My Geocaching Adventures

January 10th & 11th, 2010

2010-09-15T19:09:00.000-10:00

Since there were only three finds for the two days, I'll put them into one post.

Peruvian Bead Cache - Coal Mountain

We were supposed to just run to the grocery store, but we made a small pit stop. I jumped out and ran to search while n8dgr8.418 stayed with the kids. After about 10 minutes of searching through thorns I came out of the brush to try one more angle and I found it at once. I should have trusted my GPS since it was leading me straight there. We TNLNSL.

Your Welcome For The Quickie S.M.

A quick PnG. We pulled up, made the grab, signed it and left. Off to the store!!

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Without A Paddle!

We were all sick, double ear infections it turned out to be. Since we had just left the clinic, we decided to take a different route home. I stopped by this one since I knew it would be a quick PnG. I made my wife get out and search for it. She didn't seem too happy about that! :) TNLNSL!

Until Next time!

January 7th & 8th, 2010

2010-09-15T18:48:00.001-10:00

Ok, this one will be a long one. This caching day blends into tomorrow, but I'll add some of those logs to this one. We're back in Georgia now. Since I completed the CAA Hawaii, I wanted to try for the CAA Georgia. It was about a two hour drive, which my family wasn't looking forward to. We had to drive through Atlanta as well and there would be traffic. I'm not sure if they saw how much I really wanted to go or if my wife had said something, but we were on our way. I had some printouts of the caches and was reading them on the way down. Wondering what the area would look like, hoping my brother-in-law would like caching. Finally we arrived. Passing a few trailer homes with giant confederate flags flying in the yard. It was a heavily wooded area and we were just hoping that no one was out hunting!

Hero's Guild

We parked the car and started walking. We were only about 200 feet from GZ and when we started walking I had an idea of where we would end up. Along the river bed was a huge mound with giant boulders. PLENTY of places to hide a cache. From there we could see a dam further up the river. We started searching.

After about 20 minutes and no cache we were about to give up when I made the find. I announced it to my brother-in-law and told him to search near me. Once he saw it we picked it up and opened the container. We TNLNSL. I was able to talk him into creating an account when we got home. And so n8dgr8.418 was born. After some photos we continued on for the CAA series.

Cache Across America - Georgia

This one was only .13 away, so we obviously walked. We were near GZ and I was searching when I noticed that we were extremely close to someones house. This made me really nervous. I started to wonder if the person knew about the cache. If they didn't we look pretty suspicious out in their yard digging around near trees and bushes. Luckily I made the find and we quickly signed the log and returned the cache. Not before a few photos though! :)

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We drove home, told our story to the family, ate dinner and prepared the kids for bed. Then we jumped on the computer and began logging the days finds. This is when n8dgr8.418 noticed how many were near the house. I explained that most of them seemed to be park and grabs and that we could easily find them. He suggested we leave. I can never say no to some geocaching so we jumped into the SUV and went out into the night!

Amongst the Weeping Willows

The first cache was fairly simple. I knew exactly were it would be, due to experience. I told n8dgr8.418 where to start looking and he eventually made the find. We signed the log and continued on.

Amongst the Dwarf Spruce

This one was a fairly quick find. We literally parked within arms reach of it. I wonder how many people pass it every day not even knowing it's there. Anyway, we signed the log and continued.

The Rite Spot

Another PnG, as most of them are tonight, some are LPCs some are not. I wont tell you which are which. :) TNLNSL!

Right Store, Right Price # 2

This is one that I had previously DNF'd. I knew exactly what I was looking for. After getting covered in snow and getting close to giving up. I explain one more time what we're looking for and n8dgr8.418 made the find while I was talking. TNLNSL! Onward!

Amongst the Pitch Pines

This one warned of mud and other issues. We found it quickly with no problems though. Moving on!

Amongst the Leyland Cypress

When we pulled up to this place we got a little creeped out. It was extremely dark and the building we were close to was abandoned. None of the lights in the parking lot were on. The GPS took us behind this building. The A/C units were torn apart, pieces all over the place. My guess is that people took the copper pipes out. Anyway, I jumped out with a flashlight and found the cache quickly. We TNLNSL and took off ASAP!

Amongst the Magnolias

Another quick PnG. We pulled up and grabbed it. It was getting late and we had a busy day ahead of us, so we needed to call it a night.

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This next cache was found on the 8th, but after we went to sleep. We got up the next day and went to the outlet stores for some shopping. I have searched for this one before with no success. :(

Little Saks of Cache

Today, however, would be different. After another 20 minutes of searching for this in the freezing cold I was about to give up when I cleared my mind of what I thought I was looking for. I gave the small area one more chance and BAM! Found it!! This was one of my most favorite caches because of the camouflage. I don't want to give away anything. So I wont post any close photos of the cache location. Just this one.

Until next time!

January 6th, 2010

2010-09-10T01:03:00.000-10:00

Happy New Year!

My first caching experience of the new year will be in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

This is the Dawning of the Age of...

We were visiting some friends of the family and planned on going to the local aquarium. I noticed there was a cache near the entrance to the parking lot of the aquarium. So I plugged it into my GPS and mentioned it to my brother-in-law. I have brought up geocaching a few times to him and he didn't seem to interested, but since there was one where we were going, he was all for it. We stopped short of the sign and I found it almost immediately. I waited for him to make the find and we signed the log. I think it hooked him, but he was more excited about seeing is friend.

Our visit to Pine Knoll Shores and the Aquarium was memorable to say the least. We had a great time and definitely recommend this cache and the aquarium.

Until next time.

December 30th, 2009

2010-09-07T19:40:00.000-10:00

It's almost the near year. To celebrate we traveled to High Point, North Carolina to spend some time with Kristen's side of the family. After checking into our hotel, I explained to Kristen that I had an itch for some caching and we needed to make a quick trip. There seemed to be a few close by so we jumped into the rental car and took off.

Wooden Candle - C.O.T.D.

An appropriate name for this cache. This was a quick park and grab for me. Kristen watched as I made the grab.

Billabong Cache - C.O.T.D.

Another PnG. The Cache Of The Day series is easy for this day. :) There was a nice little view of a pond at this one.

Exposed - C.O.T.D.

This one had me nervous at first. Too many muggles. Then an opening in the crowd. I made the grab. TNLNSL. TFTC! The log was a little wet though, I think the container was cracked.

Little Mack Daddy

This one through me off. I touched it and moved on. Only to come back and finally make the grab. I had some trouble getting the cache open. There was PLENTY of SWAG inside. Including a coin that I swapped out with a TB. The cache name became obvious when we were leaving the parking lot.

Until next time!

December 29th, 2009

2010-09-06T21:18:00.000-10:00

Before leaving Otto I was able to do some night caching with my step-mom. It was about 6 degrees Fahrenheit outside. We left the house and drove to the nearest cache.

Mason Scars

Another one of those caches that you walk up to, touch, and walk away... After about 20 minutes of searching and even opening the doors to the truck, accepting our DNF.

I said, "Hey, we didn't check over there."

"Yes, we did. But we can check it again."

We hop out of the warmth of the truck and start looking. I kick the cache and flip it over. It was broken, that's why I couldn't find it to begin with. We signed the log and carefully replaced it. On to the next cache.

The Great Wall of Franklin

I knew right away where the cache was. As we pulled closer to GZ I let my step-mom search for a little bit before revealing the location of the cache. We signed the log and replaced the cache. It was very cold and it was getting late. We decided to call it a night.

Until next time!

December 22nd, 2009

2010-09-06T20:52:00.001-10:00

After a quick visit in Dawsonville, we head up to Otto, North Carolina. An extremely small town on the border of Georgia. My fathers side of the family lives here. After explaining the ins and outs of what geocaching is, one person takes an interest. Nichole1980. My step-mom. So why wait? Let's go.

The Franklin Press

While I was visiting family, my step-mom actually found this one on here way home from work, WITHOUT a GPSr!! She read the logs and hint and went to the location. BAM! Cache in hand. :) I had a similar experience. I found the cache pretty quickly. I did not like this cache though. Groundspeak specifically says that a geocache is a waterproof container. This one is a piece of a pipe with a ziploc bag jammed into it. The log was so wet, I had to placed extra paper to log the cache. :(

Until next time!

December 17th, 2009

2010-09-06T20:22:00.000-10:00

For Christmas this year we are visiting all of our family on the east coast. Since it may be a long time until we see them again. Our first stop is in Dawsonville, Georgia. I'm not sure as to how much time I will get to geocache, but I will every chance I get. This day is not very successful. One for Three.

Bird's Eye View

This cache was simple for me. I walked right up to the location and touched the cache. It may have been a lot harder if I had never seen this kind of camouflage. My brother-in-law, n8dgr8.418, will try this cache later, after I talk him into creating an account. I signed the log and replaced the cache.

Little Saks of Cache

This one is a "Premium Member Only" cache. I stood at GZ for quite a while searching and searching. After about 20 minutes in the freezing cold I decided to call it. DNF! :'(

Right Store, Right Price # 2

This one I thought would be a quick PnG. My father-in-law went into the store while I went for the cache. After searching a few pines and having quite a bit of snow fall onto me I was forced to call it when my father-in-law pulled up ready to go. DNF! :'(

December 12th, 2009

2010-09-06T20:04:00.001-10:00

I took Jacob with me to the Bishop Museum. I've never been and since we would be leaving Hawaii soon, I thought it would be a good idea. After checking the webpage I noticed there was a puzzle cache there! I've never done a puzzle cache so I decided to try it.

Bernice P. Bishop Museum

So I solved the puzzle quickly using google and checked it by doing the math twice. After arriving at the museum, I walked to GZ and found the cache quickly. The log was completely full so I replaced it with a spare log that I had. Just when I was about to replace the cache, a few cars decided to drive by and people started walking down the street so I had to act casual for a few minutes before I could replace it. We didn't come to the museum just for the cache though, so we went inside and enjoyed the museum. The Dinosaur Exhibit was there and Jacob loved it. There were some areas when they had robot dinosaurs that roared and that scared him a little but overall I think he had some fun. Lets go downtown!

The Eternal Flame

I had some difficulty getting a parking spot near the cache. After some annoying one-way signs and people cutting me off I was finally able to park near the state capitol building. After exploring the grounds I headed over to the cache location. I found it quickly. It was a very nice container, GREAT urban camouflage. I signed the log and casually replaced the cache. There were no muggles around so searching, signing and replacing were very easy. I took some photos of the flame and left. Ending another wonderful day of geocaching!

Until next time.

December 6th, 2009

2010-05-15T20:45:00.001-10:00

I wanted to try and finish the Ewa Beach/Kapolei area. There were only a few caches that I had left so I gave them a go. I jumped in the car and began another day of Geocaching AWESOMENESS! It all started with Pippo.

Pippo

Pippo was an easy cache to find. I parked within 10 feet of it and found it immeadiately. There were some HUGE thorns though and one went through my crocs into my foot. Maybe I should print out the cache description that warns me about these kinds of things... Anyway, there was some decent SWAG and I think Jacob traded one of his toys for a new one. When I was replacing the cache I noticed some ants. At least they weren't fire ants! I drove to the next one, there were two at the beach.

Remembering Luke

This cache was easy to find. Jacob actually made the find. The inside of the cache was really cool. There was some history about a young man named Luke who was taken too early. RIP. The other cache on the beach was too close to some muggle beach games so I took a rain check on it.

The Tank

I took the road to this cache only to find a nude model at the end of it being photographed!! They do that in broad daylight on public property?!!? Anyway, I threw the car in reverse and drove around a little. When I can back about 30 minutes later there were no models or cars. I jumped out of the car and found the cache quickly. It was HUGE no wonder it's called The Tank! There was an old military storage bunker nearby which I grabbed some pictures of. I'll post them then my computer gets here.

Overall, another successful day of Geocaching. I found 3 of the intended 4. Better to not risk being caught then to search and get a DNF right? Or even worse, have the cache muggled after I find it!

Until next time!

December 5th, 2009

2010-02-10T16:08:00.002-10:00

So today was a BIG day. Kristen and I decided to spend Saturday night downtown at the Hale Koa. In the morning we would hike the Aiea Trail (4.5 mile loop) and then head downtown and enjoy the rest of the night. So we left at about 7am. Since this was our first time hiking the trail we were unsure of where the trail head was and we parked at the "end" of the trail. Since there was a cache near this we decided to grab it then head further up the road to see if we could find the trail head. After wandering in the woods a little Kristen said she'd wait by the car while I grabbed the cache.

Waiting on Leilani....

I finally found it after some major searching. The GPS had me wandering. The hint for the cache was: Is this creature native to Hawaii? The answer (thankfully) is NO. The cache was pretty cool. We got back into the car and drove up further looking for the Trail Head. After reading some of the cache descriptions I knew where to park. This was 1 of 9 today.

Big Trees & The Stump Ones

Here is a plaque dedicated to the people of this aircraft which crashed into the mountain side. (I found the wreckage and got some pictures) There is a cache near here though. It's time to start the 4.5 mile loop! The cache was camouflaged very well. :) They really didn't want water to get into this one. It was double bagged! To the next one! (Find 2 of 9)

Cache Across America - Hawaii

This cache is a BIG one for me. Blue Power Ranger organized a series, The Cache Across America Series. This is a series of caches that will take you on a caching tour of the entire United States. One cache is hidden in each of the 50 states. These caches each contain a numeric clue that will lead you to one final cache located in our nation's capitol upon completion of the series.
Here in Hawaii, it's an ammo can that's pretty easy to find right off the trail. It was packed full of SWAG too! I decided that this would be a good place for my President Obama TB.

Cache Across America - Hawaii

So I left him there! :) Good luck little TB! Let's continue up the trail! (Find 3 of 9)

Noob's first cache

When we first arrived to the bench there were other people here. We took in the nice view and drank some water waiting for them to leave. The cache was hidden close by. While I was signing the log, some other people came up the trail and sat down. They didn't notice us at first and when they did the lady seemed startled. We played it off like I was getting something out of Kristen's backpack and continued. (Find 4 of 9)

LadyBug Cache

The trail started getting VERY scenic. There were some really awesome views of H-3 and Pearl Harbor. This cache was up the ridge a little bit near another bench. It was pretty easy to spot it once I got up there. It was mostly out in the open. We signed the log and moved on. Just in time too. As soon as we got back to the trail another group of people showed up.

LadyBug Cache

This photo was taken just a little bit after the last cache. Onto the next! (Find 5 of 9)

Who is Sanlito?

Another view of H-3 as we walked.

Who is Sanlito?

We're not sure why someone carved this here.

Who is Sanlito?

This picture was taken with my phone. The cache was a little bit past this tree. Pretty easy to spot once we got near it. We looked through the SWAG and TNLNSL. We wanted to try and hurry up with the rest of the trail. We had a night downtown together! ;) (Find 6 of 9)

B-24J Crash Site

We almost missed this. We were walking pretty fast looking for a side trail for the next cache when I looked down and saw this thing. It was been raining and it was down the ridge but I decided I was going anyway. Kristen didn't approve, she was afraid that I would fall. I told her not to worry. About 3 steps down I fell and slid to the wreckage. She gave me a look that said "I told you so!"

B-24J Crash Site

At least I got a cool pic right? I only had some mud on me, no injuries from the fall. Onward!

Wai`anae CRider's Kiddie Cache

This cache was MUCH harder to get to then we thought. We missed the side trail and had to go back. Once we climbed up the ridge we finally found it. The cache had some SWAG but we TNLNSL. (Find 7 of 9)

Geocache

This cache was the first cache EVER placed in Hawaii. It was also the last one we found on the trail. So far it's the oldest cache I've found to date. There was some pretty cool SWAG inside. After signing the log we continued on our way. (Find 8 of 9)

Pearl Harbor & The Aloha Stadium

There were some pretty nice views!

Pearl Harbor & The Aloha Stadium

Here is a zoomed version of the previous.

Camp H. M. Smith

Here is the building I used to work at. See the satellite dishes on top of it? This was the last picture taken on the trail. After this went went downtown.

Hale Koa

Here is the view from our room. Pretty sweet huh?

Fire Man

Before Kristen and I had dinner, I scheduled her a Surprise Sports Massage. Which left me with some time to explore the local area for Geocaches! ;) This guy was running up and down the beach blowing a Conch shell and lighting the Tiki torches. I found a cache near Duke's Lagoon.

"The Dukes" Lagoon

Which coincidentally was the name of the cache! I really liked the hint for this one. "Between the two lines" You'll know why if you find this cache. I spotted the cache almost immediately. I've got an eye for these ones now. (Find 9 of 9)

I did search the area for two other caches but I DNF'd them. Kristen called me and we continued our romantic getaway downtown.
Until next time...

December 3rd, 2009

2010-02-06T19:01:00.001-10:00

I wanted to finish the rest of Waipio. So I had to find two Multi-caches and one Traditional. Not too hard right?

Toby's Walk #4 - Happy Birthday Toby!

I started at the southern most cache and worked north. This was my first Mutli-cache EVER! Technically I did one before, but that one was only one stage. The first stage was at a rock wall. It took some serious searching but when I made the find the log inside listed the coordinates for the final! So I plugged in the coordinates and took off. Lucky for me I could do this one on foot. The final is located about 200 yards away from the first stage. The cache was full of ants. So after I cleaned it out I signed the log and replaced the cache. There was some SWAG in there but I didn't take anything. So onto the next one!

Toby's Walk #3 - The Pathtag Palace
If you remember, Sarge104 and I attempted this cache before and after trying to bushwhack through grass taller than us for over 1000 meters we gave up. This time would be different. I found the path that we missed before. After circling this cache I found the path to it. It really is a Pathtag Palace! Sort of. There were NO pathtags! :(

Toby's Walk #3 - The Pathtag Palace

Just an eraser, a sticker, a pen and the log. Which I signed and replaced. On to the final cache for today!

Toby's Walk #2- Down by the Old Sluice Micro

Here is an example of the grass in the area. It's all super tall like this.

Toby's Walk #2- Down by the Old Sluice Micro

The coordinates for the first stage led you to an area where you were supposed to memorize what was there for a hint to the final cache. They had already given you the coordinates for the final. I made a quick stop and took note of the surrounding area. It was a short walk to the final. Directly off the dirt path. Some of the people were saying they were having trouble with finding the cache. So I thought I would have a hard time finding the cache but I walked right up to it. Viola! Cache in hand! Sort of, it took me about 15 minutes and two pens to retrieve the cache from where it was hiding. The nasty log was jammed in there good. I pulled it out and signed it. Ending another great caching day. Until next time...

November 24th & 29th, 2009

2010-02-03T12:57:00.002-10:00

November 24th, 2009

I only found one cache on the 24th.

Evil Series: #4 Memorial Day Cache

The cache itself is located on a vine wall in the Ke'Ehi Lagoon Park. This is one of four that I had originally looked for with Sarge104. He was unsuccessful that day but today the Evil Series did not prevail. (I found it) After staring at the vine wall for way to long I was about to give up. When suddenly something caught my eye! It is VERY EVIL!! After signing the log I replaced the cache and called it a day.

November 29th, 2009

Another day of only one cache. Kristen was with me one this one. We had planned on getting the three caches located in this park but decided after the first to call it a day after one.

Keiki Cache #1 - Mt. Kakaako

It started at the base of a hill. We walked the path to the top and here are some of the views.

Keiki Cache #1 - Mt. Kakaako

After some looking around I decided that I would have to look harder. This cache is listed as a Multi-cache even though it only has one stage... So "technically" it's my first Multi. Really though it's not a Multi.

Keiki Cache #1 - Mt. Kakaako

There was a big Compass Rose in the middle of the summit. After taking some pictures I looked harder an found the cache. I grabbed it and signed the log. Stopping for a few photo ops.

Keiki Cache #1 - Mt. Kakaako

After I replaced the cache and jumped back over the railing some tourists started up the hill. Great timing! I think Kristen & I saw a movie after that. Until next time...

23 November, 2009

2010-02-03T10:54:00.001-10:00

Just three caches today. I did all of Ewa Beach. I started with Westlock.

Westlock

We parked in a parking lot and started walking. We were walking down this path when my GPS told me that we were coming up on the cache... The GPS said it was up a small cliff that I was unable to climb with Jacob. So we walked around. After searching for a few minutes I noticed a small Geo-trail. After that it was about 10 seconds before I had the cache. Jacob was waiting for me on the other side of the Geo-trail since it contained thorns. We left Jacob's bug in the cache in hopes that it will begin it's travel soon. After signing the log and placing the TB I replaced the cache and we went searching for the next one.

West Loch Shoreline Park

There was a homeless man within the view of GZ and he was watching me for some reason so I started playing with Jacob and taking pictures to kill time. He left and so the search began. There were plenty of places to hide a cache. The cache blended in VERY WELL. I thought I had placed my TB in this one since Jacob wanted a blue bouncy ball form it but I accidentally kept the TB. I didn't realize it until I was back to the car so we went for the last cache of the day.

Peek A Boo 2

The cache is located in a shopping center in Ewa Beach. I had no trouble finding the cache. It was grabbing it from it's location without being seen by muggles that I had trouble with. Had to time the lights just right. The cache was cracked. After this one Jacob was getting restless so I decided to call it a day.

Until next time...

November 17th, 2009

2009-12-10T15:55:00.002-10:00

Ok, so today was a busy day... Not only did I DNF one cache, I placed two of my own!!! We'll start with the DNF. It's a cache called Jungle Ruins. It's located down a trail from the park at the end of Moanalua Valley. The park is where I placed my first cache but we'll discuss that later. Ok, so I brought Jacob with me. I knew there was a park there and that the walk was not long or rough. We played at the park for about 30 minutes before heading out. I took a lot of photos so I guess I'll just go in chronological order.

My Geocaching Adventures

January 10th & 11th, 2010

January 7th & 8th, 2010

January 6th, 2010

December 30th, 2009

December 29th, 2009

December 22nd, 2009

December 17th, 2009

December 12th, 2009

December 6th, 2009

December 5th, 2009

December 3rd, 2009

November 24th & 29th, 2009

23 November, 2009

November 17th, 2009

November 10th, 2009

November 9th, 2009

November 7th, 2009

November 1st, 2009

HALLOWEEN

October 29th, 2009

October 24th, 2009

October 23rd, 2009

October 21st and 22nd, 2009

October 19th, 2009

October 17th, 2009

October 16th, 2009

October 15th, 2009

My First Cache!!!!!

Geocaching