Shiraz-mataz

Lamp post cache, huh.... I gotta bad feeling about this. [sorry about the double post! ]

Lamp post cache, huh.... I gotta bad feeling about this.

I hope more people join up on your web site, Matt. You've done a good job laying it out and I've posted a few things - including may latest hike report.

Welcome aboard "hammockhanger" from another hammock hanger! I recognize you from the whiteblaze forum and am happy to see you made it over here to GC.com! Just got back from two blissful nights of hanging 'tween the trees on a section hike through Shenandoah National Park.

Yeah, sorry to offend anyone - not the intent. Like TotemLake said, we have to laugh at our own follies. I would never cast aspersions on others about being "rednecks" without admitting to myself that I too drive a pickup truck, drink beer on the porch, and run around without my shoes on half the time!

Drunk Redneck______? Pepper spray in the eyes followed by a whack to his head with your hiking stick. If you aren't in favor of violence, carry a can of beer with you, catch his attention by waving the can in front of his eyes, and then toss the can out in the woods. While he is foraging for the can, make your escape.

Looks like a nice layout, Matt. I signed up yesterday.

I'll just describe what I found on a couple since it wouldn't make any sense reading the cache descriptions. I found one where you had to lower a small cache hidden high in a tree by using a string tied to it and thrown over a limb. Another one had a small/micro cleverly disquised as a magnolia blossom in, of course, a magnolia tree.

I love to crack codes. A local cacher gave us a double-whammy some time ago with an encrypted set of coordinates that must first be run through an "Atbash" cypher which is a simple letter-for-letter substitution like you see in the GC hint (A=Z, B=Y, etc...) but it can be shifted to add some complexity. Once you got that figured out he ran it through a "Vignere" cypher which is unsolvable without the key, which was buried in the text of a story he told in the cache listing. It was awesome - quite challenging!

A buddy and I have started doing sections of the Appalachian Trail. Last year we did all of Maryland in two trips. In one month we are heading out to tackle the section of the AT that runs through Shenandoah National Park. Not many caches in the SNP!

I bought a couple of stamps from Michael's that I use once in awhile. One is a bottle of wine next to a wine glass. This goes along with my geo-handle which is the name of a kind of wine. I also have a stamp of some bare footprints. I've thought it might be nice to design my own stamp but have never researched how to take a drawing and have a stamp made - or if it's even worth it since I'm happy with off-the-shelf stamps.

I'm a civilian mechanical engineer working in the flight test community for the Navy. Saving the free world in nine hours a day!

Yes ma'am. Hot and muggie here in the east. Remember, my response was for warm weather hiking 'cause Shiraz don't do the ccccCold!

After one hike with a 50+ pound pack, I managed to ditch 20 pounds for the next hike. That just planted the seed for seeking the best ultra-lite solution. The Whiteblaze and backpackinglight links both provide excellent ideas but I'll toss out a few lessons-learned here for my geo-compadres. Keep in mind that I abhor the cold so most of these changes were things I did to hike in WARM weather: * I bought a 1 lb-10oz Go-Lite Pinnacle backpack to replace my 6 lb Mountainsmith pack. * I switched to an ENO Single-Nest Hammock instead of my old backpacking tent. * I use a simple fleece blanket instead of my bulky sleeping bag (in warmer weather) * I use a homemade Pepsi can stove instead of my old Coleman burner. * Leave the Gerber multitool at home and take a simple, 2-blade Swiss Army Knife. * Cut back on heavy food! Geez, I even carried CANS on my first hike! * Wear lighter clothes. No more cargo pants and t-shirts for me! Just one pair of those Champion jogging shorts and shirt are enough for a whole weekend, plus maybe another to change into. * One LED headlamp replaced a handheld flashlight. * Since my hiking is all in the woods (Appalachian Trail) I leave the hat and sunglasses home. * Using Gatorade bottles instead of Nalgene bottles will even save you a few ounces.

I swear by my trusty Gerber multitool for just about any job around the house but have sworn OFF of it for hiking/backpacking. Call me a "gram weenie" but after lugging it for a section hike along the Appalachian Trail last May, it got replaced on a subsequent section hike with a very simple Swiss Army Knife. All anyone ever needs!

It doesn't have a name per se but I often refer to my GPSr in log entries as "my (not so) trusty yellow Etrex." And when I'm around my geo-buddies with their fancy units with color maps I'll add, "my approved for use by the Amish (not so) trusty yellow Etrex!"

Writing cache logs provides an outlet for me. Back in high school I used to write a LOT. Short stories, poetry, angst-filled teenage pap... But then life happened: college, career, family. Not much time left for creative pursuits. Now that some of my hectic schedule has abated, I find myself filling the writing void by using cache logs as more-or-less a journal of my adventures. I usually tell who was with me, where we were going, that kind of stuff. Now when I go back and read logs from three years ago I can remember the adventure clearly.

This sounds AWESOME! Even though I love to hike in the mountains I am a sea level guy at heart and really enjoy a long walk on the beach. This past summer while in Myrtle Beach I did a ten mile round trip beach hike to snag three caches along the way.

In the colder months I'll usually just wear a pair of tennis shoes. But between March and October I am typically found in Teva Terra-Fi Sandals or barefoot depending on the trail.

One of my personal rules concerns event caches - I won't log them at all! (Yes, I did log one event that I helped organize back in 2004). To me, an "event" is not a "cache" unless the gathering is held inside the world's largest ammo can hidden somewhere...

Someone sent me a photo of a sign that was really cool. Wish I still had it! I'll try to convey its message which warned hikers of the difference between black bears and grizzly bears. The sign suggested that hikers carry pepper spray and hang bells on their hiking sticks. Then the sign told hikers how to tell the difference between black bear scat and grizzly bear scat. Black bear poop usually has berries in it while grizzly bear poop has bells in it and smells like peppers!

I have no caches and 11 TB's on my watch list. I've taken a few TB's on better than average adventures and like to keep an eye on them after parting ways.

At an event I planned a couple years ago we set up a special "CASH-and-dash" game. It was an event-only cache that was placed somewhere in the park where the event was held. It was NOT loggable on GC.com. If someone wants to play they pay for a clue card (at our event it was $5 a card). The card was basically in the form of a puzzle cache and folks would gather clues as they worked their way around the park. Whoever solved the puzzle first and found the cache won all the CASH! The more people who choose to play, the bigger the payoff. You could also work this as a 50/50 game if your local organization would like to use it as a fundraiser.

I won't bother delving into the sleeping bag issue - there are countless possibilities! As for shelters though, I have a recommendation for you. I have several tents but for the cross-country trip I would suggest using a Kelty Gunnison 2. It is a "two" person tent which means it is perfect for one person. It is not too heavy at just over four pounds - that is about my upper limit for backpacking tent weight. What I love about this tent is that it only has two shock-corded poles which cross over the top of the tent. Then the tent has quick clips to hook onto the poles. This results in a very fast setup since you don't have to thread the poles through the sleeves that some tents have. The rain fly is thrown over the top if desired. Just over a hundred bucks and you can find them online from different sources. Good luck!

...if you can read the hints without decrypting them. ...if you accidentally sign checks with your geo-handle.