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Legend of Mick Dodge


Gustav129

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Has anybody seen this show on Nat Geo? It follows some guy (Mick Dodge) who supposedly lives in the woods of the Olympic Peninsula and has for 25 years.

 

Has anybody come across him in the past? One episode I watched, he hid in a stump and draped a cape of moss over him so he wouldn't be see, and he watched a couple walk past. All he could do was talk about the smell of synth clothes and how they are bad city clothes, kind of like he didn't even want city people in the woods at all.

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I hadn't heard of him until a couple of weeks ago when I came across it. They had a marathon going so ended watching a few while doing other tasks around the house. I found all his 'caches' of goods around the woods the most interesting part. He found some mushrooms in one episode and he states that they needed something. They show him wandering off to one of his 'caches' and he pulls out some ketchup. For those wondering what we are talking about see here.

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I hadn't heard of him until a couple of weeks ago when I came across it. They had a marathon going so ended watching a few while doing other tasks around the house. I found all his 'caches' of goods around the woods the most interesting part. He found some mushrooms in one episode and he states that they needed something. They show him wandering off to one of his 'caches' and he pulls out some ketchup. For those wondering what we are talking about see here.

Thanks for the link. So, he abhors synthetic fabric but uses ketchup....

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I've watched the show a few times and found it interesting, especially regarding his comfort in navigating through the terrain and in his use of caches. These subjects appeal to a geocacher and would seem to be on-topic.

 

As a relatively frequent visitor to Washington State, I am also curious about the locations seen in the show. Are there geocaches in the area where Mick roams? Do locals recognize the settings? I would love to hike and find caches in those forests.

 

But if people want to talk about putting ketchup on mushrooms and wearing buckskin vs. synthetic clothes, then the Off Topic forum has plenty of room for another thread about a TV show.

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I've watched the show a few times and found it interesting, especially regarding his comfort in navigating through the terrain and in his use of caches. These subjects appeal to a geocacher and would seem to be on-topic.

 

As a relatively frequent visitor to Washington State, I am also curious about the locations seen in the show. Are there geocaches in the area where Mick roams? Do locals recognize the settings? I would love to hike and find caches in those forests.

 

But if people want to talk about putting ketchup on mushrooms and wearing buckskin vs. synthetic clothes, then the Off Topic forum has plenty of room for another thread about a TV show.

The Hoh Rain Forest where he resides and hides is all inside the Olympic National Park. There is one location where he resides it seems to me he is pretty close to the Steam Donkey virtual. Technically it is just outside the reservation, but still inside the ONP.

Edited by TotemLake
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So how do Mick and his friends get away with building saunas in the woods, caching supplies in tree stumps, etc. on NPS land? We cannot even dream of hiding a lock 'n lock without a huge exercise to get permission. The irony was not lost on me. I studied maps and aerial photos and wondered if the bit of private land at the north of the peninsula was enough room for these folks to roam around and build things.

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So how do Mick and his friends get away with building saunas in the woods, caching supplies in tree stumps, etc. on NPS land? We cannot even dream of hiding a lock 'n lock without a huge exercise to get permission. The irony was not lost on me. I studied maps and aerial photos and wondered if the bit of private land at the north of the peninsula was enough room for these folks to roam around and build things.

Mick's friend (Pat?) with the cabin has been homesteading for the past 40 years. He probably has a 99 year lease grandfathered in.

 

Technically, Mick is illegally residing within the ONP. But he did start living there almost 26 years ago probably just before Congress designated 95 percent of the park as wilderness becoming grandfathered as a loosely defined resident.

 

I'll add the location he built his little wagon to cart his caches around looked to be on a reservation near Ozette Lake. The area is pretty torn up from a long ago harvest. I don't recall seeing a harvested area along the Hoh River a few years back when Ray and I attempted the hike through in that area before bad weather pushed us back... but I could be wrong.

Edited by TotemLake
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So how do Mick and his friends get away with building saunas in the woods, caching supplies in tree stumps, etc. on NPS land? We cannot even dream of hiding a lock 'n lock without a huge exercise to get permission. The irony was not lost on me. I studied maps and aerial photos and wondered if the bit of private land at the north of the peninsula was enough room for these folks to roam around and build things.

Mick's friend (Pat?) with the cabin has been homesteading for the past 40 years. He probably has a 99 year lease grandfathered in.

 

Technically, Mick is illegally residing within the ONP. But he did start living there almost 26 years ago probably just before Congress designated 95 percent of the park as wilderness becoming grandfathered as a loosely defined resident.

 

I'll add the location he built his little wagon to cart his caches around looked to be on a reservation near Ozette Lake. The area is pretty torn up from a long ago harvest. I don't recall seeing a harvested area along the Hoh River a few years back when Ray and I attempted the hike through in that area before bad weather pushed us back... but I could be wrong.

Back in the day, I used to hike quite a bit on the Hoh. I have been up both the north and south forks although most of my hiking was on the north. I don't recall any clearing of timber within the park in that area. There are some farms just outside the park that have obviously cleared land. I'm not familiar with the show so I can't help with any placement. I do recall an episode of Dual Survival that started in the park, I think close to the Bogachiel. It wound up on the beach, crossing 101, but that wasn't shown.

 

If this does take place near the south fork of the Hoh, the closest cache would be South Fork of the Hoh, which is well east of the western boundary of the park, but still south of the park.

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I've watched the show a few times and found it interesting, especially regarding his comfort in navigating through the terrain and in his use of caches. These subjects appeal to a geocacher and would seem to be on-topic.

 

As a relatively frequent visitor to Washington State, I am also curious about the locations seen in the show. Are there geocaches in the area where Mick roams? Do locals recognize the settings? I would love to hike and find caches in those forests.

 

This is exactly why I posted it in this forum. I even asked a local in Spokane who lived on that side of the state if he has ever heard of him.

 

I was even wondering if the couple that walked by were geocachers. Nothing obvious, but it does put a different perspevtive of caching in that area. Who knows if you are going to end up on a "reality" show.

 

As to help with location, he did walk to Forks one episode, just 9 miles from his "home".

Edited by gustav129
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I've watched the show a few times and found it interesting, especially regarding his comfort in navigating through the terrain and in his use of caches. These subjects appeal to a geocacher and would seem to be on-topic.

 

As a relatively frequent visitor to Washington State, I am also curious about the locations seen in the show. Are there geocaches in the area where Mick roams? Do locals recognize the settings? I would love to hike and find caches in those forests.

 

This is exactly why I posted it in this forum. I even asked a local in Spokane who lived on that side of the state if he has ever heard of him.

 

I was even wondering if the couple that walked by were geocachers. Nothing obvious, but it does put a different perspevtive of caching in that area. Who knows if you are going to end up on a "reality" show.

 

As to help with location, he did walk to Forks one episode, just 9 miles from his "home".

Bear in mind, "home" is relative to this guy. He has a winter home near the beach. The sea stacks (rock pillars in the water) noted in some of the scenes are similar to those north of the Hoh River estuary/outlet. I took a quick look at Google Earth and I'll revise my earlier post this looks to be the location of his winter home as well which would put him well south of Ozette Lake based on the similarity of the sea stacks I saw on the show. The Hoh estuary also looks like the location of the cove where Mick caught the crabs using a roadkill bird on an end of a line. He would tug them close enough to reach in very quickly and capture by hand.

 

Oil City is nearby and there are a couple of locations that look similar to his friends cabin and has proximity to some heavy duty equipment such as the tractor used in one scene. There's also a couple of tree harvested areas which could have been one of the scenes where he built his cart from scratch materials.

 

Here's a list of nearby caches as positioned near the Hoh estuary:

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.aspx?t=m&origin_lat=+47.746647&origin_long=-124.423750&dist=100&submit3=Search

Edited by TotemLake
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The more I read the helpful information here, the more I want to come out for another visit. I am overdue for a long (2 week) vacation this year. I'm thinking that -- instead of just flying out and back for Block Party -- I could construct a geocaching trip themed around my favorite "outdoor reality" shows -- Legend of Mick Dodge, Ax Men, Ultimate Survival Alaska, Deadliest Catch, etc.

 

All's I know is this: I see the woods where Mick Dodge is hiking, and I want to hike there. And find caches!

 

So, keep the information and cache locations coming -- I am building a bookmark list and an itinerary.

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The more I read the helpful information here, the more I want to come out for another visit. I am overdue for a long (2 week) vacation this year. I'm thinking that -- instead of just flying out and back for Block Party -- I could construct a geocaching trip themed around my favorite "outdoor reality" shows -- Legend of Mick Dodge, Ax Men, Ultimate Survival Alaska, Deadliest Catch, etc.

 

All's I know is this: I see the woods where Mick Dodge is hiking, and I want to hike there. And find caches!

 

So, keep the information and cache locations coming -- I am building a bookmark list and an itinerary.

I'd be up for that. We haven't hiked together since Little Si so many years ago. Let me know what day you want to settle on and I'll prepare an event for it.

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Lep, If you are going to make it out here I will see if I can get a day off or so.

Count me in, too!

 

You might want to try knocking on doors in Forks as well. I did a web search and read some of the interviews with Mick. I know one address that comes up on Google maps was his Grand Fathers cabin and is supposedly uninhabitable. He winters over in some ladies house in the region according to one article. He doesn't live in the woods, though he has been know to stay in the woods for a week or so at a time. He does not consider himself to be a survivalist at all.

 

He has a valid Washington state drivers license. He works for a company called Olympic Mountain Earth Wisdom Circle, apparently teaching people about the Olympics and Earth Gym. He is a former US marine.

 

He wears shoes and has a facebook page.

 

As for the TV show. According to one article Mick says the shows producers tell him what to do, though SOME of it isn't far off.

 

Who knows what the truth really is, but it appears this is another Reality show that isn't so real.

 

You might find this article interesting http://exotichikes.com/the-truth-about-the-legend-of-mick-dodge-hoh-rainforest-wildman/

Edited by SirKarp
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The more I read the helpful information here, the more I want to come out for another visit. I am overdue for a long (2 week) vacation this year. I'm thinking that -- instead of just flying out and back for Block Party -- I could construct a geocaching trip themed around my favorite "outdoor reality" shows -- Legend of Mick Dodge, Ax Men, Ultimate Survival Alaska, Deadliest Catch, etc.

 

All's I know is this: I see the woods where Mick Dodge is hiking, and I want to hike there. And find caches!

 

So, keep the information and cache locations coming -- I am building a bookmark list and an itinerary.

 

Not sure if you're a Twilight fan....but the Twilight multi-cache in/near Forks takes you to some neat locations in that area. GC1N9H4

 

You probably have this on your bookmark list already, but if not: GC2B2VV

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