[Az-Geocaching] My weekend Geocaching! LONG!
Jerry Nelson
listserv@azgeocaching.com
Mon, 22 Apr 2002 14:32:55 -0700
Gee Scott,
All you needed to do was pay my $40/hr fee for tutoring and I'd have
gotten you right to that cache using the math method. :o)
Jerry-Offtrail
On Mon, 22 Apr 2002 09:33:29 -0700 "Scott Nicol" <arizcowboy@hotmail.com>
writes:
>
> We had another fun time geocaching this past weekend!
>
> This was my first full weekend without any business at all in a long
> time.
> (Not good really, but, has been a great quarter so I deserve some
> time off!
> ;)
>
> We departed the headquarters and offices of Team Ropingthewind at
> about
> 6:00am on Saturday morning and headed out for a full weekend of
> cachin' and
> campin'.
>
> We have camped on the Mogollon Rim many times before. But, usually
> in a
> motorhome. So, since we no longer have the motorhome.. tenting it
> would be
> the only way to go! We were hoping to find a spot right on the edge
> of the
> rim with a great unobstructed view of the region below. So, with
> this in
> mind... our goal was to get all the caches that we havent yet been
> able to
> get to along Hwy. 87 and toward Payson. Spend the night on the rim
> and got
> the 3 caches up in that area and then drop down into Pine and
> Stawberry and
> get those.
>
> We left here near sunrise and headed off for the Math Cache. I spent
> nearly
> a week trying to figure out the answer to the math problem so we
> could save
> time and go straight to the final cache location. Even after a
> couple emails
> to my 'math tutor', I never did figure it out! I guess I should have
> paid
> more attention in school! :/ Anyways, we did this one the
> multi-cache way.
> Found the first part quickly and easily and headed off for #2 to
> find the
> final piece of the coords for the cache. Found a number.. but, wasnt
> feeling
> conviced that was it. But, after figuring out where those
> coordinates would
> be... the clues and previous logs 'kinda' convinced us we were in
> the right
> spot. It would be about a 3 mile round trip hike. So, sure wanted to
> feel
> confident we were right. We went for it anyways and found it!
>
> Now, off to Trail's End Cache. This was a fun one! I really liked
> the 4x4
> trail going back to this cache site. There was a couple of forks in
> the
> road, but, the GPS pretty much steered us to the right one each time
> and had
> no problem staying on the correct route. It was rather slow going,
> but, very
> managable for my full size 1974 GMC longbed pickup truck. There were
> some
> really tight turns to negotiate. But, got thru them with very minor
> AZ
> pinstriping. No problem getting to the end of the road and the start
> of the
> hike. Found it! I really liked the views had at the cache site. Very
> cool.
> Nice cache. Now the fun part! As we were headed out my truck hit a
> good bump
> and it stalled. So, I figured I would just let it roll to a stop and
> then
> re-start it. We had already past the really tight turn area and the
> rest was
> fairly wide and just basically a wash. We were still nearly 3/4 of
> the way
> in. I just let the truck roll and it just kept rolling! It is a
> slight but
> steady downhill all the way back to just before the Hwy. So, I just
> rolled
> the truck all the way back to the Hwy! :) No power steering though
> with the
> truck turned off! It was fun. Very quite. No roar of the 455 Olds
> engine
> under the hood! Silent! Very cool. Was able to keep the momentum
> going in
> the soft spots and the turns. It was kinda fun!
>
> Off to the Snow on the Highway Cache. We had tried for this one a
> few months
> back in the dark of night and came out with a no find. This time in
> the
> daylight.. we found it quickly and with no problems. As we were
> leaving the
> cache site, another gent was walking down from the overpass. We
> didnt think
> much of it and made our way back to the truck. We had parked with
> just a few
> hundred feet of the cache site. Once back at the truck, the man
> walked back
> into the trees near the cache. Hhhmm. We though, he could be a
> cacher. Then
> again, maybe he isnt and he saw us at the cache. So, we watched a
> moment.
> After a couple of minutes watching and preparing the GPS for the
> next cache
> up the road, we finally headed out. It turns out it was Dan of Team
> LazyK!
> Sorry Dan! We would really have liked to have met you. We have met
> alot of
> teams along the trails and would have liked to have met ya'. But, we
> didnt
> want to hike back over two barbed wire fences to get back to the
> cache site.
> Also, didnt want to possibly scare you into backing off from the
> cache when
> you saw us coming your way. So, we left. Also, wanted to get moving
> as there
> were more caches to be had!
>
> Next in line was the West Fork Sycamore Cache. Fun drive in on the
> rough but
> totally passable road. Parked within about 300' of the cache. Dang,
> that was
> a very sticky situation! Found it and moved on.
>
> Libby's 188 Rest Area cache was next on the list and found that one
> quickly
> as well. Turns out Dan/LazyK was here just about 40 minutes before
> us! :)
> Team Tres Hombres, Team CHUMP and another team were here too that
> day! That
> is one busy rest area! The Boys Scouts group that the previous logs
> talked
> about were gone and we moved in and out with no problems. My
> teammate Brent
> kept a watchful eye out as I signed the log.
>
> We then went to the cache near Gisela, AZ, Swimming Hole Adventure
> Cache.
> This was a cool cache. We had hiked the north end of this wilderness
> area,
> but, never the south end. So, a new spot visited for us. Had to park
> nearly
> a mile away and hike down to the cache site. It is so cool to see
> flowing
> water creeks and rivers in the AZ desert! The swimming hole looked
> inviting.. but, I would imagine it is still a bit cold. Several
> young folks
> were swimming there and they looked cold! That is deep water too!
> Some cute
> women there too! :) :) :) The cache was well away from the activity
> and the
> people, so was able to find it and take our time logging in.
>
> That was about it for the day as we wanted to get up to the rim
> early and
> set up camp and watch the sunset from the rim. Stopped in Payson for
> a late
> lunch/dinner and picked some stuff up at Wal-Mart and made our way
> up to the
> rim. We went for The Meadows Cache while on the way in toward our
> camping
> spot. This sucked. We spent well over an hour searching and posted a
> no find
> on this one. The entire area has been bulldozed. There is a massive
> logging
> operation going on in the area and several large areas of trees are
> knocked
> down. Including right where my GPS put us at the 0 spot. But, I
> knew it
> wasnt there anyways as the pictures indicate it is near the rocks.
> There is
> a little rocky outcropping several hundred feet long to the east of
> there.
> We searched from one end of it to the other very well and couldnt
> find it. A
> lot of trees have been bulldozed over just above here and several
> were
> fallen over the rocks area. We found the rock in question.. no
> doubt. We
> basically decided to just comb the rock outcropping from one side to
> the
> other. We even moved away several small trees to get under them to
> see if it
> was under the fallen trees. We moved every tree and still came up
> with
> nothing. I think a worker may have found it. The bulldozer hasnt
> done any
> tearing up of the rocks. Just above it. So, unless it is covered up
> with
> trees (and I think we moved them all.. literally!), a worker may
> have
> stumbled upon it. That or we missed it. Dont see how though. We
> found the
> rocks in the picture and we looked every possible place a cache
> container
> would go and found several suspect, but, no cache. No find.
>
> Off to our camp site. We camped out right along the rim and had an
> unobstructed view from the SE to the SW including the lights of
> Payson. Very
> cool! We camped 2.72 miles from the Rim RR Depot cache. We planned
> to hit
> that one in the morning. A very cold and windy night with a temp in
> the tent
> of 26 degrees! No problem. I was nice and warm in my sleeping bag
> and
> blanket!
>
> Sunday morning and I was sitting in my tent watching the sunrise
> over the
> Mogollon Rim. Beautiful! We sat there and relaxed a bit and started
> off for
> another full day of caching at around 8:00am or so. We parked at the
>
> trailhead above the cache site and just to the west of it. Climbed
> down the
> very steep rim and made it to the cache site. Utilizing both the old
> and new
> coordinates, we searched for well over 30 minutes before Brent
> finally found
> it. We were the first there since it was last found in Nov 2001. Was
> a
> little worried about it's existance. It is still there! I didnt find
> it at
> either of the coordinates. But, probably 30 feet or more from both
> of them.
> Probably just the GPS signal. We signed the log and moved off. We
> went to
> the bottom of that canyon and hiked up the tunnel trail to check out
> the RR
> tunnel. Very cool! Would like to learn some more about the history
> behind
> that. We climbed back up to the Rim Rd above the tunnel. What a
> climb! This
> was a well earned cache, I tell ya'! Alot of steep climbing. But,
> did so in
> a timely manner and we were off for Pine, AZ.
>
> We hit up the Midnight Gossip Gang cache along Hwy 87 headed back
> toward
> Pine. Parked within 300' of it and found that one quickly.
>
> Down in Pine. The Narrows Cache was first. Another great little
> secret AZ
> treasure. Had to search a few minute before my teammate Brent made
> th
> discovery. Another find! Looks like we were on the trail of the Tres
> Hombres
> and Team CHUMP all weekend long at several caches we hit. Looks like
> they
> may have stayed below the rim though. Not sure. Bummer we didnt meet
> up
> somewhere along the way. Maybe another time!
>
> The pine Trailhead cache was a fun one. Another very nice hike.
> About 3
> miles or so round trip. By this time, my teammate was really feeling
> it and
> this was a much slower hike in. He finally had to rest and I went on
> to make
> the find. Found it quickly and logged in. Now, around 4pm or so, we
> headed
> back to Payson for a quick fuel up (us not the truck!) and headed
> back
> toward Mesa.
>
> The Durango Watering Hole cache was still to be had though! :) We
> had
> thought about that one on the way up and decided we would go it on
> the way
> home as we wanted to get up on the rim before dark. Brent was not
> wanting to
> make another long hike this weekend. We had already hiked many long
> miles on
> this weekend and the thought of another 5 or more miles was not good
> for
> him! So, we decided that I would go this one alone and Brent decided
> to
> sleep in the truck and rest while I headed up the trail. This was a
> pretty
> easy hike all in all. Mostly flat. There were some really nice views
> along
> the way. Almost felt like I was in another state while hiking back
> thru the
> trees along the creeks. Another hidden AZ treasure and a spot I had
> never
> been before. Made the 2.5 to 3 mile hike in to the cache around 40
> minutes
> or so. Spend probably 20 minutes searching before finally finding
> the
> container. The coords are off a bit without a doubt. I agree with
> Team Sand
> Dollar, it is more like 30 feet off the trail, not 75 feet as the
> cache
> description suggests. As I was searching, I went back down to the
> trail to
> re-group and make another hike up the hill. At this time, an older
> gentleman
> was hiking back down the trail. We talked a couple of minutes and I
> told him
> all about geocaching. He is interested and thinks it sounds cool. he
> had
> just hiked the one trail in (trail # to remain nameless here!) all
> the way
> up to FR 201 on top of the divide and back down this trail. He had
> left at
> 10:30am this morning. What a hike! Anyways, he wished me good luck
> on the
> find and he went on his way. I went back up the hill this time and
> found it
> quickly! I had walked by it at least 2 or 3 times already! Logged in
> and
> headed out. The sun was down behind the western mountains by now and
> a
> shadow was on the trail and canyon. I went into a 'trail running'
> pace on
> occasion and made good time going out. I met up again with the other
> hiker
> about not quite 1/2 way out and we enjoyed conversation the rest of
> the way.
> Glad to have met him. A nice gentleman. He was able to keep up with
> me too!
> ;) We parted ways at the trailhead and me and Brent headed for home.
> The sun
> had pretty much set and it was now 6:40pm. I made the hike in and
> out in
> about 1 hour and 25 minutes. Nice hike. What's another 5 miles of
> hiking
> after all the hiking we did this weekend! ;)
>
> This morning I feel great! A bit sore.. but, feeling great and ready
> to go
> for some more caches! :)
>
> Scott
> Team Ropingthewind
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at
> http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp.
>
> _______________________________________________
> Az-Geocaching mailing list
> listserv@azgeocaching.com
> http://listserv.azgeocaching.com/mailman/listinfo/az-geocaching
>
> Arizona's Geocaching Resource
> http://www.azgeocaching.com
>