Team Rampant Lion

Boy, it always takes me a few days to recover from this event. I really enjoy setting it up and adding the special details but as usual, I went home and needed a siesta. But everything worked out great. I want to thank treequest for jumping in to help ID the location, hide some additional caches and even getting up early to get the fire going. Also thanks to my daughter TRL Pink Panther for getting up early to help with the set-up and lugging the supplies in and out of the forest. Thanks to everyone who chipped in to give the TRL team a Kroghs gift card. It was much appreciated and I was touched by your thought. As soon as we get a sense of our ultimate outcome (going to San Francisco or not), we'll let you know. All the best and Happy Holidays! PS - I have remaining coins in case you did not get one at the event.

PS - It's snowing in Sparta now!

Here is the FINAL UPDATE. Weather Forecast: Pre-Hike Parking Coordinates: N41 00.924 W074 36.950 Meeting Point Coordinates: N41 01.108 W074 36.191 Note: As you leave the parking area and head towards Meeting Point coordinates, you will see a closed metal gate - that is the trail head. There are some No Trespassing signs - these are invalid as they were not removed when the land transferred to the state. Please continue onto the trail. Time to be at Meeting Point: 9:00 AM (Allow 15-20 minutes to hike from parking as it is approximately 0.7 miles) New Cache Coordinates: GC1JM8B N41 01.378 W074 36.828 "What the H-E-double toothpicks?" GC1JM81 N41 01.485 W074 36.616 "The Forest Edge" GC1JPHN N41 00.539 W074 36.545 "Monster Cache - TRL Radioactive" GC1JKNA N41 01.076 W074 36.749 "Monster Cache - Stone Troll" GC1JKNO N41 00.678 W074 36.766 "Monster Cache - Bigfoot" GC1JPJO N41 00.422 W074 36.382 "LOG IT" GC1JPHE N41 00.573 W074 36.680 "Anybody Home?" Parking Coordinates for Krogh's (Event): N41 01.984 W074 38.465 Time to be at Krogh's: 12:00 (noon) Note: around 12:30-12:45 PM they open up our open seats to public and, if you are not there, you may need to wait

Here is the FINAL UPDATE. Weather Forecast: Pre-Hike Parking Coordinates: N41 00.924 W074 36.950 Meeting Point Coordinates: N41 01.108 W074 36.191 Note: As you leave the parking area and head towards Meeting Point coordinates, you will see a closed metal gate - that is the trail head. There are some No Trespassing signs - these are invalid as they were not removed when the land transferred to the state. Please continue onto the trail. Time to be at Meeting Point: 9:00 AM (Allow 15-20 minutes to hike from parking) New Cache Coordinates: GC1JM8B N41 01.378 W074 36.828 "What the H-E-double toothpicks?" GC1JM81 N41 01.485 W074 36.616 "The Forest Edge" GC1JPHN N41 00.539 W074 36.545 "Monster Cache - TRL Radioactive" GC1JKNA N41 01.076 W074 36.749 "Monster Cache - Stone Troll" GC1JKNO N41 00.678 W074 36.766 "Monster Cache - Bigfoot" GC1JPJO N41 00.422 W074 36.382 "LOG IT" GC1JPHE N41 00.573 W074 36.680 "Anybody Home?" Parking Coordinates for Krogh's (Event): N41 01.984 W074 38.465 Time to be at Krogh's: 12:00 (noon) Note: around 12:30-12:45 PM they open up our open seats to public and, if you are not there, you may need to wait

We'll keep you in our thoughts (and try to do no evil)

Here is the weather forecast for tomorrow. Note the "Feels Like" line...

YEEEEEEE HAA! Wear your woolies! The new forecast is calling for a high of 30 degrees, a low of 11 degrees and very windy conditions.

--> QUOTE(brian b @ Dec 4 2008, 03:50 PM) 3736945[/snapback] I am looking forward to this hike. The map is helpful, but quite deceptive! Also, it looks like LOTS of people will be at the event. Can/Will Kroughs be able to handle all of us? There is an enormous group so far this year (about 80 confirmed to date). We will be reaching the Krogh's capacity limit so it will be important for everyone to try to make it there as close to 12:00 (noon) as possible. It will be FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED for seating. If like last year, some people don't mind being in the bar area of the restaurant it should not be a problem.

Most of the caches on the map (in gold stars) are already posted. Between treequest and I, we are hoping to add 7-10 more. We will do our best to get them up as early as possible. But I can't make promises on the GC posting of these new ones. The reviewer (Pofe) has offered to try as best as possible to review these to get them published but they do have a life outside and timing may not work out. Particularly for those we post late Saturday. If nothing else, I guess I could post the names/coordinates here late Saturday afternoon. At least then you could enter them while warm and toasty at home as opposed to a freezing cold parking lot.

PS - For those of you who have not been to the Weldon Brook area before, here is a map of the lay of the land. Existing caches are marked by gold stars, new ones in blue. There will be more blue ones after Saturday. I am trying to time it to have the postings go live Saturday PM. If that doesn't happen, I will bring a Cache sheet. As you can see, lots of great caches to find :

For everyone who is attending the event and related activities, it would be a great help to me if you can tell me the following: How many are in your group? (And what is their geocaching name so I don't double count) Are you coming to the pre-hike? Do you want a coin? If yes, how many? Remember that if you don't register on the Cache page with your geocaching name, you will miss out on some goodies. Also, please revisit this thread on SATURDAY NIGHT to get any updates. Although the parking coordinates will be the same as posted above, I may move the initial meeting place for the pre-hike into the woods (about a 10-15 minute hike in). I will post the coordinates here if I do decide to do that. I will also post any weather updates. Current forecast: SNOW flurries Looking forward to a great event - also want to acknowledge treequest for helping out.

Hi, Mr. Procrastinator here. I've been a bit distracted with a few other events but did finally get around to getting my butt in gear. This year the pre-hike will be in the Weldon Brook WMA in Sparta. It is closer to the actual event location (Krogh's) so we won't have the drive time issues that causes some delays last year. There is parking at this location ==> N41 00.938 W074 36.938. This is just off Route 15. Let's plan to meet here at 8:45 AM so the hike can promptly start at 9:00 AM. A couple of recommendations (based on my learnings from today placing a few caches in the pouring rain): It is worthwhile to Google "Weldon Brook Wildlife Management Area Map" and study the lay of the land. While generally similar terrain to the Sparta Edison area - there is more swamp land here. Given #1 above, dress as if you might have to traverse a swamp. Hiking poles are recommended as in a few spots you need to traverse boulder fields. Looking forward to seeing everyone! TRL

Here is a picture of the coin proof. It will be a 1.75" coin with no tracking number (to keep costs down) on what my kids like to call "ice" silver. I am pretty sure the cost will be $8 a coin. First offers to event attendees on a first come, first serve basis (only 90 coins for sale).

A few people have believed that I have been stalked by them - particularly by my Adventurers Cache. But I have never seen anything resembling one. But there have been stories of them in New Jersey (and in Sparta): ABC News Story AOL Video News Story Smoke Rise (Kinnelon) Blog NJ My Way story (also about Kinnelon) A link to the thread where we last debated this topic...

Here is the Caching Through The Snow #5 EVENT PAGE. Here is the coin design I am working on for the event. It will be a 1.75 inch coin. It will NOT be trackable - it's a tough economy and this will help keep the coin cost down. I will have 100 made. Let me know your interest - event attendees have dibs.

Mark your calendars. I've confirmed the date with Kroghs for Sunday, December 7th. Why the reference to "Fifth and Final"? Well, my company has decided to move to San Francisco in 2009 (with or without me) so certainly some status change will occur. Anyway, if you've always wanted to attend a Caching Through The Snow Event but haven't - this would be the year to plan for it. Here is the from last years event if you need a sense of what goes on. As usual, we will have a pre-event hike that will be at 9:00 AM somewhere (Treequest is sending me lots of ideas). Watch this thread for the location. Let's pray for snow and have another great event!

Congratulations! Keep on hunting my friend.

Thank you for the suggestion. I did check it out online and it looks like a great area. Other suggestions are still welcome.

I would really appreciate it if some of the Las Vegas locals could give me some advice on great hikes around the area. Will be visiting from NJ and not too familiar with the region. Here's what would be the best situation: Within a 1 - 1.5 hour drive of downtown Las Vegas A scenic, loop trail in a park with established hiking trails Easy to moderate hike difficulty 2 - 2.5 hours in length to complete the loop Any suggestions would really help me out. Cache coordinates (or starting point) a big plus. Thanks in advance for your advice.

Wow! Great picture.

If you are looking for one place to go in NJ where you can find a lot of challenging caches, I would recommend the Sparta Edison Wildlife Management Area. The coordinates of this Earthcache are essentially the parking coordinates. It is a great hiking area with varied terrain a lot of history (Thomas Edison's Factory Foundations seen as you walk around) and probably 20+ caches to choose from including the NJ Favorite "Dark Hole" by Treequest.

Here are some of my pictures and videos on NJ bears on ENJOY!

Congratulations. Keep on hunting!

PS - The caches that will be within walking distance of where we will meet include: 1). Stokes State Forest Petroglyph Trail Challenge (GCT9AY) 2). Up on Top (GC2278) 3). Glacial Garbage, Grabs and Graffiti (GCZCNC) - an Earthcache 4). Perfect Hideaway (GCKHGV) 5). GOLD in the Silvermine (GC107T2) There are others within driving distance but we will hit all these on the hike.

Yes, enter the park off the 206 entrance and head straight back (as far as the road will go) and turn right to head toward the Stony Lake parking area. Forecast so far looks good for the hike - overcast, cool with a slight chance of sprinkles. See you at 9:00 AM.