travisl

You could show up on the wrong day, like I did for the Ape event last year.

That is Travis sending us on a wild goose chase to make up for the cache in Portugal I tried to send us to. Actually Travis missed that when he edited the boilerplate from the winter cache machine. The dinner will be at the Panda Inn. Oops. Fixed it.

The motel's page says they have "free Wi-Fi available throughout the building". It's probably not worth cancelling and re-booking for 50¢, though.

For what it's worth, entering code 550807 in Motel6.com's "CorporatePlus/ID Number" field drops the price to $53.39 per night. Whether it's OK to use the code, I don't know, but I did it. I found it on RetailMeNot and in the FlyerTalk forums.

Double post. Ignore me.

Regarding accommodations, the Motel 6 offered a price of $60/night, $9 off their standard rate. Their number is (541)567-7777. I'm seeing the same $60 on motel6.com. Thanks to AstroGliders, Oxford Suites (nicest in town) is offering a double queen or a king room for $115. This is $15 less than I'm seeing on Expedia. They also said if two couples wanted to split one of the double queens that there would be no additional charge. Mention "geocaching" or "cache machine" with your reservation to get this rate. (541)564-0633. An online discount code is pending.

The first draft of the route is up. Please take a look and let me know if you see anything goofy or if you have any suggestions. Thanks to AstroGliders for your early help, and thanks in advance to TumbleweedPirates for your offer of additional help.

Note: circumstances may change after this initial posting. Look for my posts (with the icon) in this thread for all the important details and changes. (Link to dinner event cache.) Hermiston! Lewis and Clark noted Hat Rock as one of their first local landmarks. The hub of Umatilla County, its Chemical Depot played a key role in World War II. Its motto is "The Future of Eastern Oregon." And it's got a lot of caches. Fill up the tank, toss down some breakfast at way-too-early o'clock, and start on the route. Sunrise on Saturday, March 22, is at 6:30 a.m., and we're starting near the end: GC1J2VC,Watch Hermiston Grow: Un-named Strip Mall. From there, move at your own pace and get as many as you can. Dinner's at 7:30 p.m. at Panda Inn, 675 N 1st St, Hermiston. (N 45° 50.740, W 119° 17.440) . See its event page for details. A headcount ahead of time is always helpful; please log your "will attends" on the event page. Note that several caches on the route map may be marked with a "do not enter" icon (). Those cache owners have justifiably asked for their cache to not be on the route. The cache is, in the owner's opinion, in a sensitive area, whether it's environmentally sensitive, socially sensitive, or physically fragile. Just don't get it. It's not like there's a shortage of caches in the area. Rules: 1) Follow all traffic laws, and drive safely. This is not a race; there are no winners. The only loser will be someone who gets hurt. 2) Respect private property, even if the cache owner didn't. Post your DNFs proudly. 3) One logbook entry for "HCM" is fine for most small and micros. Don't go filling up the logbook just because you want to mark your territory. 100 people's names and dates will fill up most one-sheets. Be kind and bring extra paper to add to caches with full logbooks. 4) As with all cache machines, if you find the cache, you'll be the one who has to re-hide it. Hide it as well as you found it. Handing it off to someone else and pointing down saying "it goes there" isn't good enough. Don't be a jerk. The extra 45 seconds isn't going to ruin your day. If you’ve already found a couple of these caches, that’s fine - give us a chance to find the cache, and then we may turn to you for a hint. Suggestions and ''Count me ins'' are welcome on the event page. ---- The Hermiston Cache Machine FAQ: When is it? When is the start time? Saturday, March 22, 2014. Start time is 6:30 a.m. at GC1J2VC, Watch Hermiston Grow: Un-named Strip Mall. Will it be one large group, will we be split into teams, or what? We'll start as one large group, but after a dozen caches or so, the large groups will likely fragment, and on a long day like this, you'll probably be on your own by the time most people are waking up. Is anything going on before, during, or after? Friday, March 21 at 6:30 p.m. will be a pre-event dinner at the Chuckwagon Café, 81027 N. Highway 395, Hermiston, N 45° 53.000, W 119° 17.770. Saturday, March 22, at 7:30 p.m., dinner will be at Panda Inn, 657 N 1st St, Hermiston, N 45° 50.740 W 119° 17.440. Please let me know how many of you are coming by logging a "will attend" on the event page. Sunday, March 23, is up to you. There's a lot more caches in the area. A cache on your map shows the wrong place to park. Hey, that road doesn't exist! What's with making us ford a river? The tide's gonna be too high to get this cache! Thanks for catching that! Let me know, and I'll fix the route. I've never been to this area, so I'm counting on advice like yours. If dinner's at 7:30 p.m., why does the route run way past then? Is this a two-day event? The extra time is a buffer, in case you're so good that you'd run out of caches before you run out of daylight. I don't expect anyone would be able to hit all of them between sunrise and sunset. Of course, if you wanted to hit them after dinner, or on Sunday, I'm sure you'll be able to find folks to join you. It sounds fun, but I've already found some of them. Then come laugh at us, or guess when we'll be at the caches you haven't hit yet. You don't have X cache on the route. Why aren't we getting that one? I try to avoid most multicaches, most puzzle caches, caches that appear to be overly time consuming, and caches that the owner has asked us to avoid. Also, with so many caches to find, I've passed some urban caches in order to get to cooler spots later in the route. You have X cache on the route, but it's disabled/archived/a two mile hike. Let me know, and I'll remove it from the route (if archived) or will check with the owner (if disabled). X cache is in an environmentally sensitive area. By all means, let me know. I don't want to send 75 people there to stomp all over it. I disagree with the whole idea of cache machines. I don't want you finding my cache. Sorry to hear that. It's too bad you've got a neat place to show us that we won't be able to see. Let me know, and I'll remove it from the route and add it to the "do not hunt" list What's this gonna cost me? Nothing for the caching. Or, at least, nothing more than it would cost than if you did the trip solo (e.g., paying for your own gas, hotel, and dinner). I'm not collecting any money for this. Lunch? Breaks? Bathrooms? There's no breaks in cache machines! Just hold it. :-P Or find something on the way. Rain? Snow? Landslides? Flooding? Probably, yes. Do what you safely can, and skip ahead when reality or your capabilities don't match the plan. Be prepared and flexible. What do the map symbols mean? Turquoise lines show my suggested route, but if there's a brown trail or grey road that I've drawn in, ignore the turquoise. And there's these symbols:

I checked the weather history for September in Kelowna, and it looks like the average high temperatures around that time are still in the mid to upper 60s. The leaves should be starting to turn. Bremerton has so many caches; it's best left for a summer event. And regarding Delta/Surrey/Richmond, I'm looking forward to writing an e-mail to both customs agencies telling them about the mass of people they can expect at Point Roberts. I so want to get a lineup of cachers stuck at the border crossing, and to be able to have a conversation with someone on the other side of the curb at Monument Park. Seriously, this street view of the US/Canada border boggles my mind.

Also, someone who's name has escaped my brain was asking me about doing cache machines near his new home in Denver. I'd mentioned to him that I'd heard of cache machine events in Dallas, but I thought Colorado was virgin territory. I'm so wrong -- by bizzare coincidence, it was Denver I was thinking of, mixing up my "D" towns. I know nothing about what went on at these events in 2009-2012, and had nothing to do with them, but for what it's worth, here they are: Colorado Cache Machine - 1.0 - Dinner Party (June 2009) Cache Machine 2.0 - Taste the Magic of Mexico (December 2009) Denver West Cache Machine (June 2011) Colorado Cache Machine 3.0 – How Sweet it is! (July 2012)

Thanks to everyone who participated. I'll archive the event next weekend. Just an FYI, in case any of you were counting me on not changing anything in my 7-year schedule of upcoming cache machines: silly you. Changes: Vancouver BC III will be moved south a few miles, to Delta or Surrey or Richmond. The date remains the same: September 27, 2014. I plan to include Point Roberts on the route, so get your passports or enhanced ID if you don't have them yet. I've replaced Walla Walla II with Kelowna in September 2017. Walla Walla II is now March 2019, replacing Coeur d'Alene II. Coeur d'Alene II is now September 2020, replacing Methow II. I've added Bend II (March 2021) and Monroe/Snohomish (June 2021) to the list. Methow II is now September 2021. As noted on the list, all dates are tentative until the event actually gets its own event cache page.

No last minute changes to report. See you all tomorrow!

Be aware that unlike some previous CMs, I have not notified the county sheriff of our event. Simply, I forgot, and at this late time, I doubt it will be of any benefit. Be good, and as always, follow all relevant speeding laws, parking regulations, and park rules.

Yup -- y'all have figured out my pattern. Here's the final route. The pre-event dinner will be at 6:30 PM on Friday, December 27, at Taprock Grill, 760 NE Liberty Rd, Poulsbo, N 47° 44.524', W 122° 38.362'. It’s not an official event cache, they don’t know we’re coming, and seating may be tight, but there’s other options nearby if it’s too crowded for you. I've incorporated these changes. Thanks for your work in getting them all ready for us!

Really? /me checks it, finds it, installs it, runs it I learned something new today. I call this weekend a success.

All of the caches around Buck Lake can be accessed from both Ponderosa or Spruce or even the Sid Knutson trail head. There is a parking area by the trail entrance at the end of Ponderosa and a trail entrance by the curve in the road on Spruce. SS&V, I appreciate your offer to go check it out, and if you do, I'd love to hear your feedback. I'm not sure it's necessary, though. The geocaching/Google map of the area shows these trailheads, including Ponderosa, and the property lines shown also are indicative of a trailhead. This is further confirmed by the North Kitsap Trails Association's land trail map, which I found very useful in planning this CM route -- I don't have the hardware to run Moun10bike's NW Trails, which I've heard is even better in this area. Plus, JHolly knows the area pretty well, and if he says there's a trailhead, I've got no reason to doubt it. Parking is going to be tight all through the route. Fortunately, it looks like the "will attend" numbers are fairly low, compared to other CMs. We'll manage. Some of us will just have to walk further than others.

Draft 2 is up. I've removed the loop down to Suquamish, noted a few more "do not hunts", and made some other tweaks. Take a look and let me know if you see something wrong.

Copy. Paste.

Will do. Consider them both removed. Thanks for the heads up.

Yup, I'm aware that parking will be a challenge almost everywhere. Winter cache machines typically get lower attendance, and CMs closer to Seattle also get lower attendance, so that might help. If I skipped caches with tight parking, I think the entire route would be in Silverdale. I'm not interested in literally bushwhacking to caches; can you imagine the outcry we'll get when someone says that the mob of cachers brought a machete? That'll make the fern-trampling people look like angels. I also know that caches made inaccessible by blackberries in August are often open and exposed in December, so I appreciate you taking a look.

I've posted the first draft of the route, and would love any feedback you're willing to provide. Thanks already to JHolly for some pre-draft advice. My scrawled trails are based on the North Kitsap Trails Association map. I hear that the Northwest Trails maps have even more detail, but I don't have the hardware to utilize that. The event page is in review live, too.

Note: circumstances may change after this initial posting. Look for my posts (with the icon) in this thread for all the important details and changes. (Link to dinner event cache.) We have cliffs and beaches, tree farms and mud, historic scenes and mystery machines. Welcome to the other side. Welcome to North Kitsap. Fill up the tank, toss down some breakfast at way-too-early o'clock, and start on the route. Sunrise on Saturday, December 28, is at 7:30 a.m., and we're starting near the end: GC3RNMD, Rite Behind. From there, move at your own pace and get as many as you can. Dinner's at 4:30 p.m. at Puerto Vallarta, 8208 NE State Hwy 104, Kingston, N 47° 48.650 W 122° 32.406. See its event page for details. A headcount ahead of time is always helpful; please log your "will attends" on the event page. Note that several caches on the route map may be marked with a "do not enter" icon (). Those cache owners have justifiably asked for their cache to not be on the route. The cache is, in the owner's opinion, in a sensitive area, whether it's environmentally sensitive, socially sensitive, or physically fragile. Just don't get it. It's not like there's a shortage of caches in the area. Rules: 1) Follow all traffic laws, and drive safely. This is not a race; there are no winners. The only loser will be someone who gets hurt. 2) Respect private property, even if the cache owner didn't. Post your DNFs proudly. 3) One logbook entry for "NKCM" is fine for most small and micros. Don't go filling up the logbook just because you want to mark your territory. 100 people's names and dates will fill up most one-sheets. Be kind and bring extra paper to add to caches with full logbooks. 4) As with all cache machines, if you find the cache, you'll be the one who has to re-hide it. Hide it as well as you found it. Handing it off to someone else and pointing down saying "it goes there" isn't good enough. Don't be a jerk. The extra 45 seconds isn't going to ruin your day. If you’ve already found a couple of these caches, that’s fine - give us a chance to find the cache, and then we may turn to you for a hint. Suggestions and ''Count me ins'' are welcome on the event page. ---- The North Kitsap Cache Machine FAQ: When is it? When is the start time? Saturday, December 28, 2013. Start time is 7:30 a.m. at GC3RNMD, Rite Behind. Will it be one large group, will we be split into teams, or what? We'll start as one large group, but after a dozen caches or so, the large groups will likely fragment, and on a long day like this, you'll probably be on your own by the time most people are waking up. Is anything going on before, during, or after? Friday, December 27 at 6:30 p.m. will be a pre-event dinner. Location will be announced later in this thread, once I figure it out. Saturday, December 28, at 7:30 p.m., dinner will be at Puerto Vallarta, 8208 NE State Hwy 104, Kingston, N 47° 48.650 W 122° 32.406. Please let me know how many of you are coming by logging a "will attend" on the event page. Sunday, December 29, is up to you. There's a lot more caches in the area. A cache on your map shows the wrong place to park. Hey, that road doesn't exist! What's with making us ford a river? The tide's gonna be too high to get this cache! Thanks for catching that! Let me know, and I'll fix the route. I've never been to this area, so I'm counting on advice like yours. If dinner's at 4:30 p.m., why does the route run way past then? Is this a two-day event? The extra time is a buffer, in case you're so good that you'd run out of caches before you run out of daylight. I don't expect anyone would be able to hit all of them between sunrise and sunset. Of course, if you wanted to hit them after dinner, or on Sunday, I'm sure you'll be able to find folks to join you. It sounds fun, but I've already found some of them. Then come laugh at us, or guess when we'll be at the caches you haven't hit yet. You don't have X cache on the route. Why aren't we getting that one? I try to avoid most multicaches, most puzzle caches, caches that appear to be overly time consuming, and caches that the owner has asked us to avoid. Also, with so many caches to find, I've passed some urban caches in order to get to cooler spots later in the route. You have X cache on the route, but it's disabled/archived/a two mile hike. Let me know, and I'll remove it from the route (if archived) or will check with the owner (if disabled). X cache is in an environmentally sensitive area. By all means, let me know. I don't want to send 75 people there to stomp all over it. I disagree with the whole idea of cache machines. I don't want you finding my cache. Sorry to hear that. It's too bad you've got a neat place to show us that we won't be able to see. Let me know, and I'll remove it from the route and add it to the "do not hunt" list What's this gonna cost me? Nothing for the caching. Or, at least, nothing more than it would cost than if you did the trip solo (e.g., paying for your own gas, hotel, and dinner). I'm not collecting any money for this. Lunch? Breaks? Bathrooms? There's no breaks in cache machines! Just hold it. :-P Or find something on the way. Rain? Snow? Landslides? Flooding? Probably, yes. Do what you safely can, and skip ahead when reality or your capabilities don't match the plan. Be prepared and flexible. What do the map symbols mean? Turquoise lines show my suggested route, but if there's a brown trail or grey road that I've drawn in, ignore the turquoise. And there's these symbols:

Not knowing if it's the case or not, my guess is that your "Found it" log and your e-mail to the CO weren't sent near-simultaneously. The CO for this virt didn't want to sift through logs and e-mails sent days apart trying to match them up, and also didn't want to accept e-mailed answers for groups. One e-mailed answer per log, close in time, is the way he wanted to accept finds. It's archived now, along with his other three virts, so the point is mostly moot, except for the handful of people who have yet to log valid finds.

Some people just get burned out after a while. I understand; that was me in 2006. I appreciate their contributions.

"Additional logging requirement." Also, a big shout out to those of you who managed to get Bridge Stepping. I saw where I figured it was and chickened out. I see that it's already gotten eight "found it" logs. Wow.