Washed away, but not washed out.

[+~Mark~]

After ten inches of snow got melted by four inches of rain I became a little concerned with my Close To The Path GC19HPH cache. Well without giving up to much information we will just say the cache is inherently buoyant, and with the river higher than I have ever seen it I figured on the inevitable.

 

Well the water went down, and after work I went to the closest trailhead to see what I could see. I knew after about a hundred yards that I was in trouble, when the earth took on a scrubbed look. There was nothing on the ground. All the leaves that covered the forest floor were washed away leaving a muddy mess. The normal path was gone, so I just made a b-line to the cache. I had to cross a couple of new small creeks that I am not sure are just from runoff, or are now permanently there.

 

Did I mention there was mud everywhere? Well by the time I got to where the cache was placed I was covered in it. Sure enough when I got there my cache was gone. If I would have put it five feet to the left it would not have been touched, but where it was ended up being the very apex of the flood waters. I gave a quick look around, but I knew how hard the water rushed through the rest of the area, and this cache could quite possibly be in the Mississippi by now. So with my head hung low, and my feet slipping with every step I started walking out of the mud. I came to a creek crossing that I had to climb over a fallen tree, and sure enough about three feet out of the water pressed into a bunch of debris was my cache! I could not believe how lucky I was. The only thing I had to do was climb down to the cache, and retrieve it. Yea, right the only thing I could do was walk out into the small stream and pull it from its entanglement. Did I mention that the runoff was melted snow water, at least it washed the mud off my pants. I got my cache, and put it five feet to the left. Now I am making sure it blends into the scenery when I notice this deer watching me. I can imagine the deer was thinking “What an idiot” It stood there long enough for me to take a great picture, then snorted and ran away.

 

Well the cache is back up, and my shoes are dry so thinking back on it I think I had more fun retrieving my washed out cache than I did putting it there in the first place.

[+Arndtwe]

After ten inches of snow got melted by four inches of rain I became a little concerned with my Close To The Path GC19HPH cache. Well without giving up to much information we will just say the cache is inherently buoyant, and with the river higher than I have ever seen it I figured on the inevitable.

 

Well the water went down, and after work I went to the closest trailhead to see what I could see. I knew after about a hundred yards that I was in trouble, when the earth took on a scrubbed look. There was nothing on the ground. All the leaves that covered the forest floor were washed away leaving a muddy mess. The normal path was gone, so I just made a b-line to the cache. I had to cross a couple of new small creeks that I am not sure are just from runoff, or are now permanently there.

 

Did I mention there was mud everywhere? Well by the time I got to where the cache was placed I was covered in it. Sure enough when I got there my cache was gone. If I would have put it five feet to the left it would not have been touched, but where it was ended up being the very apex of the flood waters. I gave a quick look around, but I knew how hard the water rushed through the rest of the area, and this cache could quite possibly be in the Mississippi by now. So with my head hung low, and my feet slipping with every step I started walking out of the mud. I came to a creek crossing that I had to climb over a fallen tree, and sure enough about three feet out of the water pressed into a bunch of debris was my cache! I could not believe how lucky I was. The only thing I had to do was climb down to the cache, and retrieve it. Yea, right the only thing I could do was walk out into the small stream and pull it from its entanglement. Did I mention that the runoff was melted snow water, at least it washed the mud off my pants. I got my cache, and put it five feet to the left. Now I am making sure it blends into the scenery when I notice this deer watching me. I can imagine the deer was thinking “What an idiot” It stood there long enough for me to take a great picture, then snorted and ran away.

 

Well the cache is back up, and my shoes are dry so thinking back on it I think I had more fun retrieving my washed out cache than I did putting it there in the first place.

Ahh, the joys of spring geocaching......

[+the hermit crabs]

Now I am making sure it blends into the scenery when I notice this deer watching me. I can imagine the deer was thinking “What an idiot”

[+~Mark~]

Here is the picture I took of the deer that was watching me flounder in the mud. Now if that deer isn’t thinking “what an idiot” then you tell me what it is thinking.

 

Edited March 12, 2008 by Bigdaddy Mark

[+joranda]

I wonder how many caches in the earlier spring get washed away and are found by muggles later once they are left out in the open. Probably more than you think.

[+succotash]

Just noticed this thread. Last summer we found a floating ammo can (originally placed in 2001!) that had been dislodged from its hiding place. It's hard to say enough about ammo cans as quality cache containers! CCC Cache

[+Kiwi Nomad]

We had an event during the weekend and I over heard someone talking about a cache that got washed out (from near a river inland) in a flood and was latter found on a nearby beach.

 

edit to add it was found by a muggle still intact

Edited June 11, 2008 by Kiwi Nomad

[+deb3day]

Here is the picture I took of the deer that was watching me flounder in the mud. Now if that deer isn’t thinking “what an idiot” then you tell me what it is thinking.

 

 

Deer is saying "They should have hid it over here in these logs!!!"

[+climbstuff]

How romantic...

 

 

 

[+Moore9KSUcats]

I had a letterbox on a nearby trail, that took a similar trip.

 

I thought it was placed high enough to escape any water, but a year ago or so, we had a flood in that river area. I went to check on the letterbox, and sure enough... it was gone. It was hidden in a little hollow under some brush and brambles.

 

Very disappointed, I stood up, turned around....

 

and spotted it about 10 feet away! It had landed on a pile of tiny wood chips, piled up by the flood waters. It was right behind a tree, and the camoflauge paint it had on (brown spray paints, and other natural colors), made it blend in well.

 

It was in a Lock-n-lock container, and stayed nice and dry.

 

I keep wondering if someone will find the ammo can we placed as a cache on about June 23, 2007.... just days before a massive flood event hit central Texas... it was placed out at Lake Georgetown, and we thought... high enough to avoid any rising water.

 

Well, the flooding closed the lake for probably 4 months, or more.... when we went back a few days after the flood, we couldn't get anywhere NEAR the cache area... when we got back to search after the water receded, it was gone... we searched in a number of areas... but, being an ammo can, it could have floated across the lake, too...

 

That poor cache didn't even get a chance to be found before it got washed away.. we hadn't finished the write-up before the flood..

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...ae-4ed257409b30

Edited June 15, 2008 by Moore9KSUcats