7/14/09

My World - Geocaching Sunday

The week before last, we headed out Sunday on a geocaching mission. The Hubster wanted to place a new cache at a historic rural site 25 miles north of us. It was the site of the last big Indian battle in our area, where the various tribes came together to fight the infamous Colonel George Custer.

The elevation at this point is 2500ft above sea level and whilst he located the perfect cache hiding place, I climbed into the bed of the Pickup to take photo's. Within a few minutes he had made a decision, after digging around whilst watching for snakes.

Next he created a Waypoint in his GPS, which basically means recording the GPS co-ordinates for the exact location. This then enables other geocachers to put these into their GPS and follow it to within a few feet of the cache. They then have to use their eyes and caching experience to find the cache.

Whoever finds this cache will hopefully enjoy reading about the local history and the wonderful endless views in every direction. It is also one of the most peaceful locations I have had the pleasure of visiting in our area.

Next up was a second attempt at finding a cache we had looked for in February, right in the panhandle armpit, on the Texas and Okieland border. At that time despite 25 minutes effort we never found it, so the Hubster had a chat to the cacher who placed it and we knew what we were looking for this time.

They had decided that probably alot of earth had blown into this isolated location and so the Hubster had to work for this find! It took him about 15 minutes of digging in 98 degrees, sweaty work and I was happy to give encouragement from the Pickup!

Finally the treasure revealed itself, he was very happy to find this one and tick it off our list. Yes that scruffy looking rock was the actual cache, hence it being so hard to spot buried in the dirt.

But geocachers are an enterprising bunch and this rock is actually a camouflaged key holder. Just large enough to hold a log to be signed, but tricky enough to be a tough find.

To join in the fun go to My World Tuesday

19 comments:

Sylvia K said...

Ah, you Geocachers do have fun! Great shots, felt like I was back home for a bit! Thanks for sharing the fun!

James said...

Geochaching seems pretty challenging but also lots of fun.
Thanks for sharing.

Gaelyn said...

That special rock is quite a sneaky cache. Very pretty countryside to spend time in.

Kay said...

I'm impressed you were able to find that and avoid snakes. Wasn't it too hot to be out and abouts? I've heard about your hot weather.

nadia said...

"I was happy to give encouragement from the Pickup" ... LOL

Oh that special rock you found was quite sneaky! But you found it, which means you guys are very good :)

Yogi♪♪♪ said...

Very cool. Finding the hard caches is especially satisfying. Great photos also.
If I ever get the pleasure of looking for the cache he placed, I'm bringing my walking stick to poke around with. Those rocks look very snaky.

Missy said...

Don't understand the whole geocaching thing but it is a good story. Really enjoyed your sharing of Chicago. Felt like I went there virtually and made me want to go for real.

Daryl said...

Congrats on both finding that hard to find cache AND for setting a new one into play!

I sort of like Hubster's TEA shirt

erin said...

ahh...at last it was located. i can see now how you could overlook it as just a chunk of rock unless you knew exactly what you were looking for. is this in the same area where you encountered the snakes last time?
and, i can't blame you for sitting in the nice cool truck.
have a wonderful week ms. sarah

Lynn said...

Great photos! That looks like a lovely location.

Larry D said...

Looks like a fun time geocaching persistence paid off!

Michelloui said...

I would love to get into geocaching! This is an interesting post. And the photos make me homesick.

Nancy said...

I want to give this a second try. I think my husband was disappointed in not finding the cache the first time out. We need to give it another go, for sure.

Unknown said...

I am still so taken with the idea of this. One day, one day! Meanwhile, love the tea-party shirt on hubster!!! :)

Martha Z said...

Between you and Yogi I am beginning to think that we should give it a try. I've noticed from the geocache site there are several both near our Sierra cabin and our primary home.

Sherri said...

Sarah you and the your Hubster have so much fun! What a great thing to share with each other!

Unknown said...

That looks like a lot of fun...

That rock is certainly a tricky cache !! :-)

Louise said...

So good of you to offer encouragement from the truck. (Which I assume was running with the AC on!) I do similar things when we letterboox in bad weather. Right now I have a whiney 5-year-old as an excuse. When it's just us, no telling what I'll come up with to stay warm or cool and dry and comfortable!

Iota said...

So he was digging around in the dirt and rocks to find a rock? Not surprised it took a while.