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Most embarrassing geocaching moment


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I had to post this after I got myself into quite a dilemma today looking for a "quick P&G." The cache was a micro and I found myself on the wrong side of the creek. My husband jumped down into the ditch, which was a concrete drainage ditch, and climbed up the other side. I slid down the concrete on my rearend and from down in the ditch, tried to direct him to where he might find it. We didn't find it and decide to give up for the night. He came down, crossed the water, and climbed up.

 

I, on the other hand, could not get back up the concrete incline. I'd take two steps and slide back down. My husband gave me his hands and feet and I scrabbled up him only to go sliding back, face down, the entire length of his body. :)

 

He suggested calling 911, but I told him I'd rather die a slow painful death than to have some EMS working pull me out of a ditch I shouldn't have been in to begin with. In desparation of not having to do that, I grabbed every protruting part of my husband's body and heaved myself up. Finally. But I laughed the whole way home.

 

So what was your most interesting or embarrassing predicament when geocaching?

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Nothing as dramatic as that. I failed to mark my car as a waypoint and was doing circles through a very small park trying to figure out which way I had come in. It was local green space so there was no official entrance, just a series of entrances off of dead end streets in the area

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Probably yesterday.

 

We were poking around at the top of a steep hill on a disk golf course. A group of 8 players came within 30 feet so I pretended I was taking pictures of flowers. We found the cache (out of their line of sight) and were leaving when I tripped on a branch and ended up sliding halfway down the hill - only stopping when I got to the flat area where the disk pole thingy was. Of course everyone saw me as I landed directly where they were trying to throw. Niiiiice. I apologized for interrupting their game and giggled in that nervous "hey I'm ok and I'm not really the dumb*ss I appear to be" sort of way and quickly started to make my way down the rest of the hill. Unfortunately there was too much momentum. Halfway down my body got ahead of my legs and I went sprawling face-first into the weeds.

 

Two graceless falls in under a minute. Luckily the only thing injured was my pride. :)

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Three new caches were posted on the same day in my city. This could finally be the break I was waiting for to get my first FTF in front of kstatealan, a known ftf-hound in town, but I was at work. I decided to ditch the afternoon and run out to grab them.

 

After wandering for a long time on the wrong side of a creek, I found the right area and plunged from the grassland into the woods. In my haste, I forgot I was wearing work shoes and ended up skidding down the slope into a tree and tore a 6"x6" patch out of the front of my dress slacks. Turns out the cache was back up in the grassland.

 

I almost met the KansasFinders on that trip, seeing them coming down the trail and trying to hide their GPS from me. With my pants in that condition, I didn't think it was right to introduce myself to strangers.

 

Oh, and as for the FTF? Kstatealan beat me to it by a half hour.

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Most embarrassing for me?

 

I was hunting a cache in a forest preserve during a heavy downpour. I was soaked to the bone, but it was a warm summer day so it really didn't bother me. Plus, the rain gave me the entire forest preserve all to myself.

I approached the cache, which was on the steep banks of a large stream, from the high ground and started climbing down the slope to it. All of a sudden my footing gave way and I slid about 50' down the hill on my back, almost ending up in the stream. I had a mud streak from my socks all the way up my back and even onto the back of my ball cap. Well I found the cache and signed in and started hiking the mile back to the car.

Then the rain stopped...and the sun came back out...along with the bikers and joggers who were quite amused at my muddy backside. :)

Edited by Stunod
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I have learned from experience:

 

When you hunt for a cache in a forest area, ALWAYS waypoint mark your vehicle!

 

Last year, I took my mother with me on a caching day trip (she is my navigator between caches).

 

We got to an area where the cache was about a mile off the road into a forested area. Mom didn't want to hike that far so she stayed in the van while I went caching.

 

Hiked through the forest and found the cache with little problem. Then I realized that I didn'l know where the van was parked! (Did I mention that I had to swap batteries in my GPSr, which I lost my route tracking).

 

So here I am in the middle of the forest on a Sunday afternoon, with my mom waiting in a vehicle I didn't know where it was :-)

 

I tried to retrace my steps from memory but was worried that I would get lost even more. Eventually, I heard some vehicle traffic nearby and followed the noises to a road. Luckily, I picked the right direction and found my van after about a 1/2 hour hike.

 

When I got to the van, my mom asked "Did you find the cache?" not realizing I had been gone for several hours!

 

Yes, strange, I could find a Tupperware container hidden in the middle of forest, but couldn't find a bright white 1 ton minvan parked on the side of a major road!

 

We still laugh about this trip!

Edited by Fuzzywhip
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Not so much embarassing, but quite an interesting day...

 

The rain started breaking up this morning around 10. I thought to myself, “What a great time to go Geocaching.” So, I got a few co-ords – not too many, mind you, just five or so, over by the lake.

 

So I get the first one. It’s by a marshy lake, at a roadside park. There’s about 5 million mosquitoes, and they’re swarming the cache site. This one’s gonna be a quickie!

 

Then, off to Kirk Park, on the lakeshore. There’s two here: The Shores of Michi-gama, which has been around for ever (sometime in early 2001), and Stairmaster. The name right there should give you an idea of what I’m up against. It’s actually a good thing the stairs are there, because it would cause horrible erosion if everybody free climbed the dunes. I get up to the “first level,” and go to the overlook. Hey, look – the sky is clearing up. Cool view! I spent about 20 minutes in the area of the cache. Hmm…. It’s not there. Okay, let’s hike over to the other cache here. It’s about a quarter mile down, err… south. It was actually up and down. A lot. Maybe 200 stairs, and a few hills without steps. By now, the Sun has come out, and everything is drying out. Except me – I’m sweating like a stuck pig. All that rain water has to go somewhere, and the humidity has skyrocketed.

 

Finally, I’m at the site of the next cache. I walk around a little, trying to see if I can find where it’s hidden. What about here? Whoo-Hoo! It’s my new favorite spot. Wish I could show you, but no camera. :rolleyes: Now, I just have to hike back to the car. More stairs. Ugh.

 

Next stop, another park, about 4 miles down the road. Driving along, minding my own busni… hey! That was the road I need! Quick U-turn, and catch the road this time. It’s a nice day for a drive. Did I mention the sun was out? What a gorgeous day this turned into. Then, near-tragedy!

 

There’s a deer running alongside the road. By the time I see it, he’s turning onto the road. I say a couple colorful phrases, look out my window, and he’s RIGHT THERE! Gak! I wait for the impact on the side of my car. I see him try to jump. He almost made it. Dang thing scratched the paint on my trunk. Fortunately for both of us, that was all. I stopped, made sure he didn’t kill my car (or himself); he just kept running into the woods. Okay, heart, you can start beating again.

 

Got to the next park, and had to sit down on a bench to let the adrenaline rush wind down, and let my jelly-legs re-solidify. Then, I’m off to the next cache. I spiral around it two or three times and finally find it. It’s in a Ziploc. Did you know that a Ziploc doesn’t hold up all that well in nature? With all the rain we had overnight, everything inside it was wet; usable, but wet.

 

I’ve had enough. I’m going home. Three out of five is good enough for today. I’m sitting at the computer, writing out the logs, when I get an e-mail. New cache published. Okay, I’m a bit of a “First to Find” hound. I like to get out there before everybody else does. So I jot down the co-ords, and jump back in the car. I think I made one traffic light out of fifteen or so. And that one was marginal. Eight and a half long miles later, I run into a group meeting of cachers near the site. I was third (or fourth, depends on how you order it) to find it. We had a “mini-event,” and chat, and then back toward home. Two stops though. Since I’m out this way, I may as well get a couple more. One of them was just placed, but I hadn’t been able to get to, yet. I remedied that today.

 

So, as you can see, nothing more than a run-of-the-mill day for me.

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About a year ago I got the notification of a new cache placed locally by a notorious hider. There were 2 ways to make an approach. The first being a long hike on flat rails-to-trails terrain, then down a steep hillside the second being a rather precarious river crossing. I chose the river crossing because I felt that would be the coolest way to go. Days had gone by with no FTF’s. Nobody really wanted to take this one on, but I sure did. So after work one day I set out to scout the area.

 

This particular stretch of river is along a narrow dirt road with pull-offs as parking areas for fishermen. There is also a private fishing club there and the club members will waste no time calling the authorities on you if you park on “their land”. The other side of the road consists of private residences and properties, so no parking over there. That being said, there is only one good parking spot, about 250 from GZ. The river that day was moving way too fast to make an attempt. The riverbed is littered with large rocks and boulders, smoothed over by the force of the waters over the years. I decide to come back later in the week.

 

A few days later, I decide I’m going for it. It hadn’t rained at all so the waters had gone down a bit. FTF was still up for grabs because nobody in the area is crazy enough to attempt it. I’m totally stoked. I’m gonna get the FTF on this cache and the recognition as the greatest cacher in all the county! Life is good!....Heck…….Life is Great!!

 

I round a curve in the narrow cartway coming up on the one and only parking space and my heart sinks. Someone is parked there. (expletive)…. I kinda slow the car down and try to figure out what’s going on. There is a guy sitting on the back of his station wagon, with the hatch top up. I think to myself….okay…..this is either a cacher or a fisherman, guess I’ll go figure out which. I pulled up along side the fellow and the following conversation ensued:

 

Me: “How ya doin’?”

 

The dude: “Pretty good, pretty good.”

 

Me: “Doin’ some fishin’ are ya?”

 

Dude: “Nope, I’m thinking.” (and he smiles)

 

Now at this point I think I have it all figured out, because I was thinking too. I was thinking how the heck I was going to get across the river alive and I figured so was he. I assume this dude is a cacher I haven’t met yet. Someone else in the click. I smile back in a “I’m going for that cache too” kind of way. Having this mindset, I proceed to utter one of the stupidest things that has ever come out of my mouth:

 

Me: (smiling) “Want a partner?”

 

The dude: “Sure!”

 

Me: “Cool, we can share the first to find!”

 

The dude: “First to what??”

 

It is at that moment it dawns on me that there was another possibility as to why this fellow would be out in this remote locale. He’s dressed rather well…..I look down at his shoes….designer. I thought that odd attire for crossing a river. I turn completely red and begin to stutter about geocaching and treasure hunting. I felt like a complete idiot. He seemed bummed. I told him I was going to turn the car around and park down the road and cross the river for the cache. He says “okay”. Great. I turn the car around and take off. No way was I putting on a show for mister smiley.

 

A week or so later I venture out, cross the river and make the find. Turns out the cache was the recycled remains of a two part multi so I didn’t claim FTF when I logged. The problem with the first part of the multi was that the neighbors didn’t like people wandering the area. And now I know why. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that).

 

But hey, it could have been worse. He could have said no, and no one likes rejection.

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at a park and grab today, I just about fell down a ravine.

 

I went the wrong way. And actually, if I hadn't fallen where I had, I was two steps away from falling down the ravine. Now I'm nursing a strained ankle and arm.

 

oh for the love of cache...

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I hiked up a few miles of a small mountain in drizzle and cold. At the top snow flurries began. I made the cache find and headed back down where the drizzle had turned to rain. I wasn't expecting it to be so cold. I had no gloves and only one of those cheap $1 rain coats. Did I mention that the rain was horizontal from the wind? Anyway, I was trying my best to keep my hands from freezing but I was holding onto the GPSr unit since my limited pockets were full of swag and water for the hike.

 

Then in one of those crazy moments I stashed the GPSr under my hat which allowed both of my hands to keep warmer.

 

After about 1/2 hr when I was nearing a bend I went to peek at my GPSr and found it missing. I checked my pockets, waist band and finally figured I must have dropped it back up that trail (and I mean UP). I head back for about 10 mins before I finally recalled that it was under my hat all the while.

 

At least nobody was with me to share that embarrassment and nobody ever found out.

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Most embarassing moment? Hmmm.

 

Right after I moved! I was headed to church on a Sunday, late afternoon, but wasn't sure where it was located. I missed the turn, kept on driving, then looked ahead - uh-oh, rickety old toll bridge across the Missouri River into Iowa! I hate bridges, so I took the next (and only) turn I could, right into a beautiful camping ground/park area. I had some time to spare, so I powered on the GPS - score! A cache only 400 feet away!

 

I got out of the car, started walking. It was such a short distance, I didn't bother to take my purse or cellphone. The cache seemed to be on a post sitting in a huge puddle of water - not good for dress shoes. Reluctantly decided to try again later, and that's when I realized that my car keys were still sitting in the ignition, and the doors were locked. Spare key was in the purse. In the car. Along with the cell phone to call for help.

 

Luckily, a very helpful family group happened along, and let me use their cell phone, but I still nearly froze waiting for roadside assistance to arrive. Did I mention that I wasn't dressed for nighttime spring temps in Nebraska?

 

Oh, and the cache in question? Turned out to be the first stage of a 10 mile multi-cache.

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I round a curve in the narrow cartway coming up on the one and only parking space and my heart sinks. Someone is parked there. (expletive)…. I kinda slow the car down and try to figure out what’s going on. There is a guy sitting on the back of his station wagon, with the hatch top up. I think to myself….okay…..this is either a cacher or a fisherman, guess I’ll go figure out which. I pulled up along side the fellow and the following conversation ensued:

 

Me: “How ya doin’?”

 

The dude: “Pretty good, pretty good.”

 

Me: “Doin’ some fishin’ are ya?”

 

Dude: “Nope, I’m thinking.” (and he smiles)

 

Now at this point I think I have it all figured out, because I was thinking too. I was thinking how the heck I was going to get across the river alive and I figured so was he. I assume this dude is a cacher I haven’t met yet. Someone else in the click. I smile back in a “I’m going for that cache too” kind of way. Having this mindset, I proceed to utter one of the stupidest things that has ever come out of my mouth:

 

Me: (smiling) “Want a partner?”

 

The dude: “Sure!”

 

Me: “Cool, we can share the first to find!”

 

The dude: “First to what??”

 

It is at that moment it dawns on me that there was another possibility as to why this fellow would be out in this remote locale. He’s dressed rather well…..I look down at his shoes….designer. I thought that odd attire for crossing a river. I turn completely red and begin to stutter about geocaching and treasure hunting. I felt like a complete idiot. He seemed bummed. I told him I was going to turn the car around and park down the road and cross the river for the cache. He says “okay”. Great. I turn the car around and take off. No way was I putting on a show for mister smiley.

 

 

Wait....so he thought you wanted to pick him up? He wasn't there for the cache at all? Did this happen in New Jersey? (I noticed that's where you're from). Cause I'm from Jersey and there's no way I'd walk up to some guy in a station wagon and offer to share ANYTHING :D Smooth getaway, though.

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Wait....so he thought you wanted to pick him up? He wasn't there for the cache at all? Did this happen in New Jersey? (I noticed that's where you're from). Cause I'm from Jersey and there's no way I'd walk up to some guy in a station wagon and offer to share ANYTHING :D Smooth getaway, though.

 

Yep, he wanted a date....new nothing of caching...and it was here in Jersey.

I've met other cachers on the trail before and it's always been a pleasant experience.

This guy was no cacher. I learned later this area is a poplular spot for such.....activities.

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Here's mine! :D

 

Country Cache

 

I think the only thing more embarrassing than this would have been if you ripped your pants climbing under the fence!! LOL

 

Well, yes, it would be more em"bare-a**"ing. I should know:

 

Get Up, Stand Up

 

But I can top it yet again with a "wee" bit of a dribble...

 

Accuracy? Who needs it.

 

Elf

Edited by multicolor1
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I think the most embarrassing moment for me was when a buddy and I were caching in a park a few years ago. We came to the last cache in the woods. It was in behind a huge thicket of bushes adjacent to the parking lot. I remember my buddy finding it after crawling around and shaking the bushes. He yelled out that he had to bend way over to get it. Anyhow, after we looged it we put the cache back we both came out from behind the bush and there were about 10 motorcycle dudes on their bikes giving us "the look." :D We both had the same reaction like it's not what you think. It was embarrassing. Now we laugh about it.

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I think I topped my first post.

 

It's been raining and flooding a lot in Texas. There was this one cache that I DNFed, but after reading more logs was determined to go back for. I tried several times to get to it, but the road to it was blocked off (and for good reason -- the road was a complete river).

 

Well, the rain went down and the road cleared. But there was still a creek between the road and the cache site. There was a concrete bridgeway to walk over, but unfortunately, the water in the creek had risen just above it. But we were soooo close and I waited so long. So I was like, what could it be, 2 or 3 inches above bridge level? Big deal, we'll get our shoes wet.

 

We start walking, first Mr. Wordnerd, then Wordnerd Jr. who kept slipping and sliding (the concrete was totally slimed with creek grunge). I laughed at them and then stepped onto the bridge. Turns out the water was more like 4 or 5 inches. I completely slipped onto my geobutt, got saturated from my feet to my ribs. Then, as if that wasn't bad enough, the slimy sludge left no traction at all on the concrete so every time I tried to stand up, I slipped right back down again. I ended up having to crawl across to the other side, which was all muddy.

 

There were people who lived in the neighborhood all out in their yards, cleaning up debri left over from the flood. They got to see the whole show. :blink: I did find the cache, although it did require a bit of fence-climbing. I made Mr. Wordnerd do it. I figured, I did the swimming. He could do the climbing. If we got Wordnerd Jr. on a bicycle, we'd have a triathalon cache.

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We were hunting a micro in a pile of rocks. The rocks are on a four foot slope from a park to a beach. I, being the graceful creature that I am, stepped on a loose rock and went head over heels into the sand. I must have looked like a complete moron. Here's the log. . .

 

DNF T-a 'spill', L-humiliated.

 

Thom

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Late one evening I noticed a new cache in my area - only 1-2 miles away and I had to give it a try. My husband said "have fun but take your pepper spray with you". So I grabbed it on the way out and stuck it in my front pocket. When I got to GZ, and looked around a bit, I noticed my leg was really cold, but since it was pretty cold that night, I ignored it at first. Pretty soon, I could not ignore it any longer and realized what had happened - the pepper spray/tear gas cannister had leaked (the saftey lock was still on) all over my leg and I had given myself a nasty chemical burn.

 

Well, I had to give up on my search and head back home and once I got there I did an internet search on what to do about pepper spray burns. I couldn't find any reliable medical info, so I tried washing my leg really well and went to bed. I only slept a fitful few hours - I kept dreaming that my leg was burning through and through, so I got up only to find the redness was spreading and it still hurt like the dickens! I gave in and called the nurse hotline for my medical plan and tried to explain what I did. The nurse was really nice and had worked in jails before so she had some experience with pepper spray burns. She said it should have lasted only an hour or so, and told me to call the poison control center. More explaining to the great guy there who came back with some useful information - put a dairy product like sour cream or plain yogurt on it for 10 minutes and then some hydrocortisone or aloe and added "now go out get yourself a new cannister of pepper spray, girl!". It worked like a charm, and I was able to get STF later that morning. I never thought that I would need to call the poison control center because of geocaching, but you just never know!

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I had to add to this topic. Last summer I was hitting many covered bridge caches in Parke County. I started off the morning with a quick I.S.Q. and went for my first covered bridge. Mind you this is out in the country where no cell phone works, the roads are gravel and the nearest farm houses are a mile apart. Well as I approached the cache I pulled my truck off the side of the road as usual and turned off the truck. I reached down for a trade item and my GPS when things got exciting...

 

I had no clue that when I parked my truck, both tires in the tall grass were right next to a very deep ditch that was real sandy. First the front tire caved in then a few seconds later the rear tire dropped in. Still in shock from the moment I started the truck and punched the 4-wheel drive button. When I looked over and saw grass sticking through the open passenger window I knew that was not going to work.

 

After extracting myself from the truck, I found my truck lying gently on the side with the left side wheels in the air. Well not to bore everyone too much more, I guessed right and walked to the right farm house and called a tow truck. As I waited for it, I did find the cache. I guess the funniest part was when the tow truck driver showed up I had to explain how it happened and why. Then, in the middle of no where mind you, when the crowd formed from neighbouring farms to watch the extraction, I had to explain 5 more times.

 

I still found 10 more caches that day.

 

RSFish1

 

PS-The truck survived without a scratch on the paint or a single dent. Bad news was that 4 months later I had to replace some bent suspension parts.

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My logs for this cache:

 

August 24, 2004 by drat19

 

In town on business.

 

Well, this turned out to be a disturbing experience.

 

First of all, I worked out the apparent coordinates beforehand, and they took me to an appropriately-named park, so I was feeling confident.

 

I arrived at the park, and followed my arrow into wooded territory a bit tougher than the 1-star terrain rating, but I mounted a brief search anyway, and failed to find the clues nor the cache.

 

At that point, 2 roughly-8-yr-old little boys entered the woods and came up to me, and I said a friendly hello, but otherwise tried to keep my distance, as at age 40 and 6'3" and 300 lbs, I probably fit the exact demographic profile of a child-stalker...and here I am, in a quiet neighborhood park, alone, wandering around doing 'something weird' in the woods.

 

One of the boys seemed relieved that I was apparently friendly...he commented that his friend thought I was a 'bad guy'. All I could think was: That's PRECISELY how child-stalkers get their prey! The other boy then commented that he and his friend were on their way to their 'special hiding place', which he pointed to as being a couple hundred feet further into the woods. Again I'm thinking to myself, 'Oh my God, this kid trusts this big stranger alone in the woods and tells him where their 'special hiding place' is?? This is a news story and amber alert waiting to happen, and I don't want to see a composite sketch of me on the TV News as a suspect!'

 

I decided to get as far away from these kids as possible, otherwise I'd probably be writing this from a jail cell after having been mistakenly arrested for child-stalking! (The bright red car that Avis rented me this week wouldn't help matters any!) I retreated back to the main area of the park and re-read the cache page and some previous logs, and realized I must have goofed up one or more of the coord puzzles. I started visually scouting around for the correct location, and at that point a Mom came running into the park and into the woods to retrieve her little boy.

 

At that point I elected to let this cache pass, and I jumped into my car and got the heck outta there. As I was driving off I saw the Mom walking her little boy back to their house. I don't know what became of the other boy.

 

I'm always uncomfortable as a solo cacher with my physical and demographic characteristics when I drive up to a location and discover it's a park where small kids like to play. This one here is as close as I've come to where it could have been a real problem. I'm just glad I was able to recognize how the circumstantial evidence might have looked if something worse had happened (by someone else), and got outta there. I also hope that Mom has a long talk with her kid about 'friendly strangers in the woods'.

 

-Dave R., Biloxi, MS

 

August 26, 2004 by drat19

 

I made a drive-by attempt on this one again this evening, after my debacle on Aug 24.

No kids visible this time around, but a couple (adults) sitting at the nearby picnic table, with no plans to move along. I tried the ol' 'wait out the muggles and WILL them to get the h*ll outta there' technique from my car, but they didn't catch the vibe. Had to drive away.

 

I MAY make another attempt at this next week in order to get a payoff for working the puzzle, but I fear this may be one of those 'cursed caches' for this cacher (we all have 'em!).

 

-Dave R., Biloxi, MS

 

August 30, 2004 by drat19

 

Back in town on business.

 

If you haven't read my adventures on this cache from last week, please scroll down to my logs all the way back to Aug 24, first. (And note well that in the middle of all this, another cacher came along and found this cache with no problem and no incident.)

 

The saga continues. Armed with further scouting reports that apparently the coords might be a little off on this one (depending on sat conditions), I returned to this cache yet again hoping for (finally!) a quick grab. I made this my first stop of the evening after work in Union Cross. It would turn out to be my last stop of the evening.

 

A torrential downpour started while I was driving here, about halfway to this location. I drove through it, figuring it would probably let up by the time I got here. Upon my arrival, it was still pouring down rain, and would you believe there was a geomuggle in place. However, luckily, he was merely taking shelter from the rain under the picnic table canopy. As the rain started to subside a few minutes later, he indeed walked off.

 

OK, so now I've got the park to myself, there are no geomuggles or kids or anything to keep me from finally getting this cache off my list...or so I thought.

 

I approached the apparent hide area, scoping out a couple of possible hide spots near the road, and didn't spot it. However, I spotted a likely hide spot just down the hill from street level and across the trail below. There was a bit of flooding on the trail, but it appeared I had a spot where I could cross. I scooted down the hill and stepped onto the "dirt" crossing.

 

Well, the "dirt" crossing turned out to be a layer of brown dirt/dust all right...ON TOP OF WAIST DEEP WATER!! Let me repeat that: WAIST DEEP WATER!!! Now I've been to this park 3 times already...I don't remember a 3-foot-deep low point at this spot...what the heck is up with THIS?? So anyway, I'm waist deep in this muck, in utter stunned disbelief. (Luckily, I did think to change to my caching pants and boots before leaving the office...at least I haven't destroyed a pair of work slacks.) I managed to push off on a nearby tree and scoot back up onto the hill, propping myself up with said tree.

 

So now I'm standing there trying to figure out how to get up the rest of this rather steep hill without falling back down into the WAIST DEEP WATER!! (Needless to say, on this 1-star terrain cache, I elected to leave my hike/pokey stick in my rental car.) I studied my options and decided to try to push off with the tree and hope to reach a nearby hanging tree branch, and hope it'll hold my 300 lbs long enough and strongly enough to allow me to pull myself up.

 

Thankfully, I reached it on the push-off, and somehow it held. I pulled myself up, finished scaling the hill back up to the street, and walked (sloshed!) my way back to my rental car, just shaking my head and muttering to myself over and over again, 'OH. MY. GOD. OH. MY. GOD. ... ...'.

 

Now I've gotta figure out how to drive back to my hotel without soaking my car seat, because I don't want to drive around in this rental car all week on a wet seat. I study my belongings (haven't checked into my hotel for the week yet at this point) and decide to empty out my knapsack and use it as a seat cushion.

 

I arrive at my hotel and have to wait behind 4 of the SLOWEST PEOPLE in the WHOLE EFF'ING WORLD, evidently trying to negotiate a mortgage while checking in to the hotel...so that wet wedgie I have is just feeling ever more delightful every minute. I also have to stand amidst this throng of people, holding my head up high, with all pride and no shame, with my wet pants slapped up against my body, and my shirt all grimy, and no doubt smelling just delightful as well.

 

I finally check in, grab a shower, change clothes, and bring my pants to the hotel's clothes dryer (thank goodness they have one!), and call it a night.

 

AAAAAUUUUUUGGGHHHHHHH!!!

 

-Dave R., Biloxi, MS

 

August 31, 2004 by drat19

 

Re my Aug 30 log below: I have since been informed/reminded by the locals about the CREEK at that low spot, which I conveniently forgot about!!

 

-Dave R., Biloxi, MS

 

August 31, 2004 by drat19

 

Still in town on business.

 

If you have not read all the logs leading up to this triumph, I URGE you to scroll down, and use the 'View All Logs' link if needed, all the way back to Aug 24.

 

Victory at last!! Y'all didn't think this compulsive traveling cacher was ready to give up yet, didja?

 

I got off work a bit late this evening, so I didn't even plan to do any caching today...except for a stop here. I didn't even change into my now-dry (see logs below) caching pants and boots. I got additional intel from the cache hider as well as several local helpers who evidently realized from my previous logs what a pathetic excuse for a cacher I've been on this one.

 

Upon my arrival at the site for the 4th time, yesterday's flooding had indeed subsided, and the creek which I had forgotten about was indeed right where I now remembered it from my first visit. Furthermore, the cache was also indeed right where I had overlooked it on my first visit, and right where I intended to look again for it on yesterday's visit.

 

With no onlookers this time, I retrieved the cache, brought it over to the nearby picnic area for processing (TNLNSL, and by the way the cache was still damp and could probably use an owner maint visit), and returned it to its hide spot.

 

Thanks for yet another adventure on a 1-star 'gimme'.

 

-Dave R., Biloxi, MS

 

The very same week, I had the following experiences on this cache:

 

August 24, 2004 by drat19

 

(PART 1 of 2.)

 

In town on business.

 

So the question on everyone's mind is: How does a 1500+ Find cacher come up with a DNF on a 2-star ammo can (a rare non-micro!) that everyone else has reported was a 'quick find'?

 

3 words: OH. MY. GOD.

 

It started innocently enough. I had just finished off Honeychile's nearby puzzle Letterbox, 'Prosperity' (which also took me longer than expeced...because I'm a DIPSH*T...but that's another story!). Well, I peek down at my GPS and discover I'm less than 0.1 mile from this alleged 'Walk in the Park'. Well, it's getting to be around 8PM with darkness rapidly falling, but it's right within walking distance of my current location (my car is parked 0.25 mi away, of course!), and I'm feeling Prosperous after the just-completed cache find, and it's an ammo can everyone else has reported was a 'quick grab'...no problem, right?

 

OK, now's a good time for the key visual elements: I'm 6'3" and 300 lbs, and I'm carrying my hike/pokey stick, and my brand-new Garmin GPSMAP 60CS around my neck on my handy-dandy neck lanyard. The lanyard attaches onto the hook on the back of the 60CS, which in turn is attached to the battery door on the back of the unit.

 

I follow my GPS arrow, and for some reason it puts me in a bunch of ivy covered ground within 25 ft of the target. It's around 100 ft off the main trail so I'm out of sight of muggles, but it's also under a bit of tree canopy, so the darkness that's falling is even more dark at this spot.

 

I start stepping through the ivy and poking around, and run into a couple of spider webs I of course couldn't see. I flail them out of my face with my hand and pokey stick and press on.

 

Within 30 seconds I feel a sting/bite on the back of my neck...ouch! Then another on my arm, and then one THROUGH MY SHIRT on my back! Holy cr*p, have I stepped on a bee hive?? I start flailing through the overgrowth and overhanging tree and bush limbs out to the nearby clearing (15 ft away), slapping myself every which way to get whatever insects are biting me off me.

 

At the clearing, I look down and there's A SNAKE slithering by at my feet! Now, I'm a city kid, so I dunno if it's the 'bad' kind of snake, or not...and I dunno if it has just slithered by, or if it was on my pants legs, shoes, or back (!), and I've knocked it off me. All I know is that I've been getting bitten by SOMETHING(s), and now here's a SNAKE!!

 

So, I've got a complete case of the willies at this point, and I decide to forget about this alleged 'easy grab' cache and just cut my losses and call it an evening.

 

(CONTINUED IN ABOVE LOG ENTRY...PART 2 of 2!)

 

August 24, 2004 by drat19

 

(PART 2 of 2. IMPORTANT!!! PLEASE READ PART 1 of 2, the log entry below, FIRST!)

 

At that point I look down at my neck lanyard. You guessed it...my brand new $500+ GPS got its battery door unhooked during all the flailing in the ivy, and I'm standing there holding a lanyard with a battery door hanging off it. Darkness is falling, and my adrenaline is already running miles per second from the stinging bites and snake sighting, and now I realize my brand new GPS is somewhere in that ivy where this fiasco began...so I've gotta get back in there and find it!

 

Oh, I'm a prepared traveling cacher...I travel with a high-power lithium/xenon pocket flashlight. Yep, it's sitting in my backpack in my car, parked 0.25 mi away.

 

So, with what little ambient light is left, I dive back into the ivy. I assess my situation and realize that if I don't make this 'Find' within 5 or 10 more minutes, I'm going to completely run out of ambient light and I'll have no choice but to retreat to my car for the flashlight for a full-darkness search. By this point, I also start feeling more of those apparent insect bites on my body...I still had never determined if I had uncovered a bee hive in there. Yep, the potential loss of my new and expensive GPS, plus the bug bites, plus the snake I had possibly pushed off my body...I don't even want to think about my pulse rate at this point. And being in the wonderful physical shape I'm in (reminder: my height/weight!), I hope I don't have a coronary at this point.

 

Somehow, I hear a faint 'beep' that I surmise is the 'weak sat signal' beep of my GPS, so I focus my search on that area. However, it was a single beep, and I have No Joy. All the while, I'm flailing the bugs/bites, and jumping around while poking the area with my hike/pokey stick.

 

Finally, after about 7 minutes, SOMEHOW I spot the shiny edge of one of the batteries, luckily still in the GPS. I found it! So, I calm down considerably.

 

I exit the ivy and the woods back out to the walking track. I still feel stinging/biting on me, and at that point I spot some kind of spider on my arm. Now, city kid Dave doesn't know the 'good' spiders from the 'bad' ones...all I know is that I'm getting stung and bitten and there's a spider on me. I flail again (this time with witnesses, back on the walking trail), and I THINK I've gotten it off me...but I never saw it fall off...it could have gotten tucked into my shirt sleeve, I dunno.

 

I flail and gyrate my way all the way back out to my car, barely calming down during this walk/run. Back in the car, I don't SEEM to have any more creatures on me person, but the bites I've already sustained are stinging at various levels of discomfort. And I can already see the welts/hives starting to form around them on my arms.

 

I call it a night and drive back to my hotel.

 

Thanks for the 'easy grab'.

 

-Dave R., Biloxi, MS

 

August 25, 2004 by drat19

 

Referencing my Aug 24 logs below:

 

I have been informed that there's a different (read: correct) hook location for the neck lanyard on the back of the 60CS that I wasn't using (and didn't notice...evidently the back of that GPS is so darned big (about 6 inches-by-3-inches) that I overlooked it). I have corrected that problem.

 

-Mr. Dipsh*t, er, Dave R., Biloxi, MS

 

August 26, 2004 by drat19

 

Well, I returned to the scene of the fiasco this evening, after my Aug 24 debacle (see logs below).

Learning from last time, I made this one a drive-up this time, and during my search I kept a firm grip on my GPS, despite the fact that I corrected my lanyard hook problem.

 

Tree canopy still an issue here, but I was able to make the find within around 7 minutes. TNLNSL.

 

Glad to conquer this one after all I went through for it!

 

-Dave R., Biloxi, MS

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Well I can't match that last one, but as for a real embarrassing moment, this has to be hard to beat.

 

While signing the cache log, I heard some horses approaching, so I quicky bundled the cache back into into it's hidey-hole and tried to look innocent by taking some photos down the lane. A surley old biddy on a horse came up and asked me what I was taking pictures of. I made up some story about the area being of historic interest and I needed some photos for my research.

 

The response was "That's strange, I was born in that house over there and I have lived here all my life. I wasn't aware of anything historical about this area. Tell me about it"

 

DOH!

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