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Eastside cachers


Pepper

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I'm doing that too, but have some childhood nightmares about playing in the stuff before we knew what it was and having agonizing days and days of itching and pink calamide lotion.

 

I guess what I'll have to do now is to buy a sturdy walking staff so I can push the stuff aside and maybe a machete to widen the path a little bit.

 

Cheers!

TL

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There's Poison Oak at norway hill???? I've never noticed it there. Only areas up here that I know of the P-Oak are south seattle and down and also at Seward Park. You might be confusing the plant with Oregan grape at my cache.

 

Poison Oak is real bad down in the gorge this year. It's proliferating. I've noticed more than a couple varieties. Some plants have large leaves while others are smaller. Exact shape of leaves also varies. Main thing is to avoid anything with group of three leaves to play it safe.

 

I wear short down there and my hiking stick is a great aide...keeps me from slipping into the poisonous brush and also is used to nudge it away in tight spots.

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I thought... ok, maybe I just freaked, but the description I read of Oregon Grape is a low growing plant native to much of the Pacific Coast and found sparsely east of the Cascades. Its evergreen foliage of pinnated, waxy green leaves resembles holly. Looking at the pictures I've located, I remember seeing this plant. Frankly, I mistook it for holly.

 

What I saw is this did not resemble holly and it was a cluster of 3 leaves looking much like an oak leaf, were 1/2 - 2/3 hand size.

 

Fwiw, it could very well be a poison ivy variant. I pulled some pictures over to act as a guide for me and turned it into a 2 page reference document for poison ivy, poison oak, and sumac including seasonal changes for the oak and ivy.

 

Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me to take a picture of this bush. It's quite intimidating for the uninitiated. I managed to brush it aside and get past it, up the path and within 500 feet of the cache before deciding to turn around due to lack of something to push or whack some of this stuff aside.

 

Mind you I'm not whining. Was just looking for an opinion on this year's growth. I've gone deep woods camping over the past 5 years and haven't quite seen it this thick.

 

Cheers!

TL

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quote:
Originally posted by Moun10Bike:

quote:
Originally posted by TotemLake:

I was there near the end of the month and again 2 weeks later, and the difference in the fauna growth is astounding.


 

I hope that you mean _flora_ growth! I'd hate to see giant deer and rabbits trampling the woods! icon_biggrin.gif

 

http://geocachingwa.org

Well a giant deer would provide that much more venison! icon_smile.gif

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With extremely low tides this weekend, it seems like a great time to visit beachside caches. Anyone have suggestions for caches near Puget Sound beaches?

 

Here are two areas that I've enjoyed:

 

A Day at the Beach, a Richmond Beach multi-cache by Weinerdog. There are several nearby caches, including two in the same park.

 

Meadowdale County Park, a multi-cache by Rustynail. 2 miles down and 2 miles back up, but the beachview and picnic area are really worth it.

 

Hoping to get some suggestions for tomorrow,

 

Cin

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quote:
Originally posted by CachinCin:

With extremely low tides this weekend, it seems like a great time to visit beachside caches. Anyone have suggestions for caches near Puget Sound beaches?

 

Here are two areas that I've enjoyed:

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=27893, a Richmond Beach multi-cache by Weinerdog. There are several nearby caches, including two in the same park.

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=36384, a multi-cache by Rustynail. 2 miles down and 2 miles back up, but the beachview and picnic area are really worth it.

 

Hoping to get some suggestions for tomorrow,

 

Cin


Head down to south Fed Way/Tacoma/Gig Harbor:

 

This one requires low tide...haven't done it yet but it sounds interesting:

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=6379

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=46621

 

The cache isn't at the beach, but the beach is interestig at low tide...lots of sea critters, etc.

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=20067

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quote:
Originally posted by CachinCin:

With extremely low tides this weekend, it seems like a great time to visit beachside caches. Anyone have suggestions for caches near Puget Sound beaches?

 

Here are two areas that I've enjoyed:

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=27893, a Richmond Beach multi-cache by Weinerdog. There are several nearby caches, including two in the same park.

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=36384, a multi-cache by Rustynail. 2 miles down and 2 miles back up, but the beachview and picnic area are really worth it.

 

Hoping to get some suggestions for tomorrow,

 

Cin


 

I'm glad you liked ours! There are some wonderful ones on Whidbey Island. Then going north on the island to Deception pass. Have you been there? Beauty icon_biggrin.gif. Then you can go farther north to a couple of Eraseek's caches on the bluff in a park near Anacortes. Two beauties!

Sorry, I don't know how to insert the names for these. I know it's a little late tonight. Maybe I could send you a list for you and your husband to plan these out for another day.

 

Hey Cin, if you need a driver let me Know! icon_eek.gif Don't forget about the eight airbags! Hee, hee.

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quote:
Originally posted by SuperGenius:

Hello to all you fathers out there in Geo Land. Just wanted to send out 'Happy Fathers Day Greetings' before we head out to Wallis Falls State Park for a day of hiking, caching and placing!

 

Pepper

 

http://www.geocachingwa.org

Horizontals where it's at!


Looks like I'll be headed for Wallace Falls before too long...couple caches out there will get me there! Be sure to hike out to Wallace Lake if you get the chance...easy 12 mile RT hike on logging road (easy/mod grade). Nice big lake.

 

years ago, my friend john, danny and me tried to get to Jay Lake which is up above Wallace Lake...reportably holds cutthroat 14-16 inch range!!! We just couldn't figure out a way to the lake...maze of vine maple, devil clubs, and water. Anway, ranger told us that the lake had been flooded by beavers making a dam. Oh well. I may try for it again and put a box there.

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quote:
Originally posted by evergreenhiker!:

We just couldn't figure out a way to the lake...maze of vine maple, devil clubs, and water.


 

What are devil clubs?

 

My imagination is running wild -- are they flowers with horns & a tail, trees on fire, dance clubs for Harley Hikers, tree branches that fall on your head, ferns that challenge you to a fiddle dual???? icon_razz.gif

 

There's so much to learn about Pacific Northwest flora and fauna,

 

Cin

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Not a great picture but:

ophor87.jpg

 

Tall stems, generaly 4'-8' though I have seen larger 10'-15', large leaves, and all of it covered with long sharp fine needle like thorns. Get trapped in a thicket of these and you come out the loser.

 

"In the wild, devil's club occurs in both small patches of upright spiny stems 6-15 feet tall with huge spiny leaves 2-3 feet across in apical terminal clusters , and in huge rambling masses of ferocious interwoven recumbent and upright spiny stems covering acres and sometimes square miles of wet, shady understory in stable coastal rainforest. Hikers who wander unawares into these huge devil's club patches can panic at the first slash and multiple stabbings and make the experience much worse by running or trying to hurry out of the dilemma, tripping on the recumbent stems and levering the erect stems into their faces and arms. In these moments, the appellation "Devil's Club" seems diabolically appropriate."

 

[This message was edited by EraSeek on June 15, 2003 at 10:07 AM.]

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quote:
Originally posted by CachinCin:

Is it just me, or did the geocaching web pages change a bit? When I clicked on "nearby caches," I get a list that includes archived caches and those I've already done (no more separation).

 

Anyone know what's up with that?

 

Cin


 

Ooops -- I should have checked the Groundspeak forums first. It seems that Jeremy has changed the code, to allow for individualizing the lists. Now I just have to figure that part out. icon_smile.gif

 

Cin

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Devil's Club is something that you should try to avoid. If you step on the plant wrong, it may lash back at you...the spines have some type of poison in them. Not fatal, but it will make the affected area swell up. My friend Danny was out deer hunting in the Elwell Creek swamplands several years ago and got clubbed by the Devilish plant. His whole arm and shoulder swelled for several days. Now, I've been pricked just by a couple thorns and suffered no problems. It's just when you really get clubbed this plant can cause a lot of discomfort! Like EraSeek says, these babies cacn get tall...up to 15 feet tall or so. When I tried Dream Lake a couple weeks ago, we had thick leather gloves on so we could grasp the plant and get through it.

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Speaking of Devil's Club we ran into...uhh got into some of it yesterday at Wallis Falls. Very pretty, not nice to become it's victim. Troy our 13yr old boy found a leaf of it on the trail after getting into the stuff and picked it up and said, look mom a Tree Star. Tree Stars are a "Land Before Time" thing you would have to have young children to understand. Anyway we ran across it at a cache we picked up on the way out "SEH" cache.

We did the only cache in the park on the way out after placing three along three along the Woody Trail that takes you past three falls. The Lower Falls, Middle Falls and the Upper Falls. All in all it would be just over an Eight mile hike to grab all three cache. The best View was from the Middle Falls and it was just awesome! We did just over 10 miles yesterday and I am beat. It was a much different 10 mile hike at the Falls compared to the 10 miles we (CachinCin, Lucy) did at the Tunnel. Wow, I am a little sore today, but I shall survive!

Some time today I will post the three new caches.

 

Pepper

 

icon_geocachingwa.gif

Horizontals where it's at!

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quote:
Originally posted by SuperGenius:

Speaking of Devil's Club we ran into...uhh got into some of it yesterday at Wallis Falls. Very pretty, not nice to become it's victim. Troy our 13yr old boy found a leaf of it on the trail after getting into the stuff and picked it up and said, look mom a Tree Star. Tree Stars are a "Land Before Time" thing you would have to have young children to understand. Anyway we ran across it at a cache we picked up on the way out "SEH" cache.

We did the only cache in the park on the way out after placing three along three along the Woody Trail that takes you past three falls. The Lower Falls, Middle Falls and the Upper Falls. All in all it would be just over an Eight mile hike to grab all three cache. The best View was from the Middle Falls and it was just awesome! We did just over 10 miles yesterday and I am beat. It was a much different 10 mile hike at the Falls compared to the 10 miles we (CachinCin, Lucy) did at the Tunnel. Wow, I am a little sore today, but I shall survive!

Some time today I will post the three new caches.

 

Pepper

 

http://www.geocachingwa.org

Horizontals where it's at!


Cool four caches at one park! I will be headed up there before long.

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quote:
Originally posted by evergreenhiker!:

Poison Oak is real bad down in the gorge this year. It's proliferating. I've noticed more than a couple varieties. Some plants have large leaves while others are smaller. Exact shape of leaves also varies. Main thing is to avoid anything with group of three leaves to play it safe.


 

As a former California resident who was very active in orienteering (cross-country sport), I became a connoisseur of PO and can attest that it's extremely versatile. There are three main growth patterns: small weed-like growths [calf-high], bushes [sometimes as thickets 6 feet high/wide] and vines that grow around trees. Leaf size varies hugely, depending on water and sun. In the late summer/fall, the leaves turn bright red - very pretty, very deadly.

 

Many of my club's main orienteering parks were rife with the stuff, so you either dealt with it or gave up the sport. Bay Area orienteers swear by Tecnu, which you can buy at drugstores and the like. If you use it within a few hours of exposure, it breaks down the oils and either prevents or minimizes the rash. We bought the stuff by the truckload, and it really works. That's my tip o' the day. icon_wink.gif

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I've heard of Tecnu...I'll have to get a tube for the next trip down, but I do try to avoid the stuff and turned a cache down because of it. Quite allergic to it.

 

Vines? Never seen that...that would be interesting to see.

 

Teh C. Gorge area has the other two varieties you mentioned. In fact Catherine Creek area is especially bad with the stuff...I spoted one P-Oak tree! I know it's not scrub oak and the leaves were in threes.

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I'm using Tecnu now and can attest to its effectiveness even after the rash starts. Dang stuff caught me between the glove and the cuff. Anyway, the stuff works great and I've had it in my first-aid kit for years. It took the itchy raw eczema looking rash and reduced it down to a minor rash and the itching was handled better than the Benadryl anti-itch we also have. I'm treating the rash with it morning and evening and isolate it at night with gauze to prevent it from spreading to other areas during sleep.

 

Back in the 60's before I knew what poison ivy and oak was, my brothers and I played hide and seek in shorts and sandals around the garage - which was surrounded by the stuff. That was the most agonizing week I ever had in my then young life.

 

Cheers!

TL

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Well whatta ya know? I found a young poison ivy in my jasmin plant today. That's the first time since moving into this house 4 years ago. It is quite possible I had a little seed hitchhiker from a recent hunt which begs the question:

 

Granted we've seen warmer weather this year, but is it possible some of the heavier growth noted this year could be attributed to geocaching's popularity explosion?

 

Cheers!

TL

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I've never seen poison ivy or oak in my life. Are you guys just seeing what's not there? Due to paranoia? I've stomped through bushes or pushed them around at all the caches I've been to.

I wear shorts to most of them. I've whined about a couple of Moun10bikes caches. Off trail, heavy brush. No poison anything. Nettles don't count, their just spicy.

 

39197_3100.jpg

Pepper playing nice!

Mokita!

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quote:
Originally posted by leatherman:

 

...Are you guys just seeing what's not there? Due to paranoia?

 

I wear shorts to most of them. I've whined about a couple of Moun10bikes caches. Off trail, heavy brush. _No poison anything._ Nettles don't count, their just spicy.

 

http://www.geocaching.com/profile/default.asp?A=39197

_Pepper playing nice!_

http://www.global-dialog.org/mvd/mvl.cgi?NextName=wAnti-Mokita.html


 

Just because you don't see a bear crap in the woods doesn't mean it didn't happen! icon_biggrin.gif You just got lucky you haven't run into the stuff yet. My rash is 4 days old and getting smaller each day.

 

Seeing it in my yard was a BIG surprise. The plant was 12 inches tall, had 3 shoots, and had the classic 3 leaf come touch me look.

 

Cheers!

TL

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quote:
Originally posted by leatherman:

No poison oak. Lucky? I've been to enough caches all over the region to be exposed, at least once.


 

Based on what I've seen and heard since moving up here, there is very little PO in the Washington/Idaho area. I haven't seen any myself, and I was laughing during a visit to Seward Park, where the stuff is apparently so rare that they feel the need to post signs to identify the few clumps.

 

Not sure why the drop-off up here, but it's pretty common in the Portland area. Still nothing like California, tho. (Altho not all of California - no PO at elevation in the Sierra.)

 

One other note: You could have been exposed and not gotten the rash. Some people are immune. I used to be completely unaffected - I once taunted my PO-sensitive friends by rubbing a leaf on my wrist. But repeated exposure breaks down the immunity (orienteering did it to me); my sensitivity is still fairly low compared to many people - I can wade through bushes of PO for a couple hours, even fall in it, and so long as I put on Tecnu afterward, I suffer no ill effects. But on those few occasions when I've gotten cocky and foregone the Tecnu after such antics....hell to pay.

 

hydnsek

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No... you misread my message. You have seen a pile that you identified as likely bear crap. I'll wager you have never seen a bear crap in the woods.

 

Tell you what... go to Apprehended!, on the way there from the parking lot, there is some poison ivy on the right side when you get near the tall dead tree that looks like a cactus with its limbs up (that isn't the cache location so I'm not giving it away here). It's a low ground creeper type there and that's in a well maintained city park. That's where I got my rash.

 

Poison oak has a distinct look to it but it is still a 3-leaf cluster plant to avoid. I made a two page document to act as a reference for both poison ivy and poison oak I'll be happy to pass onto anybody who asks.

 

Cheers!

TL

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quote:
Originally posted by leatherman:

I've never seen poison ivy or oak in my life. Are you guys just seeing what's not there? Due to paranoia? I've stomped through bushes or pushed them around at all the caches I've been to.

I wear shorts to most of them. I've whined about a couple of Moun10bikes caches. Off trail, heavy brush. _No poison anything._ Nettles don't count, their just spicy.

 

http://www.geocaching.com/profile/default.asp?A=39197

_Pepper playing nice!_

http://www.global-dialog.org/mvd/mvl.cgi?NextName=wAnti-Mokita.html


I agree with Leatherman. Nettles are nothing at all! Heck, I did this cache in the C. Gorge that had nettles towering over me and the blooming grass. The grass bothered me more:

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=36723

I'll take nettles and yes, Devil's Club over P oak anytime.

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quote:
Originally posted by TotemLake:

No... you misread my message. You have seen a pile that you identified as likely bear crap. I'll wager you have never seen a bear crap in the woods.

 

Tell you what... go to http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=15629, on the way there from the parking lot, there is some poison ivy on the right side when you get near the tall dead tree that looks like a cactus with its limbs up (that isn't the cache location so I'm not giving it away here). It's a low ground creeper type there and that's in a well maintained city park. That's where I got my rash.

 

Poison oak has a distinct look to it but it is still a 3-leaf cluster plant to avoid. I made a two page document to act as a reference for both poison ivy and poison oak I'll be happy to pass onto anybody who asks.

 

Cheers!

TL


Let's see it. I've never seen Poison Ivy.

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Nettles are my biggest enemy!!!!

A few years ago, I was trying to help my Mom clear out a spot to garden in...She suddenly yells out STOP.

Guess what? I had been pulling up posion ivy. I was pulling it up by roots and just having a field day. I never had a problem but my Mom, oh, dear, she had a BIG problem!!!!

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You're welcome! A couple of URL's for where I gathered this info from...

 

Poison Ivy FAQ

Poison Ivy Pictures This gives good comparisons of the pretenders and the actual Poison Ivy plant, including what the rash looks like!

Outdoorplaces.com A great description!

 

Each of these discuss Poison Oak and Poison Ivy, but the last also focuses on Poison Sumac

 

A list of other URL's on this subject

 

Cheers!

TL

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An interesting comment made here indicates P ivy thrives in disturbed areas when larger brush is cleared.

 

It becomes conceivable then, that impacted or trampled areas could also become grounds for P ivy to thrive.

 

It is also a known issue hikers can often cross contaminate areas because their hiking boots will pick up and hold seeds and then deposit them later in a different location.

 

So taking this a step further, each of us that do not clean their boots after each hike, can be a cross carrier host to a new location and cause this to spread even more. Which can explain why I found a young plant in my yard.

 

So I think I'm answering my previous question; Can the increased growth be attributed to the geocaching popularity explosion? The answer will inevitably have to be; Yes it can. To what degree would depend upon the individual hiker.

 

Cheers!

TL

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Myself well i'm waiting for a Dr. U.K. cache, all we have to do is wait, and watch for it's posting then put together an event for all to attend(if interested)and have a blast looking, looking and looking! Group hunt. icon_biggrin.gif It would be fun!

Ohhhh Evil Dr. are you out there contemplating your next EVIL hide?

 

Pepper

 

icon_geocachingwa.gif

Horizontals where it's at!

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quote:
Originally posted by SuperGenius:

Myself well i'm waiting for a Dr. U.K. cache, all we have to do is wait, and watch for it's posting then put together an event for all to attend(if interested)and have a blast looking, looking and looking! Group hunt. icon_biggrin.gif It would be fun!

Ohhhh Evil Dr. are you out there contemplating your next EVIL hide?

 

Pepper

 

http://www.geocachingwa.org

Horizontals where it's at!


Yeah, a group should be able to best the Evil Doctor!

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Just a quick note for those of us who live near Bellevue (or might be caching in the area this weekend).

 

All lanes of I-405 at NE 8th will be closed from 11pm Saturday until 11pm Sunday, while they demolish the overpass. There is a detour, but I'm sure that traffic will really back up on Sunday.

 

Good spot to avoid this weekend!

 

Cin

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quote:
Originally posted by SuperGenius:

 

Ohhhh Evil Dr. are you out there contemplating your next EVIL hide?

 


 

Yes. But I'm thinking hard about ways to make group searching not help much. Right now, much time and energy is devoted to completing my new top secret hideout, so it may take a little while.

 

As a side note, the name for Devil's Club in the latin Linnean taxonomy is "Oplopanax Horridus". Believe it or not, bears like to eat Devil's club when the leaves are just coming out.

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quote:
Originally posted by CachinCin:

Just a quick note for those of us who live near Bellevue (or might be caching in the area this weekend).

 

All lanes of I-405 at NE 8th will be closed from 11pm Saturday until 11pm Sunday, while they demolish the overpass. There is a detour, but I'm sure that traffic will really back up on Sunday.

 

Good spot to avoid this weekend!

 

Cin


Darn!!! Davyi's new cache "Urban Cache: The Second" is very, very close to that mess I might have to wait to finish up that one.

 

Dr. U.K. Quotes

Yes. But I'm thinking hard about ways to make group searching not help much. End Quote

 

So you say, I wager a bet saying a nice size group of us will still get together for an attempt because it's FUN!

 

Pepper

 

icon_geocachingwa.gif

Horizontals where it's at!

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