The San Diego Thread

February 19, 2004

Or better yet, as you enter, ask for the Palm Canyon Trailhead, there is a booth there, I think it is four bucks to get in, have not been there in several years...

Tell me that you can't hear Slim Pickens saying "A toll booth? Somebody go back and get a whole shipload 'o dimes!"

One of the strangest things I seen in the desert.

That's a heck of a lot different from what I remember...

Duscwe! <_<

February 19, 2004

Actually its the info booth at Coyote Canyon, not Palm Canyon.

February 19, 2004

For those of you going to the cacheout in ABDSP this weekend, I've added a note to the event page, but realize many people may not look at it again at this late date, so I'm copying it here...

A little added incentive for the cacheout: My sister-in-law, Barb, just sent me an article to place in Tracy's Cache. Tracy was her husband. Trouble is, it's way too big to fit in the cache, sooooo...the first cacheout participant to find Tracy's cache after 6 a.m Saturday morning will get this item as a finder's prize. I'll have it with me at the cacheout and you can report to me with the time you found the cache to see if you're first. What is the item, you ask? It is a brand new, still in the package, Ugly Stik by Shakespeare. What the heck is an Ugly Stik, you non-fisherfolks ask? It is a really fine quality six foot rod and spinning reel, complete with its own carrying case. Tracy loved to fish and would be very pleased I'm sure. Happy caching and good luck!

Peace,

Radical Geezer

February 20, 2004

I went to the meetup last week and it was me and two other guys I know from caching, I hope some of you might join us this time around.....

check it out:

geocaching meetup

Edited February 20, 2004 by sddarkman619

February 23, 2004

I just wanted to remind everyone about the extreme geocaching an kiking event coming up this sunday, I have added an additional link with pictures a descriptions about hte hike from someone esle who did it 3 times.:

http://www.gothicsandiego.com/geocaching/index.html

February 24, 2004

I have an etrex vista, and the plot screen for my altimeter isn't plotting, over time or distance, neither.....the plot pressure is working nicely, but I would like to plot my altitude.......it does tell me my altitude, but no plot......anyone else have this issue? thanks.

nevermind, I figured it out, had to have tracking on....

dud...

Edited February 24, 2004 by sddarkman619

February 24, 2004

Whew!!!!!!!!!!!!!Great Event. Thanks Duscwe! for getting it all set up. Thanks to all who let me ride along on the 4X4 trails.

Parsa, Post a note here with your Malipas cache is approved so we can go and log 14 FTF's on it

Can't wait to see ya'll again.

February 24, 2004

Well, I had a great time on this trip, despite the bit of rain we had. Thanks to everyone for making it a fun experience.

The other new Anza cache was posted pretty quickly, but mine is taking a little while.

Here is the link when it finally comes up (it won't work until it does):

Vista del Malpais

Parsa

February 24, 2004

Hey! I planned an event !

Check it out...GCHR7D

-padregirl

February 24, 2004

Hey! I planned an event !
Check it out...GCHR7D

-padregirl

well I tried to get peopel to come to this:

http://geo.meetup.com

its once a month...

February 24, 2004

Hey! I planned an event !
Check it out...GCHR7D

-padregirl

Hey, thats not just an event, thats a Geo-pizza night. Great idea.

Courtesy link - GCHR7D

February 25, 2004

We (The4DeeZ) have decided to step up and organize a CITO day event for the San Diego area on April 17th the National CITO Day. There are a couple of things I would like to ask you guys to get this going.

1. In your opinion what parks or other areas need the most help?

2. Should we schedule a multi-day event to cover more areas such and East County, North County, South Bay, Etc.?

Please feel free to contact us if you have suggestions or information that would help get this off the ground.

Thanks for your input,

The4DeeZ

Edited February 25, 2004 by The4DeeZ

February 26, 2004

1. In your opinion what parks or other areas need the most help?

I'd like to see a cleanup around Mt. Soledad. I was amazed at how much trash was located around the Christmas Cache. Now this may be the type of place that you can cleanup and then it immediately gets dirty again because of a lot of teenage drinkers and homelessness. But I figured if you're asking for places- this would qualify.

Dave

3.3k · February 26, 2004

Hello all. Just started geocaching a month and two days ago. My daughters, Olivia (8) and Isabella (6) love it. Ginger, our golden retriever, usually joins us as well and especially loves the hikes.

Will try and make pizza night; my girls love pizza, imagine that.

For those of you that like to ride bicycles, I created my first cache along the Rosarito to Ensenada bike route. Next event is coming up on April 17th. Better start training now, its not a ride in the park. GCHNGR

Edited February 26, 2004 by Chuy

February 27, 2004

Hot off the approval presses:

Lame Micro #241 out in the San Pascual Valley. I'm sure many of you passed the exact

location on your return from Anza Borrego. Hmm, is it really lame?

Have a great, dry weekend!

February 27, 2004

Just a reminder about this sundays hike and cache outing:

http://www.gothicsandiego.com/geocaching/index.html

3.3k · March 1, 2004

Hot off the approval presses:
Lame Micro #241 out in the San Pascual Valley...

Dan-oh, this battlefield was on my create-a-cache target list; you beat me to it. I lived in that little house to the SW, where the two roads meet, from about 1972-1976 (we moved out when I was in 4th grade).

My brother and I always hung out here on weekends.

A little history: the battlefield (exact location remains unknown) was the sight of a battle between the Californios, the local resistance fighters supported by Mexico, and the US army during the Mexican-American war. Here the US army suffered one of their few losses of the war and fled to Mule Hill, which can be seen today: it has a cross on top and is on the east side of I-15 about a 1/4 mile south of the Escondido mall exit. Supposedly, the US army was trapped on the hill by resistance fighters and the US soldiers resorted to eating some of their mules for sustenance until reinforcements arrived from San Diego.

Mule Hill has a hiking trail; maybe I will put a cache here instead.

March 1, 2004

Chuy - I was too lazy (and I'm not the historian type) to write up any info on the site. Thanks for the background. There's room for another cache up the hill or over at the interpretive center, both over the required .10 mile away.

As to the Mule Hill trail, thats a touchy subject. Email Parsa or myself for an interesting background on caches in that area. Prolly best discussed off-line. It looks like both of us will be making the pizza event on March 13 so you can catch up then.

March 1, 2004

Actually, the hill with the cross on top is Battle Mtn, but was not the place where the Americans took refuge. There was a cache on Battle Mtn at one time. Another eroneous hill lies to the east of Battle Mtn, and is called Starvation Mtn. The actual Mule Hill is a small hill just east of North County Fair mall. A trail leads there, and it was the site of my cache Ammunition Sgt. Cox!. The nearest cache now is "egg never", .

There are 7 or 8 interpretive signs at the mule hill site, and ceremonies are done there as well as at the Battlefield State Park.

The actual battle took place all over the valley, but started near the modern village of San Pasqual on the east side of the valley. The Americans came in from a bad path to the east, and were tired. They were also hot because of wearing their stupid regulation wool uniforms. They should have made their way to San Diego and rested up before engaging the Californios, who knew the area, and had fully ready men and horses (not to metion nasty cavalry pikes). The Americans claimed victory, but the truth is, they got their butts kicked. They lost 19 men, while the Mexicans only lost one or two.

By the way, I highly recommend the book on San Pasqual valley that you can pick up at the San Pasqual store, especially if you lived in that house. It has great drawings of all the old houses, comes with an excellent map of the valley, and gives the history of all the houses, their original owners, as well as the dairies, cemeteries and other sites around the area. I believe the nice lady running the store is the author.

Also, if you see two reproduced books in the State Park or at the Escondido Historical Society in Grape Day Park, I recommend those as well. One is "Indian Stories of the Southwest" [really San Pasqual] by Elizabeth Judson Roberts, a pioneer, and one of San Pasqual valley's first teachers. The other is "San Pasqual: A crack in the hills" by Mary Rockwood Peet, who comes from another pioneer family. Both women are buried in the San Paqual cemetery. Both books cover the story of Felicita who according to legend played a part in the battle. Felicita is buried at the Indian cemetery at the former San Pasqual elementary school (now the San Diego Center for Archeology) just east of the State Park. Mary Peet's book was the inspirational source of my Lorenzo's Gold story. The Felicita Pageant was a rival to the Ramona Pageant in the Hemet area (which is still performed today). For several years the romantic story was performed for huge crowds in what is today Felicita Park. It was of course purely fictional.

Parsa

Edited March 1, 2004 by Parsa

March 1, 2004

Ammunition Sgt. Cox!

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...b2-511d27c94502

Battle of San Paqual site location project:

http://www.sanpasqual.org/

The San Pasqual Indians and the battle:

http://www.mountainvalleyranch.com/battle.htm

Chief Panto (father of Felicita) and the San Pasqual Indians:

http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/97spring/panto.htm

Story of Felicita:

http://www.nctimes.net/news/2002/20020331/45636.html

http://www.nctimes.net/news/2002/20020219/95444.html

Parsa

March 1, 2004

Idea for a new cache location:

South San Diego, south of Chula Vista.

Montgomery-Waller Community Park.

Northeast of Beyer Blvd. and Coronado Ave.

I just "discovered" this doing some history searches, and it looks interesting. The park was once a California State Park called Montgomery Memorial State Park. It is named for John Joseph Montgomery, who is the person Montgomery Field is named for. He was a physicist who conducted experiments in aviation 20 years before the Wright Brothers. The park is the site of the "first" fixed wing flight. There was (and may still be) a monument and an historical plaque there, but I have never visited the site. If you are a glider fan, this may be a cache site you'd like to consider.

The monument looked like this:

I also noted that MSN Mappoint calls the I-5 in this area John J. Montgomery Fwy.

Here are some related web sites:

http://www.earlyaviators.com/emontgom.htm

http://www.flyingmachines.org/mont.html

http://www.sandiegohistory.org/bio/montgomery/montgomery.htm

Parsa

Edited March 1, 2004 by Parsa

March 2, 2004

Well we did our goat canyon trestel hike and cache outing. whoa....what a hike....

we will be going back again in 2 weeks on saturday the 20th. This time we are takign the easy route, going thrut he jeep trail up carrizo gorge to about 1.5 miles fromt he base of goat canyon. I will have a website up shortly to explain the new trip. we got skunked on one of the caches and we are going bakc to find it...the coords were about 60ft off from what I hear. anyway the pictures for our goat canyon hike are here:

http://www.gothicsandiego.com/shoots/index.html

look at the titles and see the one called goat canyon....

3.3k · March 3, 2004

Parsa, you certainly know your history. I was going off my feeble old memory on an article I read some 15 years ago (don't know if it was the Union or Reader). I do remember a college professor at the SDSU satellite campus in San Marcos once stating that the reason the US soldiers lost so many men was that they were fighting with swords whereas the Californios had lances. Both sides had firearms but they were apparantly neutralized by the rain. Imagine the carnage if the weather was a typical Southern California sunny day.

I grew up in Escondido but have yet to take a walk up to Battlefield Mtn. I am planning on it someday soon (Ok, I promise to do it this year, really). I now reside in Lakeside and I think I'll let you guys handle Escondido and I'll take care of Lakeside. I have lived here five years and there are plenty of promising areas to drop a cache.

Darkman, I wish I had the time to hike out the desert caches, but I couldn't go caching without my daughters, and they are too young to be hiking these trails (they are 6 & 8). Certainly in another year or two. I'll be starting them out slowly this summer.

March 4, 2004

SdDark, whats up this is Ryan Mike G's friend with the red cherokee. I got a new GPS (etrex vista) And I started a cache today thats waiting to be approved. But check it out. http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...7-F8D6FC07B87A}

March 4, 2004

I can't see it as I am not the opwner and it hasn't been approved yet, but cool.... should be alot of fun for you......

I am also planning another trip to the carrizo gorge if ytou wanna come, on saturday the 20th...

March 5, 2004

Any puzzle cachers in the house?

I'm working on the new Pushing Tin SAN cache (GSHTR0). If anyone else is working on it, I'd like to put our heads together. I know the right direction to go but I'm temporarily stumped.

Anyone else?

March 5, 2004

I'm quickly coming up on my 100th cache in the next week since I'm at 94 right now. I'm sure I manage to hit 99 through this weekend so it leaves next week after work or next weekend for a good 'un. Anything unique, difficult or memorable is in the running.

Any suggestions?

March 5, 2004

Well... there's this cache in Escondido called Lassie something or other... oh wait, that's yours.

You could make the Pizza event cache your hundredth.

You could also go get a cache in which you need to hike a bit and which gives you a nice view or something... maybe one of the Tuna caches you haven't done, or something on Palomar, etc.

Unfortunately, I seem to see a lot of the "micro behind the Wal-Mart" type of cache lately, and they aren't exactly memorable. My favorite caches always involve scenic walks and cleverly hidden caches (including puzzle caches).

You haven't done much outside of North County, so perhaps you can get down to the San Diego coast, Balboa Park, or Coronado.

Greta Garbo's Phone in La Jolla was fun. Maybe you can get down there and do some on Mt. Soledad as well. Green Eggs and Ham, in the same area, also had a great view.

Parsa

March 5, 2004

OK, I gave the people watching my cache enough of a head start. In fact Dan-oh already found it without a notification.

My "Case of the Missing Depot" cache is finally back up and running. In the micro you will find a few nice pairs of Parsa original jewelry designs (earrings). Bring something small but nice to trade. I really intended these for the lady geocachers, but I guess the guys could use them as a way to appease their spouses for all the time they spend caching.

The cache is a multi in downtown Escondido. The best time to visit is probably tomorrow (Saturday) in the early afternoon. Sunday will probably *not* work for you... However, you might get a head start on the first waypoint tonight! Just don't look too sneaky. You'll know why when you get there...

The Case of the Missing Depot

Parsa

Edited March 5, 2004 by Parsa

March 6, 2004

I'm quickly coming up on my 100th cache in the next week since I'm at 94 right now. I'm sure I manage to hit 99 through this weekend so it leaves next week after work or next weekend for a good 'un. Anything unique, difficult or memorable is in the running.

Any suggestions?

Might want to try TucsonThompsen's other puzzle cache, Pay Homage to the Master.

I think I recognize the photo location on Pushing Tin, but have no idea how to make that into coordinates. I'm utterly lost on Master as well, even though I've figured out what the photos mean. I'm just not getting numbers out of any of this.

March 9, 2004

I would like to invite you all that missed the last carrizo gorge trip tot he second carrizo gorge trip, only easier....

http://www.gothicsandiego.com/geocaching/carrizo2.html

after doing the first trip I came home and found a jeep trail that will take us to within 1.5 miles of the trestle....a nice easy 1.5 miles and thent he base of the trestle is right there.....

come on out if you have ever wanted to see this world famous trestle here is your chance....

March 9, 2004

I would like to invite you all that missed the last carrizo gorge trip tot he second carrizo gorge trip, only easier....
http://www.gothicsandiego.com/geocaching/carrizo2.html

after doing the first trip I came home and found a jeep trail that will take us to within 1.5 miles of the trestle....a nice easy 1.5 miles and thent he base of the trestle is right there.....

come on out if you have ever wanted to see this world famous trestle here is your chance....

That sounds real promising for more mere mortal hikers like myself. By the way after reading logs for the Trestle cache- it got me a little curious. Did you use Gecko Dads coordinates?

Dave

"January 11 by Team Gecko (1122 found)

N 32° 43.683 W 116° 10.963

Turned out to be an easy find although the container was over 60 feet north of posted coordinates as noted above. FTF. We used the two GPSr units and let them average over lunchtime to get the recommended substitute coordinates. Readings were stable and identical even with limited satellite coverage in the bottom of the gorge. Although it looks relatively secure for now, there is some risk of this cache washing away or getting soaked in a flash flood in its present location. "

2.2k · March 9, 2004

I would like to invite you all that missed the last carrizo gorge trip tot he second carrizo gorge trip, only easier....
http://www.gothicsandiego.com/geocaching/carrizo2.html

after doing the first trip I came home and found a jeep trail that will take us to within 1.5 miles of the trestle....a nice easy 1.5 miles and thent he base of the trestle is right there.....

come on out if you have ever wanted to see this world famous trestle here is your chance....

Are you sure that this hike is easier than the one from Mortero Palms? I have heard that hiking in Carrizo Canyon is difficult. Here is another map to supplement the one you put on your website:

The red dot is at the end of the Jeep trail and the green dot is where the trestle is.

I couldn't find the webpage where I read about the difficulty of hiking in the gorge, but here is a link to a webpage from someone that made an attempt but didn't get all the way to the trestle.

Hiking Carrizo Canyon

I suspect that you will make it, but it may not be as easy as you think.

Maybe Gecko Dan can enlighten us on the subject. What do you think Don?

RM

March 9, 2004

Since our last few camping events have been at Anza- (and with the heat we won't be planning another one until later in the year)

Are there any thoughts about late spring or summer camping/ caching events?

I was thinking that we could hit some beach areas although the camping spots are hard to come by. I was also thinking that Cuyumaca could be opening up soon and maybe we could camp and plant caches or replant caches.

I was also wondering how far people would be willing to drive away from San Diego to get together. Big Bear anyone?

Just some late night rambling on the computer.

Dave

March 10, 2004

We'll go to Big Bear anytime. There are some great caches there. Keep us in mind if you decide to go.

March 10, 2004

We (The4DeeZ) have decided to step up and organize a CITO day event for the San Diego area on April 17th the National CITO Day. There are a couple of things I would like to ask you guys to get this going.
1. In your opinion what parks or other areas need the most help?

I was thinking of doing the same thing, but it has been ages since I read The Thread.

I was going to talk to the folks at Mission Trails. The park is so large, and I thought that they may even appreciate some help associated with the fire damaged areas as well, some sort of replanting, or mud barriers, or just trash pick-up. I figured that some "good press" about geocaching could always be used in a place where it is beneficial to be on good terms with the rangers

Night Hunter :rolleyes:

March 11, 2004

Are you sure that this hike is easier than the one from Mortero Palms? I have heard that hiking in Carrizo Canyon is difficult. Here is another map to supplement the one you put on your website:

if you looka t a topo map which you can on my website I have supplied, you will see and easy up hill grade of only 600 feet over the 1.5 miles. also I looked att he wash from above when at the trestle. so yea I am sure it will be much esier that the palms hike, we hiked the previously outlined route and that was hard.8 hours total. I have searched all the maps and I am confidant in my ability to read a topo.... it has gotten better since the last ttrip. look at the pictures ont hat site you refered me too.....slighlty older females, not saying females are weak or anything, some just don't have the umph or desire.....the palms hike is much harder than the way we are going.....google some sites ont he palms hike....

Edited March 11, 2004 by sddarkman619

March 11, 2004

I would like to invite you all that missed the last carrizo gorge trip tot he second carrizo gorge trip, only easier....
http://www.gothicsandiego.com/geocaching/carrizo2.html

after doing the first trip I came home and found a jeep trail that will take us to within 1.5 miles of the trestle....a nice easy 1.5 miles and thent he base of the trestle is right there.....

come on out if you have ever wanted to see this world famous trestle here is your chance....

That sounds real promising for more mere mortal hikers like myself. By the way after reading logs for the Trestle cache- it got me a little curious. Did you use Gecko Dads coordinates?

Dave

"January 11 by Team Gecko (1122 found)

N 32° 43.683 W 116° 10.963

Turned out to be an easy find although the container was over 60 feet north of posted coordinates as noted above. FTF. We used the two GPSr units and let them average over lunchtime to get the recommended substitute coordinates. Readings were stable and identical even with limited satellite coverage in the bottom of the gorge. Although it looks relatively secure for now, there is some risk of this cache washing away or getting soaked in a flash flood in its present location. "

no Ididn't thoroughly read the logs before I went, I shoulda, now I know and that why I am going back out, because me and radical geezer hate getting skunked.....

it would be cool if you joined us....

March 16, 2004

is el capitan mountain and el cajon mountain one in the same? and also is it the BIG rock of a mountain I see when I head east on eight, then as I round the bend I see capitan lake? I was wondering about that moutain and I think there should be a cache there....is there a truck trail ont hat thing? or a trail?

March 16, 2004

now that I look at my map a little closer, it could be el cajon mtn or "rock mtn" as it says on the map, I am using mapsource us road and rec.....

March 16, 2004

Darkman,

Yes, El Cajon Mtn is in the El Capitan Reserve. There are four Caches up there. El Capitan, #1 Top of the World, Just Frogs II - Gecko Gurl's Turnaround, and Flagman's Rescue. You cannot log Flagman's Rescue unless you log the other three. There is no "Truck Trail" It is 7 mi one way to the furthest cache. This hike has been labled San Diego County's most difficult hike.

At last check the reserve was closed due to the fire damage. I hope the caches are all ok.

3.3k · March 16, 2004

Question about Benchmarks.

I found a San Diego County Surveyor Monument benchmark. However, its not listed as a benchmark on the Geocache website. Is it because its a county marker? Are these worth listing as a Virtual? Maybe I can incorporate it into a cache I want to create in the area.

March 17, 2004

Has you have been to the south 1/2 of Anza Borrego in the last few days, please post a wild flower report.

I was in the north half last week and would rather check out somewhere different.

Thxs in advance!

March 17, 2004

Darkman,

Yes, El Cajon Mtn is in the El Capitan Reserve. There are four Caches up there. El Capitan, #1 Top of the World, Just Frogs II - Gecko Gurl's Turnaround, and Flagman's Rescue. You cannot log Flagman's Rescue unless you log the other three. There is no "Truck Trail" It is 7 mi one way to the furthest cache. This hike has been labled San Diego County's most difficult hike.

At last check the reserve was closed due to the fire damage. I hope the caches are all ok.

who do I call or what website do I see to find out if its open or when? yea me and my hiking buddy saw the most difficult thing.....nothing like a good challenge....

March 17, 2004

who do I call or what website do I see to find out if its open or when?

San Diego County Parks - 2003 Wildfire Information

March 18, 2004

A new Dan-oh cache has rolled out of the testing labs. Check out my Camouflage Experiment, located just north east of Lake Hodges in Escondido. Its a four stage multi that'll have you looking high and low for some subtle differences. Good luck!

A little bird told me to watch out for a new Parsa cache coming this week too. Man, what a great week!

March 18, 2004

yea I got the notify for that cache, I was wanting to check that out....sounds challenging....I also had a new cache come out last night, G/I #9

March 18, 2004

Announcing the birth of the 5th and latest offspring of the Breeder cache by Yrium! Yes, although the mother breeder was taken by the evil forces from Hodges, her larva survived in the care of a really tardy geocacher. :blink:

The cache will appear soon in a location near...er... me.

The cache is in its pupal stage and will not become an adult until Yrium retrieves the larva. Please don't take it! When the larva is taken, the cache will become an adult. Best of all it will develop into a new breeder queen, The Viridian Queen.

This breeder, however, is a mutated version of the parent species. She will produce larvae with specific placement objectives. When I visit the newly placed larva, I will take it and replace it with the adult version (an ammo box). New larvae will be bred by the Queen continuously.

The cache is in the same city as Dan-oh's new cache.

Parsa

Edited March 18, 2004 by Parsa

March 21, 2004

well we went to the trestle hike today, made it back, but somehow I made a mistake in my calculations, the trestle from parking point would be about 2.75 miles via straightline, not 1.5. so we started walking and it was hot. so hot we called the hike and turned around. it was about 95 degrees out there, WTF? had to be a freak hot day on the day of this hike. looking at weather.com the temp looks to be dropping back down to 82 by next sunday, mayeb I will give it another shot. there is a halfway decent trail, used i am sure by immigrants and BP. the walk is not bad, its a very gentle, if at all noticeable incline. I didn't notice it ......anyway it took about 1 hour to get us 3/4 of a mile closer. due to the swithcing bacjk and around and some minor bush wacking we didn't have to do. I also found some nice big pieces of indian pottery....seems to be everywhere I go.....

anyway I will be up for this hike again if the temp goes back down....

March 21, 2004

<gloat>

Congrats go out to TucsonThompsen for the FTF on the Camouflage Experiment.

Actually he called it the FTS - First To Survive. He also deserves recognition for his tenacity. He made 4 trips in 3 days to solve this one.

I didn't think it was all that hard. Do you think my planning had anything to do with that?

</gloat>

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