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Night Hunter

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A movie night sounds like a GREAT idea.

 

I have done a big screen project projector movie night with my kids. It is a lot of fun.

 

How about "Raider's of the Lost Ark"? That seems rather Geocaching related.

 

***********************************************************************

 

Also, there is my first forum post in almost 4 months. I had been hoping my this time that my warning meter would have gone down, but I am still at 20%. During this time off, I have repended my sins and now I am a new man. You would think that the powers that be would have noticed, but I guess I am marked for life.

Edited by Bob&3Kids
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Re: The Off to Find a Wizard cache:

 

Flagman and Tucson Thompsen have been working the cache puzzles and clues since it's release, and worked undaunted in the face of numerous typos and errors.

 

They have helped the cache tremendously, and made the path easier for all those who follow hereafter.

 

Today they completed all the puzzles, visited all the locations, only to find the two problems in the final equation DID NOT lead to the cache itself.

 

I want to publicly thank them for their contributions to making Off to Find a Wizard better for everyone - accidental as the need might be. My apologies for the need as well.

 

In my book, they have a Virtual FTF for the new hide.

 

- Earl, Ringmaster (seriously rethinking more puzzle caches in the future)

The Adams Family Circus

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Re: The Off to Find a Wizard cache:

 

Flagman and Tucson Thompsen have been working the cache puzzles and clues since it's release, and worked undaunted in the face of numerous typos and errors.

 

They have helped the cache tremendously, and made the path easier for all those who follow hereafter.

 

Today they completed all the puzzles, visited all the locations, only to find the two problems in the final equation DID NOT lead to the cache itself.

 

I want to publicly thank them for their contributions to making Off to Find a Wizard better for everyone - accidental as the need might be. My apologies for the need as well.

 

In my book, they have a Virtual FTF for the new hide.

 

- Earl, Ringmaster (seriously rethinking more puzzle caches in the future)

  The Adams Family Circus

How many wizards does it take to find a wizard? Two - Flagman and TT.

 

Aunt Em's driving me crazy. I'm still stuck at the farm.

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How many wizards does it take to find a wizard?  Two - Flagman and TT.

 

Aunt Em's driving me crazy.  I'm still stuck at the farm.

Notes from the Beta-testing guinea pig that I am:

 

1) Noticed that one of the locations I was directed to put me in the ocean. Not good.

2) Noticed that one of the locations directed to, has since closed, and the WP was no longer there.

3) Asked owner not to make me search in the ocean. Instead mistakenly was sent 30 miles away, 35 ft away from a place I had already been to.

4) That was after the coords as orginally changed, and then changed again, put me 60 miles away near Menifee Valley. Not good.

5) Had no initial place to go to in order to leave the Farm. Oddly enough the starting coords in Kit Carson Park also put you within 20 ft of a lampost. But that has no number on it. I know. I verified that, personally.

6) Noticed an equation error that had me dividing by zero. While infinity is a number, I had a doozie of a time putting it into my GPSr.

7) FInally...with all the numbers and locations straightened out...the final equations led me to a place no cache could possibly be. Not good.

 

So...roughly 300 miles put on the car. Couple of tanks of gas. Several swigs from Pepto. And there is STILL an error on the cache page!

 

8)The coordinates solved from the animal puzzle in the Emerald City currently reads:

 

N: 33.0F.DDD

W: 117.20.E0E

 

Yup...this when solved puts you back in the ocean. Not good.

 

It should read:

 

N: 33.0F.DDD

W: 117.21.E0E

 

Also...the needed numerical answer to the Gannet question is neither 3, nor 7, nor 8.

 

Is it time to sack Earl? :rolleyes:

 

I will kill off the Great and Powerful Oz tomorrow. I hope there is some cool swag after all this! Please! :lol:

 

--TT--

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That photo is just sick and wrong on so many levels.....

Actually, the likeness of me is striking! (NOT!!!) I wish!! :rolleyes:

 

The Wizard has been found (defeated?)! My heart is softer towards the Circus since I remember the awesome job on the picnic that launched this cache in the first place, and the tremendous disappointment at the plundering of the cache, then the reincarnation, then yet another loss. So complicated with all the distant locations, that some errors were inevitable. Third time should be a charm, though. Seems as if most (if not all) of the bugs have been worked out. Might want to check the coords for the Carlsbad location one more time.

 

TT deserves the Lion's (courageous) share of the credit on beta-testing. I ran a few fewer miles off my various vehicles than he did.

 

I'm glad to trade in my ruby slippers for an ashwood club for the moment. Still a hope and a prayer for the Friars and I've gotta cancel out TT's AZ cheers as much as possible.

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Unfortunately, we have both ends of the spectrum illustrated by the two Wizard killers.

 

Flagman - thank you for your support.

 

Apologies and thanks by the wayside, apparently; the only reason I can see for TT's litany of errors is sympathy from other cachers and discouragement of the same.

 

Tell ya what - I'll suspend the cache, and when I'm more relaxed and blood pressure is lower, I'll set it up as a non-puzzle cache. Of course, my coords will probably be .001 off per TT.

 

And to those who follow - no need for the 'take it to PM' entries. I don't expect to be following along on the boards for some time to come.

 

-Earl, Ringmaster,

The Adams Family Circus

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Unfortunately, we have both ends of the spectrum illustrated by the two Wizard killers.

 

Earl,

 

I think you are mistaking my frustration having done all the beta-testing with me being upset at the you or the cache. On the contrary, I enjoyed this cache process immensely. The puzzle aspect of the Wizard is what made this the most fun! And truly this cache is a lesson in how to take a good story and convert it into a great cache idea.

My only beef was running around all over the county to places I didn't ultimately need to go. But I am happy to have worked with Tom to iron out all the bugs for future cachers. I just wished there hadn't been any to start with. That's understandable I hope. But I also realise that with a cache this consuming and complex there is the expectation of a hitch or two. There was a certain denoument at the end in fiding this one..kinda like how you hate to have a good story end.

Don't let my lack of "ending of the cache" satisfaction be mistaken for me not enjoying this one. I did! Please also don't remove all the puzzles from it. It's what gives this one its unique character all its own amongst San Diego caches. Certainly a must-do for everyone out there.

 

--TT--

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Tell ya what - I'll suspend the cache, and when I'm more relaxed and blood pressure is lower, I'll set it up as a non-puzzle cache.  Of course, my coords will probably be .001 off per TT.

 

And to those who follow - no need for the 'take it to PM' entries. I don't expect to be following along on the boards for some time to come.

 

-Earl, Ringmaster,

  The Adams Family Circus

Earl,

 

Please don't pull "Off to Find A Wizard!"

 

I know I didn't help by my news post, the comment about the kick Earl in the groin, but I was just quoting you! A lot your notes posted to "Wizard" mention kicking the puzzle editor in the groin. I thought you'd get a, well, kick, out of it! I really wasn't trying to be mean. Just silly. But I guess it came out Just Stupid.

 

I totally support your effort to put together this awsome cache! I've never seen anything like it and I'm totally inspired! First of all, Wizard of Oz was my favorite show growing up. I had all the dolls and sets, all the books, I even threw a Wizard of Oz birthday party when I turned five. It's absolutely my childhood dream to be doing this cache!

 

Second, we've solved all but 2 puzzles and had a fabulous time doing it! You've come up with some great puzzles that are fun and challenging. They've really been feeding my soul. Please don't deprive other cachers of this opportunity!

 

From the newsgroup posts, I think there might be a problem with the animal question puzzle and coords. But I think that's the only remaining problem and could be easily fixed.

 

I know it's a lot of upkeep maintaining a cache like this, but it's well worth it. It is a gift to the caching community, and an inspiration to other puzzle makers!

 

-Amy

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Heading to the Grand Canyon next week and hope to do some caching there and in Scottsdale area. Only one authorized traditional cache in the GCNP, but hope to hit a couple around the edge. I'm looking for TB's right now that are stranded in San Diego - if ya'll know of any, drop me a line, nomadvw@san.rr.com. Or if you have your own that you want movement on, etc...

 

VW

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Heading to the Grand Canyon next week and hope to do some caching there and in Scottsdale area.  Only one authorized traditional cache in the GCNP, but hope to hit a couple around the edge.  I'm looking for TB's right now that are stranded in San Diego - if ya'll know of any, drop me a line, nomadvw@san.rr.com. Or if you have your own that you want movement on, etc...

 

VW

If you're headed to Scottsdale, an absolute must do cache is called The Feed House. One of my all time top 5 favorite caches.

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Found something in a black case on the Kwaay Paay peak on a ledge Wednesday morning. Wandered about the peak for quite a while to see if I could find an owner, but was the only one atop the mountain. If one of ya'll lost it, drop me an email and I'll get it back to you. I'll probably take it over to the campground Monday and drop it there.

 

NomadVW

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I'm getting a feeling that TT's evil is about to be unleashed again. He picked up one of the Zis is KAOS TBs and made a veiled comment......

Well...since I am going on my puzzle hajj this weekend I guess I should probably leave something behind for you all to work on while I'm gone. I wasn't planning on doing anything more than dumping Agent 99 off up in Oceanside at the most northernly San Diego County cache I could find.

 

But everybody thank Toby now! I'll just put her in a new puzzle cache.

Now I just got to think of one.

 

OK. Got it. Pray for help! :D

 

--TT--

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I'm getting a feeling that TT's evil is about to be unleashed again. He picked up one of the Zis is KAOS TBs and made a veiled comment......

Well...since I am going on my puzzle hajj this weekend I guess I should probably leave something behind for you all to work on while I'm gone. I wasn't planning on doing anything more than dumping Agent 99 off up in Oceanside at the most northernly San Diego County cache I could find.

 

But everybody thank Toby now! I'll just put her in a new puzzle cache.

Now I just got to think of one.

 

OK. Got it. Pray for help! :)

 

--TT--

D'Oh! :ph34r:

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I'm a little bummed out since I realized that the campout is the same weekend as my Parabotanist Training with the San Diego Natural History Museum. Actually, I'll have already done the classroom work, but Sat 23rd is the field trip. It only lasts from 9 to 11 (at Florida Canyon), but it's a long way from Anza to Balboa Park and back again. Still, I may just have to do that. Anyone have a handy Star Trek transporter?

 

Parsa

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Wasn't seeing any activity over on socalgeocachers.com, so thought I'd move this to here where we chat up more.

 

20040929

I was off doing caches today in one of my favorite places. MTRP. I was wondering who has completed all of the caches in MTRP. I have 5 left as far as I can count, and hope to finish them up this week. I count a total of 30 in the park, and two that other folks might consider "in the park," though I believe they are outside the actual park boundaries. Here's the list that I think qualify as "in the park." Like doing "peaks" in an area, I think clearing caches in a particular area is an achievement (I've only been doing this a month and a half, so I haven't had time to clear the 500 within 10 miles of my house, so I'm shooting for other goals.)

 

------------------------------------------------------------

North of Father Junipero Serra (Fortunas and Visitor Center)

------------------------------------------------------------

North Fortuna Mtn. Type-A-Positive Cache by Dave (GCBCF)

Tuna Sandwich by T. R. Violin (GCJH60)

Hang 'Em High by T. R. Violin (GCKDXE)

Water Works by Know_Brainers_West and Know_Brainers (GCK147)

MTRP Mystery Cache (aka The Adrenaline Cache) by Dave & John (GCD91)

One Small Step by T. R. Violin (GCK5YF)

The Tortoise by Soul Searchers: Lynn, Ozzie,and Mike (GC8A00)

Beam Me Up by T. R. Violin (GCKDXJ)

Don't Fade Away by T. R. Violin (GCK5YH)

Can U C Me by T. R. Violin (GCKH3W)

Stickers With A View by T. R. Violin (GCKH3D)

No Floppy Snakes Here by T. R. Violin (GCKH3P)

Visitor's Welcome by halstaff (GCH2A7)

FATTBOY'S FIRST by Fattboy (GC6B20)

Let Us Cache by T. R. Violin (GCKDX9)

RAD Cache by FiremanJeff & GirlfriendLisa (GCHP5E)

Stuck On You by T. R. Violin (GCK5YJ)

------------------------------------------------------------

South of Father Junipero Serra, North of Mission Gorge

------------------------------------------------------------

ABOVE OLD MISSION DAM by Rocky Red (GCA514)

Above Mission Gorge by p.wood (GC3FF2)

Kwaay Paay Peak Cache by Dal and Shann (GCJ99C)

G/I #8 Kwaay Paay Landing Zone by sddarkman619 (GCHQC4)

------------------------------------------------------------

South of Mission Gorge (Cowles/Pyles)

------------------------------------------------------------

Pyle Driver by Iron Chef and Mr. Big Shoes (GC1C94)

Santee Overlook by Team PL (GC617D)

Golfcrest Overlook by Rhino87 (GCHZ4G)

Kumeyaay Solstice Sunrise by Team Gecko (GCB56F)

Call Me When You Get There (diminished) by Night Hunter (GCB3B4)

------------------------------------------------------------

Lake Murray

------------------------------------------------------------

Father's Day Cache by Rocky Red (GCG7N0)

Sadie's Memorial Cache by Dar + (GCHJR7)

BUBBLES by Pedroz & Cyndyz (GCKC18)

Junior by Rocky Red (GCD009)

------------------------------------------------------------

Borderline: (I don't think these are within park boundaries)

------------------------------------------------------------

Travelers Cache by erikfox (GCJ8ZQ)

Signs, Signs by bd_chris (GCJWP0)

 

I'm still missing all the Lake Murray caches - off to there tomorrow morning, as well as "Can U C Mee" - again.

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Wasn't seeing any activity over on socalgeocachers.com, so thought I'd move this to here where we chat up more.

 

20040929

I was off doing caches today in one of my favorite places. MTRP. I was wondering who has completed all of the caches in MTRP. I have 5 left as far as I can count, and hope to finish them up this week. I count a total of 30 in the park, and two that other folks might consider "in the park," though I believe they are outside the actual park boundaries. Here's the list that I think qualify as "in the park." Like doing "peaks" in an area, I think clearing caches in a particular area is an achievement (I've only been doing this a month and a half, so I haven't had time to clear the 500 within 10 miles of my house, so I'm shooting for other goals.)

 

I have about six to polish off, one at the lake (Bubbles), Stickers with a View, and the rest up on the Fortunas. I have Saturday morning free, when will you be out?

 

D :blink:

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I was wondering who has completed all of the caches in MTRP.....

I've done all the ones on your list. One of the most memorable days caching was the circuit where I took Max (the dog) out and did Sly Foxes, View With A Vroom, North Fortuna and Miramar #1 in the same day (1/4/2003). We were so beat by the end of that, and so far away from the car, that we slipped the fence on the boundary of 52 and called Kathy for a rescue ride home. You can read my log on Miramar #1 here:

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LU...ea-e973ba571a7f

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Sorry Duncan! I got out and about at 6:15 this morning to hit the lake. Finished off the 4 of those on the mountain bike. No time to hit my last cache in MTRP today. Can U C Me I'll be in the Cuyamaca's for the Poker Ride tomorrow. Anyone else gonna be there? Then, Monday morning, bright and early - off to Scottsdale/Grand Canyon. What a life, eh? Back on the 11th.

 

We should get back together after the Grand Canyon and I'd love to get back up to the Fortuna caches. Awesome hikes.

 

I was thinking we should do an MTRP Cacher GTG before I head to Japan. I was thinking we could do a Poker Cache/CITO event out of the Calle Vida or Clairemont Mesa parking areas. I'd be more than happy to put cards in each of the caches N of Father Junipero Serra... maybe December. My October and November are packed.

 

VW

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So, it's been 2 weeks since I failed to complete Chupy 4 due to a missing waypoint #13. I've posted about the problem on the cache page and emailed Zar without any reply. He's been to geocaching.com since then too according to his profile, so I'm sure he knows about the problem.

 

Anyway, I've invested so much time into completing Chupy 4, and am so close to completion I'd still like to finish and log it even though Zar seems unwilling/unable to help.

 

Would any previous finders happen to have the coordinates of WP#14 (that would have been given on the paper slip at missing WP#13? Or any WP's past #13 perhaps, or maybe it was by a landmark you could describe, perhaps it's still in your GPS even?

 

I'd really appreciate it.

 

Thanks,

Tony

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Sorry Duncan! I got out and about at 6:15 this morning to hit the lake. Finished off the 4 of those on the mountain bike. No time to hit my last cache in MTRP today. Can U C Me I'll be in the Cuyamaca's for the Poker Ride tomorrow. Anyone else gonna be there? Then, Monday morning, bright and early - off to Scottsdale/Grand Canyon. What a life, eh? Back on the 11th.

 

We should get back together after the Grand Canyon and I'd love to get back up to the Fortuna caches. Awesome hikes.

 

I was thinking we should do an MTRP Cacher GTG before I head to Japan. I was thinking we could do a Poker Cache/CITO event out of the Calle Vida or Clairemont Mesa parking areas. I'd be more than happy to put cards in each of the caches N of Father Junipero Serra... maybe December. My October and November are packed.

 

VW

Hey,

 

I'm gonna take you up on your offer as I didn't find the MTRP Mystery Cache. I was certain I was at the right spot...

 

D :)

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We spent the day today in Anza Borrego hiding new caches, we think you will like them! They won't be up on the site until 10/20 and hope everyone waits until at least Friday or Saturday to hunt for them. There was a group of seven of us who split up areas to hide them in.

The Poker Run coordinates won't be given out until Sat. a.m. around 8:30 at the camp coordinates, which we updated today, by the way. We will be camped at those coordinates and the campfire, chili cookoff, etc. will take place there.

Looks like lots of fun and the prediction is for a "Pinto Bean Wind" to be blowing sometime Sat. night!!

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Talking of Mission Trails, ... [a]ny suggestions of parking spots, which trails to take, etc? ...

You really can't miss no matter where you park. There are numerous trailheads -- Calle De Vida, Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Mast Blvd., Father Junipero Serra Trail, Mesa Road, the Visitor Center off Mission Gorge, Jackson Drive, Golfcrest, and there may be more. Just about any of these trailheads has great hikes with multiple caches along the way. My favorite is Clairemont Mesa Blvd. just because of the cool footbridge that you cross. From there, you can head to North Fortuna and hit a few along the way, then across to South Fortuna, then circle back to Clairemont Mesa. That would probably be about 10 miles or so and there are probably a dozen caches along the way. Pretty strenuous, but certainly doable in a morning or an afternoon. T.R. Violin is the guy to ask, though. I think he must live up there or something with all the caches he has placed! ;)

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In quotes below are excerpts from an email I received from my brother regarding the current state of Palm Canyon in Borrego Springs. My brother owns a house in Borrego and is an avid hiker. Some of you may remember meeting him during the Borrego geocaching event earlier this year. This is printed with my brother's permission.

 

As you are aware, there was a big flood in Borrego two

weeks ago.  Friends and I decided to check

out the damage over the weekend (10/2/04).

 

Starting in Ranchita early Saturday

morning.  We climbed over the San Ysidro ridge

and dropped 3,000 feet into Palm Canyon and arrived at

the bottom of the canyon about 6 miles above the lower

grove.

 

There was a flood in the summer of 2003 in which large

amounts of sand was transfered down from the upper

elevations and filled in all the pools and most

vegitation burnt in the Whispering Pines fire was

swept away.  That flood made walking up and down the

canyon very easy as you could just walk right up the

middle of the canyon.

 

When we hit the canyon bottom on Saturday we

immediately noticed that instead of more sand being

dumped in the canyon all the sand deposited the year

before had been sweeped or scoured out in addition to

several more feet of earth and rock. The stream was

now about 8 to 10 feet lower than it was before the

flood.  The middle of the canyon was nothing but sand

and rock and a trickling stream.  The only vegitation

to survive clung to the canyon walls.

 

As we walked down the canyon there were long sections

that looked like earth movers came through.  After

about an hour we reached the level in the canyon were

the palms start.  Only a few palms survived, the ones

up against the canyon walls.  We estimated that about

75% of the palm trees in the canyon did not survive.

In places there were tree trunks 20 feet up the canyon

wall (See Picture Upper Grove)  There were many places were

boulders bigger than cars were no longer there or had

been moved down canyon.

 

When we got to the lower grove only about half the

grove was left standing (See Picture, Lower Grove)  The entire 1.5

miles of trail is gone.  The water fall is still there

but most of the rocks around the fall are somewhere

down canyon.  The Geocaches that we found last year,

will probably never be found again.  Down canyon the stream cut

a new channel and went through the campground on

through De Anza country club.  There are tree trunks

strewn about like Lincoln logs.

 

The campground is closed, and may not open this

season.  And to think it only rained a couple of inches.

 

upper_canyon.jpg]

lower_canyon.jpg

 

I know many of us have spent a lot of time walking through this beautiful desert oasis. I guess nothing stays the same. I do hope nature can work its magic again.

Edited by devhead
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In quotes below are excerpts from an email I received from my brother regarding the current state of Palm Canyon in Borrego Springs. My brother owns a house in Borrego and is an avid hiker. Some of you may remember meeting him during the Borrego geocaching event earlier this year. This is printed with my brother's permission.

It is really sad to see what has happened to Palm Canyon. I also received an e-mail from Gecko Dad with a link to his photos and story concerning Palm Canyon. If I understand the captions on Don's photos correctly, here is a comparison between the well known pool/waterfall at lower palms before and after the flood (after shot taken by Don):

 

Before:

fe861016-d219-4dab-8adc-9d453ad5162b.jpg

After:

3a6daf13-1622-45a7-ae7b-da1c3a3d7d01.jpg

 

RM

Edited by Rocket Man
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Talking of Mission Trails, ... [a]ny suggestions of parking spots, which trails to take, etc? ...

You really can't miss no matter where you park. There are numerous trailheads -- Calle De Vida, Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Mast Blvd., Father Junipero Serra Trail, Mesa Road, the Visitor Center off Mission Gorge, Jackson Drive, Golfcrest, and there may be more. Just about any of these trailheads has great hikes with multiple caches along the way. My favorite is Clairemont Mesa Blvd. just because of the cool footbridge that you cross. From there, you can head to North Fortuna and hit a few along the way, then across to South Fortuna, then circle back to Clairemont Mesa. That would probably be about 10 miles or so and there are probably a dozen caches along the way. Pretty strenuous, but certainly doable in a morning or an afternoon. T.R. Violin is the guy to ask, though. I think he must live up there or something with all the caches he has placed! ;)

Hey Dr.B,

 

I set out from Calle Vida, up to Stickers with a view, past One Small Step, and South Amarillo, up to N. Fortuna, Tuna Sandwich, S. Fortuna (the one I didn't find), down the staircase to Beam Me up, past Hang em High, then back to Calle Vida. Round trip took just under 5 hours (I took my time), about 6 miles, over 1700 feet elevation gain/loss. Definitely worth the trip. Sorry about the image size...

 

mtrp6mile.jpg

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Compared to the puzzlemeisters in the Bay, I am a rank amateur.

 

There. I've said it. Feels good. Kind of like getting past denial.

 

I just came back from my "Great Puzzle Cache Hajj 2004" to San Jose/Sunnyvale/Santa Clara. Tried to focus exclusively on finding puzzle caches and got about 35 or so over the course of two days. Cracked about 50 or so and just ran out of time to get them all. If ever the adage "in hog heaven" were to apply that was it for me. I really just couldn't find them all. Too many. Geek overload. System shutting down. I thought I made cool puzzles. Hogwash! I've just seen some ways of screwing with info that I would never even dream of doing as a cacher. But that's puzzle cache education. Learn new tricks.

 

Literally folks, Silicon Valley is choked with puzzles. Must be at least 100 alone within Santa Clara/San Mateo county alone...and there seems to be something for everyone. Story puzzles, crypto puzzles, language puzzles, trivia puzzles, computer puzzles, software puzzles, binary, mathematics, anagrams, riddles, heck...even the Simpsons and Charmed have a puzzle down there. But the Bay Area has them all over too. Grabbed a couple in the East Bay just for variety.

 

If you're a serious puzzle geek, I highly suggest you make the pilgrimage up there and take a stab at those guys. (The Rat, weBeDnD, workerofwood, PhilippeGPS, nostrada, etc... being at the top of the list for devious, criminally hard yet fun caches). The containers are mostly log-only micros, though. The fun is to be had in completing the puzzle I guess.

 

Like Luke and Dagobah, I have to go back and complete what I started. It's officially an obsession now. ;)

 

--TT--

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Like Luke and Dagobah, I have to go back and complete what I started.  It's officially an obsession now. :) 

 

--TT--

:( It wasn't official until now!!?? :P

 

Forgot to mention, did ya see yerself in a cave in a Darth Vader outfit?

 

D :(

Edited by Duscwe!
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Can anyone ID this snake for me?

9de86b23-20d2-4aef-b666-6df50a7fac8e.jpg

 

He was in the woods of UCSD near where I was looking for King Geepius and the Okeanos, about 12-18" long, maybe half an inch wide at the most.

I'm pretty certain Dr. Boggis' snake is a Southern Pacific Rattlesnake - Crotalus helleri. They are typcially chocolate brown and banded, like this one. I can forward a variety of photos I have taken of them in the wild. Here is a link to a photo log from a recent caching hike on Palomar Mountain.

 

Red diamond's, also species crotalus, are distinctly red or buff, even as juveniles. Here's another link to photo log:

 

BTW, Southern Pacific's has one of the nastiest venoms of the Southern California rattlesnakes with only the Mojave Green's more toxic. The Southern Pacific's venom works in three ways and can cause extreme swelling, bleeding, convulsions, etc. Here is a good reference link for additional information. Here's another with additional photos of adults.

 

Fortunately, these guys tend to get out of your way if you give them some space. Another good reason to poke around with a stick before reaching into rock piles.

 

If Animal Planet's Venom ER series comes around again, you can check out the reaction to a Southern Pacific during the opening episode - without any personal suffering on your part.

-Gecko Dad

Edited by Team Gecko
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I'm pretty certain Dr. Boggis' snake is a Southern Pacific Rattlesnake - Crotalus helleri.  They are typically chocolate brown and banded, like this one.  I can forward a variety of photos I have taken of them in the wild.  Here is a link to a photo log from a recent caching hike on Palomar Mountain.

 

Red diamonds, also species crotalus, are distinctly red or buff, even as juveniles.  Here's another link to a photo log.

Thanks Gecko Dad, useful stuff. The camera on my PDA isn't very good, so it came out browner than it was in real life - the snake was decidedly red in colour. From your photo logs, I'm still not sure. It looked redder and more banded than your pics of the adult Red Diamond, and though the banding on the Southern Pacific is more like it, it was much much redder in colour.

 

Either way, I don't fancy testing out the venom!

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