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Your Worst Day Geocaching?


Imajika

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Well, Team Yatta started out bright and early this morning with a goal of finding SEVERAL caches in the Boulder, CO area.

 

After driving around several dirt roads, tromping around through snow, realizing that coords were off on the cache page, hiking halfway to a cache and realizing there was no way to get past a wall of ice/snow, we gave up. We wanted to find 8 and we found ONE! Can you believe it???? ONE!

 

I am going out to try for some other ones tomorrow. And next week Team Yatta is driving south, nowhere near Boulder. We're not going caching up there again...or at least not until summertime.

 

So what was your worst caching day?

 

And before you bust me on not logging DNF's today...we never even go close enough to a cache to even LOOK for it. So I am not going to log any DNF's for those. I only log DNF's for caches I actually LOOK for and do not find...not ones that you can't even get to. :D

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My second day caching I went up to a state park about half an hour or so from my home into the mountains. Little did I know that even though the snow had melted in my front yard in the valley, there was still at least a foot on the trails and more in a lot of snowdrifts. I managed to hike out to one cache, which was a bit to technical for me since I was wearing tennis shoes and there was a whole heck of a lot of snow and ice. Then we drove down, tried to hit two more, but missed those too. Both were in small crevices in small rock outcroppings covered by un-small/massive ammount of snow...

 

For then record, that was 3/3 DNFs for the day...

Edited by TeamK-9
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I'm having a hard time thinking of a worst because even when I encountered problems, I had fun. I guess it would be in North Carolina (outer banks) where we kept getting skunked on caches. We spent an hour at one spot after a long hike with no luck (but still liked the hike) and an hour at another getting eaten alive by monstrous mosquitos looking for another. But even there, I had fun chasing a lizard around trying to get its picture, seeing a snake curled up where the cache should have been, and seeing turtles at the national wildlife refuge were the cache was supposed to be (before the ban). It did turn out that both caches were missing. I suppose if they had been there and we still didn't find them, that would up the "worst" factor since we were on vacation and would not have gotten to try again.

 

Edit: I suppose the fact that I also yanked a tick out of myself when I got home adds to it. I'm pretty sure I got it at yet another missing cache that had tons of ticks in the area. Oh! and all those missing caches were "vacation placed caches" too! But hey! I didn't get either west nile or lyme and still had fun!

Edited by carleenp
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Today had to be one of my worst days of caching. I was all jacked up for some morning caches before heading to work in the afternoon. I actually got the wife to tag along and we had our 20 month old with us. I made it to Stunod's new cache, Make a Good Impression and found it. We headed back to the cacr and the phone rings...

 

"Hello?"

 

"HI Dad, this is Sydney. Sam and I left in a hurry today and we don't have a lunch or money with us. Could you drop it off?"

 

DOH!! I was about 15 miles form home and no real easy way to get there without it being a 30 min. ride. SO, forget about any more caches for the day. I would not have had time to make it back and cache some more.

 

Nothing worse than being all excited about caching and having it called off. Why? because my lovely daughters woke up late and rushed out the door? Next time they can starve, Dad has caches to find!! Priorities!

LOL!

 

Did I mention it was a beautiful 45 degree day in Chicago ?

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Mine would have to be coming across a relatively fresh suicide-by-revolver while on my way to placing a cache and doing some cache hunting. Not a pleasant experience, but certainly not the last time I'll experience something weird while being out hunting.

WHAT? Not to be gross, but we need more details on this one :D

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We have to agree with what others have said about any bad day of caching is better then being at work! Our worst day was just last Sunday(2/22) in Scranton PA. We found 3, but didn't find another 3. We never had 3 DNF's before. Started to wonder what our problem was! All 3 were Multi's. We felt better when the last cache we found for the day was a Multi with 4 stages.

 

Mark & Terre

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Mine would have to be coming across a relatively fresh suicide-by-revolver while on my way to placing a cache and doing some cache hunting.  Not a pleasant experience, but certainly not the last time I'll experience something weird while being out hunting.

ACK! :D

ACK! is an understatement.

 

This is, so far anyway, my worst day. The cache owner expressed concern but then kind of scolded me for taking a TB without leaving one. I thought the purpose of a TB was to travel, not populate a bug hotel.

 

My back and neck are still sore.

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Last Saturday had to be the very worst for us. It was raining earlier in the morning, but the sky opened up and we decided to go for it. Within half an hour...we had loaded our daughters cache-pack, remembered 2 flashlights, grabbed a gallon of water and small bowl because we were taking Quad-dog and baby Mailey. This would be her first trip so we were trying to gather up extra leashes and everything she would need. The first stop was about 40 miles away and the whole time, we were remembering the things we forgot. The puppy was wanting up front to sit in my lap and we were happy that she got over her fear and seemed to be enjoying the trip. Quad dog always sits on the console in the middle. We could see that the sky was black and it was raining up ahead. We were too close to the first cache to let a little rain stop us. About 5 miles away from the first stop, the GPSr seemed to freeze up. Quadrod took the batteries out, so we lost all of the way points. Luckily, we had 5 print outs with us. Quadrod hurried to put the Coords in so we could grab this first one. Just as we were about to turn off the road, the puppy started doing the "Exorcist Barf" hitting everyone in the car. We stopped, opened the doors, it was cold and raining, and Quadrod had forgotten his jacket. The semi's were roaring past and dogs were scared to death. Of course, we didn't bring a mop so a handtowel was all we had to try to clean ourselves up with but we finally got to the first cache. From there on it was one thing after another. We ended up driving 200 miles for 5 caches and spent the entire day in the pouring rain. Once we got home...it was dark...Quadrod wanted to go do 2 more closer to the house. I had been there but he hadn't. We left the dogs and off we went. At the first of his 2.....I slammed my finger in the car door. I had to put the flashlight down to open the door to get my finger out. Quadrod never goes anywhere without a roll of toilet paper so I wrapped my finger up and with trembling legs and feeling like I was going to faint...we finished his 2 finds.

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I'm having a hard time thinking of a worst because even when I encountered problems, I had fun. I guess it would be in North Carolina (outer banks) where we kept getting skunked on caches. We spent an hour at one spot after a long hike with no luck (but still liked the hike) and an hour at another getting eaten alive by monstrous mosquitos looking for another. But even there, I had fun chasing a lizard around trying to get its picture, seeing a snake curled up where the cache should have been, and seeing turtles at the national wildlife refuge were the cache was supposed to be (before the ban). It did turn out that both caches were missing. I suppose if they had been there and we still didn't find them, that would up the "worst" factor since we were on vacation and would not have gotten to try again.

 

Edit: I suppose the fact that I also yanked a tick out of myself when I got home adds to it. I'm pretty sure I got it at yet another missing cache that had tons of ticks in the area. Oh! and all those missing caches were "vacation placed caches" too! But hey! I didn't get either west nile or lyme and still had fun!

Don't forget the fear of being eaten by alligators!

I think they're following me...

:o

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I have 3 days that stand out:

 

#3: I went to a multi-cache in some gardens. This was supposed to be my only cache of the day. Previously, I could not find stage 1, which was in a tree that at that time was right next to an occupied picnic table. I came back and with alittle searching, found it. Then went to stage 2 (also the final spot), which is apparently hidden somewhere in a wooden structure. I went through the whole structure, meanwhile there are joggers going by and numerous kids also near the cache, and I'm looking for a very well hidden micro looking like an idiot. After at least an hour and maybe two, I gave up with no finds on the day. Later I went back to the cache, and still couldn't find it, and this particular cache was turning my mom off geocaching. At least that day I found 3 caches. I recently got a clue from a previous finder (which lately is the only way people have been finding it), and I plan on attempting it again soon, but my opinion of this cache is still low. :D

 

#2: Another multi-cache, this time it was in 3 locations of the county. The first stage was easy, then came the 2nd stage. It required you to use a map of a historic cemetery to find certain monuments (about 10 I believe), and then use information to get to the next stage, which was at a historic park. The 3rd stage wasn't difficult, until the actual cache. The clue was that it was at the base of a tree, and there were plenty of trees along trail. Took a while, and then had to give up. Turns out, the cache had floated about 70 feet from the coords and was not at the base of a tree! One cacher stumbled on it and put it back at the base of a tree near the coords. I then went out and easily found it. But that day, I spent most of the afternoon on a cache that I couldn't find. I barely had enough time to find one cache.

 

#1: Yet another multi. I noticed as I approached stage 1, it appeared to be at the state mental hospital. Indeed, it was at the entrance. I got the information for stage 2, but got the math wrong and ended up a mile away. Re-did the math and I was back at the mental hospital, this time in the middle of its lawn about 100 yards from the road at what appeared to be a monument. I got the information, and I looked around and saw police cars moving around. I didn't think much of that, but tried not to look suspicious. I figured out with my GPS where stage 3 was, and started walking toward it. I then checked back to see where the police cars were, and I saw one turn off the mental hospital driveway and on to the lawn, followed by the other car. The police cars then made a beeline STRAIGHT AT ME! I took at least 10 minutes explaining to the cops what I was doing. They didn't seem to understand it, but they said that previously they had to chase off "treasure-hunters." They said the public is not allowed anywhere on the mental hospital grounds, and that I had to leave. I ended up finding two caches that day, and requested that particular cache to be archived, which it was for a few days until the owner changed the location of stage 2. This weekend I went back out and tried it again, only to realize this time the owner made a math error when moving stage 2. That has been corrected, and sometime I hope to find this cache. :o

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Ok,

Compared to some of these it is not so bad. But I was on my way to work one day I saw that there was a brand new cache on the. So off I go down a trail trying to get to it. I think Oh it is over that creek I have to get over there. Not knowing there was a brige down the trail a bit. Then I slipped and sprained my ankle.

I would have been the FTF. But I was out for 2 weeks and now it been a month and I have not had the guts to try that one again yet.

 

ELijah

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Boy, how many of our caching adventures HAVEN'T ended in disaster??

 

On our first big caching trip up into the desert, we managed to lodge a branch in the sidewall of one our tires and had to stop at every gas station along the road back home to fill the tire. $200 out the door.

 

Then, not too long after that, THIS happened. There goes another $170.

 

As if THAT wasn't bad enough, late last fall we locked our keys in the truck while caching in the mountains. Well, after deciding which window to break, we made it back home. There goes $600 to replace the window.

 

On our last great caching adventure, we actually had the pleasure of someone planting a cache in our honor. There goes another $200.

 

It's time to take up a cheaper hobby, like collecting rare jewelry... :o

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A bads days caching is still better than a good day at work!!

 

I guess my worst moments are when my 2 year old starts getting bored when I dont find the cache quick enough, Although she soon stops grumbling when I find it and she gets to rumage for treasure.

 

She is brainwashed I think. The other day she came over with a small plastic box stuffed with toys and announced it was her cache box and proceded to hide it behind a chair for me to find :o

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My girlfriend broke up with me a few weeks ago, and to clear my mind I decided to do some geocaching. Since i live in a sparsely cached area, I have to drive about an hour in any direction to get to caches. I headed west to do a few. Started at a hard/tricky one I had tried before, this time armed with a few hints from the cache owner. Couldn't find it, gave up a bit too quickly. Then proceeded to a nearby 1/1. It was a bit of a hike to get to though, and I ended up not finding it either. I just couldn't get into the spirit of things as I usually do. Didn't log DNF's as I wasn't really giving it any effort. I gave up and drove home, wasting a good $5 in gas and about 4 hours!

 

Being outdoors helped a lot though, and I'm no longer in the DNF rut of that day.

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well, there was that day i nearly lost crashco and the border guard got involved.

 

...no, that was a good cache day.

 

or the day i was stalked in the woods and had to call the police... no, that was also a good cache day.

 

or the day i stumbled into a puddle of moose urine, had a close encounter with the moose himself and got a puncture wound before realizing i was MILES from my car...

 

no, that was ALSO a good caching day.

 

they're all good. i figure you're either having a good time or a good story.

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My very first day was my worst. I went looking for two caches close to home, and later found out they had both been destroyed. I nearly gave up caching before I ever started.

 

Just a note on my philosophy: The worst day of my life was the day I was born. Every day since then has been better than the one before. My grandfather always told me that every day above ground is a good day, so I live by that. Every day I'm able to go caching is better than the last day, because it is yet another day that makes me appreciate what I have, and what I can do. :o

Edited by Sparky-Watts
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