+Pharisee Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Have you ever had one of ‘them’ days… when things don’t go quite as planned? I had an email yesterday from the finder of one of my ‘trickier’ caches. It was in need of a little maintenance, apparently, so I collected together what was necessary and set off this morning to sort it out. As I crossed the footbridge over the river, I couldn’t help but notice that is was twice it’s normal width and flowing fast. Not a good omen as I had to cross one of it’s feeder streams in order to reach the cache. In summer, the stream is usually a steep sided, muddy ditch about 3 feet deep with a trickle of water in the bottom. Today, the water was 4 feet across and about 18 inches deep. There were two ways to get to the other side… or three, if you include my eventual route. There was a sort of dam made up of small branches that didn’t look particularly safe and a small fallen tree trunk, about 4 feet above the water. That was the route I chose. As I edged out onto the tree trunk I heard a ‘click… plop’. My 60CSx had unclipped its self from my rucksack strap and I could see it through the clear water, bouncing on the bottom of the stream… “Oh dear”, says I. There were two options. I could leave it there and stay dry or get wet. A no-brainer, really so I swung off the tree trunk and dropped into the water. Past experiences have taught me that rivers tend to be cold and wet. This one was no different. I’d disturbed the muck on the bottom so I had to wait a few seconds for the flow to wash the silt down-stream. When it cleared, the GPSr was nowhere to be seen. While the 60CSx doesn’t actually float, it does have some natural buoyancy and I spotted it about a yard or so downstream, gradually being moved further away by the current. I waded after it, the water up to my knees, and of course disturbed the bottom again. When the water cleared, the 60 was now about 2 yards downstream from me… Not good. At this rate I’d never get it. I waded downstream again until I was fairly certain I was below GPS and waited for the water to clear… It was deeper here as I was getting closer to where the stream joined the main river. The water was halfway up my thighs. I looked down. The 60 was resting against my boot so I reached to retrieve it; only then realising that I was wearing the very expensive new wristwatch that my lady had given me for Christmas. I hoped that the claim to be water resistant to 50 metres was accurate! A scrambled up the bank, now cold, very wet, covered in mud and not best pleased. The cache was duly sorted and I just waded back across the stream again… I wasn’t going to get any wetter but I did collect some more mud! A soggy trek back to the car for a pair of dry socks and trainers but not so my trousers or jacket, unfortunately so the dustsheet I carry in the boot was laid over the car seat for the journey home. Oh yes… the 60CSx and my watch seemed no worse for their dunking and are both working perfectly... Thank goodness! Quote Link to comment
+Simply Paul Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 I love a story with a happy ending! Good work John Quote Link to comment
+SaltercreaseRangers Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Have you ever had one of ‘them’ days… when things don’t go quite as planned? A tale for the Podcacher Podcast, perhaps ? Quote Link to comment
+Bear and Ragged Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Could have been worse... Had the cache not actually needed any maintenance! Glad all involved survived. Quote Link to comment
+currykev Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 I'm glad you took the plunge to rescue your valuable gps. A bit of wet and cold is worth it I reckon. I'd probably dive in if I was losing my lovely Oregon. Shame that Goldpot fellow resorted to getting help to retrieve his. Quote Link to comment
+agentmancuso Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Could have been worse... Had the cache not actually needed any maintenance! Yes, I thought we were headed for that punchline too. Quote Link to comment
+Pharisee Posted January 24, 2011 Author Share Posted January 24, 2011 (edited) Could have been worse... Had the cache not actually needed any maintenance! Yes, I thought we were headed for that punchline too. To be truthful... it didn't but it's a multi-part cache and I had to retrieve something from this element of it in order to do the maintenance on the element that needed it... If you see what I mean Edited January 24, 2011 by Pharisee Quote Link to comment
+Beds Clangers Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 Laugh!!! Remember doing one of your caches where I tried to jump a 2m ditch!!! Obvious result at my (our) age went home VERY muddy to the missus who just laughed and said something about stupid men!!! Glad you saved the 60CsX, but I have one for sale if it had floated away!!!! Cheers Nick Quote Link to comment
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