chubby forest monkey

Sorry to hijack your thread TL, this wil be the last time. I am leaving on for my Olympic Peninsula trip tomorrow night(9/12). I plan to do Mt Ellinor on Wed morning(9/13). I am hoping to rehide the Manganese Mines cache. Hopefully meeting with pcakes and Criminal? on Sat 9/16- meeting at the powerlines indicated in the cache description at 9am. Sun- Cape Alava Mon- Col Bob Let me know if you would like to join me.

Quote from pcakes: I'm a previous finder of Manganese Mines and I'd love to make another trek up to em to place another cache. Let me know if and when anyone wants to do this. My schedule is fairly flexible. OK pcakes, Criminal and others.... how about Saturday 9/16?

Eraseek, I think that my cousins would probably qualify that one as one of the 1% worthy or appropriate micros. It is likely that I would have DNFed that one myself if someone hadn't presented it to me while I was sitting nearby. Regardles off the type of emoticon on my log, I had a really great trip and was glad you got me up there, a proud journey!

Patudles, I feel your pain. Maybe this will help. I was recently visiting the home of my cousin- the Clever Forest Gorilla(CFG), and I overheard this conversation she had with a fellow geocacher known as the Omniverous Ambivalator: Omnigeorous Ambivalator: So CFG, Why do you hate micros? CFG: Because they are placed by lazy people! Omnigeorous Ambivalator: But what about those very special places where only a micro would survive? CFG: OK, I like those, but they are few and far between, I would guess about 99% of the micros out there are placed in an extremely lazy manner. Most micros seem to be just an attempt at filling in the gaps by the “uncreative yet compelled to have a cache” hiders.. Omnigeorous Ambivalator: What about the effort put forth by creating those clever containers, and oh so cleverly concealed film canisters and smaller thingys? CFG: I can’t be bothered, I like to enjoy the surroundings of a place, not inspect the microcracks while being suspected as a terrorist or pedophile thank you! Omnigeorous Ambivalator: Well how do you know which ones are the good ones if you ignore them all? CFG: I wait until they are vetted by discriminating cachers who are like-minded. Omnigeorous Ambivalator: What about further from home, how do you know if a micro is good? CFG: By reading between the lines in the logs. If they all just say “great hide”TNLN, I ignore it. If the logs say “great location, thanks for bringing me here, I had a wonderful time” and other adulations, well maybe it’s worth a looksee. Omnigeorous Ambivalator: What about micros along a country road or in the woods? CFG: Again, planted by lazy people as an afterthought. Just throw it out the window why don’t you! Omnigeorous Ambivalator: But regular caches just get filled up by junk eventually. Why should you care about size? CFG: Sure, but occasionally a geofairy comes along it’s nice to have the space to leave a big lovely present. But the real answer is, why would you want to lure someone way out there to make them pace around the same tree/stump/rockpile for an hour looking for a bison capsule when they should be spending time enjoying the great panorama around them and savoring the special place that a geofriend has shared with them. Omnigeorous Ambivalator: So really the important thing for you is THE LOCATION, and the important thing for the “microhiders “ is THE HUNT” CFG: Exactly! But let me rephrase. The important thing for me is The Journey AND the Location. That is the essence of “The Hunt” for me. I don't know what's important for the microhider.

TL, Glad to hear you fixed your jeep. Look forward to your report. I hope to be following in your footsteps in 2 weeks. My plan for the Steam Donkey visit was to either bike in/bushwack like the last visitors, hike in via the Cape Alava trail and camp overnight, or just do it as a daytrip by running the Cape Alava route (tides permitting). Can you please tell me where those hotsprings are that you mentioned on the 2-3 day route? I'd like to also highly recommend an adventure to put on your list for your hiking group: the Big Lava Bed in the Gifford Pinchot NF, south of Mt St Helens. The GP Crater of Insanity cache is located down in the crater, but there are several other caches you can pick up on your way into this vast trail-less wilderness. It is truly otherworldly in there.

Criminal! It will be a pleasure. I was planning a counterclockwise loop starting with Mt Ellinor/Big Creek and finishing with Col Bob, but I am flexible. What day is best for you? Say, do you want to make a newManganese Mines cache? Maybe make it a multi that incorporates a feature from inside the mine, then place the box in a "safe from aliens" location. Initially, I was going to replace the box, but then it got archived.

Darn, I've always wanted to join your group for an adventure.... I'll be on the Olympic Peninsula 9/13-9/19. I have on my list Mt Ellinor, Col Bob, Git Off My Land, Rugged Ridge, Ozette River Steam Donkey, Ring of Fire and any and all challenging hike type caches up there-especially summits. I also will have my bike and plan to try the Mt Muller loop. Not sure how much I will actually accomplish..... I really wanted to visit the Manganese Mines but it has been archived. May go there anyhow. Any recomendations for great or unique scenery? Anyone want to join me for one of these?

In Oregon, I highly recommend these (from south to north): Dune hiking to a tree island: Pacific Fortress...or any of Mackie's other nearby dune caches. Hike through Old Growth Sitka Spruce: Gwynn Creek This is a good place to see elk. Really fun cache near Cape Perpetua: Alice's Rabbit Hole Hike to the top of Cascade head: Cascade's head Climb a Seastack in Neskowin: Yes, I will! (shameless self-promotion) Climb to the top of Cape Kiwanda in Pacific City:Sand in Your Shoes Hike 2 miles out on a cape and look down on whales migrating: Cape Lookout None of these are micros or cachendashes, but they will be well worth the effort!

I'm not sure where the reservoir is, but I highly recommend Silver Falls Crossing which is on the perimeter trail in Silver Falls SP. You can search from there to see if one is at the reservoir.

I have a kids hiking caches bookmark list. None of the caches are in Portland, but some are in the Gorge, Mt Hood and on the coast depending on how far you are willing to drive.

Hi Logscaler, Thanks for raising some eyebrows. I’d like to respond to some of your questions and comments. I’ve only lived in Oregon for 10 years, I grew up in an area back east that has had rapid sprawl occur in small communities. There is very little public land and high income and property taxes to fund schools, roads and infrastructure etc... OK, now I'm an Oregonian. I am an avid forest recreationist, so like many outdoor enthusiasts, I have come to think of our public land as a special resource because of its beauty and critter habitat. It is difficult for someone like me to think of public land as something that should be generating money. I understand that because we in Oregon are not willing to pay higher taxes, state lands are being increasingly relied upon to generate that income. I also understand that the state benefits from federal land harvested within its boundaries, and that the timber industry that processes the trees generates jobs in rural areas. Me, I would vote to pay higher taxes rather than increase resource extraction of public land. I am surrounded by Weyerhauser land and so spend much of my free time exploring behind the local gates. Every new clearcut that shows up in a patch of forest that I used to explore is emotionally painful to me. But it’s private land- a tree farm and they let me walk in it, so I get over my issues and be thankful they allow walk in access. When I look around, I also notice how fast the trees grow out here and see new forests begin again. I try to conserve paper and wood products and live a low impact life. Logging is part of my life. This is also why an "old growth forest" seems special and rare to me. My idea of “Old Growth” is a complete habitat with mature trees reaching the end of their life and falling to the ground to replenish the soil and provide continued habitat. I disagree that removing these trees will have no impact on the ground. They are not only important for habitat of the living creatures and soil replenishment for future generations, but their removal does cause local damage, often destroying fish waterways. In my neck of the woods, there is only clearcutting- not selective logging- especially when the trees are big. I have seen thinning, but I believe it is just taking out a fraction of same age trees, so the remaining stand gets more light. I think that it is important that people who care question the government and industry in some of their practices. If multi-national timber companies were not continually questioned or monitored we’d run out of forest and some fish and critters. That has happened in many other parts of the world. I don’t understand what you mean by a 1500 year old juniper not considered old growth?! Are you saying these are not protected on public land?

I know this is a real hot button topic, but let me put in my opinion: 1) The most dangerous part of your trip is the drive to the trailhead. 2) Most wildlife (including mountain lions and rattle snakes) are more scared of you than you are of them and will avoid you at all costs. 3) Carrying a gun greatly increases the likelihood that you will get injured by a gun. I think that a stick will do if you get menaced by a defensive animal. If they really want to get you, a gun probably will not deter them and the likelihood of an animal attacking you unprovoked is statistically as likely as getting hit by a falling object from the sky.

deleted for redundancy

Nostrada, Visit oregongeocaching.org to meet the Central Oregon geocachers. They will be happy to recommend local hiking caches to meet your needs.

Howlingwind, You are in an area with many good quality caches. Bend was one of the last areas to succumb to the micro-craze, and they are still a pretty low percentage. Just wait till you get over to "the valley of crappy little caches"! You'll run away screaming. I haven't done much caching over there, but I love it when I do! A sure bet is any cache by Zoooey/Illdrive, Logscaler, Navdog/Moondog3 or Chief Paulina. My favorite: The Hole of Inaccesability by Sparklehorse. Enjoy the caching the high desert! Wish I was there.

What I learned from grad school- be cynical! Don't expect to find anything good, then you will be pleasantly surprised when you find something that really rings your bell. Can I also suggest: start leaving in caches the kinds of things that you like to find youself. If you can afford the time to make something nice, or buy something special, save it for those special caches. The farther from the parking area, the nicer the cache contents will be, and the richer a reward you will want to leave for future finders.

I've started another one: Family Hiking Caches in Oregon I've selected my favorites for hiking with small children. Please let me know if yo have any recommendations to add.

Hey Benham trolls, check out Boulder Bliss. It has a wonderful single campsite right on the lake. The hike in is only 1/2 mile. The lake is very scenic, perfect for lolling on a raft, and it wasn't too cold for swimming when I visited in August. While the cache itself might be a little challenging for your 7 year old, if you choose a good route and help her along it wil be a fun adventure!

I recommend: East Zigzag Lookout It's a fairly easy hike that an active 7 year old could probably handle just fine. Go in July for wildflowers! Be sure to visit Crater Lake Jr and there are several other nearby caches at Timothy lake

You should do the GP Crater of Insanity of course! And so should the rest of you. [cajoling emoticon]

I've got a new bookmark list that a few people might be interested in: Mountain bike caches in Oregon Let me know if you have can recommend any scenic biking caches to add to my list!

Hey Sparklehorse! Thanks for the heads up on that one. I look forward to your next cache placement. -an adoring fan

Thanks for your recommendations everyone, I have so much trouble combing through caches and making decisions. I truly appreciate a well "vetted" cache. the cfm of Oregon

I will be visiting Chicago for a few days, and would like to take the niece and nephew caching. Can you recommend some nearby hike in the forest type caches within a short drive of the city? (not interested in suburbs, micros or roadside caches)