Tsegi Mike and Desert Viking

Solving this one was easier than finding it. Roadrunner's Revenge: Net Serve http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=25770 This one was harder but we haven't yet gone to look for it. 19th Hole http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=16304 We're stumped on this one for now. Mission: Silica Currency http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=45305 Till a voice, as bad as Conscience, rang interminable changes On one everlasting Whisper day and night repeated -- so: "Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges -- "Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!" Rudyard Kipling , The Explorer 1898

Find a cache by starting a fire? Are you people nuts? (Just kidding, I do not actuall believe anyone would do that.) Anybody remember a small fire called the Rodeo-Chediski fire here in Arizona? Part of that megafire was started by someone I will euphemistically call a person who started a fire to attract attention when she got lost, even though our fire danger was so high that our forests were all closed. FYI caches in that fire did not survive. Please play safe in the wild, especially in Arizona. Till a voice, as bad as Conscience, rang interminable changes On one everlasting Whisper day and night repeated -- so: "Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges -- "Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!" Rudyard Kipling , The Explorer 1898

Took award, left happy. Till a voice, as bad as Conscience, rang interminable changes On one everlasting Whisper day and night repeated -- so: "Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges -- "Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!" Rudyard Kipling , The Explorer 1898

We like variety to our geocaching experience. Sometimes we cache, sometimes we hunt for benchmarks. Somehow we can't seem to do the two together. The search mindset must be different for benchmarks than it is for caching. The historical aspect of benchmarks intrigues us. Sometimes though, it is frustrating. It seems that only one quarter of the benchmarks we find are listed in the database. For those who like benchmarks, there are some really interesting ones near Casa Grande, Arizona that we found and are trying to find out more information on. About 8 of them are still around and accesible. They are in the center of large concrete crosses put there in the mid 1960's by the army map service. Originally they were painted blue to contrast with the desert. As far as I can tell, for now, they were used by the military to synchronize cameras in U2 planes. Or so the locals say. The area is no longer used by the military and most of the land is now privately owned. Eventually we will post photos, but if you look at the Microsoft Terra Server satellite photos and zoom in, you can actually see them. The link to one of the benchmarks is http://www.geocaching.com/mark/details.asp?PID=CZ2347 Till a voice, as bad as Conscience, rang interminable changes On one everlasting Whisper day and night repeated -- so: "Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges -- "Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!" Rudyard Kipling , The Explorer 1898

The first one is more of a patriotic cache but it has a military theme as well. The second uses the Navajo Codetalker's code from World War II to determine the final coordinates. http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=49982 http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=41164 Till a voice, as bad as Conscience, rang interminable changes On one everlasting Whisper day and night repeated -- so: "Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges -- "Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!" Rudyard Kipling , The Explorer 1898

Desert Viking: My roots are Norwegian, with a heavy emphasis on vikings. Vikings were not just the pillagers depicted in history, they were explorers as well. Since we live in the desert... Tsegi Mike: Born and raised on the Navajo Reservation with roots in Canyon de Chelly. Tsegi is a Navajo word refering to his family's home. Till a voice, as bad as Conscience, rang interminable changes On one everlasting Whisper day and night repeated -- so: "Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges -- "Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!" Rudyard Kipling , The Explorer 1898

Here in sunny Arizona we have some challenging and entertaining microcaches. We love them. If all caches were traditional ones, we'd get bored rather quickly. We like the variety and mental challenge of some of the micros. Here's some of our favorites. http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=25770 http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=52290 http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=42389 http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=49982 (so this one is ours, we're proud of it) We're planning a couple of challenging and well disguised micros that are designed to stump cachers. One is tentatively called Throwing Down the Gauntlet, once we find the perfect hiding place. Till a voice, as bad as Conscience, rang interminable changes On one everlasting Whisper day and night repeated -- so: "Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges -- "Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!" Rudyard Kipling , The Explorer 1898

This is what I wanted to post before that other thread was closed. Several thoughts come to mind: 1) This is just a game. Part of the game is figuring out how to do what you want WITHIN THE GUIDELINES or discretion of the powers that be. 2) I am mildly handicapped but not wheelchair bound. At no point have I ever felt discriminated against, although not all of my caches have been approved. Looking back after some caching experience, I can see why they weren’t approved. 3) Why on earth would anyone ever deliberately upset the powers that be? They can cut you out of the game forever if they so chose. I feel better now that I've had my rant. Till a voice, as bad as Conscience, rang interminable changes On one everlasting Whisper day and night repeated -- so: "Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges -- "Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!" Rudyard Kipling , The Explorer 1898

Legally, I'm 44 years old, Tsegi Mike is 48. Actually we're 7 years old. My family's secret to long life: play and learn forever. Till a voice, as bad as Conscience, rang interminable changes On one everlasting Whisper day and night repeated -- so: "Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges -- "Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!" Rudyard Kipling , The Explorer 1898

This female geocacher started it all in our marriage. I read about it in a local paper, brought the subject up at dinner and went to the first cache alone (he had to work). I've gone to quite a few by myself, but he has never gone without me. And I've handled all of our cache placements and maintainance (again, he has to work, I sit around and eat virtual bon-bons all day). He enjoys it as much as I do, although it is a lot more fun when he is with me. FYI I am a natural blonde (the name Desert Viking says it all) My husband has natural jet black hair with a bit of gray in it. Till a voice, as bad as Conscience, rang interminable changes On one everlasting Whisper day and night repeated -- so: "Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges -- "Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!" Rudyard Kipling , The Explorer 1898

Ask the question on the listserv for azgeocaching.com, the local geocaching community. You'll get a lot of answers, we're helpful out here. Till a voice, as bad as Conscience, rang interminable changes On one everlasting Whisper day and night repeated -- so: "Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges -- "Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!" Rudyard Kipling , The Explorer 1898

The Victorians viewed cemeteries kind of the way we view a park (before geocaching), as a place to sit, visit with family etc. They were comfortable with death. Modern American culture is phobic about death and finds cemeteries and memorials creepy and disturbing. I've always loved old cemeteries. People expressed their grief and love in beautiful ways. They did not bury them and forget them the way modern society does. Till a voice, as bad as Conscience, rang interminable changes On one everlasting Whisper day and night repeated -- so: "Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges -- "Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!" Rudyard Kipling , The Explorer 1898

In sunny Arizona where we've cached in 115 degree heat (previously we would estivate in the heat), we have cacher's anonymous meetings (event caches), a 12 step program and even Rx: GPS prn for those days we can't live without it. The Arizona caching community is working on the Geocaching Patch (so the rumor goes) to satisfy those cravings. As far as being crazy, I went out to one right after having a root canal in the September desert afternoon heat during monsoon season when our humidity goes way up. Don't let the dry heat nonsense fool you. When it's over 100 degrees, it's hot. That particular day we set a heat record of 111 degrees. I'd do it again in a heartbeat too. Till a voice, as bad as Conscience, rang interminable changes On one everlasting Whisper day and night repeated -- so: "Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges -- "Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!" Rudyard Kipling , The Explorer 1898

Our first attempt at geocaching was to escape reality...I guess I should explain that. My husband and I had a couple of difficult years (such as the death of my mother in law, among other things) and felt we needed to find something to get us out of the house. Coincidently a newspaper article came out blasting geocaching and after discounting the idiot who wrote it, it appealed to the wild side of our natures. Tuesday we bought a GPS, Wednesday our home was hit by a microburst, Thursday we had a bad traffic accident (not our fault), Saturday our first cache. Geocaching has become a way for us to escape our troubles (God willing, they are all behind us now). We get exercise, bond, have fun...what more can one ask of life? Till a voice, as bad as Conscience, rang interminable changes On one everlasting Whisper day and night repeated -- so: "Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges -- "Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!" Rudyard Kipling , The Explorer 1898

I AM NOT A GEEK!!! Till a voice, as bad as Conscience, rang interminable changes On one everlasting Whisper day and night repeated -- so: "Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges -- "Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!" Rudyard Kipling , The Explorer 1898

We thought of it and did it. The Easter Bunny has a Garmin Event Cache by E. Bunny [profile] N 33° 34.538 W 111° 51.255 (WGS84) Hidden: 3/29/2003 Waypoint GCDAB7 We hid a multicache of Easter eggs at a local garden and had people search for the eggs to get to the event cache where the final "egg" was a large basket of Easter treats. Those who came, even those without kids, had a good time. We'll probably do it again next year, only bigger and better. Till a voice, as bad as Conscience, rang interminable changes On one everlasting Whisper day and night repeated -- so: "Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges -- "Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!" Rudyard Kipling , The Explorer 1898

At Mix'ed Up Cache, the log entry just prior to ours..."Found by accident, thought it was drugs." No signature. We couldn't tell if they were concerned or disappointed about the drugs. Till a voice, as bad as Conscience, rang interminable changes On one everlasting Whisper day and night repeated -- so: "Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges -- "Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!" Rudyard Kipling , The Explorer 1898

I thought the whole purpose of caching was to show people places and things they might not see otherwise? The cross and the view from there qualifies it as a cache. It was wrong of that vermin to place judgement and impose his anti-religious view on the rest of geocachers. I've seen some caches here placed in trash dumps or in areas with human feces. No religious material. I bet your vandal would enjoy those caches. I certainly don’t. I’d rather have a nice location no matter how much religious content is there. Till a voice, as bad as Conscience, rang interminable changes On one everlasting Whisper day and night repeated -- so: "Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges -- "Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!" Rudyard Kipling , The Explorer 1898

Not every cacher is belligerent when questioned about what we are doing. We were the later cachers mentioned by Brian/Team A.I. in his post March 26th 5:53 pm. We were very polite, straightforward and apologetic to the security guard. He was very nervous over the whole thing but relieved when we took the cache away. We promised the security guard that we would warn our caching community about placing caches there. That seemed to stop him from his rants about trespassing, cops and helicopters. (If anyone was offended by our later post, I’m sorry…it was never meant as criticism, I was just doing what the security guard asked me to do.) For the record, neither Brian or any other cacher was trespassing. They were all on the city park side of the fence. Our team got a kick out of it later (and a cool story to tell) but we recognize the importance of awareness and sensitivity in the post 9/11 world. The original cache was given a different location and we released the original container as another cache at the owner’s request. Till a voice, as bad as Conscience, rang interminable changes On one everlasting Whisper day and night repeated -- so: "Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges -- "Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!" Rudyard Kipling , The Explorer 1898

We prefer all types of caches, however many microcaches are imaginative and challenging. We like that. And there are days when we just want to go into the desert and find a regular sized cache. If all caches were alike, we'd get bored very quickly. Why shouldn't a micro log only carry the same weight as a traditional ammo can? For the record, our one regular cache has only had 2 hits on it, yet one of our virtual art walks is popular, and one of our micros has been highly rated by those who attempted the challenge. Perhaps micros should be limited to urban areas and regular ones limited to the rural areas.

My two cents. We like the challenge of non-traditional caches. We've enjoyed your caches before and this one sounds like fun too. Too many caches of the exact same type (go here and find the same old ammo can under the rocks) gets old really fast. If the powers that be won't approve it, please post it on the Arizona mailing list. It won't elevate anyone's numbers, but some of us aren't obsessed with numbers.

We like virtual caches and have set some that are popular (from the feedback we've received). If the powers that be don't like virtual caches, then we are all for separating them from the physical caches. Whatever it takes to save them! We also like physical caches, benchmarks and locationless caches. No disrespect meant towards the powers that be...we respect the hard work they do to maintain this hobby.

For urban microcaching, we take a mirror. Tweezers are a must for urban and rural caches (cactus needles can hurt ). And we always carry an extra set of batteries and a pen.