Adam-Eve Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 Today, Adam and I went out to a park that had three caches in close proximity to one another. The first one we had to fight tree limbs and thorny vines to locate the cache that actually had an easier route to it with no bushwhacking required. The second one was on the edge of the woods near a trail (the trail I suggested to Adam when we first started we should use instead of walking into the woods). But I being the faithful geocaching sidekick followed him into the trees. The third one we had no problems getting to, because it was out in the open. Have you ever had any experiences like this? P.S. Men sometimes you should listen to us ladies. Quote Link to comment
+WRASTRO Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 We have experienced similar situations and have experienced the opposite as well on many outings. Sometimes one cacher has the right idea and sometimes a different cacher has the right idea. Sometimes both/all have the right idea and at other times both/all have the wrong idea. The fun thing is that three out of the four scenarios equate to finds! Be glad you have such good geosense and expect that Adam's will develop as you both become more proficient in the game. Quote Link to comment
+boda Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 We cache with another couple. At one cache the men (that would be the other guy and I) climbed a virtual cliff to get to a cache. It was a bit sporty, to say the least. Half way up, we could not communicate with our wives down below any more. When we got to the top, we found a road about 25 feet away - and on the road, our smiling wives. This has happened several times. I guess we don't learn. Quote Link to comment
+doingitoldschool Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 There is a pair of caches nearby that are close to nice hiking trails. I went for one, thinking I was going for the other, and found the cache I wasn't looking for. I couldn't figure out why it didn't fit the cache description that I was carrying with me. When I went to log it, I realized I had found the wrong one. Then I go with friends to get the other one, bushwhack through 200 yards of brush, and stumble onto the former logging road/trail that the cache is just three feet off of. Sheesh. Quote Link to comment
+plumbrokeacres Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 You say Bushwhacking like it's a bad thing Quote Link to comment
+TheAlabamaRambler Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 Been there, done that... so often it's embarrassing! I finally learned, though I hate generalizations, that there is some merit to the thought "The hider is as lazy as I am". Once I figured that out things got a lot easier... when faced with that steep hill, ravine or thicket I remember that thought and look for the easy route... there almost always is one! Quote Link to comment
+Isonzo Karst Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 (edited) "The hider is as lazy as I am". Oh yeah a person might want to get that tattooed on a forearm..... Unless there's specific warning of bushwhacking, or a high terrain rating, I figure the hider sauntered in on a trail. It's there somewhere. Which won't stop me from the "hang the torpedoes" approach at times...... and then the sheepish return on the well maintained trail, or old two track. Edited March 4, 2008 by Isonzo Karst Quote Link to comment
+BCandMsKitty Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 We went for a cache that was in "Joe's Bush". The description told us to park on the south side of the road. We approached from the West,the GPSr neeedle pointed straight South into the center of the bush, so we stopped the car and bushwhacked 1/4 mile tothe cache and back. Got in the car and drove on East to the corner of the bush, where there was a parking lot (on the South side of the road) and the start of trails into the bush! Had a good laugh over thet one Quote Link to comment
+9Key Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 Pay close attention to the terrain rating on caches. If you're climbing a cliff or bushwacking 100 feet on a cache that has a terrain rating of 1.5 you're doing something terribly wrong. Quote Link to comment
+Airhead-kb Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 Terrain 4 going in, 1.5 coming out. Been there, done that. Most memorable was when I missed a path off the paved trail. Fought my way through some good FL triple canopy jungle to the cache (wishing I had a machette). Found the box, signed the log, walked out on the horse path to the parking area. Quote Link to comment
+eagletrek Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 Isn't it all about the approach?????? Quote Link to comment
Neos2 Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 Invariably, if I bushwhack to the cache, I find the trail ten feet away from it-- on my way out. Usually a very nice trail, too--with bark chips or mulch, a scenic view, and many fewer thorn bushes or stinging nettles. Quote Link to comment
+NYPaddleCacher Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 Today, Adam and I went out to a park that had three caches in close proximity to one another. The first one we had to fight tree limbs and thorny vines to locate the cache that actually had an easier route to it with no bushwhacking required. The second one was on the edge of the woods near a trail (the trail I suggested to Adam when we first started we should use instead of walking into the woods). But I being the faithful geocaching sidekick followed him into the trees. The third one we had no problems getting to, because it was out in the open. Have you ever had any experiences like this? P.S. Men sometimes you should listen to us ladies. It is certainly understandable that the availability of a commercial GPS unit would be the bane to women everywhere. You all know how we (men) will never ask for directions. Well, now we have a legitimate reason for this alleged inadequacy. With global positioning system device we don't need no stinkin' directions. Quote Link to comment
+bettsbugs Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 (edited) This is our log for our biggest 'adventure' to date. I wish I could say we learned our lesson, but...... "If there is a hard way to do this cache, we did it. First lesson of geocaching: a straight line to the cache is not always the easiest means of getting to the cache. The cache was 'only' .16 miles from where we parked the car and off we head to find it. Being the lazy cachers we are, we decided that heading straight to the cache would be the best method so off we go (mistake #1). As we were climbing, crawling, and snaking our way through various bushes, flood piles, and trees, we kept asking ourselves if the cache was on this side of the creek and how the heck to get across the creek. We kept moving upstream in the hopes that the creek actually wound around so much that the cache was on the near side and not the far side. Eventually, after much growning and complaining, we realized that we did indeed have to cross the creek. We were now within 180 feet of the cache and decided that we couldn't possibly give up now. We looked for a narrow part of the creek and decided that if we dropped a very old 'stump' into that part, we could 'jump' across (mistake #2). The 'stump' was fairly unstable, so I steadied it while Bug stood on it and jumped. Yeah! He made it. But now how was I going to cross with noone to stabalize the 'stump' for me? Well, the answer was I could cross, but not without getting my feet wet. After I made a brief attempt to stand on the log to get ready to jump, one of my feet slipped and I ended up with a very wet shoe. After that I realized I need to cut my losses and just wade across in order to not to hurt myself or end up completely wet. So I did. Finally across the water, I asked Bug where the cache was from here as we had done alot of direction changing to get to where we were. He pointed towards the cache. As I looked in the direction my attention was drawn to the very steep, mossy, log covered slope. "Up there?" I asked. He nodded. Once again having 'gotten this far' we didn't see turning back around. Up the slope we go clawing our way around logs and through devil's club to the top of the ridge and ground zero at long last. Huffing and puffing with my shoes squishing as I walked we start looking for the cache. Of course, we had left the paperwork back at the car...(mistake #3). As we were wandering around looking for the cache with our GPS bouncing all over the place, we look up and see a bench. And a nice trail leading to the bench. We did locate the cache as our GPS finally settled down and we were too stubborn to give up at this point so success was had. And we followed the nice trail through the woods and over the bridge back to our car." Edited March 4, 2008 by bettsbugs Quote Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 ... "The hider is as lazy as I am".... My generalization is much the same. "The Hider didn't kill themselves hiding this cache so I don't need to kill myself seeking it.". Yours is so much shorter. Quote Link to comment
+oldsoldier Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 Eve (ok, I am assuming that Eve is the female one who wrote this...but, you can never be sure... ), I do this at LEAST 50% of the time I am caching. I bushwhack because it is "shorter", and spend time busting through brambles, getting stuck, stung, poison ivy, etc, only to find the trail AFTER I get to the cache. My nephew curses my name, I am sure. I attribute it to my caveman ancestors; after all, THEY didnt have trails.... Or GPS's come to think of it. Quote Link to comment
Adam-Eve Posted March 5, 2008 Author Share Posted March 5, 2008 (edited) Today, Adam and I went out to a park that had three caches in close proximity to one another. The first one we had to fight tree limbs and thorny vines to locate the cache that actually had an easier route to it with no bushwhacking required. The second one was on the edge of the woods near a trail (the trail I suggested to Adam when we first started we should use instead of walking into the woods). But I being the faithful geocaching sidekick followed him into the trees. The third one we had no problems getting to, because it was out in the open. Have you ever had any experiences like this? P.S. Men sometimes you should listen to us ladies. It is certainly understandable that the availability of a commercial GPS unit would be the bane to women everywhere. You all know how we (men) will never ask for directions. Well, now we have a legitimate reason for this alleged inadequacy. With global positioning system device we don't need no stinkin' directions. GPS directions do not always work either. We have TomTom and we used it once while driving around Atlanta and after several U-Turns I was ready to throw TomTom out the window! Edited March 5, 2008 by Adam-Eve Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 I have a few caches where if you follow the GPS the terrain is 3.5 or 4 stars, but if you stick to the trail, maybe 2 or 2.5 stars. I rate them at the latter. We cache owners are lazy and rarely are we going to take the hard way to place the cache, so keep that in mind. If the page says the cache is 2 star terrain and you find yourself crawling through brambles, rhododendron, wading through a swamp or clambering over a boulder field, you can be fairly certain you should have stayed with the trail. Quote Link to comment
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