How far would you go for a cache?

This picture is from a cache I completed a few weeks ago. As I approached this "tunnel" which was mostly covered with snow I was confused because the GPS was saying 35' to go. I dug out the snow which was covering most of the very small entrance only to discover the entrance was mostly blocked by rocks. The bottom of the picture shows the snow / rocks blocking the entrance. Fortunately the owner warned me the final was going to require me to get dirty. From here I went back and got the flashlight and sure enough there's the ammo box - 35' feet into the tunnel. I did the backwards belly crawl in and duck walked back to the cache. The entire tunnel is less than 3' high so even once inside there isn't a lot of room. Then I duck walked back out and belly crawled out through the hole. With my winter gear on it was a bit of a tight squeeze, but I managed to get in / out without incident.

Definately one of those more memorable caches.

Lonelies and FTF's

I've been concentrating my efforts this month on only doing Lonely Caches and FTF (First to Finds). Why? Well the answer may seem a little strange to the non-caching community but I have the 200 milestone coming up. My plan is to hit this milestone while in Orlando, FL at DisneyWorld. There are a couple of virtual caches there and this is a special once in a lifetime trip for us as a family.

Lonely Caches are geocaches that haven't been found for more than 4 months. As a member of the Wisconsin Geocaching Association I participate in this "game" where you get to accumulate bragging points. "Chasing lonelies" (as I call it) has taken me on some wild adventures into the wilderness, taught me many history lessons, and generally just challenged my geocaching skills. The reason many of these caches are lonely, is because they generally aren't easy to do. The majority of these that I've done involve some kind of puzzle aspect and require some kind of research to complete them. The research may involve internet searches, trips to the library for books referenced, or plain old just walking the streets reading street signs and tags from power poles. While these types of caches don't generate high numbers they do provide a great challenge.

First to Finds (FTF's) provide another bragging rights opportunity in the caching community. The first person to find a new cache gets the bragging rights to claim FTF which is just one of the many numbers cachers track. I don't have my log handy at the moment, but I believe I snagged #26 this weekend while doing Stuck between a Bell and a “Starry” place which a fellow cacher named BakRdz did to give me some grief about being an addict.

What a PuzLr

What a wild last few days with a major upgrade event at work and an attempt on a couple of FTF's. The biggest of these events was the FTF today on A BakRdz’ PuzLr by BakRdz. The full log explains the details, but to summarize - I made a bunch of mistakes and was still able to get a CO-FTF with 2boyz. JimandLinda also arrived on the scene and scored STF.

After that it was a trip over to Starbucks to meet with BakRdz. It was a coincidence because we had this planned prior to the activity with this puzzle cache. It was great to meet some of these fellow cachers face / face and share in the excitement.

Another puzzle?

I've been banging my head on the wall with Geocaching Math but was finally able to crack the code during lunch time today. Got a big green "SUCCESS!" via the geochecker which made my afternoon. This is one of the elusive caches only found by a handful of people. Know the trick is to get it moved from the "to find" to the "found" pile.

I also attended a great caching event Paperless Geocaching IV - 50+ caches in one day this past Saturday and learned a lot about how to make it happen. Now to try and figure out where / when to attempt a 50+ day.

ARRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!

I just finished the audio book "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson and figured that PIRATES TREASURE (DRIVING ME NUTS ARRR!) would be a great related cache. Hit GZ this morning and was a little confused. Something seemed amis, but then again this is a 3 Star rating. I managed to negotiate my way to WP1 and found it after a little searching. The hint definately makes sense, but they all do once you know the answer.

Plugged the new coordinates into my GPSr and headed for the final. WHAT? A muggle is getting out of there car? You've got to be kidding. Thankfully I'm not parked in the same area. I can see the tree through the forest, but can't make the assault. Guess that means it's off to work and that this one needs to get put on the back burner for a bit.

A wild morning ...

Left the house at 4:40 am this morning to make a FTF tour in the Neshkoro, Wautoma, and Red Granite areas. Geolivestrong placed a number of new caches in the area and I decided make a run for some of these taking the long long route to work. 1 DNF, 4 FTF, 1 Lonely and also picked up one that I bypassed the other day due to muggles.

WSQ Zion Cemetery (GC1Z0YK) - DNF
Dam Good Coffee! (GCY36K)
WSQ Maple Grove Cemetery (GC1Z0YE) - FTF
Lake Irogami (GC1Z0Y7) - FTF
WSQ St. Mark's Catholic Cemetery (GC1Z0HK) - FTF
WSQ Foster Road Cemetery (GC1Z0HG) - FTF
Tributary A Good Man from Omro... (GC167K4) - Lonely

I also managed to solve Another puzzle in the Kingdom of Selzzup (GC1T1M8) by Marc_54140. This puzzle allowed me meet Will S (can't divulge the details here) and apply some analytical thinking skills. Required a slight nudge from the owner but that was only the same information I already had found on my own. The difference being that I discounted the information and now was sure that it was relevent. Back to the drawing board. First approach was working and put me within 30 miles, but just didn't seem right. Let it stew for a while and then I had the big breakthrough. The geochecker wasn't giving me "Success", but the owner confirmed my coordinates were correct.

Hello from GroundZero (Berlin, WI)

CodeJunkie (Me) started geocaching back in late June 2009. It all started when I saw a friend post a "Caching Event" on their wall. I sent an email asking what this was all about. A few hours later I had an account on Geocaching.com, but didn't have the requisite GPSr. This friend (Weathernowcast) had a few caches in our home town a got me started with my free account, Google Maps, and a little guidance via email. That's how we (as a family) logged our first 5 or 6 caches. Since then my oldest daughter (CamoQueen) has gotten her own account as well.

I've been hooked since day 1 and have also acquired a GPSr and am off and running on the caching trail. Not quite as fast as some others, or as savy (yet), or as well rounded, but we're on the trail and running with some of the big dogs.

This blog is dedicated to my trek up / down the caching trail and will also include all those other interesting tidbits that make life interesting for me and my family.