Team Rampant Lion

Tomorrow is the big day! YAHOO – Caching Through The Snow III I thought it would be worthwhile to share some details about the pre-event hike if you are planning to join us. First, please try to get to the parking location between 8:45 and 9:00 AM. We need to get going as soon as possible to make our reservations at the event restaurant. Sparta is located off Route 15 (exit 34B off Route 80). Take that north to the CR-517 Sparta/Franklin (second Sparta exit). From there, take a right at the light, then a right at the next light and a left at the next light. Aim for N41 02.454 W074 37.455 to turn into the Sparta Glen area. This will be a multi-group hike meaning that I have set up several routes to keep our groups a little smaller than last year. If you have not been to this area, please let me know as if we have enough folks in this category, I can add another couple routes. There are lots of travel bugs up in the caches, please help get them off the mountain and drop a few new ones in. Here are some important notes and recommendations for the hike: Wear good hiking boots (especially for kids). The area is fairly challenging as it has been the victim of a historic flood and now a hemlock decline so there is a lot of displaced rocks and dead trees. Also, the leaves are down and there are some steep pitches along the routes, this can make it seem a bit slick whether or not there is snow. Gym shoes are not a good idea. There will be some bushwhacking requirements. Bring good hydration as you will need it. Bottom to top along the various routes will climb about 700 feet. Even though the whether is cool, it is a good idea to keep yourself hydrated to prevent cramping. Gatoraid is a good idea as well. Pay attention to your surroundings. As mentioned above, while this is a beautiful area, you will see the remains of a lot of devastation. Unfortunately, there remains some dangerous conditions. While looking for the hide spots, I found myself underneath an enormous tree part hanging on a very small branch. May trees will fall over if you push on them. Please watch out for yourself and others. Wear glasses and gloves. Sunglasses or regular glasses will keep you from getting a branch in the eye and in spots there are a lot of them. There were a lot of sticker bushes on the east side of the mountain, gloves make it a bit easier to get by. There are bears. Four to be exact make this area home. The routes I have designed will keep you away from the known den areas. However, with the warmer temps predicted for Sunday (52 degrees) they will likely be up and about. It is likely that with our group sizes and noise they will avoid us but please review tips on what to do if you have an encounter as panic can lead to a bad encounter. If you know what to do (and have your cameras ready), it is a rare and fantastic experience to see a bear. Hopefully, these recommendations don’t scare anyone off but I do want you well informed as it will make your morning much more enjoyable. The cache coordinates will likely not be posted for you to enter in advance as I asked for the new caches not to be posted until tomorrow so one of you can be first to find. I will hand out sheets with the new information tomorrow morning. Since these are big groups there will be no clues. These hides are moderate difficulty and are very achievable. If some of you bring walkie talkies you can reach me if you get stuck. For those of you who ordered coins, I would like to deliver those to you before the hike. Please bring cash for the coins you ordered. A single coin is $8.00 (gold LE or black nickel); a set is $15.00; each subsequent coin is $7.00. These coins are at a bit of a premium as I am donating all profit to NNJC to support their annual awards event. The Scottish Toast on this year’s coin is “Lang may ye’re lum reek wi’ ither folks coal!” This translates to “Long may your fireplace smell of other folks coal!” This is a reference to having lots of friends. In Scotland, it is a tradition to bring a piece of coal when visiting a friends homes – sharing warmth and kinship. The spirit of this event is to bring us all together to celebrate our friendships before the holidays. The weather forecast looks great! Sunny and 52 degrees. Likely a little cooler for our start but I have you on the sunny side of the mountain all morning. You will be helping me celebrate my 100th hide once these caches are published and I can’t think of a better way to do that. Looking forward to a great day! All the best! Team Rampant Lion

Whew! The coins made it, I was getting worried. Group hikers - try to get to the parking area by 8:45 AM so we can launch by 9:00 AM. The turn in entrance to the Glen area is at N41 02.454 W074 37.455. We'll be in two groups, maybe three to break up our group size a bit. For the Event group, try to get there as close to 12:00 (noon) as possible. There will likely be more people than spots as it is a relatively small restaurant. We have about 90% of the table reserved for us. Beer is great as always. Should be fun!

UPDATE: Here are the changes/new additions: klizich 1 gold/1 black nickel 3 bunts 1 gold/1 black nickel Lakelady 1 gold/1 black nickel Old Navy 1 gold/1 black nickel Ramsey LtD 1 gold/1 black nickel Redtailfalconer 1 gold/2 black nickel Tiffany's Slaves 1 gold/1 black nickel

As of today, I have heard from about 39 cachers who plan to participate in the pre-event hike and a few more who will join us at the restaurant. The weather forecast does not include snow . But it is a great forecast for a hike (47 degrees, sunny) and the views should be great so bring cameras. I will be archiving the old caches to make way for the new ones so if you haven't logged Sparta Glen Trailhead; Sparta Glen Rest Stop; Morris Lake Overlook, Ridge Trail; or Mountain Greenway get them soon as they will come down by Saturday. Everything is looking good!

This where I am with the Caching Through The Snow III coin orders, please drop me an email if I missed your order or have you down for the wrong amount: Cacher geobnrd 1 gold/1 black nickel viking66 1 gold/1 black nickel macatac 1 gold/1 black nickel Squealy 1 gold/1 black nickel CAZRAY 1 gold/1 black nickel ACE2090 1 gold/1 black nickel Pink Panther 1 gold/1 black nickel Conman 1 gold/1 black nickel Quoddy 1 gold/1 black nickel PBS 1 gold/3 black nickel vanm 1 gold/1 black nickel accbd 1 gold/ 1 black nickel Walkin Ed 1 gold/1 black nickel dhenninger 1 gold/1 black nickel klizich 1 gold 3bunts 1 gold

Ok - for those of you who have been asking here are the details for the morning hunt. We will meet at 9:00 AM at the following coordinates - N41 02.355 W074 37.122 which is in the Sparta Glen park area. I placed six new caches today that we will use for our hike. This year, to break up the size of the group, we will be breaking into 2 or 3 teams to have a little competition. I will have a different route for each team. Bring your good climbing knees, cameras (the bears are still out and about), and plenty of hydration. A few of you were asking about appropriateness for kids. There are some challenging areas and I won't expect a very young child would enjoy the challenge. There are some significant climbs, a lot of trees down in the area following the wind last week and thorn bushes. My kids (age 10 and up) have all done the routes and with good hiking boots, find it very doable. Looking forward to a great day!

Congratulations Pete! I'll buy you a beer at the Caching Through The Snow Event next week. Keep on caching!

With any luck there will be coins for the event! There will be a special gold coin available to attendees only (limit 1 per geocacher attending until we see who wants them - only 50 available) and a black nickel version that will be more widely available. Cost will be $8 per coin or $15 for a set of one each. Proceeds will all go to NNJC to fund the awards for the "Best of NNJC" annual event. Please drop me an email with your interests. Here is the design:

Finally got this bad boy under my belt and enjoy all of it. Playing the role of anchor today for Straatmaker 5, was having some real trouble with my knees and leg cramps. But we still got it done start to finish in 3 hours. Only disappointment was we didn't see any bears today. Of course, I did get home in time to see my Chicago Bears beat the Jets. What a great day!!

I'm heading out the door to head up to Wawayanda. I have an extra bike in case any of the on the fence crew changes their mind. Bikes - check Gatoraid - check Spare tires- check GPS - check Helmet cam - check Bear mace - check Should be a fun ride!

Man you're cruising! Congratulations and keep on hunting!

I will be bringing a replacement cache for Stage 1 in case it has gone missing.

Roll Call - who is going to join us Sunday morning at 9:00 AM?

Sign up here. PS - Avroair check your emails!!

Out in Kittatinny State Park on Friday and came across this guy.

Congratulations on reaching a major milestone! Keep on hunting!

Bears, of course! Here's my pic from Friday's hike in Kittatinny SP:

We are going next week - Sunday (11/19) at 9:00 AM. I am even going to try and drag Tick Magnets out of retirement for this one. Come join us!

Believe it or not, another year has gone by and it is time for the Third Annual Caching Through The Snow Event get together. The event will be held Sunday, December 10th at 12:00 (noon) and, as usual, the event will be held at Krogh's in Sparta, NJ. The event page will eventually be listed here. For those of you interested in a pre-event cache competition, hold the morning open as well. We will meet at 9:00 AM at a location to be determined. I will work to re-populate a few areas close by that we can hunt. It may include a group race format but that will be determined by whether I get permissions for a few areas. Looking forward to seeing everyone!

Oh come on - I'll bring my tow rope. Nothing shakes that middle aged feeling like a good ride and sense of adventure. You'll enjoy it, join us.

I can still make it. I can meet you there at 9:00. Let me know. An issue came up and my wife had to head out of town. I've got the kids on Sunday so it probably won't work - how about a week later (11/19) at 9:00 AM?

I'm trying to shake free for Sunday. Anyone still interested for 11/12? If so, what time?

I think they are all on us! I pulled more than 20 off the dog last Saturday, so many that I brought her to the vet as her skin was coming up with them. They were in clusters all over her. The vet pulled off another 10+ in the office. I've never seen it so bad on her. At the Pirates event, the kids and I were covered at the first stage. Got as many off as possible (while sitting at the traffic accident) but still found a few crawling around the roof of my car yesterday morning. YUCK!

Congratulations from the entire TRL crew. Keep on hunting!

I've received a number of logs for my Other Side cache in Kittatinny State Park in Andover, NJ about a bear interfering with cache hunts. Was out in the area yesterday and got this picture of him (her?).