Extreme weather caching

[+Jedi Cacher]

I had 2 cachers find my newest cache this past week, GC1JRDY , and the weather was bitterly cold. The temps ranged from -5 to -13 with 40 to 50 mph winds putting the windchill at around -35. To get to the cache it is a 3 mile roundtrip hike over a ridgeline where you are completely exposed to the elements. My hats are off to these guys as they are true stud geocachers.

 

What are the most extreme weather conditions you cached in?

[+Isonzo Karst]

I don't recall going out to find a cache in any especially extreme weather - but I did have the bright idea to get out and try to rescue a couple of my own ammo cans along a flood prone river basin as a hurricane was approaching, which ended up being "during hurricane".

 

I did get back to my vehicle before the winds got above tropical storm force, but well after the air/water mix got pretty solid towards the water side. And the drive home (not too far) was crawling along, hoping to get an occasional glimpse of road between the bursts of air/water, trying to ride the right side, running on/off on/off the pavement edge, so I could be reasonably certain that I hadn't crossed centerline. I mostly had the road to myself, as lots of folks are brighter than that.........

[+Juicepig]

from my profile page:

 

Extremes:

North - N 53° 32.045, Edmonton, Alberta

South - N 42° 14.250, Windsor, Ontario

East - W 063° 31.444, Halifax Nova Scotia

West - W 116° 09.498, Kootenay BC

Lowest Elevation - (-2)m below sea level, Bay of Fundy New Brunswick

Highest Elevation - 2311m, Banff, Alberta

Heat - 37C (46C with humidity)

Cold - -27C (-37C with Windchill)

Largest Cache-Free zone - 52.5km

Oldest Cache - GC41 - 18 Jun 2000

Most caches in a day - 39 between Coastal Maine and Williamstown Vermont

[+MountainRacer]

The webcam on Mount Washington has some pretty interesting pics of cachers buffeted about by the high winds.

[+wkmccall]

I had 2 cachers find my newest cache this past week, GC1JRDY , and the weather was bitterly cold. The temps ranged from -5 to -13 with 40 to 50 mph winds putting the windchill at around -35. To get to the cache it is a 3 mile roundtrip hike over a ridgeline where you are completely exposed to the elements. My hats are off to these guys as they are true stud geocachers.

 

What are the most extreme weather conditions you cached in?

 

I love geocaching, but I would have to say; there's not a geocache out there (that's not holding a million dollars specifically for me) that would make me get out in that type of weather!

 

I've cache in the rain and cold (maybe 35 degrees), but what we call cold in the south would be anything below 50 degrees!

[CoyoteRed]

I don't care for cold weather. Add wind and I'm done. Sissy and I went out looking for some caches last week while on a trip. It was dark. It was just below freezing. It was windy. Didn't find either cache because we were simply too cold to have fun looking.

 

I think the coldest we've been caching is 25° on Christmas day to get this cache. No wind. Beautiful day. Fantastic hike. Trail to ourselves. What could have been better?

 

Been caching in high heat index temps and heavy rain. That's about it.

[+dakboy]

It wasn't terribly cold (low 20s) on Friday but anyone keeping an eye on the weather in the Northeast knows we got plenty of snow that day! Took me about 90 minutes to get home from the area we were caching in - in summer, it'd have been 30 minutes at most.

[+Kit Fox]

With a heat index of 120 degrees, a group of us foolishly went after Return to Scab Island. The actual temperature was around 105. All of us ran out of water, and I learned a valuable lesson that day.

 

We were only at the halfway point when this picture was taken. From then on, I always carry too much water. I normally carry close to a gallon of water when I hike these days.

 

Coldest was 30 degree wind blowing at 40 miles an hour, on an 8500 foot ridgeline. I climbed a 9399, and a 9198 foot peak, for find #1100. The cold was a bit miserable. I've bought about ten different underlayers since that hike, so I can adjust my clothing.

Edited December 22, 2008 by Kit Fox

[+StarBrand]

In The Deserts of Arizona - we hiked up a steep long hill to grab a cache when the sun was out and a temperature of 113F. One hour round trip with lots of water consumption.

 

One Frozen Winter day we found a cache and it was about -20 with a strong North Wind. About a 30 minute round trip walk.

 

Makes my range about 133 degreesF.

[XC_Tracker]

Death Valley was around 121 the day we found some cache. Melted the rubber off the outside of our eTrex.

 

The last few days in Cheyenne have been quite cold with the windchill, but can't think of any other caching trips with temps colder than 20 below...

[Clan Riffster]

My sister, her friend Donald and I took our kayaks out for a night paddle in Tampa Bay when Tropical Storm Barry hit, to nab "100 Islands of Cockroach Bay". This is the log describing our misadventure. As tropical storms go, Barry was a lightweight. I think the winds were only about 45-50 MPH when we were out there. Just enough to send the drenching rain sideways. They were in sit-in-sides, wearing full rain gear. I think their eye lashes might have gotten damp. I was paddling a sit-on-top wearing shorts & a T-shirt. It was a blast!

[+SkellyCA]

I live in Cali, so the worst I have done is about 43 degrees with light sprinkles. lol

[+The Jester]

With the right gear cold/hot temps aren't much of a problem - I've been in -40 (with windchill) skiing (SAR) and biking in 119 degree heat wave (no these were before caching) and have the gear to deal with such weather conditions. So I can't claim to have cached in extreme conditions - wildly varying conditions yes, extreme no.

 

A couple of days ago I was out caching in the low 20's with snow on the ground, some wind but the trees blocked most of it, but I wasn't bothered by it - a nice day to be caching.

[+ProjectFred325]

I once cached on a day that was sunny and a hot one, like 75, with sweltering 50 percent hummidity. The cache was a ammo can in the city, but hidden in a bush. I had to walk 10 steps, uphill mind you. I did get the FTF and the prize was a $20 bill.

 

No seriously, some of these war stories are awe inspiring. Way to go.

Edited December 22, 2008 by ProjectFred325

[+Ladybug Kids]

Hottest Temperature Cached: 109° F (43° C), Phoenix, Arizona

Coldest Temperature Cached: -48° F (-44° C), Fairbanks, Alaska

for a total spread of 157° F (87° C).

 

Those are actual dry bulb temperatures...no heat factors or wind chills added. And given a choice, I'd choose the colder temperature over the hotter temperature any day.

Edited December 22, 2008 by Ladybug Kids

[+TeamSeekAndWeShallFind]

I had 2 cachers find my newest cache this past week, GC1JRDY , and the weather was bitterly cold. The temps ranged from -5 to -13 with 40 to 50 mph winds putting the windchill at around -35. To get to the cache it is a 3 mile roundtrip hike over a ridgeline where you are completely exposed to the elements. My hats are off to these guys as they are true stud geocachers.

 

What are the most extreme weather conditions you cached in

 

 

We live in northeastern Illinois,(St.Charles,Kane County), and today we HID 8 caches in -5 temp and -30 windchill.Does that qualify for "extreme weather conditions" and or,"stud geocacher," status??

[+briansnat]

I've been out with the temps around zero a few times, but I think the most extreme weather was this cache on a mountain in Vt. Temps were only around freezing. In fact it was raining at the base of the mountain, snowing at the top and sleeting in the middle, but what made it extreme was the brutal wind.

 

Gusts were approaching hurricane force and as we were walking on the trail we could feel the ground moving up and down because the root systems of the trees were pushing up the ground as the trees were heeling over. A very weird feeling.

[+Isonzo Karst]

took our kayaks out for a night paddle in Tampa Bay when Tropical Storm Barry hit

 

I'm not going kayaking with Riffster. Ever. Nope.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

It wasn't terribly cold (low 20s) on Friday but anyone keeping an eye on the weather in the Northeast knows we got plenty of snow that day! Took me about 90 minutes to get home from the area we were caching in - in summer, it'd have been 30 minutes at most.

 

I had the same problem on Friday. Part of the problem was that everyone left work early because the storm was forecasted well in advance when meant everyone was on the road during the brunt of the storm and the few snowplows that were out couldn't clear the main roads. I left work at 11:15 to pick my son up from school (about a 20 mile r/t) and didn't get home until 1:30pm. I grabbed one cache yesterday on the way to a holiday party when the temps were in the low teens. I can't really say that I've done a lot of extreme weather caching but it's pretty common to be out caching in 90 degree weather with high humidity during the summer and in weather in the low teens during the winter.

[Clan Riffster]

I'm not going kayaking with Riffster. Ever. Nope.

You should try the Econ River at flood stage. What was once a sedate stream with overhead trees turns into a raging torrent with submerged trees.

Talk about an E-Ticket ride!

[Mr.Yuck]

Nothing to crazy here. I can remember finding a couple of suburban park caches on a business trip to Central N.J. in 5 degree F. temps, but only a couple of inches of snow. I once placed a cache when it was -2 Degrees F (I had a little clip-on thermometer on), that was about a 1 mile round trip. That was like 6:00 AM, but by the time the FTF hounds got there, it was well above freezing. I've yet to go on any crazy hikes in sub-zero temps like mentioned in the OP, but I'm definitely up for it. Trouble is finding those cold conditions without there being a foot or more of snow on the ground. I don't have a very good sucess rate of finding caches in a foot of snow.

[+The Hipster]

This past weekend I placed the final stage of my new 5 part multi/puzzle cache in a blizard, with temps right at 0° F. (5 inches of new snow blowing about) I even convinced a hearty geocache friend to beta test it with me shortly after.

I did bribe him with pizza & some new geocoins. (Grin) ET homes in on WJ's GZ

 

Last week I placed a couple of new caches after work in the dark. The temps were -7° but not much for wind.

All three of these caches are winter friendly! Hipster at WJ's Stage 2

Edited December 22, 2008 by The Hipster

[+9Key]

I don't think either of these are as extreme as some of the ones mentioned in the thread so far, but they were very memorable for me:

 

Hot ~

I went for a series of 4 hiking caches in early September one year. The temp was right around 100 and we have very high humidity here in north Texas so the heat index was probably around 110. I think it was about 4 miles round trip and I found the first three but I ran out of water on the way to the 4th one and almost passed out. Check out my picture on the log >> http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LU...99-e09b46b7a7dd

 

Cold ~

I was caching in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah with some friends while I was visiting my folks back in '03. Everyone had snowshoes except me (you don't get much call for snowshoes in Texas). I would take a step and sink all the way to my crotch. I only had jeans and long johns on my legs. It was so cold my GPS screen kept fading out. Here's Cache-U-Nuts log >> http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LU...4f-292688fda39e

 

Good times!!

[Skippermark]

The coldest I've ever cached in that I remember was 8 degrees with 25+ MPH winds.

 

The coldest I've ever hiked in was up Mt. Lafayette in the White Mountains, NH in January. Temp was -13 with 20 MPH winds, which made the windchill -35. Funny thing was, we got hot during the hike, but my special Mountain Dew froze in my pack. That was one of my most enjoyable/memorable hikes.

[Bougher]

Last January my human thought it would be a good idea to cache on XC skis. He headed out with an ammocan in his pack and came back 5 minutes later cussing and whining about how cold it was outside and how maybe he'll wait til it warmed up a bit.

 

He's not the sharpest tool in the shed, but he usually ends up making the right choice.

 

[Dinoprophet]

I don't remember the exact temperature, but I ski-o-cached with Clatmandu in single digit temps for these four caches about two years ago. I remember that my wife was shocked to see I had taken my gloves off in the picture on that third one.

[+flask]

saturday night we went for a cache in northern Vt.

 

it wasn't exceptionally cold (-10), and it wasn't very windy.

 

we have gone for many caches with longer hikes, colder temps, more wind, and just as late at night (2100).

 

we were properly prepared, had proper gear, an took proper safety precautions. sometimes even with that, you roll craps.

 

i rolled craps.

 

for reasons that we don't really understand, near the cache i developed a severe and sudden hypothermia and my friends had to build a fire to keep me alive until the rescue squad arrived.

 

we waited five hours and i was transported to a hospital at 0700 sunday morning.

 

i'd have to say that's my most extreme cache experience.

[+JonInNH1]

I did some caching this past Sunday during a snowstorm. A 2.7 mile snowshoe bushwack in 18 inches of powder for three caches. Temps were in the teens with constant wind gusts. I guess some people in warm climates might consider that extreme but the call of a few caches and a milestone can makes things less noticeable and quite enjoyable.

[besty45]

I've found caches before that have been covered in snow when the weather was like ten degrees outside.

[+Jedi Cacher]

My sister, her friend Donald and I took our kayaks out for a night paddle in Tampa Bay when Tropical Storm Barry hit, to nab "100 Islands of Cockroach Bay". This is the log describing our misadventure. As tropical storms go, Barry was a lightweight. I think the winds were only about 45-50 MPH when we were out there. Just enough to send the drenching rain sideways. They were in sit-in-sides, wearing full rain gear. I think their eye lashes might have gotten damp. I was paddling a sit-on-top wearing shorts & a T-shirt. It was a blast!

 

When I first started this thread I thought that the 2 cachers that found my cache in -35 to -45 windchill temps were stud geocachers, but so far Clan Riffster holds the mega stud geocacher title. Kayaking in a tropical storm is very outrageous to say the least. Visions of the movie "A Perfect Storm" came to mind.

[+Bad_CRC]

I have 2 travel bugs that the owners are understandably impatient to get moving. I went out 3 times, on different days, 2 of which were during blizzards, all of which I had a nasty flu which I am just now finally getting over. and all were DNFs on caches I'd previously visited.

 

been in the -20 windchill range here for a while now, and lots of snow, not good weather for caching.

 

not fun at all, but I was really trying to get those TBs going again. gonna try again today or tomorrow for a cache that just got published, so it should get some visitors.

[+Ambrosia]

saturday night we went for a cache in northern Vt.

 

it wasn't exceptionally cold (-10), and it wasn't very windy.

 

we have gone for many caches with longer hikes, colder temps, more wind, and just as late at night (2100).

 

we were properly prepared, had proper gear, an took proper safety precautions. sometimes even with that, you roll craps.

 

i rolled craps.

 

for reasons that we don't really understand, near the cache i developed a severe and sudden hypothermia and my friends had to build a fire to keep me alive until the rescue squad arrived.

 

we waited five hours and i was transported to a hospital at 0700 sunday morning.

 

i'd have to say that's my most extreme cache experience.

I'm glad you made it! (((HUGS)))

[AZcachemeister]

115-120ºF here in the low deserts of Arizona.

Just like the folks up north, it's not so bad IF YOU ARE PREPARED.

If you are not prepared, you get to do an impersonation of a raisin.

[+threenow24]

Here's last weekends caching weather.

[Clan Riffster]

so far Clan Riffster holds the mega stud geocacher title.

So long as the terms "Mega Stud Geocacher" and "Mindless Dolt" are interchangable, I'm OK with that title.

[+Kabuthunk]

The temps ranged from -5 to -13 with 40 to 50 mph winds putting the windchill at around -35.

 

What are the most extreme weather conditions you cached in?

A few weekends ago, I was caching in -45 weather with the windchill. I didn't consider that too extreme though... the year before, I've been caching in -40 weather BEFORE taking the windchill into account... which was hovering somewhere in the -50's range.

 

Ahh, Winnipeg.