Susan and Maikel are geocachers. I assume most of you know what that is... apparently it's really popular amongst some in the RV crowd. There are geocaches everywhere, including around here, so we hopped on our mountain bikes and went geocache hunting.
Susan said she likes geocaching because it gets them out in places they wouldn't normally go. She said this while we were pushing our bikes through deep sand toward a lone cedar tree way out in the middle of nowhere, so I agreed with her.
Maikel's GPS got us to within four feet of the treasure; gee, where could it be? I was getting excited. Under the Cedar tree there was one large rock. Maikel made Bobbie reach in and turn it over because he's afraid of spiders. Under the rock was a small container. In the container was an assortment of plastic trinkets, a foreign coin, and a register of all the people that had found the geocache. I tried to sustain my excitement.
Susan took a couple of trinkets from the container and replaced them with some trinkets of her own. Now I know how to geocache. I do think, however, it would be much more challenging/fun without a GPS.
The next geocache was buried in a rocky ledge, the kind of place rattlesnakes love. Nobody seemed concerned about this except me. So there is an element of danger to geocaching, and it was useful in that it helped to sustain my excitement.
Then we showed Maikel some of the great biking to be had on BLM land surrounding the RV park, including some single track on the Jem Trail.
Click Here for a 50 second movie of Bobbie on the Jem Trail.
Letterboxing is similar without GPS. To help my recover, when I can walk again, I'm going to look for local boxes. http://www.letterboxing.org/
ReplyDeleteThey are all over the country--take a look and find one near you!
Maikel & Susan here. Once again, we are happy to amuse you Mark. We are expecting a royalty check to arrive in the mail any day now for providing you entertainment.
ReplyDeleteLetterboxing would also be my suggestion. We started doing it about 10 years ago when the kids were young. In addition to the letterboxing.org website you can also check out http://www.atlasquest.com.
ReplyDeleteWe've enjoyed geocaching for years. Next time we meet up in Utah I'll take you to my all time favorite geocache! -Scamp
ReplyDeleteno roots! not rocks! Now that is single tracking I could actually like! I love you blog soooooo much that I had to finally post it to facebook as one of the best ever ever.
ReplyDeleteThere used to be some really interesting geocaches in Ouray. It took us 2 summers to find the one on the river bank over by the pool. Found one on the top of Black Bear Pass but it was later destroyed by the marmots! Haven't geocached over the past 2 years though because we actually lost our GPS while using it on the Ouray trails.
ReplyDeleteWhen we went hunting around the Mississippi River especially around hibernation time, we always used a stick to dig around in the rotting logs in case we would disturb a rattlesnake
Susan here. See Mark. Read those comments. "IN YOUR FACE MARK JOHNSON. IN YOUR FACE." Looks like we can now replace our current slogan with this new one.
ReplyDeleteYou're pics are beyond awesome! You're last pics on the paths you hiked we're, well lets just say 'exhilarating'! I am a photog person but I rarely put myself into those sits where I can capture this stuff.!!
ReplyDeleteA certified FAN. Bike stuff on your latest post is great! At 62, all I do is fall off my Trek..not really, I just have to take walking paths, knocking off old people and kids! Not really! Great stuff, Bill, NM
We thought about that Geocaching stuff a few years back. Bought ourselves a nee Delorme P40 GPS but couldn't figure out how to use it. Still haven't. Did stumble across a Geocache atop Marshal South's Ghost Mountain a couple years ago. Found it again the following year but after that it had obviously been moved. Kinda neat seeing all the little treasures inside...
ReplyDeleteMARSHAL SOUTH GHOST MOUNTAIN GEOCACHE POST... http://thebayfieldbunch.com/2011/03/my-4th-journey-to-ghost-mountain.html
Hobo Pals,
ReplyDeleteI will look into GPS-less treasure hunts. Thank you !!!
Wise Ones,
Right... that royalty check will bounce, I bet. Besides, you should be paying me, in cookies... chocolate chip :))
Lost Ann,
Cool... thanks for the info sites :))
Scamp,
This better be good...
Do people ever leave cookies in Geocaches? :))
Sue,
The Jem mountain bike single track has some great runs... but also some steep drops that will pucker your behind. You can always get off and walk those, tho. That's what we do.
and
THANK YOU for Sharing my humble blog to Facebook. I really appreciate that!
Chris and Mindy,
You guys need a GPS to find your GPS :) Or it should call you and tell you where it's at, at least.
I grew up looking for rattlesnakes and scorpions... now I just as soon not see them. Part of the risk of hiking Utah and Arizona. I ran over a rattlesnake with my mountain bike at Cave Creek... out on a trail. Didn't even see it till it was under my bike. I lifted up my feet. Another time I stepped over a rock ledge and there was a rattlesnake under that very ledge... that was in Oregon. And then hiking in the Chiruacahas mtns in so. Az. I almost stepped on one in the trail... in the shade. I had my sunglasses on and didn't see it. Bobbie warned me.
Sue,
Ok, so I'm outnumbered. I like being alone :))
Bill,
Thank you!
Hey, I'm 62 too... and I fall off my bike just like you. Maybe we're related :)) Thanks for being a BCB fan :))
Bayfield Al,
Well that was a pretty nice hike up Ghost Mountain. So I guess geocaching does get people "out there," and I'm a fan of anything that does that. You geo find had better treasures too!!!
Thanks for commenting.
mark
SO funny that I just made that offhand comment on the other post about geocaching and here you are trying it out! I must say though, this geocache experience you had seems a lot more adventurous than others I've read. Most of the time it's park the car, take a few steps and dig around in the bushes for a few minutes. Or maybe the others aren't reporting the exciting parts. That's canyon country for ya, turns everything into an adventure!
ReplyDeletePam and Wayne,
ReplyDeleteI know... it's hard for you to keep up with this fast paced blog :))
Thanks:))
mark