G0ldNugget

I got mine on May 4th too!

Guess I'm a glorified 'muggle with an app'. as I started a few years ago with my smart phone. I still haven't purchased a gps. Several years ago I was one of these newbies, blind to obvious finds, leaving stupid, short logs, a pic that gave away a cool container and even a 'helpful' throw down. Apologies to the COs for that stuff. I've learned a lot about caching, etiquette and what makes a really good cache. I've learned to leave decent logs because I enjoy receiving them on my caches. But I was one of these despised new cachers with no appreciation of 'how caching used to be'. I've been receiving lots of newbie logs on my caches. I have to check them much more often because I can't be sure they were replaced properly, but I'm happy to see new players. I hope some will stick with it. None of my caches are PO but I have some higher D/T ratings that will not show in the app for Basic users and adding a puzzle will usually keep newbies away.

This is where I'm from. The first is the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Northern California. The second picture is taken from one of my caches along a dusty dirt road, heading down to the valley below.

Found this one recently. Definitely unusual.

Here's one I left after the CO asked for a Creepy Key Story to go with the skeleton key in the cache: DDDD and I were out geo-caching today when we suddenly realized how late it was getting. We had hoped to make one more stop before quitting for the day so we stopped at this cache on the way home. It was already well past dark and a thick fog was beginning to roll in. Under the dim light of the streetlamp and the full moon, we began our search. As we carefully explored the area, we noticed the ghostly figure of a man standing under the light. The fog swirled around him as his dark eyes followed us suspiciously. Approaching him, we heard him say these words: "Black Bart am I, of stories old. Rich mens' stagecoaches supply me gold. Always a gentleman, I'm fair of speech. To scoundrel bankers, a lesson I teach! My treasure lies in a hidden chest. I guard the key. I take no rest. If ye dare remove the key, Upon my word, I shall haunt thee!" We quickly located the cache and logged our visit. The key glistened within its case, tempting us with promises of Black Bart's famous lost treasure. But neither of us wished to risk his wrath so we left the key where we found it. I snapped a picture as we drove away. You can just make out Black Bart standing under the lightpost. He remains the Gentleman Bandit and poet, forever guarding the key to his treasure chest. Happy Halloween! Black Bart robbed dozens of stages in Northern California. His loot is still sought by treasure hunters and historians.

Heres a log from my Star Wars themed night cache. Sadly, it doesn't get many visitors. GC71G8N Found it 3/17/2017 I was visiting my brother (xxx, a new geocacher) in xxx from my desert base when I saw this mission. There are two different versions of how we started to do it. I believe it was because I said "look, a mission to find a lost device and save the universe - we must do it, even though we might have to battle Ewoks." My wife and brother think I said something like 'look, here's a cache with a D/T rating that I need for my grid AND it's a night cache - we must do it!' No matter, we set off on this mostly clear evening to save us all. With starry skies above, we walked along the lake. Just as we got to the spot where you turn into the woods we paused and looked down at the lake. There was some huge, dark mass moving towards us in a menacing fashion! We heard a loud chorus getting louder and louder - ribbet, Ribbet, RIBet, RIBBET! Threatened with this very real danger on one side but just the possibility of Ewoks in the forest we ran for the forest, soon picking up the white reflectors to guide us in. We found the device, cracked the code to open and were soon on our way to the lost cache. Not long after that - mission accomplished! No Ewoks to be seen, but we knew what lurked above. We crept up, got to the dam and fled back to our starship, chased by the dark mass that seemed to be plopping along behind us. There were several other starships full of young people where we were docked on this Friday night. Is this some kind of rebel base on weekend nights? As we slid past some of the faces in the windows looked eerily like the creatures from the bar in Star Wars I. We jumped in our vessel and were gone at light speed in no time with the mission accomplished. Now that we are back safe and sound it seems almost as if it never happened. Fortunately, we made it back undetected. Wait, what's that sound I hear outside of my bedroom window? Ribbet. Thanks for the fun cache! Fav point, for sure.

I would love to read these logs. Can you share the GC Code?

Found in the Nevada desert, an old, graffiti-decorated plane parked at a closed brothel named 'Angels Ladies'. The cache still there and active if you're ever headed down Route 66 through the American southwest. GC3XVZ3

I'm 57 but the local group seems to be a good mix of ages. I often cache with my daughter in her 30s and her daughter, 16. When we go out together, we use the handle Team3Gen. The 16 yo usually makes the grab, she moves so fast! We have discussed making her wait 5 min in the car while we get a head start.

Thank you all for responding to my post. From reading these forums, I thought naively, like a Field of Dreams, that if I put great caches in amazing places, they would come. My friend (actually, she's my daughter) and I often work together on caches and we have several collaborations that I am proud of. I used the Nature Preserve as an example because I follow both caches and the difference is stark. I think I just needed to know that it is normal and dedicated COs care lovingly for caches that others rarely visit, and thats ok. So thanks for the pep talk. I'll keep hiding caches that I would like to find in amazing places I would like to share. And go search for that ammo box in the woods you've been thinking about. It will remind you of why you started this hobby while you make some COs day.

Despite the postings in this forum complaining about all the micros, urban caches and PnGs, those quickie caches certainly get more traffic than the well placed ammo boxes in the woods. My friend and I are both COs of multiple caches and her micros and parking lot caches are found dozens of times per year, where my carefully placed, well crafted, swag laden regulars go months between visits. An example is a local nature preserve where we both have placed caches. Hers is a micro PnG in the gravel parking lot. Mine is nice ammo box, loaded with goodies but requires a short walk down a good trail. Her micro gets logged often, but very few bother to take the walk to find the regular nearby. As much as we all prefer the stocked ammo can hidden in a well chosen spot, it's the LPC and the PnG that get all the love. Support quality hides. Visit a rural cache today!