The Evelev School of Flip Flop Geocaching

Brian and I were on-campus last night for the Robin Williams concert. We started out the night with falafels and ended it with a little caching while the traffic cleared out. It was a cache I've been eyeing for several weeks. I've stopped by after class a couple of times but always find the area crawling with muggles.

I had a hunch as to where it was, which happens when you observe rather than look. My hunch was right, it was under this piece of concrete.

This morning Brian and I went out for breakfast and then grabbed a few caches in the Oviedo area. I hadn't planned to do any geocaching today, so I wore flip flops. Best idea ever.

Brian found this one. It's a slight variation on the fence pole cache.

And the cache in it's full glory. A bison tube hanging from a piece of fishing wire.

This is a close-up of how they screwed the wire into the cap. I've never seen it done quite this way before.

Here's a shot of Brian using Geocaching Intro to look up the next cache. Now that we've used it a few times, I can say it's pretty accurate and user-friendly. The major drawbacks being that there is no satellite map and you can only look up the three closest caches. I highly recommend it for any beginning geocacher.

This cache was described as a "redneck pumpkin." I'm still not sure what that means.

The next cache marked my 175th find and opened a new chapter in my life as a geocacher. First, I learned I should start wearing closed-toed shoes all the time. Second, I really should look at the ratings before I go trapsing through the woods. Although I probably wouldn't have ever attempted this cache if I had. I have to give a lot of credit to Brian for nudging the crap out of me.

Let me just say, this sign is less of a warning and more of a challenge. Did they really think I couldn't do this in flip flops, with a NY&Co purse? (btw, thanks Aunt Rachel.)

Our first challenge was hopping across this little stream. Brian went first and lost his shoe in the muck. So he laid down these palm fronds for me, which actually held up quite well as a makeshift bridge.

Then we wandered down a trail parallel to the creek until suddenly we were 51 ft from GZ. I walked to the edge of the creek and realized the cache was on the other side. I assumed there must be a different way around, but then I looked at the cache description (for the first time) and discovered it was a 2 for difficulty and a 4 for terrain. The description reads: To get to this cache you must have very good balance since the only way across the little creek is to walk across a fallen tree. Great.

Brian pointed me in the direction of the most sturdy-looking tree and threatened to go across without me. I slipped off my flip flops, rolled up my jeans, and put my iPhone in my purse (couldn't take the chance I might fall in). Brian suggested I take his cane, lest I lose my balance or find the need to bash something with a stick. Off I went, shimmying accross the log, Dirty Dancing style. See below for a slideshow.

I poked around a bit on the other side before deciding I would need shoes if I was going to go farther. After Brian frisbee'd my flip flops over, I bushwhacked my way in the direction of the cache. Mind you, I left my iPhone with Brian, so I was bushwhacking "blind" with only a rough idea of where the cache should be. After a few minutes I noticed a suspicious-looking tree, peeked my head around it and found the ammo can. I picked it up and yelled "I got it!"

The next thing Brian heard was a scream and a thump. For when I had looked back down at the cache, there was a wolf spider (2" diameter) perched near my hand. I screamed like a much littler girl than I already am and threw down the can. Turns out, the cane wasn't such a bad idea because that's what I used to shoo the spider, who was far less afraid of me than I had hoped. It took several jabs for it to scamper away.

When it was gone, I picked up the can and looked for the nearest clearing so Brian could take a picture. See below. This might be me, it might be the missing link. I can't really tell.

Then I began the task of opening the cache, which was rusted shut, as ammo can sometimes are. I had to use my patented Evelev technique. It involves turning the can upright, steadying it with one hand and stomping it until it opens. Inside I found some decent swag, on account of this being seriously more than a park and grab. I took this cigar tin from the Dominican Republic. It doesn't have any cigars in it, but it's pretty cool.

Now you know. It is possible to do a level 4 terrain in flip flops...but I wouldn't recommend it.

Geocaching at Sunset

Certain people make fun of me for this, but I really like to immerse myself in geocaching. I don't want to remember the cache, I want to remember the whole experience. This is why I take lots of pictures and why I blog. It's also why my favorite time to geocache is at sunset. Even mundane locations are beautiful when the sky melts into shades of gold, orange, and red. Plus there's an added sense of urgency when it's about to get dark and I don't have a flashlight. For reasons unknown to me, we get our best sunsets between now and the end of the year, so I have a lot to look forward to.

But before I talk about this week's caches, let's spend a moment in geohazard corner. As Vikki4FSU recovers from Lyme disease, I count my blessings that I'm not in her shoes. That was until I took my car in for an oil change this week and learned I needed an alignment on my tires, a mere four months after I bought the car. The guy asked if I go over lots of speedbumps. I said no, and neglected to mention the off-roading we did in Naples. It reminded me of when Vikki4FSU said, "if only we had a boat, we could get to that cache." To which ZykoMike responded, "geocaching is cheap until you say, 'I need to a buy a boat for this cache.'" Indeed. It's all cool until someone loses an eye. Or buys a helicopter. Or gets Lyme disease.

I ended up with 6 finds this week, which is really quite good considering I worked 12-hour days all week and wrote two papers. On Thursday I ended up near the airport, at sunset. Since it was the first day all week I'd gotten out of the office before dark, I scoped out the area and found four within a mile radius.

Three were part of a series of waterproof match containers hidden in different but obvious locations. The first one was tucked into the pipe you see above. The second was hidden under a rock, under this crapified traffic cone.

The third was tucked into this cabbage palm. As if the palm itself wasn't a hint, there was a pronounced geotrail. While these caches are usually easy, I am really starting to dislike them. They're usually infested with ants and the fronds have no respect for personal space.

Then I tried for this one, also located in a cabbage palm, but I didn't find it. I was over the bugs at that point, but the bridge was super cool.

My last cache of the day was a plastic jar loaded with swag. I only took a geocoin. The cache was perched behind a tree. I used my mirror to avoid reaching into the unknown.

Then I got to finish the day with this sunset. This picture was taken a few feet from the cache.

I didn't think I was going to grab any caches this weekend, but I was able to squeeze this one in this afternoon. I had looked before with no luck. Today, I stopped by on a lark. As soon as I pulled up, something the Orlando Holleys had said to me at another cache fell into place, and I started twisting all the rebar. I can't believe I missed it before.

Here's what the extracted cache looks like. I've been hoping for one of these. Very clever. You know I'm a sucker for caches like this.

That's all for this week. Hopefully this cool weather holds out for next weekend and I get to take full advantage.

Tips and Ticks

I found one lousy cache this week. That meager accomplishment is dwarfed by the fact that I went after three others. Ugh, it just wasn't a good week for caching.

On the upside, I learned something new. I thought I'd seen it all when it came to light pole caches, but I was wrong. As you can see in the photo above, there is no skirt for the cache to hide under. This cache was a magnetic hide-a-key hidden up inside the pole. I think it's common knowledge that I don't like to stick my hands in places I can't see, so it should come as no surprise that I found this cache by sliding my mirror around at the base of the pipe. Then I stuck my hand in, but at least I knew there was a reward.

This was one of the muggliest caches I've done. It's at a big box store everyone knows and loathes. I was able to park right next to the cache and just had to wait for a lady to finish loading groceries into her car. It took less than a minute to locate the cache, but as soon as I did there were people everywhere. You know me, I played it cool. I took the cache back to my car and waited for the muggles to clear out. I always wonder what people think when they see a chick in "business casual attire" roll up a piece of paper, stuff it into a baggie, and hide it in a light pole.

Now, let's take a moment to talk about geohazards. It's serious business. Only by the grace of God have I gotten this far without much more than mosquito bites. Most recently EyeoftheSeeker was stung by a wasp (ring finger) and ZykoMike had a run in with some poison ivy. I'm still itching fire ant bites, weeks later.

A few weeks ago Vikki4FSU started feeling ill. On Thursday she was admitted to the hospital and was told she may have had a stroke. They discharged her on Friday with no information. Unsatisfied and still feeling crappy, she went to a different hospital today. The diagnosis is Lyme disease.

This is the adult deer tick, the harbinger of Lyme disease. To prevent Lyme disease, Wikipedia recommends wearing long-sleeved shirts, trousers, and a hat. Light colors are recommended because they allow you to see the ticks if they do hitch a ride. Pants should be tucked into boots or socks...but unless you're a commando, that looks pretty dweeby. I don't personally recommend it. Plus, I can tell you from experience, ticks go right through socks. You don't want them exposed. Wikipedia also recommends reducing the local deer population. I suppose you could take it upon yourself to do that.

If you do find a tick with it's head burrowed into your skin, pull it out with tweeezers. And for God's sake, don't twist! I've always heard you should apply a flame to the tick to make it back out, but I would imagine that is advised against. Brian's preferred method is "draining" the tick...like with a needle. Or, "pop it like a grape," Brian says.

So, what's next for Vikki4FSU? Lots and lots of antibiotics. Even after treatment she may experience fatigue, joint or muscle pain, and neurocognitive symptoms. But since she reads this blog, I'm going to say she'll be just fine :)

Let that be a lesson to all you neo-cachers. Spiders aren't the worst things out there.

Cache Patrol in Winter Park

After the cache-a-thon in South Carolina a few weeks ago, we took a little break to catch up on real-life stuff. Boo responsibility. It's been far too long since we geocached. We spent the day caching in Winter Park.

Before I delve yesterday's adventures, I must take a moment to add a geohazard to the South Carolina scrap book. While we were looking for the "bark cache" I felt something sting my back repeatedly. I assumed it was mosquitos (with a vengeance). Two weeks later, I still have four itchy, swollen, white bumps on my back. Fire ants are to blame, but it was so worth it.

We planned to cache yesterday, but I didn't plan on hitting Winter Park until I saw a cache posted at the Steak 'n Shake near Brian's office. He needed to stop by work for a few minutes anyway, so I tagged along.

Upon closer inspection of the satellite map, I realized the cache was either inside or on top of the Steak 'n Shake. I had to twist Brian's arm to convince him we needed to eat lunch there and scope out the situation. While we waited for our food, I sized up each group for their cacher-potential, but I didn't see anyone as shifty-eyed as me. Like a drug smuggler, I studied each server's routine, waiting for the perfect moment to peek under another table undetected. I could hardly eat (though I assure you, I did) as I thought about all the magnetic surfaces in the building. Brian suggested I drop a handful of change near the table I wanted to check. Too risky, people tend to help you pick up change. Here's the best plan I could come up with: we would wait for a line to form, and then Brian would go stand at the end of that line to pay, and I would snoop around. The longer the line, the more time I had. But the moment I stood up, I realized the table I wanted to check was filled with dishes. I peeked under it and found nothing, which was probably for the best. Even if I had found the cache there, how could I have retrieved, signed, and replaced it? I had planned to sit at the table and do that, but how could I, being that a server was on her way to clear the table? Hmm...the other tables I wanted to check had families sitting at them. So, we didn't get it. And upon inspection of the logs, I don't think it's under a table anymore. I was too focused on my own preconceptions to look elsewhere. Let that be a lesson to you.

The next cache was an easy grab. A small lock-and-lock hidden under some palm fronds...woo. Next on the list was a cache I visited several months back, when I first started caching. My first try was after work one evening, in heels and a pencil skirt. I was not prepared, physically or mentally, for bushwhacking, and I never found the cache. Here's why I'll always remember this cache: During my initial search, a rickety white van pulled up, and a creepy old man got out. I froze...thinking about whether I should try to run in the heels or go barefoot. And where I should run since all the businesses nearby were closed for the day. Then he threw open the side door and emerged with a 5 gallon bucket. "You're scaring the raccoons" he said as he walked past me (now acting like I was taking a phone call). He walked about 15 feet into the trees and dumped the contents of said bucket, spilling what looked like pink and white pork rinds. "Come get your dinner, babies!" Then he got back in the van and drove away. And a moment later, a raccoon showed up and started munching. I snapped a photo and scurried back to my car.

This time I came prepared to bushwhack, which wasn't really necessary. Brian actually spotted it, but I had to climb around in the trees. Victory, sorta. No raccoons this time.

We made the next cache way harder that it was. I did some very unneccessary bushwhacking thanks to this hole in the bushes I mistook for a geotrail. I didn't see any bugs, and I know why. The leaves on those bushes are covered with prickly little hairs. Super fun.

Thanks to the tree cover, the iPhone was wonky, but when it finally settled down I walked right up to the cache. It was totally out in the open.

We moved on to a cache I've wanted to do for a long time. It's located near the Scenic Winter Park boat tour. Way back before we were geocachers, the future team Evelev and future team EyeoftheSeeker went on the Winter Park boat tour. I highly recommend it. Come for the cache, stay for the boat tour.

Thanks to an uber-generous hint, I went right to the cache. Surprisingly, it didn't smell at all.

The next cache was a twist on the classic newspaper stand cache. Being that this newspaper stand has an aesthetically pleasing case around it, you can't exactly throw a hide-a-key under there. The cache consisted of an envelope with a magnet glued to the back. The envelope was then placed inside the case, on the back of the actual newspaper box. Very clever.

After that I took Brian on a death march for two caches we never found. One has most likely been muggled. The other was probably there, but I distubed a wasp nest and decided not to stick around.

Our luck turned around after that...kinda. We went after a level 3 difficulty nano, which I found in about six seconds because it was just laying on the ground. I unravelled the log to find it completely full. What gives? As the last signer, you're supposed to log a "needs maintenance". Or am I the only one that has the decency to do that? After I closed up the cache, I decided to look for the real hiding spot. I saw the hole you see below and thought, "bingo! It's supposed to look like a screw." I slipped the nano into the hole and it dropped down another inch. Uh oh...I just lost my first cache. Luckily, Brian was able to fish it out with a bobby pin. Feeling retarded, I left the cache where I found it, which is where you see it below.

Next was a cache I meant to take a picture of, but I forgot. It was under a pay phone. I didn't even know pay phones existed any more. The hint said, "call the automated hint line: 407-xxx-xxxx." At first I assumed it was the hider's number, but I'm pretty sure it was the number for the pay phone. I should have dialed it.

The final cache of the day was super easy, but cool in that I've never seen this type of container before. It's a metal tube, badly camo'd with a little strip of Spanish moss. I think it would have blended better if they had ditched the moss and hung the tube vertically, but that's just me.

I guess I can't really criticize hides yet, since I don't have any. Soon. Once I take the time to figure out if my iPhone coords are accurate, I will.

This Week in Geocaching

So I didn't get to do any geocaching this week. Even though I worked through most of my vacation, I was still slammed busy when I got back. Then I spent yesterday moving offices, and today doing homework. Today, I created clay models of the various nuclei in the human brain...somehow they all look like phallic abstract sculptures. Ever see Clockwork Orange? If not, forget I said anything.

Moving on. I dread off-weeks like this, but it gives me a chance to discuss tidbits from the world of geocaching.

Last week (technically), Groundspeak released an app they should have released a long time ago: Geocaching Intro. It's a free, extremely toned down version of the classic Geocaching app. In a nutshell, it allows you to locate the three closest caches, view the description, and see a blue-dot-to-green-dot map to find the cache. The only real downsides (in my opinion) are that you don't get to read recent logs, see a satellite view, or log finds in the field.


When I first took an interest in geocaching this past March, I relied heavily on the google maps iPhone app. Needless to say, I was extremely disappointed, but I didn't want to plunk down $10 for the real thing. I figured if I couldn't cache without the app, I probably wouldn't be good at geocaching. But then my Dad told me to stop being so cheap (paraphrasing...) and download the app. So, I did it. And a geocacher was born. Then when Groundspeak finally integrated the satellite maps, the app went from beautiful to god-like.

Had I not spoken to my Dad that day, I may have given up on geocaching as "just not my thing." Groundspeak must have picked up on that mentality, because geo-curious iPhone users can now have a genuine geocaching experience, for free! Groundspeak will finally capture all those people who said, "Ten bucks?! Eff this..."

Plus, now Brian and I can each use our phones to search for a cache. Since he only caches with me, we never saw a point in him downloading the $10 app. We have a system: I navigate and he jumps in all the scary bushes. I'll let you know when we try out this app. I'm curious to see how our accuracy compares being that I have a 3G and he has a 3GS.

Enough with the app. Here's the big news: Geocaching may be a household name. The family featured on Extreme Home Makeover this week are into geocaching, so Ty hooked them up with a new GPS and sent them on a Hawaiian caching adventure.

Let's be clear. I don't watch Extreme Home Makeover. I was watching the 6 o'clock news on ABC and left it on for Zazu while I went to finish packing up my freaky little nuclei. At some point EHM came on and I happened to overhear Ty explain my beloved hobby to all of America like they were a class of pre-schoolers.

I died a little inside knowing that Ty Pennington has been introduced to geocaching. All we need is muggles with freaking megaphones. While I am kinda sick of explaining geocaching, I don't really want everyone to know. Muggles serve a purpose in this game. One of the reasons I love geocaching is that it's kind of like a secret society. For now, geocaching is like Mac - yet to be crushed by it's own popularity.

I'm sorry, Doomsday Ev is on the loose again. Geocaching is definitely not everyone's thing. Even when it does get popular, a lot of people just won't care. But, just like PC, it only takes a few haters to screw things up.

The flip side is this could mean a rebirth for geocaching. It might force us to get even more creative, devious, and obsessed. Koolaid, anyone?

South Carolina: Geohazard Capital of the World

Last Wednesday we headed up to South Carolina to celebrate the graduation of our nephew from US Marine Corps boot camp. What started out as a pseudo family reunion turned into a cachestravaganza. We recruited two new cachers and learned that caching here in Orlando is positively wussy compared to caching in South Carolina.

Herein, I declare South Carolina the geohazard capital of the world. You heard it here first. We encountered spiders, ticks, mosquitos, crabs, ants, thorns, and razor-sharp palm fronds. The only thing I didn't get was a sunburn.

Day 1: No Dice

I had the itch to cache the moment we crossed into Georgia. I held it in until dinner, at which point I accidentally recruited ZykoMike. We decided to try a few quick caches to get his feet wet. At that, we were successful.

We headed out just before dusk. Upon arriving at the site, we discovered it required a short hike on a nature trail. But just as I was honing it on GZ, it got completely dark. I had a flashlight, but it just wasn't enough for three people to make an honest effort. All we found was this spider, which I think is a Carolina wolf spider. It happens to be the state spider. Lucky us.

So we moved onto another nearby cache, which took us down a road darker than the depths of space. The way in required a teeny amount of bushwacking / weed stomping, but it was dark, and I was in flip flops, so I decided to wait it out in the car. Brian and ZykoMike took the flashlight and headed down the path. They came back 20 minutes later empty handed, but not empty legged. ZykoMike, who had worn shorts and flip flops, soon realized he was covered in seed ticks. Munchy, munchy seed ticks.

This doesn't do it justice, but should give you a rough idea of the volume. The ticks are all those little brown dots. This was only the top of one knee, there were plenty more.

And here's a close-up of the little bastards. In an effort to de-tick as quickly and painlessly as possible, we headed straight for the pool when we got back to the hotel. The chlorine did a decent job, but ZykoMike's mom had to finish them off. In his own words, he spent some time up on the sink in the "naughty kitty position." Brian volunteered fo a tick-check also but came up clean.

Day 2: The Locals Fight Back

The next afternoon we went back and brought ChrisHilton03 (newly recruited) with us. This time I saw all the spiders I didn't see the night before. Below, a man-eating golden silk spider tried to eat Brian. I whipped out my phial containing 'light of Earendil's star' to scare it off. It's an essential of any cacher bag.

A moment later, ZykoMike made the grab. Here he is, taking a picture of his first find, a black spice jar perched in the hole of a tree.

We headed further down the trail for another cache. Again, ZykoMike is credited with the find. While the rest of us were walking around in circles with our wonky iPhones, he used his tracking skills to find a geotrail, which lead right to the cache.

On the way back to the car, ZykoMike bent down to look at something ChrisHilton03 had pointed out. I can only assume he inadvertantly stuck his face in a web (not the first time that day), because a moment later a gigantic spider was making a bee-line from the ground to his face. He jumped back, narrowly avoiding the angriest spider south of the Mason-Dixon. For me, it was a blur of emotions. Terror at seeing a spider try to eat someone's face; Relief, because it wasn't me; And finally, hilarity, which Brian echoed ten-fold. I wasn't fast enough to snap a photo, but you get the gist.

Two for two, we headed back to the tick cache, armed with bug spray and appropriate footwear. It was now dusk, but the description indicated that this one should be easy at night because the cache was decorated with a reflector. No luck. After about 30 minutes, ChrisHilton03 and I realized we were alone. We headed back to the car, expecting to find ZykoMike along the way, but we didn't.

Just as we were about to go back and look for him, he came running out of the trees on the other side of the road with a different cache in-hand. Apparently he had given up long ago and gone after another cache, which he found in the dark, bushwhacking by the light of his iPhone. I tried to follow him back in to rehide it, but I gave up about 3/4 of the way. Between the spiders and the darkness, I was spazzed to the limit.

Below is said cache. It's a glass jar. Fascinating.

At this point, we decided to go back to the hotel, regroup, and maybe go out later. It wasn't long before my ankles started to itch and I knew I had ticks. I picked a few off my pants in the parking lot, thinking that was it. But when I got in the shower, I found ticks up to my hips. Despite the jeans, socks, and spray, these bugs were well on their way to sucking my brains out. Somehow, Brian and ChrisHilton03 stayed mostly tick-free.

We ended the day with 3 finds and 1 DNF.

Day 3: The Cachers Get Serious...Kinda

For the first time on this trip, we actually tried to formulate a plan. We drove over to Hilton Head to hit the caches there, which were all within a few miles of each other. The first required only a modicum of bushwhacking, but we made it harder than it was.

Then we walked to a nearby cache, and then another. We soon found ourselves a mile from the car and unable to get ahold of our driver (Vikki4FSU's husband). Along the way we saved a caterpillar from ravenous ants, and then revenge-fed some other ants to an antlion. If you've never witnessed an antlion capture it's prey, I highly suggest it. I had no idea these creatures even existed. I really thought ZykoMike was messing with me until the ant disappeared into the sand. We also encountered a "lumpy" squirrel. According to the University of Florida, it was infested with eggs of the tree squirrel bot fly. According to ZykoMike, this is totally different than the standard bot fly. Regardless, it was gross.

On the way back to the car, ZykoMike took a moment to channel the Matrix. ChrisHilton03, just along for the ride. What you can't see is that this fountain (?) is slowly spinning. There was no "please refrain from re-enacting movie scenes" sign. We checked.

The next cache required the most bushwhacking I have ever done. We decided to be lazy and cut through a back yard. The consequence was that we didn't enter the right trail and ended up wading through neck-high bushes and palms (as you can see in the picture below). I didn't see any spiders, just lots of big red ants. You can imagine my terror when I fell down, and then fell down again. I managed to avoid the ant nests, but I did scratch up my arms pretty good. We never found the cache, but it hasn't been found in months. What we did find was this cool bug-catching contraption. It's a series of black funnels with a pink liquid in the bottom. I don't know if it was intended to catch bugs, but that's what it was doing. If anyone knows what this is, please enlighten me.

We were able to squeeze in a few more caches before dark. We even met another geocacher. The cache below took a bit of hunting in the dark, but it was plain easy compared to the next cache. It's a matchstick container with camo-tape. Getting the log out took some finagling.

All four of us spent over an hour scanning the trees with flashlights for this next cache. We knew it was a 1 x 3" black tube, hint: high in the sky. Naturally, we were looking up, way up. At one point I found a large caterpillar stuck to a branch. I thought, "high in the sky, maybe they mean like Alice in Wonderland?" I poked and squeezed it to make sure it was real. Note to self: caterpillars don't like to be manhandled.

It was sheer vigilance that got us this cache. Vikki4FSU and ChrisHilton03 had gone back to the car, and Vikki4FSU's husband yelled "DNF" at me more than once. But ZykoMike and I continued scanning the branches. Suddenly, I found myself face to face with a green paperclip. Bingo! The paperclip was holding the cache to the tree. During the day, this would not have been hard. But when everything is black like the cache, it takes a while to finally cross it with a beam of light.

We finished out the day with 8 finds and 1 DNF.

Day 4: All Good Things Must...Blah Blah Blah...

Our final day in South Carolina had arrived. I had never expected to do this much caching, yet, I was not satisfied. We were planning to leave at noon, so myself, Vikki4FSU, and ZykoMike met for breakfast at 7 am to get in a final string of caches. We plotted out a course (sort of) and off we went.

Despite a short little hike, I might still call the first cache a park and grab. It was an ammo can hiding under a log. The only tough part was stomping the spider that had spun a web right over it.

The next cache took us only a few minutes. ZykoMike honed in on the frog and flipped it over to find...nothing. The description made reference to the "prince" watching the cache, so we looked in the direction the frog was looking, and there was the cache. So creative!

After that we finally came across an urban hide: a micro on a fence - hallelujah! Forgot to take a picture. For some strange reason, it was rated a 3 for difficulty. Up until his point, the 1/1's had taken hours, and this 3 took about 3 minutes.

The fourth cache of the day was a bit tricker. Mosquitos and thorns abound! We circled the oak tree several times before I looked down at this piece of bark (outined in red) and noticed it just didn't look right. Sure enough, I jiggled it and the bark came right off, revealing the log.

Edit: I only outlined half the cache in red, it's actually a bit longer. Goes to show just how well it blended, even I can't tell where it was anymore.

Below is what the back of the bark cache looks like. This makes my top 10 for clever camo.

The next cache of the day took us to this little area on the water littered with crabs. My coordinates were off about 20 feet. Had it not been for ZykoMike expanding the search, we may have logged a DNF. Here's a view from my GZ.

Our next "attempt" wasn't really an attempt. We got out of the car and quickly realized that a marsh, potentially filled with lost souls, lie between us and the cache. So, we bailed.

I'm surprised it took me 150 cache finds to run across a skeleton. This should have happened loooong ago.

We found one more cache before our cache-a-thon came to an end. It was an ammo can. There was a moment of panic after I re-hid the cache and ZykoMike realized the keys were missing. Someone contributed them to the cache. We ended the day with 8 finds.

All in all, we snagged 17 caches in South Carolina...and 7x that many bug bites. And yet, it was the best caching experience I've had thus far. I know that because this post took hours to compose. And because I emerged far less afraid of bushwhacking than I was a week ago...but not less afraid of spiders, let's not be hasty.

Thanks to Vikki4FSU for helping with the pictures, and to ZykoMike and ChrisHilton03 for tagging along with an open mind. And to Brian, for letting me get into bed even though I probably still have ticks on me.

Caching around a storm

Much to my dismay, it was totally overcast when I woke up this morning. This normally means it's going to storm (hard) all day. I confirmed my prediction on weather.com. A huge mass of rain was working it's way from west to east and would be in Casselberry within the hour. It was shaping up like a good day for homework, but then I had a thought. If I just cache east, I can stay ahead of the storm.

Off I went. The first cache of the day was one I visited a few weeks ago and was not able to locate before some employees taking a smoke break scared me off. Here's your evelev tip of the day: If muggles startle you, haul ass back to your car. Nothing looks more suspicious.

Turns out the cache was exactly what I thought it would be, I just hadn't looked in the right place. The cache location was a ledge just within (my) arm's reach. Had I not used my mirror to look where my head could not, I never would have made the grab.

Second cache of the day was in the same parking lot, always a bonus. I had some serious muggle issues with this one. When I pulled up I couldn't get out of my car because a guy was lugging around at least four clear trash-like bags filled with hamburger buns. I didn't see where he went with them...I don't really want to know. Then as I was digging through the bushes, these two ladies with a kid in tow flew out the back door all screaming at each other. I scampered back to my car. Finally I located the cache (below), but as I was signing the log, two employees arrived for their shift and decided to chat and smoke for 15 minutes. Inconspicuous? Not so much.

So, here's the cache. My first (and maybe last) snail cache. I kinda knew what to look for, not specifically, but the logs told me it was a decoy. As a result, I poked every lizard and frog I saw...just in case. When I came across the snail shell, I had a moment of hesitation. In true Brian fashion, I grabbed it anyway. Pretty sweet. Homemade decoys are so much better than the manufactured variety.

Here's what the cache looks like in it's natural habitat. It really does look like it's perched on the side of this telephone pole. In reality, the attached vial fits snugly into a hole the width of a pencil.

After that I swung by a super easy 35mm-in-a-sign cache. The was a little spider living in the lid. Gross! Then I spent the next 30 minutes looking for a cache I never found. It was located near (or possibly on) a fence. I hate those, you never can tell which side the cache is on. By then the rain had caught up with me, so I went back to the house.

A mere two hours later, the storm had passed enough that I was able to cache to the west. I learned a valuable lesson in paying attention to more than just nearby streets when accessing a cache. I drove up to an area within 10 feet of the cache...but between us there was a barbed wire fence. Not cool. Upon closer inspection, I realized there was a park on the other side of that fence. Needless to say, the parking there was a little hike from the cache.

I spent a decent amount of time hunting around trees today, which was not cool with the iPhone's gps. I walked in lots of circles. Other than the snail shell, I didn't see much novelty in the caches today. Lots of camo-taped containers and 35mm film canisters. I did, however, find this cool geocoin/busted necklace in one cache (see below). I'm tempted to keep it...but I won't, I promise.

I finished the day with 12 finds and 3 dnfs. The clouds were a blessing...when I wasn't getting rained on.