offending logs on my 3 caches. At least one other cache owner did the same. Puppy Dawg can re-log my caches, without star ratings, which I think are worse than useless unless there are lots of them from a wide assortment of cachers. (statistically: a sample size sufficient to cancel out the extremes on each end.) His comments about what he didn’t like are especially welcome. “I only like hiking caches,” “the locals scared me,” or whatever.