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100 caches in a day (solo)


robd0gg

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Last week I was down visiting LA from Seattle and I read about this challenge down there called the "Hemet 100 caches in a day" challenge. This is a set of planned, easy, drive up caches (Power Trail?) along a 75 some mile loop Southeast of Hemet California. Since we don't have too much of this type of challenge up here (that I am aware of) I decided to give it a try. So I created a Pocket Query and downloaded it to my Oregon and set out for the drive out from LA to Hemmett and got a hotel room the night before so I could get an early start. It was quite the painful drive because of the traffic.. I mean we have bad traffic up here, but at worst, you might be in a rush hour crawl for what?, maybe ten-twenty miles, try SIXTY miles of bumper to bumper traffic on a fourteen lane (seven in each direction/five regular lanes and two HOV lanes) massive freeway (the 91). Probably the number one reason I moved away from California and really despise going back there.

 

I got up early had breakfast and loaded up with lunch and plenty of water and got on the trail (so to speak) around 8:30 AM and finished up at Lake Hemet around 4:00 PM.. I had zero DNF's (which I thought was amazing, but they were all that easy to locate, so it was more the way they were hidden then any skill on my part) - and I found 96 of the 100. Two were disabled, and two had muggles too close to make the grab. I found one more in the town of Hemet and was trying like crazy to get 100 for the day, but it was getting dark, and the ones I went for had too many muggles around, or were just not suitable for finding alone in the dark in an unfamiliar town but I'll take the 97 smilies and call it good.. :^)

 

p.s. had I thought ahead, I would have also downloaded all the other caches along the route, or used my iPhone (although reception was spotty) and could have easily gotten 100.. maybe even 130 caches but the bookmark list I used for my PQ had only the challenge caches.. rats!

 

As others, I really appreciate the time and effort it took to place these, and maintain them. Several of the logs were quite wet, especially ones in the small PVC pipe containers but overall I was amazed at the quality and conditions of all those containers and the hiding locations.. a couple of which I almost didn't have to get out of my car. What I didn't like was the constant flow of traffic.. I eventually got used to it and just drove up and did my thing, but some were right at intersections and I just could not believe the amount of traffic in such a rural location.. but that's California for ya.. which is why I moved to Seattle thirty years ago.. The traffic also made for some harrowing starts and stops as many cache locations were in small little one car pull outs along narrow, windy roads through canyons.. so it would have been safer having someone along to act as lookout and probably would have made it more fun too.

 

Not sure I would ever do this type of challenge again, I prefer wilderness caches that usually involve a hike or mtn bike and take me to interesting places, but it was fun to give this one a go and the portion of the loop on the Lake Hemet side was quite spectacular.

 

-happy deac0n

 

Bookmark for the Hemet 100 Caches in a day challenge

http://www.geocaching.com/bookmarks/view.a...8c-2188c7acefae

Edited by happy deac0n
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