Our 1800th Find!

This cache "RACE10: Cacher Cacher Body Snatcher - GC2HB25" marks our 1800th find.

I had this mystery cache solved months ago, but never got out here to find it. Since 1800 was just around the corner we figured it was time. So today the last day of September came, and we decided we would end the month with a milestone find.
We headed out, grabbed our coffees and drove to the parking coordinates. We arrived and found a little side alcove to pull into, and away we went. It was a nice walk all the way to the cache, and while I did spot it first I pretended I didn't so that Just Leafy could have the ah-ha moment too. We signed the log, took our celebratory photo and started out.......

But this is when this dog came running out of the bushes at us. It was steaming mad, you could see the whites of it's eyes and it was bearing its teeth at us. Leafy the dog lover was seriously frightened, and was clinging to me. I picked up a stick to use in self defense just in case the animal proceeded to advance in attack. This is when we heard over the dog barks and growls the voice of some person in the distance shouting the dogs name, and it ran off back into the bushes.

We were both relieved that the dog never attacked us, it was a very nerve rattling scene. We won't ever forget our 1800th cache that's for sure!!!!!

Having Fun at the Wherigo 101 Event

On Sunday the 23rd of September the Cache-keteers held their Wherigo 101 event.
This highly anticipated event was held for the purpose of teaching cachers how to participate in a Wherigo Cache, and to give those that do not have the means to complete one a chance to get the one placed for the mega done. 

This is a very different kind of cache.  While there is a tradtional style cache at the end, you must complete the objective set forward by the Wherigo creator.  Think of this like an interactive videogame that you play outdoors in a specific location.  The tools needed for this one is a pen/pencil, clipboard, graphpaper, and a GPS capable of running a Wherigo Cartrige or at least emulate it. 

Once you are on site you run your cartrige and start the game.  In this particular case the objective is to find your way out of an invisible maze.  This is where the writing tools and stationary come in handy, as you will use these to do a little cartography.  Deadends are nothing to dispare about as they usually are programmed to dispence some clues to you to help your adventure along.  Those that are lucky enough to navigate easily through the maze don't end up with the addional clues, but can feel rewarded in having some superior intuition.  And once you find your way out of the maze, you are given the location of the traditional cache so you can sign the log.

Well back to the event.  Just Leafy and I had real trouble getting out of town this day.  I am always very upset by the one lane bottleneck just after Spencer Road, as it is amost always very backed up.   Eventually we got through it and we were on our way, but this did not stop us from being nearly 30 minuets late.
We arrived to find the event in full swing, and we got a real chuckle at seeing this small hoard of cachers walking seemingly aimless through the feild here.  From what I understand there were people driving by and literally slowing down to look at this odd event taking place.

We were ushered into the maze by Diraduck, who urged us to hurry along.  She gave us a brief but very understandable outline of what to do, and away we went.  Well wouldn't you know it, shortly after starting we hit our very first dead end.  This is when Joe of the Moss Troopers cantered over to us and gave us a hint to get us on the right track.  And armed with the hint we continued on, and started to do very well.  But then we ran into another snag, Just Leafy accidently got tap happy on the screen and cleared the junction that I needed to draw to move on.  But with some help from Tracy of the Moss Troopers we got the info we needed, and were able to continue our quest.

Well in the end we did very well!  Of all the dead ends in the maze we only hit two more, and quickly made our way through the maze.  And I think we were about fith or sixth to get to the cache and sign the log... Not to shabby for arriving late!!!


At the end prizes were handed out to the individuals that made it to the cache the fastest, and a special prize was given to the last person who happened to be Paulboy!  He got a bag of Turtles Chocolates for being slow and steady.

But wait... Who is this arriveing just as we are all coming to a close... It's John and Anne who we all lovingly call Cache Crop.  While we all hung about talking like we all usually do, we noticed Cache Crop having some issues with the maze.  So I volunteered my services and helped guide them along.  They thanked me very much for helping them out, as they were sure they would be in trouble if I hadn't. 

In the end, this turned out to be another fantastic event hosted by the ladies of The Cache-keteers!  Thank you so much SoobaxM, Porchlizard, Sheesh695 & Diraduck for all your hard work and dedication.  And thanks also goes to the Moss Troopers for being on hand to assist with their Wherigo Creation!!!

The GO! Team & Paulboy Torrorize Thetis Lake

Paulboy of Ladysmith contacted me recently asking if Just Leafy and I would be interested in a day of caching around Thetis Lake on Saturday September 8th.  Sadly Just Leafy would be getting off work that day at 7am, but I was totally available.  And so that day came, and in true The GO! Team fashion I was running behind.

I arrived 10~12 min late, and Paulboy and I did not hesitate to get started. 
We had a great time laughing our heads off at funny caching stories, and talking shop about our future trip to the states, and about my upcoming nuptials.

And of course no caching day with Paulboy would be complete without some leg scraping, spider web tangling, bug inhaling bush whacking!!!!  Oh my poor bare legs.  But really I am not concerned, becasue they will heal!

Sadly I didn't have my good camera with me, so I didn't take too many photos.  But I will leave you all with one that I did take... I think Paulboy would say it is one of his better angles!!

Overall another fantastic day out caching.  Thanks Paulboy for including me in your day, and thanks to all the cache owners for all the great caches in the Thetis Lake area!!

Caching Fun in Campbell River and Comox Valley

Well it had been a while since I had seen my parents, and figured it would be time to visit with them (and get some tech work done for my dad).  They live in the Comox Valley, and that area is one that I have only scratched the surface of when it comes to geocaching.  So really a trip up there is a blessing for a geocaching couple like Just Leafy and I.

We started our trip on Saturday September 1st, and had it planned to attemp three caches on the way up.  The first of which was in Cobble Hill, and this one particular cache was where I needed to drop off a Racing Travel Bug.  This was the final spot it had to reach, and if it did it would win the race it was in.  So we arrived a the park and made out way to the cache, and found with the assistance of another cacher that was passing by (sorry we can't remember his name).   We placed the TB and headed on our way again. 

The second stop for the last two we wanted to grab were in Coombs, home of the goats on the roof!
We found those two really quickly and then took a moment to grab one of thier famous Ice Cream Cones.  Anyone who has stopped here knows what I am am talking about!!
But that little break in the trip was done all too soon, and then it was back to getting ourselves to Comox.
Really there is nothing more to tell about that day, so that was three caches down and many more to go over the next few days.

Sunday September 2nd rolls around and my parents decide to take us up to Campbell River to get some caching done.  I took to looking on geocaching.com to see what we could do up there and found the ERT Series.  It had thirty plus caches along the road that has been converted to a trail, and I knew that was something we had to tackle.  We arrived and enjoyed our hike along this nice shady trail, netting ourselves sixteen caches total.  There were a ton of blackberry bushes along the way, so finding snacks was not a problem at all! 

We headed into town after for a coffee and got four more to give us an even twenty finds for the day.  Away back home to Mom and Dad's we went for a well deserved steak dinner.  Went to bed at a decent time to be nice and ready for the adventure the next day.  We look forward to returning to the ERT to wrap up the last of them by bike next time we come back this way.

Monday September 3rd, the real day of caching that I had planned before coming up.  I had noticed ages ago a mini powertrail of caches in Courtney that had about twenty-two caches on it.  This trail is called the One Spot Trail, named after a logging locomotive that used to run the railway that used to be here.

This proved to be a fantastic adventure for us.  The trail has a ton of shade, and is in fantastic condition 90% of the way.  It took us through wooded areas and along farmland.  Truely a gem of a trail.

We walked the eight kilometers in about two hours, and really did not feel any worse for wear at the end.  And to top it all off, we found all the caches!!  Not a single DNF (Did Not Find) out of the bunch!

And while we did this trail Just Leafy and I hit our 1700th cache find milestone!!!

Once we were done, and with the energery we had left.  Leafy, my Dad and I found just a few more and netted a total thirty caches for this day.  It's so nice to get out and get lots of caches like this in a city you don't visit too often.

Well that is all I can say really about this trip.  A big thanks to every cacher in Campbell River and the Comox Valley for all the great hides, we appreciate your dedication to providing an adventure to all who embrace this fine activity.

Oh and to my Dad.. Welcome to geocaching Postie Bear!!!  He decided that with all the times he comes out caching with us when we are up here that he should create his own account.  I am looking forward to the many adventures we can have together big guy!