+Gill & Tony Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 I'm planning to tackle some of the Retired Monkey Challenge Trail in late December and would like some advice from someone who knows the area. Most of these challenges have a "May Require Wading" attribute and I'm wondering what this will really mean in late December. It looks, from Google Street View that there is some sort of ditch running beside the road and that may well be full or part full of water. Is this somewhere that bare feet and shorts might be suitable or will it require thigh-high gumboots? I'm arriving on a cruise ship and don't plan to carry gumboots half-way round the world. Any advice on these caches would be appreciated Thanks Tony Quote Link to comment
+Isonzo Karst Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 (edited) bare feet and shorts might be suitable Assuming the usual range of December temps, I'd plan on wearing old shoes that I'd just get wet, and just wade on in. Shorts would be fine. I wouldn't expect water above the knees, and mostly not much above the ankles (unless you happened into a hole.) Ordinarily, in December I'd expect those roadside ditches to be dry - but they were probably wet this past December, as Florida experienced an usually wet (and warm) winter. I wouldn't recommend bare feet, though you might get away with it. One of the more common roadside grasses puts out a nasty burr - "sand spurs". And there are other common roadside stinging plants. The regular roadkill means there are a lot of anthills right along the road edge too. Edited April 3, 2016 by Isonzo Karst Quote Link to comment
+Gill & Tony Posted April 4, 2016 Author Share Posted April 4, 2016 bare feet and shorts might be suitable Assuming the usual range of December temps, I'd plan on wearing old shoes that I'd just get wet, and just wade on in. Shorts would be fine. I wouldn't expect water above the knees, and mostly not much above the ankles (unless you happened into a hole.) Ordinarily, in December I'd expect those roadside ditches to be dry - but they were probably wet this past December, as Florida experienced an usually wet (and warm) winter. I wouldn't recommend bare feet, though you might get away with it. One of the more common roadside grasses puts out a nasty burr - "sand spurs". And there are other common roadside stinging plants. The regular roadkill means there are a lot of anthills right along the road edge too. Thanks for that, it clarifies things for me. I've got some plastic beach sandals which are designed to get wet and I'll start with shorts on. I can always add jeans over the top if that looks better at the time. I've already qualified for 26 and expect to qualify for another half-dozen before I get there. I'll (hopefully) qualify for another one a few days after, so that should be 33 or so. I've never done anything like a power trail before, so it should be an experience - though not one I expect to repeat too often. Thanks again Tony Quote Link to comment
+Zepp914 Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 (edited) I did the letterbox portion last summer, but I am sure December is much different. It hadn't rained in a while, but there were certain sections that had a few inches of water sitting in them. Sometimes you can jump over it, other places you couldn't. We didn't bring hiking boots with us, so we crossed in shorts and flip flops. I think the worst one was 7 inches deep or so. We got really muddy on one of them. Ohhh bring a stamp or a pen that writes well on wet paper. A lot of these are in very wet areas and some of the lids are cracked. I believe most were standard disposable Glad containers and not lock n' locks. Like I said though, we only did the letterbox portion. Edited April 8, 2016 by Zepp914 Quote Link to comment
+FloridaJim Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 I'm a local geocacher on Florida's Space Coast and have signed all of the Retired Monkey Challenge caches and qualify for 101 of them...so far. It's been pretty dry the past two months so water levels in the ditches should be low to non-existent. Shorts and shoes you don't mind getting wet will be fine. They will get muddy though. The RMC caches are generally pill bottles and pre-forms. Parking is limited and you will have to pull off the road onto the shoulder and some shoulders are very narrow. Traffic isn't bad, but includes heavy trucks. You might consider getting one side of the road going down and the other side coming back up. The letterbox series are not in great shape, but the others should be. Good luck! Quote Link to comment
+Skyboy01 Posted July 27, 2016 Share Posted July 27, 2016 On May 25, 2016 we cached this series. Wore old shoes and shorts, some ditch water was just over my knees. Most were dry or only a few inches of water. Typically, December is a more dry month, however this is a wet area so expect some water year round. Quote Link to comment
+coleclan Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 We live just south of the Retired Monkey Challenge Trail, and this past winter was very wet. We have gotten some of the caches for which we qualify, and the ditches were still holding some water. Our biggest obstacle though, as an approximately 8 foot long Cotton Mouth water moccasin. This is Florida. It would not be unusual to see venomous snakes, including moccasin and Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnakes, as well as many other dangers, including protruding roots/branches from trees and bushes, broken glass, rusty metal, the affore mentioned fireant hills, poisonous plants, and the list goes on. My suggestion would be to bring an old pair of shoes you can just throw away after completing the series. Good luck to you! Quote Link to comment
+IOError Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 (edited) bare feet and shorts might be suitable I wouldn't recommend bare feet, though you might get away with it. One of the more common roadside grasses puts out a nasty burr - "sand spurs". And there are other common roadside stinging plants. The regular roadkill means there are a lot of anthills right along the road edge too. Also we have a bad problem here with Fire Ants so I never go out with out shoes on. Not even flip flops cut it, if you aren't paying attention and you step on a fire ant hill with out shoes on you'll be sorry. Yeah I live ~1 hour away from those so, just old sneakers and you should be fine. Edit: Just read Coleclan's Post. Yep listen to him he lives closer than I do. Edited July 29, 2016 by IOError Quote Link to comment
+wmpastor Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 bare feet and shorts might be suitable I wouldn't recommend bare feet, though you might get away with it. One of the more common roadside grasses puts out a nasty burr - "sand spurs". And there are other common roadside stinging plants. The regular roadkill means there are a lot of anthills right along the road edge too. Also we have a bad problem here with Fire Ants so I never go out with out shoes on. Not even flip flops cut it, if you aren't paying attention and you step on a fire ant hill with out shoes on you'll be sorry. Yeah I live ~1 hour away from those so, just old sneakers and you should be fine. Edit: Just read Coleclan's Post. Yep listen to him he lives closer than I do. And let's not forget the risk of alligators! They frequent any water in Florida and other warm states, including the drainage ditches. Watch for the head and eyes just above the water, and if wading in deep, throw a stone in first to rouse any that are unseen (keeping a distance until sure that all's clear). Now go have fun and don't worry about those man-eating alligators Overblown concern? Google the story of a child killed only weeks ago by a crocodile or alligator at Disney! Quote Link to comment
+wmpastor Posted July 30, 2016 Share Posted July 30, 2016 It should already be clear that Florida is no place to live, visit or go caching! But there's more. I hate to share more terrible news, but the Center for Disease Control announced yesterday that the deadly Zika virus is "now here." Perhaps a side trip to Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York is a better idea. Quote Link to comment
+Gill & Tony Posted July 31, 2016 Author Share Posted July 31, 2016 Coming from Australia, I am aware of the need to be careful of venomous things and other nasties. However, it's good to know what awaits. I hadn't realised that alligators lurked in shallow temporary water, so that's something to be wary of. Hopefully the mosquitoes know about DEET and I'll probably bathe in the stuff on a regular basis. Fire ants sound a bit like Aussie Bull Ants, so I'll give them a wide berth. The plan is now finalised. I'm picking up a hire car from Ft. Lauderdale airport around 9:30am (depending on what time I get off the cruise ship) and heading straight up to Yeehaw Junction, so I should be there before lunch time. I'm allowing 1-2 hours to get around 30 of the caches - I'm hoping to have qualified for 32. Then off to Tampa. If it's raining or if the water looks too deep I'll probably drop the idea. I won't have any throw-away shoes. Carrying them from Sydney to Rome and then across the Atlantic is a bit much. Hopefully December will have been a dry month this year, so I'll be able to get them. Thanks to all for the advice. Cheers Tony Quote Link to comment
+Gill & Tony Posted December 21, 2016 Author Share Posted December 21, 2016 Well, I made it. We took a wrong turning and didn't get there until around 1:30, but I had qualified for 34 of them. I could not have scripted the weather better. Warm, overcast so no direct sun and the roadside edges were mostly dry. The wettest spot was just a bit marshy, no standing water and no alligators! I found the first 33, but DNFed the very last one. I suspect that it is missing, based on the fact that I found the others very easily and this one defied me for 15 minutes. Also, there were signs of work being done nearby. Just thought I'd pass on the news. Great fun, but I can't see me doing another power trail, unless there is some overriding reason. Cheers Tony Quote Link to comment
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