Wow what an awesome holiday we just had, we spent the last two weeks playing Euchre, caching our faces off and getting a little sleep now and then. I believe that I logged 70 new caches while we were there and managed to pass Cooler1 & Lulu again (hehe). There was some nice easy park and grabs and there was some evil ones, here’s a few highlights from the trip.
The first day started early, really early, somewhere around 6ish, I don’t remember anymore and honestly I don’t think my watches work that early anyways. We hadn’t even had breakfast yet and we’d already logged “Dead End Garden,” a nice quick park and grab in Abbotsford. We were on a bit of a time crunch so we didn’t stop at every single cache on the way up but did manage to find 5 more before we got home, including two of the always humbling BC Spirit Park Caches, #6 & #7.
Our first full day of caching, Cooler1 and I set out to find some of the local quick caches that she’s already found but I didn’t and wasn’t able to get at Christmas because it was frickin cold out. Caching in -30 is possible but not quite as much fun. We returned home later that afternoon with another 8 finds to log, a great start. The best of the day was “Can’t think of a name,” as it was completely inaccessible the last visit and it was a type of hide that I knew existed but had yet to find. Another quick park and grab.
July 14th we took the day of but we were back on track again on the 15th and found another ten. My favorite that day included “Ouch” which was just and awesome hide, completely un-noticeable to the average muggle but quite obvious to a cacher and a didn’t have to dig in the snow this time. After that we tackled “UNBC Rocks“, as we were approaching the location of the cache I began the fear the worst. I have been to several similarly placed caches here in the lower mainland only to be thwarted by them each and every time. Well with a strong determination and a little help from Cooler1 I found the darn cache. Woohoo. On a roll now.
July 16th: Bundah, Cooler1 and I headed east out onto Highway 16 to tackle a few out of town caches. We spent some time in the woods donating to the local mosquito population that is flourishing wonderfully up there and also found a few caches in the process. Our biggest challenge was a terrain 3 cache called “Smarter than a fifth grader“ It was only 70 meters from the parking lot so I figured it couldn’t be that bad, I was a little wrong. The hike was not a straight climb, it was instead a nice little maze that included three switchbacks before we arrived at the actual cache, with the skeeters getting thicker and thicker as we went. Once we got there we signed the log in record time and started our trek back as you did not want to stay still for very long up there. We did have one DNF for the day and that was “A Mooses’ View.” About halfway to the cache I had had enough of the bugs and the hiking and decided it was time to have myself a little bit of a hissy fit. I eventually pulled my shit together and decided we should keep going, damned if I was going to let this cache get to me. We arrived at the cache location and the GPS was all over the place, we spent quite a bit of time searching through logs, trees, stumps, and ant hills all with no luck. We finally decided to head back to civilization and get away from the bugs, I may have yelled at a few of them on the way back, damn little suckers wouldn’t stop buzzing my ears, at least no one can hear you flipping out in the woods and Mom and Simon didn’t seam to mind. We stopped and logged a few more rural caches on the way home and ended the day with a total of 8 more finds.
On the 17th we took another break from the all day caching but did stop for “B09: School of What?” a cache hidden by Cooler1 and inspired by a cache here in the lower mainland (Camo Series #4: It’s there) that was my nemesis for the longest time, with four visits before I finally found it. It made this one a whole lot easier to find.
July 18th we were back on track and logged another 8 caches, mostly within the PG area. The best one of the day being “JRef 000.10 GEO,” if you’re in the Prince George area and haven’t found this one yet, do so now. It’s a great cache that is completely different than what you’ve ever seen. I won’t say anymore as I don’t want to spoil it at all.
July 19th: another day off
July 20th: Our day trip to Quesnel. The whole goal of this trip was to find the “River Front Trail” cache, if we found any other caches while we were there that was just a bonus, oh and to have lunch at Mr. Mikes Steakhouse. Cooler1 & Lulu had been there twice before, Bundah and I had been there once before so we were determined. Cooler1 finally made the find after about 1/2 hour of searching and I still can’t figure out how we never found it the first time we were there, it looks like such and easy find now. Oh well that’s usually how it goes, we’re just sorry that Lulu wasn’t with us to see where it was hidden. We spent most of the day following our route through Quesnel and managed to find 13 caches before we picked up a Slurpee and some Ice Caps before we headed back home. It’s always nice going into a new area and logging a whole bunch of quick park and grabs.
July 21st Cooler1 and I set out to do a multi cache (Radius Racing Cache) that looked easy enough, boy were we mistaken. What looked like a quick 130m walk from the gate to the cache turned into a one hour, one km trek around the area. It was hot and there was of course the mosquitos and we just about gave up a few times (kept going the wrong way) but in the end we pulled it off thanks to Cooler1 for finding the last waypoint. We were bushed after that and I think I drank at least a litre of water before we went anywhere else. We were going to head home after that but the call of the GPS kept us out a little longer as there was a traditional nearby (“Regular” Wannabe) that was only 100 meters of the road. After a little re-hydration we grabbed that one as well. Later that evening an email came in for a new cache, Cooler1 and I picked up Lulu and headed out to see if we could get a FTF. Lulu made the find, it was a quick one, but we were only second to find. Oh well back home to relax and play a little Euchre.
We’re getting close to the end of our holiday so we were slowing down a bit and took the 23rd off. Just before I headed off to bed I checked my email and there was 11 new caches that had popped up in the Pineview area. We had a lot to do the next day and I wasn’t sure if we could get them in but I knew we had to try. The next day we got ready and I suggested to Cooler1 that we set out while we had some free time and see how many of the “Going Postal in Pineview” series we could grab. We had to pick up Simon so we had about 1-2 hours to see how much damage we could do. Well I still don’t believe it but 1 1/2 hours later just as we had to head out to pick up Simon we had found all ten caches. Amazing and great series. We had gathered the clues we needed for “Pineview” and would come back later in the day once we figured out the co-ordinates. After dinner we picked up Lulu and off we went with our prospective co-ordinates. It didn’t take to long to find and it was a great urban camo, I dropped a TB and GeoCoin that I’d been carrying around and that was it.
It was a great great holiday, lots of fun, lots of caching and lots of kicking butt at Euchre. Thanks to Mom and Dad for putting up with us.
