AKStafford

I semi-actively read two forums... This one and the one for Dave's Ramsey Financial Peace University. When reading the original post, I felt like I was reading both at the same time.

It started out as a beautiful night of caching. The view from where we parked above the beach is incredible. My wife and I came out here a few times early in our relationship. So, we come down the beach, and headed into the woods when the arrow swung that way. Got within 40 feet of cache, and GPS was jumpy and didn't haven't much accuracy. No problem, that was to be expected in the trees. So, we begin the hunt. About five minutes in, with the GPS reading 20 feet, my wife goes "Ouch... Ouch... There's something on me..." I turn around, expecting a thorn, maybe a spider. At first I don't see anything, and then I realize we are in the middle of a swarm of extremely unhappy bees. Apparently we stepped on their home. I've only been stung one other time in my life, so the first sting was a surprise. The second sting hurt, and then I realized this wasn't going to stop, we had to get out of there. We started running through brush, killing the bees as they stung. I took about 30 hits, and the wife took almost 40. We stinkin' hurt. So, we didn't log a DNF, because we didn't get to finish the hunt. Cache is now archived, but it was GCWTJK

"Do you think the big loop is more scenic then hanging out in the Kenai?" I think (for me anyway) for a trip like this it would be nice to see a little bit of everything. The Kenai is great, but traveling up to Fairbanks will let you see a wider variety of scenery. There are plenty of RV parks along the way, although some will be closed for the season. Even better though there is plenty of large turnouts that you could pull into for the night. No hook ups of course, but free is a very good price. I would definitely recommend you pick up a copy of the Milepost when you get here. This time of year Carrs & Walmart will have them cheap. If you come through Wasilla, GCYV5X is one of my caches at a great spot.

If you are up for some driving (and of course cachin') then a trip to Fairbanks would be fun. Especially with the fall colors. If you really want to put some miles on the ol' RV, do the big loop. Drive up to Fairbanks via the Parks Highway. Stop at the Ruth Glacier overlook (I think about mile 135) and the veterans memorial at mile 147. Coming south, take the Richardson Highway to Tok, then to Glenallen. From there take the Glenn highway to Anchorage. Matanuska Glacier is a nice stop on that route. On your way to the Peninsula, stop by the Wildlife Conservation Center at Portage.

It was set in the sidewalk of a recently built (at least it looked fairly new) little rest stop type area. I'm guessing maybe in construction process it go clean up a little?

The picture didn't come up as good as I thought it would. Above the line is "Z 9" and below is "1923". I know from the NGS site that it was place in 1923.

I've been Geocaching for awhile. We were out this summer with my parents and I happened to snatch a picture of a benchmark. I've read the FAQ's and some on the info links and it appears this marker is not in the Geocaching data base. This is the Data Sheet on it: http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds_mark.prl?PidBox=TT1488 It's location is approximately N 61° 30.890 W 144° 26.287. Any thoughts?

My parents live in Clackamas and are coming up in a few weeks...

Team Outlander: How long are you here? In mid-September, most of the touristy type place close down, but there is still plenty to do. South of Anchorage is the Kenai Peninsula. Going north is the Mat-Su Valley. The drive to Fairbanks is pretty long. You can do several days on the Peninsula, going to Seward, Kenai/Soldotna & Homer. You could also go to Whittier and then take the ferry over to Valdez and then drive back to Anchorage. I highly recommend picking up a copy of the Milepost. You can find it in a bookstore here, or order it online at their website.

W7WT: I always recommend people doing the drive pick up a copy of the Milepost. You can find it in the travel section of a most NW bookstores. Or order it online here...

AAA won't do you much good on the Denali Highway. There's not cell service along most of it. If something happens, you have to wait for someone to come by and pass on the word when they get to civilization. I hear it's a beautiful drive, but the road is rough. Very rough. It's only about 130 miles across, but it can take you the better part of 5 hours to do it. I'm not saying don't do it... I just want you to be aware of the challenges. A must have resource for road tripping in Alaska is www.Milepost.com. You can order online or buy one when you get here. I've lived in Alaska 29 years and I still don't leave home without it.

I'm guessing you are cruising on this itinerary: http://www.hollandamerica.com/find-cruise-...&destCode=A This is a fairly new option. It should be a great trip. So, yeah, in Anchorage you'll dock at the port, downtown. There's plenty of caches with in walking distance. The port is a secure industrial area, so I'm assuming at the very least they'll bus you a half of a mile downtown. GC127XV is a good cache to start at. In Kodiak, I'm assuming you'll dock at the ferry dock. The only other dock big enough is at the Coast Guard base. The ferry dock will put you right in downtown. There's a few less options, but GC179P7 is nearby. In Homer, you'll dock out on the Spit. GC1W3B2 is a good place to start. I haven't been to Sitka in years, but I think you dock near GCJJA6. Sounds like you are going to have a great trip. You are going to see some of the best of Alaska! Be sure and bring your camera!

Anchorage, Kodiak & Sitka? Who are you cruising with? That's a non-typical itinerary... In Anchorage, you'll dock at the port, just north of downtown. That's if you are actually docking at Anchorage. I drove tour bus for two years in 2001/2002. At that time all the ships docked in Seward or Whitter and then the passengers went by coach to Anchorage. In Kodiak, you'll probably dock at the ferry dock, which is right down town.

GCYV5X is the Cache Across America cache for Alaska, located at the Iditarod Trail headquarters. It'll just be a few miles out of your way on your drive to Fairbanks. GC1JB1J is just a little bit off the highway, but has an incredible view!! There's quite a few good ones in Palmer, but that will require a small detour. If you do the Cache Across America one, you may as well go on to GC18B24. Across the lake is Sarah Palin's house. GCJMAR If you want to spend some time feeling stupid, try the Spud Cache. I've made a dozen attempts with no luck. GCVZCE Gets you out a little bit. GCPFGF is worth the stop GC13Q5A is a nice little walk, and you can hit GC1Z8ZA at the parking area. GC18B4T, GC12ZZ7 and GC1EX43 are all right together.

It does depend on where you are going. Being here May through July you'll see any where from 80 degrees and sunny to rainy, cold and 35 degrees. You could even run into a stray snow storm, depending on where you at... The best advice is to dress in layers that you can add onto or peel off as things change. You say you are on foot... Are you planning on camping? Make sure you've got the right gear. On a cold rainy night, hypothermia is a possibility. If I knew more specifically what area you are planning on traveling in, I could give you some more details to help you in your planning. A great guide to the roads of Alaska is the Milepost Magazine. You can order one at www.Milepost.com. I don't travel without it, and I've been here my whole life.

Here in Alaska I've cached as cold as 30 below zero. It was in Fairbanks, and wasn't too bad, cause it's a dry cold. Except the cache was right near the Chena River which wasn't iced over at that spot cause it's just down stream from a power plant that discharges warm water. So, 30 below and a bunch of humidity made it COLD. We've cached in snow up to our waist. And in winds of 50 to 60 mph. Once while on vacation in Louisiana along the Gulf Coast the heavens opened up and it began to POUR. I'm sure they get it all the time, but I had never seen anything like it. Traffic came to a stop on the freeway because you couldn't see through the sheets of water. In the middle of this, we pull off the highway into a little town where there was a cache. As soon as I stepped out of the car I was soaked. Some good camouflage made the simple hide a bit of challenge. In the middle of my searching, there was a massive flash of blinding light and an earth shattering boom. I don't know how far away the actual lighting strike was, but it had to be within a few hundred feet. It's a good think my pants were already wet, because it hid the fact that I lost control of certain body functions in the moment. Good times.

Where at in Alaska? I'm here in Wasilla, and there's a very well developed cachin' community here in Alaska. Maybe one of us locals could help with it. Just as a courtesy, if it gets approved, and there is no one local to help with the maintenance, you might want to mention that in the cache notes. That way if a cacher is going after it, they are armed with the knowledge that it may have been awhile since the cache was checked.

I'm on staff at a church, and have used Geocaching and Geocaching stories in many of my sermons. We even took our Young Adults group out caching one night. I haven't hidden a cache on our church property yet, mainly because I haven't thought of a good one yet. If some one came and asked permission, we'd grant it if everything was done right. If it was hidden without permission, I'd ask to have it removed simply because they didn't follow the process. We have major problems with people abusing our property. We've had trash dumped and vehicles abandoned. We've had drug deals and some steamy, romantic encounters. We regularly get people who bring their dogs here to walk them, and do not clean up after them. Our parking lot is gravel, and often get people doing spinning donuts. It cost a fortune to maintain the lot, and that doesn't help. So, we are a little touchy about people just assuming church property isn't private property, but if some one treated it with respect, we'd be very open to it.

AKStafford: The first two letters place me in the great state of Alaska!!

Mr. AKStafford is the Administrative Associate Pastor at Wasilla Assembly of God. And for the times when that doesn't provide a paycheck, I drive school bus. Mrs. AKStafford is a bookkeeper/office manager.

For me, and several other cachers in our area, our DNF winner is the Spud Cache (GCJMAR)... This will be my third summer of attempting it. You can read my previous attempts here, and here, and here... After the third time, I stopped logging the attempts. I will definitely log it when I find the little sucker...

Here's one that I place a while back. It sits at a turn out with a great view of the Knik Arm in South Central Alaska. It's a metal junction box with conduit sticking out the bottom. It's held to the guard rail with a magnet I scavenged off of an old speaker. (Link to cache page)

I love Bob the Tomato! "Okay, Larry, time to sing the theme song." By the way, you'll want to edit out the tracking number in the photo. Bad things can and do happen when some people come across a posted tracking number. Thanks... I just realized that was on there. It's fixed now.

Here's the one TB I've got out there... Bob the Tomato

Caching is always done at your own risk... What if I'm doing a Wal-Mart Lap Skirt Micro and some grandma with bad vision hits me? Just last weekend we were caching in the woods and the wife stepped on a wasps nest. We were both stung between 10 and 20 times. (See log here...) We've ran into bears while caching, and almost froze to death in -20 degree weather. There's plenty of warnings on the cache page. It probably wouldn't be my favorite cache, but if others want to do it, they are adults and can make their own judgments.