pointsaljim

Got so busy with work and surfing that I didn't check into the forums for about 10 days or so and I missed out on the group activity:( Glad that you all had fun!!! I actually did this hike right after the OLLI class that I a participated in with OP and Geocats back at the end of August and felt that this was an easier, but still STRENOUS way to go to SLO Highest. BooBooBee: Thanks for posting all the nice pics of the junk art farm! I took a bunch of pics of the junk art farm myself the day that I hiked this trail, but now that your's are so nice, I won't have to post mine. Geocats: Remember when Riley was struggling just going up East Cuesta Ridge back in April? Well, believe it or not, she actually made it up to SLO Highest from the HARD side, (Lizzie Dr.), about 4 days before the OLLI Class with my son and I.....we we're real whipped ourselves, 'cause we had done a CRUX workout JUST BEFORE! We could to one of the caches in Montano de Oro or do the trail that starts in Los Osos and goes to the North Side of Hazard Canyon. You can actually make a 4 1/2 mile loop out of it if you are willing to walk along Pecho Canyon Rd. on the way back. Also, we could do an assualt on Cerro Alto, in fact now that Geocats has stated that he has placed a cache higher up, I'm probably gonna go get it real soon, group activity or no group activity. Of course, if anyone wants to do some spectacular geocaching, there is always Big Sur!

Ammo Containers are definetely the best at keeping their contents safe! I checked up on the Pt. Sal cache yesterday and the nice smoothe green ammo container that BooBooBee gave me in June of 06 looked like this on the outside! The seals were still totally good and showed no signs of deterioration. Also, this cache had the privelege of being muggled by Willie Richerson who is the head caretaker of Guadalupe Beach and the dunes up to Mussel Point....I feel sort of honored that he muggled our cache....I had gone on a group hike a couple of years ago in which he was the docent and he is such a good story teller and is very knowledgeable about the whole area. He even got me to appreciate the intricacies of the Snowy Plover.....for at least 6 months anyway 0)As always, the views are fantastic!

I have 2 that will be available for the class. Regret to say that I will NOT be able to attend the event on June 10th:( Hope to make it to the next one!

I finally got around to posting a few pics of the beautiful hike that Geocats, Riley, and I had to High Lowe Cache on East Cuesta grade back on April 7. I'M UP FOR A GEOCACHE EVENT ANYTIME!

I went to Big Sur cachin' on the weekend of Feb 24 and got totally whipped and beat doing the Genesis Cache, (Pico Blanco Mountain). I actually had to give up and turn around about 500 vertical ft. from the top because of bad weather and the fact that the final 1800 vert feet is a scramble up a hillside with no trail to follow. All together I did 16.4 miles/4,900 ft. of elev gain. I still want to go back and do an earlier start. (I didn't start until 10:15 A.M.) If there are any hardcore cachers interested, let me know. Geocats, trying to make time to squeeze in some cachin' at Cerro Alto next weekend, but have some other commitments, so probably won't be able to make it. I'm up for doing the East Cuesta Ridge Hike when Chasomaur hides their cache.

Today Geocats came into the office that I work at to fix the copiers and printers....it seems the geocaches that I've been hiding in the copiers and printers is making them not work right

Didn't stay in the yurts, BUT it was 29 degrees INSIDE my tent cabin. BRRR!! However Riley and I were very cozy under 5 blankets, PLUS I had on my thermals, ski pants, polar fleece sweater, wool socks, gloves, and a wool beanie! Caching expedition was TOTALLY AWESOME!! Everything was so clear and the views were endless. And as an extra BONUS, I saw a CONDOR real close up today as I was driving back: it just slowly swooped down over the highway and did a bank turn right before the front window of my truck and then flew in about 2 circles 10 ft above a group of people at an ocean vista point!! They had been waiting over an hour.

Glad to hear that you and your fam had such a great experience on the 31th! AND VERY GLAD to hear that you can still ride your bike. Hope that your foot quits causing pain VERY SOON. I'll be posting pics on Sunday of Big Sur....that's if I don't FREEZE to death on Saturday night

I regret to say that I won't be able to go to Big Sur on the 6th. Hopefully the 13th. I've reserved a tent cabin for Saturday night and plan to do Limekiln in the morning and want to do a Pico Blanco Mountain trail in the afternoon. Have to head home by 9 a.m. on Sunday.

I regret to say that I won't be able to go to Big Sur on the 6th. Hopefully the 13th.

Just as well. I've signed Digger up for a Boy Scout Day at Camp French for the 30th. I've never been there and we're all looking forward to a morning of shooting at targets, building things and learning. Maybe January 6th or 7th? I'm game for Jan 6th. Let's hope the weather cooperates! While your at Camp French, go to the "O"n Top of the World Cache - it's a good piece of hiking, (a little over an hour one way), but very nice views at the top - Take the Touski Trail to Duna Vista

Just as well. I've signed Digger up for a Boy Scout Day at Camp French for the 30th. I've never been there and we're all looking forward to a morning of shooting at targets, building things and learning. Maybe January 6th or 7th? I'm game for Jan 6th. Let's hope the weather cooperates!

I regularly have contact with NT Hunters and Running@50 who I turned onto Geocaching...I've given them a "highly prized invitation" to join POC....I think they might be intimidated by the 'high level intellectual exchanges" that go on in this forum Last time I saw Geocats was in September when he gave me the grand tour of all 5 of the Pine Mountain Caches.....I guess it's my turn to give him the grand tour of all 5 of the Pt. Sal caches... Not sure whether I can make Dec 30 for Big Sur caching....kids and granddaughter might still be in town.

I definetely want to go again!, but it would probably have to be the last weekend in December for me. The Bald Eagles Tour also sounds good!

I wholeheartedly ditto Oreo Pony's welcome 'Shuckymomo'!

That's what I'm planning on

This is ground control to Major "Pony": Sunset means when the sun goes down, but there is usually light left for about an hour after sunset - I guess twilight is what you would call it. Here are some more details from Goldenretrievers Hi Pointsaljim, Dark by 6 p.m. sounds OK. All going well we should be back by then. But the little kids might not make it all the way to the end and back in time. I would just watch the clock carefully and make sure we didn't go farther than we could make it back in time - if you see what I mean. In other words, wherever we are at low tide point would be the farthest I would want to go with the kids. But if we start at 4 p.m. we should be at the rock by 4:45 p.m. I don't remember exactly how long it took us, but I don't think it was more than 45 minutes. And then 15 minutes to get to the cache, we should still be back before 6 p.m. Since I can't climb the rock anyway (hip problem) I can just hang out with the kids on the beach if BooBooBee has a desperate urge to find the cache. I wouldn't want to dilly dally out on the rock though - I'd start back right after the tide turned to be on the safe side. I can't find my tide table, but I don't think there's a day before then that the tide will be low enough to check it out. The way the beach is shaped, you can't get around the first headland until the tide is low, even though the beach further out may be dry. Unless you have a boat, of course. Or maybe a good rock climber could do it, but not me. (see above!) The place to park to start the trek is at the last pier in Avila, where Fat Cats Restaurant is, beyond the entrance to Diablo Canyon. Just go as far as you can along that road until you get to the parking lot for the restaurant, then go to the end of the parking lot and climb down the rocks to the beach. Of course, if the tide is in, you'll be climbing down into the ocean, but there you go! You could also probably get a good view of the beach by going out on the pier, but I never thought of that before. Are you bringing your dog? We'll be bringing Sunny, who would love some four-legged company. Goldenretrievers ----- Original Message ----- From: Pointsaljim To: Goldenretrievers Sent: Thursday, October 19, 2006 1:57 PM Subject: Re: [GEO] pointsaljim contacting goldnretrievers from Geocaching.com It will in fact be totallly dark by about 6 p.m. on Nov 6th. I have no problem walking back in the dark, especilally with a group. BooBooBee, one of the geocachers who is interested in going, has a couple of young daughters who are pretty good hikers/able to tough it out, but still only 4 and 6 years old. She wants to make sure that they don't have any tide problems....Can you tell me where you start hiking/walking? and maybe I'll do a pre-survey myself. Look forward to seeing you...glad to know that the journey itself is worth making with or without a cache! Pointsaljim -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Golden Retrievers To: Pointsaljim Subject: Re: [GEO] pointsaljim contacting goldnretrievers from Geocaching.com Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2006 10:20:54 -0700 >Hi Pointsaljim, > >We're still planning on going, but we'll have to contend with not >just the tide, but also daylight. I'm not sure how dark it will be >by the time we get to the rock. Supposedly sunset is at 7:05 p.m., >but I could be wrong (don't know if my GPSr is set up for daylight >savings or not.) I'm really not sure now long the hike took us last >time, but we dawdled a bit on the way out to see some interesting >stuff. How much we'll be able to see at dusk I don't know. The >"hike" is really just a walk along the beach for about a mile or so, >then a climb up the big rock. I like the trek along the isolated >beach enough to do it even without the cache, but die-hard >geocachers might be disappointed if they can't get to the actual >cache. I'm not so worried about the tide this time, since it will >be lower than last time, but the light level may be an issue. Let >me know what you think. I'm definitely bringing a flashlight for >the return trip, just in case! > >Goldenretrievers

However, what is the pace going to be. The girls can be pretty fast now, but I don't know if this is a jog n' grab to beat the tide or if this is one that we can meander. I've sent an e-mail to Goldenretrievers to try and get more particulars and I'll also send an e-mail to Artista who did this cache a few months ago.

Anyone interested in going to the Whaler's Island cache on Monday, Nov 6? At 4:45 P.M. the tide will be minus 1.3 which is low enough to walk to the island according to the cache description. I'm gonna start walking about 4 p.m. which should give me enough time to get there and get back before the tide gets too high. Goldenretrievers mentioned it to me a couple of months ago. I think that they want to go. How 'bout it Oreo Pony and Geo_cats? Anyone else?

Oh yeah, and one more kid friendly cache....BooBooBee's Fairpark Find in Santa Maria. Someone might make a case for BooBooBee's Rock-n-Roll cache, SINCE SHE DID PLACE IT WITH HER VERY YOUNG KIDS, but that's only because BooBooBee's quite an experienced Jeeper.......I hiked to Rock-n-Roll cache and almost didn't make it back alive!!!

Actually, I for one find poison oak to be very pretty, especially at this time of year when it has all of it's colors. That said, I USE to occasionally aquire semi-bad cases, sometimes even requiring me to have to get treatment from a doctor, BUT, I HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT TO MAKE: FOR OVER 3 MONTHS NOW I HAVE BEEN USING AN ORAL HOMEOPATHIC POISON OAK PROTECTOR AND HAVE NOT HAD ONE CASE OF PO, even though I KNOW that I have brushed up against it with bare sweaty skin on several occasions. The provider of this MAGICAL potion is none other than THE BETTER HALF OF GEO_CATS, who happens to work for the doctor who concocted it. It even actually has some poison oak in the elixir!

1.) Way up Huasna Canyon Rd there is "Pine Ridge View" cache with lots of cool rock formations...just check the weather 1st: go when it's cool - involves a 2 3/8 mile hike that only has a short section of semi-steepness 2.) Karaline's 1st Pt. Sal Cache - a 1 1/4 mile walk up a fire road that is a steady climb but not too steep 3.) Gollum's Grotto at the Base of Bishop's Peak in SLO - short hike, fantastic for kids, bring flashlight 4.) All of the Irish Hills in SLO caches, especially "Olli's cache by Geo_cats. 5.) Squirrel's Nest cache in Atascadero by Geo_cats. 6.) ELO Pavillion in Atascadero by Oreo Pony. 7.) Spooner Ranch by Oreo Pony 8.) Salmo Rivulus at the beginning of Big Sur by Naturesprite - make sure you hike on up to the falls afterwords. 9.) "Up the Jordan" off Suey Canyon by BooBooBee 10.) "Temetate Trees" off Suey Canyon by BooBooBee 11.) "Miners Lettuce" by BooBooBee - Stay on the trail and watch out for the poison oak 12.) BooBooBee's Colson Canyon Cache - "Colson's Kitchen Sink". 13.) BooBooBees' Parks Survey Part 2 in Santa Maria

1.) Way up Huasna Canyon Rd there is "Pine Ridge View" cache with lots of cool rock formations...just check the weather 1st: go when it's cool - involves a 2 3/8 mile hike that only has a short section of semi-steepness 2.) Karaline's 1st Pt. Sal Cache - a 1 1/4 mile walk up a fire road that is a steady climb but not too steep 3.) Gollum's Grotto at the Base of Bishop's Peak in SLO - short hike, fantastic for kids, bring flashlight 4.) All of the Irish Hills in SLO caches, especially "Olli's cache by Geo_cats. 5.) Squirrel's Nest cache in Atascadero by Geo_cats. 6.) ELO Pavillion in Atascadero by Oreo Pony. 7.) Spooner Ranch at Montano de Oro by Oreo Pony. 8.) Salmo Rivulus at the beginning of Big Sur by Naturesprite - make sure you hike on up to the falls afterwords. 9.) "Up the Jordan" off Suey Canyon by BooBooBee 10.) "Temetate Trees" off Suey Canyon by BooBooBee 11.) "Miners Lettuce" by BooBooBee - Stay on the trail and watch out for the poison oak 12.) BooBooBee's Colson Canyon Cache - "Colson's Kitchen Sink". 13.) BooBooBees' Parks Survey Part 2 in Santa Maria

Geocats, Salmo Rivulus by Naturesprite is a cache I would recommend AND be sure to hike on up to the falls which are just a very short hike away. If you're willling to do a little bit of minor boulder climbing to get real close to the falls, you will be find it to definitely be worth it!

Hey POC I regret to inform everyone that I will NOT be able to organize/host an event until after the beginning of the year: my oldest daughter is getting married in December, soooo...we have a lot of work to do to get ready for it! (After the successful Fun-in-the-Sun event in July I posted that I would try to get something organized this fall) I will still however, try to squeeze in some caching time though....really want to do Whaler's Island in November when the tide is low...Goldenretrievers mentioned it to me, and I think I will give M is for Mystery a try. I can highly recommend Geo_Cats "Squirrels Nest Cache" as being very unique and cool!! In fact, I did the whole Pine Mountan Loop with him last Saturday and totally dug the whole experience!