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Straight line route to cache....deep doo-doo


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I am sure there are many geocachers who have taken a direct route and wound up bush-whacking like a safari guide!

 

The worst I ever came across was what looked like an easy trip down the side of a dam, through a field, and I was only about 300 yards or so away.

 

After many brambles, briars, wet feet, poison oak and a flock of quail that scared the whatever out of me, I got to the cache. Then I noticed the trail led along THE RIM of all my frustration!! Too late! I went back that way of course.

 

I am VERY leary of a "as the crow flies" route now! <_<

 

Chuckwagon

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I am sure there are many geocachers who have taken a direct route and wound up bush-whacking like a safari guide!

 

The worst I ever came across was what looked like an easy trip down the side of a dam, through a field, and I was only about 300 yards or so away.

 

After many brambles, briars, wet feet, poison oak and a flock of quail that scared the whatever out of me, I got to the cache. Then I noticed the trail led along THE RIM of all my frustration!! Too late! I went back that way of course.

 

I am VERY leary of a "as the crow flies" route now! <_<

 

Chuckwagon

 

Haaaa!

 

From one of my cache pages I warned 'em, but they didn't listen:

 

Those who are slaves to Garmin's arrow will find themselves cursing Snoogans' name to hide their own shame. Think before you act!

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Why not use the tools made available to you. A quick check of google-earth is helpful on most occasions. It's real easy to tell who's never had extensive field experience when you read posts like these.

 

Um, Horsepucky!

 

Methinks it's easy, from posts like that, to see who sits at a computer thinking about caching, playing with software, and who is actually out there chasing caches!

 

I've had numerous situations like the OP's... struggle through a wood, up a hill, cross a creek, whatever, and find the cache on a walking trail! But that's because it happened to show up next on the GPS when I was out caching, not because I was sitting at home pondering and planning an approach to a particular cache.

 

Sorry, but if I invested the time to look up each cache, map it out, look at in GoogleEarth, I wouldn't have time to go get the thing!

 

Ed

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Heck, we'll be on a trail and hubby will say.. "Hey, it's just about 100 yards off the trail, just over there!" I have a hard time convincing him that people really DON'T want to bushwhack through cedar, and the trail probably curves.... and 90% of the time, I'm right! (100 yards through hill country cedar isn't any fun, I'll tell you.........)

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Heck, we'll be on a trail and hubby will say.. "Hey, it's just about 100 yards off the trail, just over there!" I have a hard time convincing him that people really DON'T want to bushwhack through cedar, and the trail probably curves.... and 90% of the time, I'm right! (100 yards through hill country cedar isn't any fun, I'll tell you.........)

 

Hyaaaa, try it behind Mrs. Captain Picard (Me 6ft, her mayyybe 5ft) at HER cachin' speed. I nearly lost an eye. <_<

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Experiences like that teach one to "look before you leap"...and yes, we ALL have at least one tale like that to tell. I ended up knee-deep in swampwater at Black Creek Park, making my way to a cache. Only later did I find that there was indeed a trail that went close by. I just didn't see the trailhead from where I parked. Now I've gotten to know that trail system VERY well!

 

Perhaps I don't use GoogleEarth (I run a dinosaur of a laptop), but I do take the time to search the area for trailheads, and later on, deer paths. It saves on a whole lot of heavy bushwacking. <_<

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Over time I have tried to curb my natural tendancy to bushwhack. I have had to do this because some of my bushwhacking adventures have been a little to adventurous, but I still find myself heading cross country at times when I hsouldn't have. It adds to the adventure. Who wants to follow that trail all the way to the cache when he/she can cause themselves injury and humiliation by doing it the hard way.

 

<_<

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Heck, we'll be on a trail and hubby will say.. "Hey, it's just about 100 yards off the trail, just over there!" I have a hard time convincing him that people really DON'T want to bushwhack through cedar, and the trail probably curves.... and 90% of the time, I'm right! (100 yards through hill country cedar isn't any fun, I'll tell you.........)

 

Hyaaaa, try it behind Mrs. Captain Picard (Me 6ft, her mayyybe 5ft) at HER cachin' speed. I nearly lost an eye. :laughing:

lol been there done that even with muggles around looking at her that doesn't bother her

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On our first cache we bushwacked about a mile through the woods. Surprise, surprise, once we got to the cache we found a PAVED walking path. Guess which way we took out? That was a very good lesson learned and used to this day.

 

LOL! Yeah, the cache I posted is sooooo deceptive due to parking at the site. The postings on the cache indicate that more than half of the cachers fought some kind of heavy brush and obstacles.............the others probably did also, but just didn't admit the fact!! LOLO! :laughing:

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Let it be known that I am not a fan of Google maps or Google earth. With many years experience travelling the deep backcountry of my state as a forest ranger, I first research TopoZone to plan my route of attack. If I feel the area merits it, I will print out the map and carry it with me. Of course, this method seldom is applicable to urban caching which, IMHO, is another sport entirely.

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Went to look for cache that didn't appear to have any trail leading to it. The only thing I can figure is that it was placed in the spring before the waist high ferns emerged and the trees and bushes had leafed out. Probably was real easy to get to then. Waded and hacked my way through this stuff and searched for an hour without finding it. Ruined a good pair of pants with green fern stains.

I only had the coordinates which I had loaded in my GPS before I left to find it. I forgot to bring the cache page print out with me. Get home, read it and it says cache is offset twenty five feet from recorded coordinates. Sh$%^#@

Edited by Luckless
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I've just had one published that if you try to get the the cache without reading the cache page for access directions you won't be able to get to it. All the obvious ways of getting there require passing through clearly marked private property with big "no tresspassing" signs.

 

We have one cache where people just park on the road and take off cross-country.. it is a short jaunt, but there is a very steep hill at the end you have to traverse. If you follow the suggestions on the cache page, it says to park at the small park just a bit down the road and take the paved path... it is at the base of that slope, and probably only 20 ft off the trail. I know... I need to post parking coordinates, and then the cachers would have them downloaded as well.

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"its only .1 directly that way"

It never ceases to amaze me just how far 528' can be. We did a multi, (Lapanocia Butterfly Tree) which was two stages, roughly 250' each stage. It took us two hours to get out of the woods. There were no trails to be found anywhere. Pure bushwhack all the way, through some truly nasty swamp. Definitely one of my all time favorites.

Edited by Clan Riffster
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Went to look for cache that didn't appear to have any trail leading to it. The only thing I can figure is that it was placed in the spring before the waste high ferns emerged and the trees and bushes had leafed out. Probably was real easy to get to then. Waded and hacked my way through this stuff and searched for an hour without finding it. Ruined a good pair of pants with green fern stains.

I only had the coordinates which I had loaded in my GPS before I left to find it. I forgot to bring the cache page print out with me. Get home, read it and it says cache is offset twenty five feet from recorded coordinates. Sh$%^#@

 

Must have been a super micro that you couldn't find it within 25 ' :rolleyes:

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It's also amazing how much you'll do when you have even just one other person with you.

 

"Hmm, I don't think I want to go in there..."

"C'mon, we'll just check it out quickly.."

 

We arrived at one cache and parked at the lot, and walked toward the bush (just off a rural soccer field). It was pretty darned dense with no marked trail, but there were signs of geotrails. We took things slowly and deliberately, my crouching the whole way (I'm 6'3"). We found a game trail, and thought maybe that was "the trail", so we tried to follow it, going over and around fallen trees, dense vegetation, lots and lots of dead branches poking at us. It was hot and all this time sweat was starting to run off my forehead. We were both thinking, though neither of us wanted to say it at the time, that once we found the cache, we were going to have to go out the same way... ugh.

 

Then we recalled the cache sheet.. didn't he say this was supposed to be kid friendly?

 

Anyway, after we found the cache, we were dreading the trip back out.. we were stepping on thorns, burrs, my friend (who was wearing shorts) was getting cut up and started bleeding... then we saw, past the tall grass, what seemed to be a creek or... something... where the grass dropped off. We decided we'd pop over to investigate before braving the arduous trip back.

 

When we got there, we discovered the trail, which was wide enough for a car to drive down. It emerged at the far end of the soccer field. :rolleyes:

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It's also amazing how much you'll do when you have even just one other person with you.

 

"Hmm, I don't think I want to go in there..."

"C'mon, we'll just check it out quickly.."

 

We arrived at one cache and parked at the lot, and walked toward the bush (just off a rural soccer field). It was pretty darned dense with no marked trail, but there were signs of geotrails. We took things slowly and deliberately, my crouching the whole way (I'm 6'3"). We found a game trail, and thought maybe that was "the trail", so we tried to follow it, going over and around fallen trees, dense vegetation, lots and lots of dead branches poking at us. It was hot and all this time sweat was starting to run off my forehead. We were both thinking, though neither of us wanted to say it at the time, that once we found the cache, we were going to have to go out the same way... ugh.

 

Then we recalled the cache sheet.. didn't he say this was supposed to be kid friendly?

 

Anyway, after we found the cache, we were dreading the trip back out.. we were stepping on thorns, burrs, my friend (who was wearing shorts) was getting cut up and started bleeding... then we saw, past the tall grass, what seemed to be a creek or... something... where the grass dropped off. We decided we'd pop over to investigate before braving the arduous trip back.

 

When we got there, we discovered the trail, which was wide enough for a car to drive down. It emerged at the far end of the soccer field. :anibad:

 

LOL! I know that feeling! I think every cacher should have a similar experience.....at least once. Truly humbling! :rolleyes:

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My favourite was one in Tennessee, where we simply had a printout with no maps or anything beyond the "general area". Parked where I considered to be close to the cache -- by my eye, it was right on top of that ridge right there.

 

We bushwhacked up the hill, and, upon reaching the top, saw that we'd need to do a little more bushwhacking to get down the other side, to the cache.

 

Which was hidden on the edge of a very large, very busy, parking lot.

Edited by adjensen
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My favourite was one in Tennessee, where we simply had a printout with no maps or anything beyond the "general area". Parked where I considered to be close to the cache -- by my eye, it was right on top of that ridge right there.

 

We bushwhacked up the hill, and, upon reaching the top, saw that we'd need to do a little more bushwhacking to get down the other side, to the cache.

 

Which was hidden on the edge of a very large, very busy, parking lot.

Reminds me of the first (and last!) time I completely trusted the street-level navigation in my GPSr (a Garmin 60CSx). I told the unit to take me to the next geocache on my list for that day, and told it to use the "Follow Road" approach. This was an urban cache in Columbus, Ohio. It dutifully figured out what street got me closest to the cache, it plotted a route, and off I went. I wound up at the back of a condo development, with the cache apparently located somewhere in a large field. I switched the unit to off road navigation and headed out across the field... down a steep hill... through a patch of nasty nettles... across a rather smelly drainage ditch which featured a bunch of broken glass and other trash... and back up another hill. When I got to the top of that hill, I found myself staring at the rear of the Polaris shopping mall. The cache, a micro, was hidden in a courtyard at the mall.

 

The street the GPSr had pointed me to was the closest approach to the cache... if you don't count the massive shopping mall parking lot. From then on, I started double-checking just where the unit was trying to take me to! The original description of the cache didn't give any hints as to what to expect at the cache location, and didn't give any parking coordinates. After my log entry, where I mentioned my bushwhacking, the cache owner added a hint about the best place to park to reach the cache.

 

--Larry

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I was at one park once, found the two geocaches in it, and noticed that "just .24 miles" away there was another park with a geocache in it. I set off with two others in that direction, and for the first .2 miles, there was no problem.

 

We were walking down a road, heading right for it. I assumed the park was at the end of the road. When we got to the end of the road, we could see the park. Unfortunately, there was a large house with a lot of people hanging out having a party before it. No way through there.

 

We then backtracked and cut through a ravine full of nettles and mosquitoes. After that, we ended up on a road I had never been to before. Still following the arrow!

 

Finally, 45 minutes and .89 miles later, we found the cache. From the cache we could look up and see the road we were on, with the people milling about. As we began walking back the way we came, I noticed a trail. We headed up the trail, a paved, easy walking path, and ended back at the original park.

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Why not use the tools made available to you. A quick check of google-earth is helpful on most occasions. It's real easy to tell who's never had extensive field experience when you read posts like these.

 

Um, Horsepucky!

 

Methinks it's easy, from posts like that, to see who sits at a computer thinking about caching, playing with software, and who is actually out there chasing caches!

 

I've had numerous situations like the OP's... struggle through a wood, up a hill, cross a creek, whatever, and find the cache on a walking trail! But that's because it happened to show up next on the GPS when I was out caching, not because I was sitting at home pondering and planning an approach to a particular cache.

 

Sorry, but if I invested the time to look up each cache, map it out, look at in GoogleEarth, I wouldn't have time to go get the thing!

 

Ed

 

I'm all for opportunity caching but sometimes I like to plan a route. Sorry this technique hasn't worked for you, but it has for me! In fact it's been pretty good. I don't use it for all my cache finds, only those that are in an area I'm unfamiliar with. It's hard to block out my years as an Eagle Scout and Army Officer. "Be Prepared"

 

OBTW It's only my opinion and the way I like to play the game. I believe that's right down your alley! If you'd like to compare stats feel free. Mine speak for themselves. I believe I been doing my fair share of being "out there chasing chases." That's if you did some research. :P:):)

Edited by eagletrek
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I actually enjoy a good BushWhack. This time of year, it can be pretty tough with all the growth.

 

My favorite time of year is February/March, where the summers growth has all fallen and the grasses have laid down. Just remember to wear eye protection to keep the sticks from poking you in the eye. One rule I always follow is never going in over my waist to cross a stream when it's below freezing. It's a good way to get hypothermia.

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.. All the obvious ways of getting there require passing through clearly marked private property with big "no tresspassing" signs.

 

We have one cache where people just park on the road and take off cross-country.. it is a short jaunt, but there is a very steep hill at the end you have to traverse.

 

Well if they try that with this one they will have an 80' bluff to climb down (and back up) after they cross 1/4 mile of posted property.

 

As hard as I made it to get to, the route in described on the cache page really is the easiest way.

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Yes, Google Earth would be a good idea, if you were looking for a specific cache (something that I don't really do anymore, with PQ and my iQue.)

 

Using the previously mentioned Tennessee cache (GCMK7Y) as an example, the google map takes on a whole new perspective when you look at the satellite photo instead of the map!

 

(I'm not sure that "few steps from plenty of parking" bit was there when we did the cache. At least that's the story I'm sticking to :P )

Edited by adjensen
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I for one tend to be one of the follow the arrow crowd. Have been on some interesting bushwacks only to find an easy trail 15' from the cache. Guess what? Often turn around and bushwack my way back out. Timber stands aren't that dense here, so it's not that hard, and frequently more rewarding than the easy path.

 

On top of that, for much of my region, google earth's imagery is POOR at best. I wouldn't use it to research a parking lot micro--I think the most recent image GE has of my hometown is 15 years old.

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