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quote:
Originally posted by Parsa:

I don't know... we do some pretty crazy trails. XSnoopy and I did the Pinyon Mtn trail through the Squeeze and Heart Attack Hill (and I have the damage to prove it, hehe).


 

Alright Parsa, I wouldn't chance taking the Land Cruiser through The Squeeze, but I went through it and down the drop-off three times in my old Toyota truck. One of the times that I did it, my buddy tried to take his Land Cruiser through and he made it, but he got the whole side damaged. Now you know why I wouldn't try it in Mrs. Rocket Man's Land Cruiser.

 

Barring any tight spots like the squeeze, the Land Cruiser does do great off-roading. I have taken it down Coyote Canyon from the top (Anza) and back up. We have also done some fun stuff in Sedona (and other places). Here is a couple of pictures form the Devils Staircase in Sedona:

 

Sedona1.jpg

 

Sedona2.jpg

 

Rocket Man

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quote:
Originally posted by Rocket Man:

 

Here is a couple of pictures form the Devils Staircase in Sedona:

 

Rocket Man


 

Okay,

 

You've officially scared me off! I don't mind scraping the sides of my Pathfinder with bushes but if I lean back in my office chair too fast I get lightheaded. Wouldn't think of driving up something like this Devils Staircase.

 

--- yrium ---

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quote:
Originally posted by yrium:

quote:
Originally posted by Rocket Man:

 

Here is a couple of pictures form the Devils Staircase in Sedona:

 

Rocket Man


 

Okay,

 

You've officially scared me off! I don't mind scraping the sides of my Pathfinder with bushes but if I lean back in my office chair too fast I get lightheaded. Wouldn't think of driving up something like this Devils Staircase.

 

--- yrium ---


I didn't go up. I just went down. RM
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This sounds like fun! SlabyDad and I both have modified jeeps cherokees and we love off roading in the desert. We've been getting plans together to spend a few weekends out there next month, so I think we could meet up with you guys. We have done most of the caches out there, but would still be interested in coming out. Maybe we could take a group down the Pinyon Mt trail to do the caches there...then go down the squeeze and from there we could go a few different ways that have caches all along the various routes. We could both take a passenger or two and our friend GeoJim could also take someone in his Toyota FJ40. Going down Heart Attack Hill would surely provide a rush for those who have never done it before. This sounds like it's going to be fun!

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HEY!

 

Splashette/Splashman/Rocketman!

 

QUIT PLANNING THE NEXT TRIP - GET THE PICNIC CACHE ONLINE!

 

<some people, I tell ya, can't focus on nothing, short attention spans, people logging in three times a day to check on the picnic cache...why isn't it up? they think...oh look, everyone's busy planning a 4WD trip out to the badlands, too busy to finish what they started...the nerve...> icon_biggrin.gificon_biggrin.gificon_biggrin.gificon_biggrin.gif

 

Earl, Ringmaster

The Adams Family Circus/Naggers

 

Dr._H_Resourcepage.htm

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As for the desert outing, this fall, count Leap Frog and Jelly Belly in. We love the desert and recently thought of a great idea. Why not get a bunch of cachers togeather for a camping trip to Blair Valley. Wow you guys came up with a great idea too. Blair Valley is a good place for a large group especially if you have a motor home. Please keep us informed. Thanks JB&LF

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OH-MY-GOD, what have I started? All I did was mention a little caching in the Desert!

I hit the Smuggler's Cave Cache on the 12th, that's a must do, but a long walk if you don't have 4WD. My vote is for Blair Valley in late October. Weekends might be a problem for me, but I might be able to cut some deals with the boss icon_wink.gif

 

Duscwe!

 

Duscwe!

The higher, the fewer!

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We are definately game for some type of Geocaching campout. I vote for the weekend of Oct. 25-26. I could be flexible with other weekends except for the weekend of Nov. 8-9.

 

I don't know much about the area, but Blair Valley seems fine to me. Do you have to have a 4x4 to get there? To get a lot of people to sign up, we should pick a place that doe not require a 4x4 to get there.

 

- Bobkat92 & the 3 Bears

 

"To me, Geocaching is the thrill of the hunt and going to neat places (you might not go otherwise); it's NOT what you actually find in a cache."

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Hmmmm... well I guess October 25-26 would be OK. Can anyone think of a reason for it not to be that weekend?

 

No, I'm planning an itinerary for non-4wd vehicles, but you should have high clearance at least. The sand and rocks will kill a standard street vehicle. If that's all you have, see if someone will let you ride with them. You can drive a car into Blair Valley fairly easily... at least to the camping areas.

 

Now, for the posted event cache site (that is the event cache posted on geocaching.com). Where should we make it? Blair Valley on Saturday morning? Or should we make it at a caravan meeting spot like in Ramona? It would be fun for most of us to drive out to the desert together.

 

BTW, dhsundance and I use FRS radios to communicate while driving. It makes the trip a lot more fun. I'll have my radio set to channel 10 subcode 24. If someone had an FRS radio without subcodes let me know and we might just turn off the subcodes. Our Radio(-controlled-car) Shack models have the unit with an antenna on the roof and get excellent range for an FRS. They also don't need batteries as they plug into the 12V outlet.

 

Parsa

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quote:
Originally posted by Parsa:

Hmmmm... well I guess October 25-26 would be OK. Can anyone think of a reason for it not to be that weekend?


The weekend of the October 25-26 is great for me. If it is that weekend, I will be there, hopefully with Mrs. Rocket Man.

quote:
No, I'm planning an itinerary for non-4wd vehicles, but you should have high clearance at least. The sand and rocks will kill a standard street vehicle. If that's all you have, see if someone will let you ride with them. You can drive a car into Blair Valley fairly easily... at least to the camping areas.
It may be nice to have two itineraries each day, one for high clearance 2WD and one for 4WD only. I know that Slayfam wants to do Pinyon Mountain trail which I will skip since the Landcruiser won’t make the squeeze.

quote:
Now, for the posted event cache site (that is the event cache posted on geocaching.com). Where should we make it? Blair Valley on Saturday morning? Or should we make it at a caravan meeting spot like in Ramona? It would be fun for most of us to drive out to the desert together.
I suggest that you make it Blair Valley on Saturday morning. I plan to drive out Friday afternoon and spend the night on Friday night. You could still plan a caravan for Saturday morning. I think there will be others showing up on Friday night, so a camping spot should probably be specified in any case.

quote:
BTW, dhsundance and I use FRS radios to communicate while driving. It makes the trip a lot more fun. I'll have my radio set to channel 10 subcode 24. If someone had an FRS radio without subcodes let me know and we might just turn off the subcodes. Our Radio(-controlled-car) Shack models have the unit with an antenna on the roof and get excellent range for an FRS. They also don't need batteries as they plug into the 12V outlet.
Sounds good, I will bring my FRS radio.

 

Rocket Man

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quote:
Originally posted by The Adams Family Circus:

HEY!

 

Splashette/Splashman/Rocketman!

 

QUIT PLANNING THE NEXT TRIP - GET THE PICNIC CACHE ONLINE!

 

<some people, I tell ya, can't focus on nothing, short attention spans, people logging in three times a day to check on the picnic cache...why isn't it up? they think...oh look, everyone's busy planning a 4WD trip out to the badlands, too busy to finish what they started...the nerve...> icon_biggrin.gificon_biggrin.gificon_biggrin.gificon_biggrin.gif

 

Earl, Ringmaster

The Adams Family Circus/Naggers[/img]


It is in work and not forgotten. RM
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the 25-26 looks great for me. have frs radios but only w/ 2mile range. always have the cb in the truck.

 

with the amount of people interested, i think there can be a 4wd run for the clinically insane and one for those people who don't fit through the squeeze. perhaps even a 2wd area to run.

 

i plan on heading out friday to blair valley.

 

Take only pictures, leave only footprints.

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Areas that I think would be good (trips that I'm working on):

 

Blair Valley/Little Blair Valley/Box Canyon

 

Carrizo Wash/ Vallecito Wash/ Mud Caves

 

Indian Hill area farther south

 

That would be more than a lot of caches, but we could also add S22 from Font's Point toward the Salton.

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Oh, and I want to add, that except for the Carrizo Stage Station (4wd only need apply cache), all the ones I'm looking at should be high-clearance vehicle safe. The last time I went with XSnoopy, getting to the Carrizo station involved driving down a trail that *was* a deep, flooded wash. It was soooo fun though.

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quote:
Originally posted by Parsa:

The last time I went with XSnoopy, getting to the Carrizo station involved driving down a trail that *was* a deep, flooded wash. It was soooo fun though.


Some people are luckier than others when going down that wash. Here is my log from when I took fkrexcal down there:

 

------Log Start----

I am going to log this as a find since I have been here several times before and I almost made it back here on this day. I say almost because as we were heading through the water, we came upon a little road block which confirmed why this cache was named 4WD Need Only Apply. The road block I am referring to was a 4WD Toyota 4Runner with its rear end sunk in the mud up to its axel.

 

I hated stopping in the wet section, as I always keep a good constant speed through there so I don’t get stuck, but when I came upon the 4Runner, I had no choice. When fkrexcal and I got out to check on the situation, we found a somewhat scarred college age guy and his girlfriend (Brian and Jennifer) trying to figure out how to get out of the mess they were in. They had been working on getting out for about an hour and it wasn’t looking good. They had dug such a hole with the left rear wheel that the tire would just spin when the car was in drive with no gas applied.

 

We tried to help them get the vehicle unstuck but were unsuccessful. I had forgotten my tow rope so we couldn’t pull them. I was actually kind of happy about that, because I figured that if I tried to pull them out, I would also get stuck. We first tried to give them a push with the three guys pushing and Jennifer driving. The thing wouldn’t budge. I asked fkrexcal if the front tires were spinning and he said no. Brian told me the vehicle was in 4WD drive, but when I checked, it turned out that he had not locked the hubs. They had borrowed the vehicle, and unfortunately didn’t know about having to lock the hubs. I locked the hubs, we did some digging and we tried again. The thing was so buried that it was not going anywhere. They were lucky we showed up since they didn’t have a map and they didn’t even know where they were. They did have a cell phone, but would have had a hard time telling someone how to get to their vehicle.

 

We decided to give them a ride to the road and try to get them some help. After some calls to the Rangers they eventually got in touch with a towing service in Ocotillo who said they would come out to help them. We waited with them at the road until the tow truck showed up and they headed back down Vallecito Wash to wench them out. By this time it had been dark for an hour and it was cold. We left them in the good hands of Ed the tow truck driver and headed home. I hope they got out ok.

 

Rocket Man

-------Log End--------

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This trip sounds like fun! I think I can make it for the 25th-26th. I haven't done any of the caches south of Box Canyon, so heading down south to catch a few sounds good. I will be riding a motorcycle, as I don't have a 4wd. Birdlegs will probably stay home. Going through the squeeze sounds like fun, but I have done all the caches down through Fish Creek and out to Ocotillo Wells. Maybe Kawikaturn or Bikedog can make it so we'll have more than one biker. We could use the coordinates for ''Desert Peek-a-boo'' GC4D6 as a congregating point. (maybe .15 miles west would be best icon_smile.gif) That should be the area the Indian Guides use for their campouts, and is 2wd friendly. There are quite a few caches along the S2 corridor that are accessible by 2wd vehicle as well.

Ruscal

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quote:
Originally posted by The Adams Family Circus:

Just an FYI: The Off to Find a Wizard cache, the memorial from the Geocaching picnic in February, is back in circulation.

 

Go get it! 8-)

 

Earl, Ringmaster,

The Adams Family Circus

 

And all those folks who haven't found it yet thought they were off the hook! HA HA...

Ruscal

 

Dr._H_Resourcepage.htm


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The best place to use as a group site is at Agua Caliente. The reasons are many but here are a few. 1) a thermal pool to rest your body in after a long day of geocaching. 2) location is not too far from many caches, and what the hell the drive is fun anyways. 3) thermal pool to rest you bodies in. 4) great areas in the surrounding hills to hide more caches. 5)thermal pool to rest you bodies in (waite did I mention these already)

Anyway you get the point. Then campgroung can accomodate everything from tents to RV's.

 

"Sing like no one is listening,

Dance like no one is watching,

and fart like you don't care"

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Here's some pricing and site info for Agua Caliente:

 

Agua Caliente Reservations and Information: (877) 565-3600

Full hookup 20 Trailers, motorhome up to 40 ft., campers, tents $18

 

Partial hookup 51 Motorhome to 29 ft. $18

 

Non-hookup 34 Tent only $14

 

Caravan Area 1 30 RV sites and 100 people $75

 

RESERVATION FEE: $3.00 Per Individual Reservation. This fee is non-refundable.

 

GROUP CAMPING DISCOUNT: R.V. group organizers may reserve a minimum of 10 campsites up to one year in advance for a $5.00 Reservation fee for the whole group. Extra vehicle and pet fees are included and when applicable and available, the use of the pavilion and or Kitchen facilities for one full day during the reservation period. Weekend reservations are for a minimum of two nights and Holiday weekends are for a minimum three nights when available. Reservations can be made by phone or in person with a partial payment fee of $100.00 charged at the time the reservation is made. The balance of the reservation fee is due at least 30 days prior to the reservation date. Cancellation with less that 30 days notice will result in the forfeiture of the $100.00 partial payment.

 

CARAVAN CAMPING: Caravan areas at Dos Picos and Agua Caliente may be reserved up to one year in advance. Current fees are $75 per night with a two night minimum for 10 units. Additional units are $10.00 per night up to a maximum of $200.00 per night. Fees include all extra vehicles and pets.

 

Take only pictures, leave only footprints.

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Thanks for the information.

 

If someone wants to camp at Agua Caliente, feel free to reserve a place. If a group of people wants to see if a group reservation can be made, I'll leave that to some brave individual to step forward and work out. I'm swamped with stuff at the beginning of the school year. I have about 160 students, and just got some student aides to help me out. I should be able to get caught up soon, but right now things are crazy. I'm working on the itineraries, but I've been spending most nights grading papers. That should slacken now that I have aides to help.

 

Are we settled then on the last October weekend?

 

Parsa

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sounds like the weekend of oct 24-26 is a go. so i don't mind getting on with creating the event cache page. just wanted some input...

 

blair valley

butterfield ranch

agua caliente

 

seems to me like butterfield ranch is in between. it has new ownership, store and pools and i think a kid area. and from now until dec. has cheap camping: full hookup & 2 tent max $10.00; no hookup & 1 tent max $5.00; full hookup rv $15.00.

 

would this be a place to meet for a cache run?

Blair valley a place to meet?

agua calient campground a place to meet?

 

Take only pictures, leave only footprints.

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I'll be creating the event cache page. I'm working on the intineraies right now. The page will be up so that there's at least a one month notice.

 

The meeting will be in Blair Valley. I may make secondary meetups depending on our chosen itineraries. I'm leaving camping options up to groups and families to arrange. Perhaps we can be more prepared next year if we decide to do it again. Any group camp reservations can be announced on the web site and in this forum.

 

Thanks

 

Parsa

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Whew! i made the post and then realized what how much time it would take. Thanks Parsa! glad the event is still got a head of steam.

 

Tomorrow I'm checking on reservations at Butterfield Ranch and Agua Caliente.

 

Anyone interested in camping at one of those sites? Agua Calient goup must be at least ten.

 

one last thought....is everyone gonna bring something to put in a cache?

 

Take only pictures, leave only footprints.

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I am are not sure what to think of this www.PirateCaching.com thing. It certainly can be a new twist to the game, but it also seems that it can encourage people to sabotage this whole Geocaching.com game. Unless you know about this www.PirateCaching.com site, you would never know they might have some of your items (they won't log what they did on geocaching.com).

 

[This message was edited by Bobkat92 & the 3 Bears on September 24, 2003 at 06:49 AM.]

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There are several active discussions of the piracy issue in the General forum. While opinions vary widely regarding what to make of this activity, my personal opinion is that anyone who modifies a cache without the approval of the owner of the cache is guilty of nothing more or less than vandalism. We participate in geocaching under a clear set of guidelines and with specific expectations of those who visit our caches. Piracy is obviously a violation of those guidelines and should not be condoned or supported in any way. As I posted in one of the threads in the General forum, it is the precise equivalent of signing up for a flag football game only to have one of the participants take the ball and declare that he'd rather play rugby. The other players should neither give in nor view his actions as amusing. It is antisocial behavior, pure and simple. I guess I sound pretty harsh, but please think about it - I would not be at all amused to discover that one of my own caches, each of which I have given much time and thought to stock and place, had been pirated.

 

Peace,

Radical Geezer

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Yes, I agree with what the two of you said about the piracy issue. I spend a lot of time and money on my cache contents, and I would hate to have someone take stuff out of them. Some of the caches have items I have to buy online, and it takes a lot of time to replace. I never put junk in my caches.

 

If the person is taking travel bugs, then leaving directions with someone on where they are, it's annoying, but not far from what travel bugs do anyway. I still wouldn't want to go and search for my own bug. They get lost enough as it is.

 

If it becomes a problem, I'd go to a "spy" shop, put a tracking chip inside an item, and pay a little social call to their house.

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In regards to the Anza-Borrego trip...

One critical thing to think about in the desert is water; even in the fall or winter. People underestimate their need for it. You should totally hydrate yourself before any hikes by drinking as much water as possible. Have water with you in the car and in the mornings, and drink, drink, drink. Then carry water with you on the hike. This desert was used by the military to experiment with dehydration in soldiers decades ago. Follow advice in the excellent books on the Anza Borrego such as those by Lindsay.

 

As you may know, a 22-year old hiker died of heat stroke induced heart failure this Saturday. He had evidently visited Henry's Cache in the Santa Monica Mountains (GC672) and experienced heat exhaustion and stroke on the way down.

Lovely hike's deadly ending stuns friends

 

We will be doing some hikes, but I'm planning things so that the longer ones can be done as early morning treks or evening hikes. You'll probably also be signing a waiver for the trip.

 

Parsa

 

[This message was edited by Parsa on September 24, 2003 at 12:35 PM.]

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OK, I've plotted out the Anza caches both on paper topo maps and on my computer, I've read the cache descriptions, examined terrain and difficulties, and I have some idea of intinerary. I'll probably have more lined up than we can realistically do, but that's OK. Besides, I'm a crazy cacher who starts caching at dawn and keeps going past sunset, and that's not everyone's cup of tea.

 

It looks like the itineries will focus on the area south of the 78 excluding the Fish Creek region (sorry Slabys and Geckos). For the few people that have done all these, you're welcome to head off into other parts and then camp with us.

We'll hit two main areas. The area immediately near Blair Valley (on both sides of the S-2), and the large wash and mud cave regions along Vallecitos, Carrizo, and Bow Willow Creeks. If time is good, we can also hit a few caches in the Dos Cabezas area. There will also be planned early morning and evening hikes for the tougher climbs. This will possibly include: the Whale Peak and Pinyon Mountain area caches, Oh What a Good Boy Sea to Sea cache, the Moonlight Trail caches near Agua Caliente, and the caches just on the other side of the Squeeze along the Pinyon Mountain Road (hiking not driving). This is a LOT of caches. Not everyone needs to do all (or any) of these planned runs. Likewise, the group can split and some people can do one hike while other people do another.

 

If anyone is itching to place a cache beforehand, may I suggest a few areas that are good.

The Mesquite Oasis area near Palm Spring.

The palm oases in the Mountain Palm Springs Area (Southwest Grove is very nice).

The area west of Bow Willow campground out in the wash or the oases.

 

Parsa

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Wooooo Hooooo! This is probably my first forum posting. I have been looking for an excuse to finish the C2C Challenge desert caches, and October 24-26 would be great! I have a 2WD Jeep Cherokee, but it will probably make it most places I need to go. Sunday the 26th is also first anniversary of my first Geocaching find. I'm basically looking to do #12 through #25 except I already found #21 & #22. I'll keep checking for updates. Is this something that should become an official Geocaching Event with its own cache page?

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Expect to See the Big Memorial Picnic Cache Soon

 

2022066_2400.jpg

 

Ruscal and I have both been swamped doing work type stuff since the picnic, so we have been slow in getting the big Memorial Cache placed. What a drag it is when work gets in the way of geocaching. Splashette is the one person who can’t be blamed for the holdup. We have planned the final cache location and Splashette, Ruscal and I will be heading out on Saturday to set everything up. If all goes well, the cache will be entered and waiting for approval Saturday night. Sorry for the long delay.

 

Rocket Man

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quote:
Originally posted by Parsa:

Well, the event cache in Anza-Borrego is posted. It should be on the site soon.

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GCGZRM

 

Let me have feedback.

 

Parsa


Good job Parsa, it looks like you have planned a great weekend. I will plan on being there. RM

 

BTW: I added the cache to my watch list and on my watch list, and it says the cache is in Alabama. Strange?

 

[This message was edited by Rocket Man on September 30, 2003 at 05:50 AM.]

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