Geocaching Basecamp

niraD's Geoblog

Apr 20, 2011

Somewhere to Call From (with your cell phone)

By: catomcat Difficulty: 2.5 Terrain: 1.0 Container: Not chosen

I spent about half an hour searching for this cache before I had to leave. From the previous logs, this sounds like a fun one. I'll be back.

Apr 17, 2011

Mission Not So Impossible

By: xxxsparkmanxxx Maintained by Frivlas Difficulty: 3.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

This was one of the nearest caches this evening, so I dropped by to search for it. About an hour (and 4 bags of litter) later, I gave up. In the process, I re-read the description a few times, read all the logs, decided that the terrain rating might be helpful, decided that I had no clue what the encrypted hint means, and enjoyed the scent of rosemary. I'll be back, but I'll probably wait until I figure out something new to try.

Mar 22, 2011

Baseball Dream Team

By: The Ninja Duck Difficulty: 4.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Small

I first looked at this puzzle more than a year ago. Even though I'm not much of a baseball fan, I could easily appreciate the significance of the men chosen for the "Dream Team". Unfortunately, that didn't give me coordinates. More recently, I discovered a resource that I had been unable to find before. It was a very educational resource, and the rest of the puzzle started making sense. I quickly obtained coordinates, and Certitude agreed with me.

This afternoon, I found myself in the area and decided to drop by to sea rch for the cache. Unfortunately, the location was rather busy at the time, and I wasn't aware of the nature of the hide. But the muggles were almost done, and while I waited, I was able to read the cache description and the recent logs more carefully. I was also able to do a visual inspection of GZ . When the muggles left, I had the place to myself, but I still came up empty. If I'm right about the nature of the hide, then I don't know when I'll be back with the necessary "special tool". Thanks for the fun and educational puzzle though.

Mar 16, 2011

You're Andre!

By: kablooey's 2010 Puzzle Challenge Difficulty: 3.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

This was an educational puzzle. Even after I had identified most of the photos, it still took me a while to correctly identify the theme of the puzzle. Even after I had identified the theme of the puzzle, it still took me a while to correctly identify the last photo (and for that, I needed a big hint from Certitude). This morning, I dropped by to search for the cache, but came up empty. I see now that I misread the bonus hint, which had me searching the wrong area. I'll be back...

Nov 11, 2010

The Double Cache of Doubleness

By: GraffnTrix and Dorian Difficulty: 2.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

This cache was on my "nearest to church" list and sounded interesting, so I dropped by to find it. I didn't find the first "brother", but I spotted a location where I thought the second "brother" might be hiding. Unfortunately, the tool I had available could not retrieve the second "brother", but using it, I thought I could detect the second "brother" in its hiding place. I returned shortly with a different tool, but when I tried to use it to retrieve the second "brother", I came up empty. I searched for the first "brother" some more, and then decrypted the hint automatically on my mobile device (despite the CO's attempt to thwart automatic decryption). I then foun d the first "brother" quickly and read the the hint inside, which confirmed that I was searching for the second "brother" in the correct location, but indicated a different type of container than I was expecting. Unfortunately, I found no sign of the type of container indicated by the hint inside th e first "brother".

The CO should probably check on the second "brother".

Sep 22, 2010

The Question _ _ _ _!

By: Little"D" Difficulty: 2.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

This was at the top of my "nearest to church" list, so I dropped by to search for it. More than an hour later, after reading the hint, the last 5 logs, and all the other logs, I finally gave up. I'm looking forward to eventually finding this one. I'll be back.

Mar 23, 2010

Twisted By Design : Part 2

By: atomsoup Difficulty: 4.0 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Micro

I thought I might have better luck this morning, during the daylight. Alas, I still saw no clowns, no clown car, and no cache. Before I return, I'll have to figure out where else it might be. Just searching all the same locations again wouldn't make any sense. DNFWGB.

Mar 20, 2010

Twisted By Design : Part 2

By: atomsoup Difficulty: 4.0 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Micro

I dropped by on my way home from the closing night of "Fiddler" at The King's Academy. Unfortunately, no clowns or clown cars appeared, and I couldn't spot the cache on my own tonight. DNFWGB.

Feb 3, 2010

Stephen C's. Connections

By: Shroomie Difficulty: 2.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

I spent about 45 minutes searching here this morning, but came up with nothing. It's my unfound cache nearest to church, so I'll be back. DNFWGB.

Oct 30, 2009

Map From The Attic

By: crew416 Difficulty: 4.5 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Small

This was one of the Fresno puzzle caches I solved prior to my trip this weekend with Mrs. niraD. The puzzle was relatively easy for me, since I've solved another puzzle cache that uses the same technique. But the hide stumped me this afternoon. DNFWGB.

Oct 10, 2009

You Can Learn A Lot From Lydia

By: Grouchosumtin Difficulty: 3.5 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Micro

This evening, my wife and I went for a walk between dinner at Woodstock's and dessert at Marianne's. Along the way, I stopped a couple times to search for Santa Cruz puzzle caches that I had solved. Or at least, that I thought I had solved. I came up with nothing when I searched for this one, and after rereading the description, I think I'll need to recheck my solution. DNFWGB.

Sep 11, 2009

Skylights Along Stevens Creek Trail

By: GoGoJo Difficulty: 2.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Micro

This morning, I rode my bike over to the new Stevens Creek Trail entrance at Sleeper Avenue, and then rode to work along the trail. I found the previous "skylights" cache easily, but this one is apparently much harder. I did some CITO though. DNFWGB.

Jul 9, 2009

Duck Duck Google

By: wildbun Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Micro

I can see the cache site from my office, so I figured it was time for me to drop by. I saw a rabbit (or maybe it was a hare), but no ducks or geese. I'm pretty sure I know where the cache is, but I wasn't able to check there since a muggle had settled nearby and he didn't look like he'd be leaving anytime soon. I'll be back.

Aug 26, 2008

Angular Reasoning

By: The Rat Difficulty: 2.5 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Micro

I finally have coordinates confirmed by GeoChecker! The tool I used for my first solution attempt lacked precision. The tool I used for my second solution attempt lacked accuracy. After my second DNF log, cachbefound sent email offering me the source to a Mac program (based on FizzyCalc) that he had used, and we started an email conversation. He co nfirmed that his original coordinates had been almost the same as my second attempt, and forwarded a suggestion from The Rat that pointed out a way to obtain the accuracy necessary for this puzzle. Soon I had identified another tool with the necessary accuracy, and my third attempt at the coordinate s was confirmed by GeoChecker. Interestingly, my third attempt produced coordinates roughly half-way between my first and second sets of coordinates.

But having accurate coordinates is not the same as finding the cache, and tonight's search was just as fruitless as my previous two searches. I'm not sure how much more thoroughly I can search for a micro-cache at this location without becoming destructive.

Aug 25, 2008

Angular Reasoning

By: The Rat Difficulty: 2.5 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Micro

Over the weekend, I found a different tool--one that provides the necessary precision. The coordinates I obtained with it were in the same general vicinity as my original coordinates, but some distance away. Tonight I dropped by after work to search for the cache, but again, I came up with nothing. Now that I'm home again, I fed my new coordinates to GeoChecker, which says they're incorrect. My original coordinates are also incorrect. Sigh... I'll be back once I have confirmed coordinates. Too bad there isn't a Mac version of FizzyCalc.

Aug 22, 2008

Angular Reasoning

By: The Rat Difficulty: 2.5 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Micro

Finding the general area was easy enough, but the tool I used lacked the precision I really needed. Still, I was able to compensate, and tonight I dropped by after work for a (fruitless) search. On my way home, I realized a mistake in the way I had compensated for my tool's imprecision. I'll be back once I rework my solution.

Aug 11, 2008

RuStuMPed?

By: Mtnshasta Difficulty: 3.0 Terrain: 2.0 Container: Regular

Often, I have to expand my search radius before I can find the cache. This time, I had to reduce my search radius. I would have been better off ignoring the comment about the (in)accuracy of the coordinates. The puzzle was as I expected, but none of my solutions worked. And I didn't want to spend vacation time on a brute-force solution. After reading the logs, I decided that I had been focusing on the wrong kind of solution, but I didn't have time to return. I'll be back next year...

Aug 6, 2008

Stroller Friendly #4: That's not my diaper!

By: Geo Baby Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Regular

It was a beautiful summer morning for a bike ride through the baylands, and there wasn't even a hint of "Pee-You!" here. Although there was more than a hint of "Pee-You!" elsewhere along the trail, so it probably depends on the prevailing winds. Anyway, I spent far more time searching than a regular size 1.5-star hide should require, and came up with nothing.

Jul 30, 2008

Stamp Exchange

By: E.caballus Difficulty: 1.5 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Small

I dropped by this morning before work. As others have mentioned, working the math was easy enough. Thanks for the checksum though: I made a classic mistake when calculating one of the digits. But when I reached GZ, I came up with nothing. Eventually I read the hint, which matched a location I had checked, but where I hadn't found anything. I assumed that it was muggled and continued on my way. However, from reading the logs, I think this may just be a bit harder to find than most 1.5-star hides.

Apr 26, 2008

Not A Through Street

By: xmts Difficulty: 3.0 Terrain: 1.5 Container: Regular

My wife was at the Cupertino Lions' annual Fish-A-Thon and I was dogsitting again, to keep her guide dog out of the pond and away from the fish. This year I planned ahead a bit more, and solved a few of the local puzzle caches beforehand. I haven't seen many puzzles of this type. It was an interesting challenge. Unfortunately, when I dropped by this morning, there were signs of something having been hidden at GZ, but no actual cache at GZ. I expanded my search radius and did a little CITO, but still didn't find a cache container. I 'll check with the owner to make sure I was searching the correct location.

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