my epiphany

[+worldtraveler]

epiphany: noun

(1) : a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something (2) : an intuitive grasp of reality through something (as an event) usually simple and striking (3) : an illuminating discovery b : a revealing scene or moment

 

A recent trip afforded the opportunity to search for several geocaches. By the time it was over, I had searched for eight and found only two - not exactly a record to brag about. But it was during my second search that it happened...

 

I was at my first stop, The Netherlands, for just over 24 hours. For my first search, I chose a multicache named “Het Geheime Wapen” (GC2C51). It was located out away from the Amsterdam metro area, so getting there was part of the challenge. The commute and the search ended up taking most of the afternoon. I finally completed the course, however, and though somewhat tired, I still wanted to try one more. There were still a few hours of sunlight left, and the “Kaplaarzen cache” (GC12DB) was less than 1 mile distant, so off I went.

 

A 15 minute walk brought me within 0.1 mi. of the cache, but the trail ahead was covered with water! This is where it happened. Nothing earthshaking or life-threatening, no blazing vision. Just a quiet question. How “serious” was I about continuing this search? Of the 50+ searches I had completed to this point, several had been challenging, demanding significant commitments of time and energy. But this one was somehow different. As I surveyed the quiet, flooded, darkening woodland before me, I realized that this one was going to be very inconvenient and uncomfortable, maybe even unpleasant. I considered the circumstances: The GPSr said the cache was only 0.1 mi. distant, but it didn't tell me how DEEP. The sun was getting low, but I still had nearly 2 hours of light. The terrain ahead was unknown and flooded, but others had been here before me. I was alone, more than 4000 miles from home, and nobody knew where I was; if I got myself into trouble, I'd have to get myself back out. And finally, I had only one pair of shoes on this trip and couldn't afford to have them soaked at this stage. If I was going to do this, it would have to be barefooted. So...

 

I decided then and there that I must be a “serious” geocacher; either that or seriously disturbed.

 

Off came the shoes and socks, and onward I waded with my shoes dangling around my neck. THAT WATER WAS COLD! It started out rather shallow, but soon was half way to my knees. I rolled my pant legs up yet farther and continued on.

 

As I neared the cache location, the water started to subside. Now the pointer on the GPSr swung to the right - indicating I needed to walk through a patch of thorns and briars! Thankfully, my feet were now numb from the cold, so onward I went. OUCH! Not quite numb enough, as it turned out!

 

I carefully picked my way through the thorns onto semi-dry ground and began looking for the cache. I found an object that afforded a good above-ground hiding spot, but there was no sign of the cache. I did find some more thorns, though. OUCH again! By now, the feeling was starting to return to my feet in earnest, so I thought it best to put my shoes back on. Back into the water to wash the mud and dirt off (brrr), and then onto a grassy patch to dry my feet with a bandana before putting the socks and shoes back on.

 

I triangulated the cache location but was unable to find the cache, even after much searching. With daylight now fading toward darkness, I reluctantly shouldered my pack and gave up the search. Fortunately, I found a different path out that proved to be at a higher elevation, so wading was not necessary.

 

As darkness closed in, I arrived back at the stop for the #9 tram that would take me back to Central Station.

 

No regrets, no retreat, no reservations. A GREAT day of cache hunting!

 

Worldtraveler

 

[This message was edited by worldtraveler on May 04, 2002 at 09:36 PM.]

[+Kouros]

quote:

---

Originally posted by worldtraveler:

I decided then and there that I must be a “serious” geocacher; either that or seriously disturbed.

 

---

 

That reminds me of me trying to describe to my girlfriend what GeoCaching is.

 

"That sounds a bit Trainspottery" she said.

 

I have to agree with her on that one. GC leaves you wanting more - a bigger high, if you will - and even though I'm a newbie, I am starting to feel the pangs.

 

Hell, I've got the anorak to go with the image. So why not?

 

------

O God, I could be bounded in a nutshell, and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams.

 

Hamlet, II.2 252-253

[+Jamie Z]

WT..

 

Cool story. I laughed aloud.

 

Jamie

[+Web-ling]

quote:

---

Originally posted by worldtraveler:

 

With daylight now fading toward darkness, I reluctantly shouldered my pack and gave up the search.

 

No regrets, no retreat, no reservations. A GREAT day of cache hunting!

 

Worldtraveler

---

 

Soooo... When are you going back to try again?

 

[+worldtraveler]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Web-ling:

Soooo... When are you going back to try again?

---

Maybe later in the summer or fall? I'm really not sure because I usually am just passing through and don't have the luxury of staying overnight. I will definitely try again at the first opportunity!

 

Worldtraveler

[+SamDeG]

I was hunting for the "Where's George?" Geocache in upstate NY with my dad. We were at the last stage when my handhelds battery went out. Undeterred, we decided to use the GPS that attached to my dad's laptop. we began hiking to the cache, in a straight line, not noticing the nice easy trail that went to roughly the same spot. After a while, it began to get dark, but we pressed on. We eventually reached the spot where the cache was, but it was too dark to see, and all we had for light was the small pocket flashlight. Dad was afraid of getting lost in the forest, so we started heading back to the parking lot, going in the "general direction" that we had came. This, of course, led us directly into a thicket complete with overgrown thorny bushes.

Thats when my Dad's glasses fell off.

We hunted around frantically in the dark, using my pocket flashlight, luckily we found them, because even if we managed to work our way out of the forest, Dad wouldn't be able to drive home. We eventually worked our way back to the road, and got home safe.

A week or two later we came back (at 1:00 pm) and found the cache. We laughed at how easy the navigation was, and marvelled at the many friendly looking houses that were in the forest.