StephenTravels

I've had my share of bear encounters both here in Washington State and Canada, the closest being 30 feet away. And then in March I went to Florida where a friend and I bumped into a gator sitting along the shoreline...he was maybe only 15 feet away? However, for some reason none of these encounters scared me. I was more thrilled to see the animals Another time I was caching in Cascade, Idaho walking through some tall grass near GZ and heard a rattle snake. It sounded like it was only a few feet away, but I couldn't see it. That was kinda scary =P I'm not afraid of snakes, but not knowing where it was made me uncomfortable.

I'm not as big of a fan of puzzle caches as I used to be--I usually avoid them nowadays. For me at least, it seems like I always go through all the work of solving the puzzle and when I go out to look for them they end up being stolen/missing/can't find it.

Here's a few I took the other day in NYC. Bryant Park Micro Gutch's Central Park Cache Umpire Rock Snug as a Bug in Central Park

View from my cache at Kerry Park in Seattle, Washington.

It's been working fine for me...

I'm 20 and have been caching since I was 16. One of my good friends got me into it (he was 16 as well) and we've gone on a few caching trips together. I introduced one of my other buddies to it and he enjoys it, but not enough to buy his own GPS so he usually just tags along whenever I go

I gotta agree with Sol seaker, Washington is pretty amazing. The environment around here is very diverse, offering multiple kinds of caching experiences. We have the mountains, volcanoes, woodlands, cities, lakes, islands, the Pacific Coast and even deserts (the whole eastern half of the state is a desert) and rainforest. Not to mention we have the Ape Cache, Groundspeak HQ in Seattle, and the first cache monument is not too far away in Oregon. Washington has got it all (in my opinion at least) But if I had the chance to, I would take a road trip to Arizona and Southern Utah. I've always wanted to explore/cache in that area since it's pretty much the only part of the lower 48 that I haven't been to really.

I noticed someone found the APE cache today via the Snoqualmie tunnel...is it open again?

My first out of state cache was actually out of the country as well. I only live about 60 miles from the Canadian border, but it took me about a year and half before I found a cache outside of my home state of Washington. Kaka'solas ( GC116J0) -- Vancouver, BC It felt really good to cache in some "new territory". Since then I've cached in Oregon and Idaho as well as a few eastern states. This summer I'll add a new country to the list when I go to Panama

Dang that's a lot of caches . Congrats ohjoy!

Congrats to rodgowdy for reaching #2200 at Heiwa (GC1T637) this evening!

Spotted these guys today while paddling out near Washington Park on Lake Washington. There were originally 7 sharing the log, but 4 jumped in when we got close. This was the traffic today on the lake:

You dont need email on your phone. I dont have it on mine either. Have it sent as a text message, or sending as a pic message which allows more data. I'm curious, how can I set that up so notifications get sent to my phone via text messages. I use a razor phone, do you think it would work with that? Thanks!

Hey folks, I found this cool website that might be helpful for those like myself who love to hit the trails but don't have a private vehicle to get there: http://www.eskimo.com/~pinyon/bushike/index.php Thanks to Seattle's expansive bus system, I've been able to get out as far as Mt. Si/Little Si after riding out to North Bend on the bus and on to the trail head via my bike. Rattlesnake Lake is also accessible from North Bend via bicycle and from there, a ride out to the Ape Cache is possible (although it would be one long ride). Anyway, I thought some of you might find this useful. Enjoy!

This is awesome! Sure it'll only be a 1.5 hour drive from my hometown, but it's great to hear GW will be in WA next year

NOT IT! Too close to home. I want to get a little bit of a vacation out of it, not just drive over and back the same day. Well you don't have to drive, just walk to Remlinger Farms. lol, that's too funny

http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW...M.1586829c.html Looks like another black bear has made its way into the city again. It was first spotted near Discovery Park on Saturday and was last seen this afternoon at Twin Ponds Park in Shoreline. It hasn't been seen since and authorities believe gone elsewhere. I've always wondered how animals like bears can make their way deep into cities virtually undetected... Perhaps it swam over from the Olympic Peninsula? I know deer do that from time to time.

I used to ride a razor scooter between caches during my first year of college. This year I upgraded to a bike

Loving all these great pics! Here are a few of mine...I love Washington Near Whatcom Falls, Bellingham, Washington Deception Pass, Whidbey Island, Washington...one of my Earthcaches is located here. Sea Star on the Beach, Guemes Island, Washington Snoqualmie Pass near the APE cache The following are all within the vicinity of the cache at Lake Ann, Washington. Took these during a backpacking trip in September: Mt. Shuksan, Washington...my favourite Earthcache! Glacial Arches on the Lower Curtis Glacier, Mt. Shuksan, Washington Alpenglow on Mt. Shuksan Mt. Baker

Fun thread! Here's a few from my recent trip to Florida: I saw two wild gators during my 5 day visit. I talked to some locals when I was there and they said they've never seen one before other than at the alligator farm. Guess I got lucky Both were around the NAS Jacksonville area. This guy lives at the lake next to the NAS JAX golf course. Saw a few of these as well...this guy was tanning out on a log a few hundred feet from the gator above. Saw a TON of these guys (anoles)! I'm pretty sure I saw more of these than the infamous Florida mosquitos O_O Spotted this little guy while searching for a cache on a boardwalk that cut through the swamp lands. Taking things closer to home now...saw this guy munching on blueberries about 40 feet off the trail near the Lake Ann cache. We were on our way to the Lower Curtis Glacier. My first bear sighting in the continental US!

Awesome! Looks like Spring has finally arrived

I didn't draw this, but I saw this cartoon posted in the forums a long time ago.

*Bump!* I really enjoy looking through all the cool pictures that people post. With the days getting longer and the weather getting nicer, I'm looking for some ideas for summer hikes/places to see. Keep 'em coming!

I had a similar situation a few weeks ago while vacationing in Florida. I went to go find a bunch of caches in a big regional park west of Jacksonville NAS. Right after I entered the woods I heard a car pull up in the parking lot and two guys quickly got out. One went down one trail and the other followed behind me by about 100 feet. The trail system in the park is pretty big and there are a ton of them meandering their way through the woods. He was behind me for about 10 minutes and followed every turn I made. I started to pick up the pace and eventually lost him, but ended up on a long stretch of trail that ended with a dead end in a swamp. So not only did I have to worry about the two suspicious characters wandering around, but I also had to keep an eye out for snakes and gators. Being from WA state, I was not familiar with those kind of wildlife encounters. When I finally got back to the main trail I spotted the other guy a bit further down the trail going in the opposite direction. He didn't see me. I didn't want to take the trail back to where I entered, so I walked around to the opposite edge of the park and made it back to the road. I had locked my bike (actually my friend's bike, whom I was visiting--they were at work at the time) on a post at the trailhead in which I entered. I had to go back and get it so I followed the road back to where I started. I was relieved to see their car gone and the bike still there intact. I'm pretty sure they weren't really looking for trouble, but they looked kinda suspicious. I wouldn't have been so paranoid if they hadn't gone down all the same trails that I did (even the smaller game trails). I did manage to go back to the cache I was originally going to look for later in the day...no luck. When I got home, I discovered the owner had removed it and archived it because it had its time. Go figure =P

Furthest Found Cache: 2573 miles == Animal Kingdom GC3334 in Orlando, Florida Just found that one last week over Spring Break. That PR will be broken this summer though, as I intend on taking a trip to Panama this summer