June 10, 2007
Scott Creek Beach
2:55 pm - Checked all the spots mentioned in the hint and couldn't find it. That's worrysome considering how quickly others have found it.March 30, 2007
The British Colonial
4:39 pm - Looked quickly, but could not find this one.February 18, 2007
Mamma und Baby Frosch
5:55 pm - Yup, DNF on this one. Hasn't been found in quite a while it seems.February 17, 2007
"All"State Cache
5:01 pm - We drove around for a while to try to find the best access point for this cache. The one we found was right near a few "good ol' boys" drinking and shooting targets. Not being fans of guns or alcohol and definitely not together, we decided to leave.November 26, 2006
Dark Satanic Mills
7:26 pm - We had fun driving between all the waypoints here, but in the end came up empty. We hope to give it another try soon!November 19, 2006
picnic at the pond
1:28 pm - Stuck my hand in all kinds of nasty places, but didn't come up with it.November 05, 2006
Auntie Rwanda
11:08 am - Muggle was hanging out here and we could not get close. Another day.October 15, 2006
Ask Mr Whyte
3:49 pm - Solved the puzzle last night and got some coordinates that looked reasonable and matched the checksum. When we got there they didn't look right. We did see a much more likely spot a ways away though, so we stopped there later. Did a thorough search but found nothing. The place did get a major paint job recently, so perhaps it was removed then? I hope to try again another day.Cowell Ranch Beach
1:58 pm - Searched the only place it could be here that matched the hint and found no sign of it. Time I check up on it I think.October 01, 2006
Altoids
2:08 pm - DNF. I would have had to reach under a couple of people to grab it so I decided to leave it for another time.Ivy League
1:51 pm - DNF. Thought I understood the hint, but we couldn't find it anywhere near there. I did discover a previously unknown hiding spot though.September 24, 2006
Perles Beach Approach
3:42 pm - Hmm, we probably should have ready the description more closely to find the alternate route the cache since we only saw the closed road. No matter - we barely made it back to the boat doing the other caches on the island. It's hard to complain about having to come back to this place. Thanks, anyway.it's hip to be caching
2:07 pm - This was the only frustrating cache of the day for us. We spend a long time looking and couldn't find anything except hundreds of pine cones.September 17, 2006
Babbs Creek Bridge
12:07 pm - MotorBug and I searched for a while on this one, but no luck.September 16, 2006
Chemistry: Chapter 22.5
6:28 pm - DNF #3? I thought I had fixed my coordinates for this long ago, but apparently I forgot to take the owner's last advice. Next time, I swear I'll get it!September 10, 2006
Where are the fish?
2:39 pm - DNF. Lots of people around, but that didn't hinder me much. I thought I understood the hint (which seems seasonal), but couldn't locate the cache.September 09, 2006
Jdsinger’s Fairoaks Park
2:37 pm - DNF. Lots of dust and nasty things in there, so we didn't look too long.September 04, 2006
ERIN GO BRAUGH !
1:58 pm - DNF.Waaay too many muggles here today. I started looking but decided to abort when people approached their car next to the cache. Perhaps another time.September 03, 2006
...with a twist
7:19 pm - Even if the neighbors are in on this, I wasn't comfortable searching with two people painting a fence right next to the cache. Another time.Volunteer Recognition Cache
2:58 pm - DNF with MotorBug. I hope to see it replaced soon while I go figure out something to volunteer on!Quarry Lakes Riparian Restoration
2:45 pm - We looked pretty hard for this one, even with MotorBug having found it before. No luck.July 15, 2006
The Cobblestone Factor
4:44 pm - DNF. Pretty darn hot out here today and we just couldn't find it. Cool area though.July 04, 2006
She Sells Sea Shells
8:26 pm - DNF. Not a lot of places to hide one here and we checked all of them. Might be time to check on this one.That's STILL Not Natural
5:35 pm - DNF. Looked all around. The GPSr was indecisive so we had to cover a lot of ground. I had a suspicion of the camo, but we didn't find anything today.July 03, 2006
June 25, 2006
Dreamfarm's Angel
1:17 pm - No luck here. Looked all around, but couldn't come up with it.June 24, 2006
Forever Young Sonoma County Movies 8
12:34 pm - Searched up and down with a stick through all the PO and couldn't find anything. Time to relocate this one if it's still there.June 18, 2006
oolookee!
5:10 pm - I looked for this one for a long time and just couldn't home up with it.May 06, 2006
Thamien Park
12:58 pm - A Lil Devil cache in the middle of a playground? For shame! Too many little muggles around for me to look today.April 02, 2006
SC Fire - Agnew Station
12:05 pm - I trampled the ivy for a while here today. While that was fun, I couldn't find the cache, even with a lifeline. It started to rain I decided that was enough for me.March 05, 2006
Spirit of Recovery 1
3:44 pm - We DNF'd this one. We thought we just didn't spend enough time. We had 10 minutes before the last tender back to our ship was leaving, so we decided it was better not to miss the boat. Now that I read the logs, I'm glad we didn't spend that much time looking!March 04, 2006
The Secret Lies With The Cordelia
12:28 pm - We enjoyed the location, but like the others, we couldn't find the cache. Thanks for the stop!Caves of the Lost Pirate's Booty
11:26 am - We had the best time NOT finding this cache!It was only a third of a mile from the road, but it turned out to be way more challenging than expected. First there was barely any trail and it was lined with thorny bushes on both sides. We lost the trail a few times and it was hot. I had done all the projections on my computer, so were were able to walk directly to the cache.
After crawling around in bat guano for at least half hour we gave up. By the time we reached the car our legs were all cut up and they stayed rashy for a few days. Fun times.
Very cool spot for a cache though. I wish we had more time to explore. Thanks anyway!
January 29, 2006
O Pioneers!
4:36 pm - We decided to take the scenic route home from Sacremento and this one was right along the way. We nearly got stuck in the mud near the cache - I had to rev the car way up and slowly move out. After that I spent a long time looking for the cache, but came up empty. Neat old cemetary though!Ag 6: Field Crops of the World
3:00 pm - DNF. Tried all the likely spots but couldn't locate it. Muggles weren't a problem either. Oh well.January 28, 2006
Not a Time Machine but an...?
6:06 pm - Found the first stage OK while a guy was being arrested for shoplifting nearby. We're much too short for the second stage, so after a few times we gave up.
Kissing Sacramento's Blarney Stone
1:58 pm - We took some goofy pictures while I tried to find this one, but I either couldn't reach it or it's missing.I'm Hemlock!
1:27 pm - The first stage was pretty easy. We looked in two different areas for the second stage and came up empty. Bummer.January 16, 2006
Littler House at the Park
5:03 pm - DNF. Apparently I need to start bringing a ladder with me caching. That's not nice. I would normally try harder but there was a guy and his kid hitting balls right there.January 15, 2006
RWC Hills Beacon - Endangered Landmark #2
12:47 pm - There are some nice views up here, but it must be hard to give people directions to your house.Unfortunately we couldn't find the cache, just a bunch of old bottles.
January 01, 2006
J&W Cache
1:00 pm - It was cold and snowy out today and that probably didn't help us in trying to find this cache. We got the info, double-checked it and then searched for at least 20 minutes but couldn't find anything in the snow. I think this one is underrated, especially since D is ambiguous and F produces a negative number in our interpretation.December 11, 2005
Mofreekin Cache of the Day!
5:02 pm - I searched for this one a bit, took a break to watch the sunset, then we seached some more. Didn't find it. The coords put me at some iceplant, but I didn't see anything poking around in there.November 20, 2005
The way before the Bridges...
1:24 pm - I was walking up to this one when I noticed a cop parked across the street pointing right at me. I didn't feel like being questioned today, so I turned right around and headed for another cache.in the middle of everything
1:17 pm - I felt uncomfortable searching here, even if the locals are in on it. The door was wide open and the workers were looking right at me. My GPS didn't really settle down either, so I ended up searching all over the place.Out of nowhere some guy came over to ask me about my 60cs and tell me how much he liked his. I got a hint from another cache after and I checked that place, apparently not thoroughly enough though. I'll try again at off-hours someday.
November 19, 2005
First or Last
5:29 pm - Both? First DNF of the day and the last cache we tried. It was completely dark though, so we had to search with flashlights. Even so we gave it a thorogh look. Perhaps the finders in August covered it too well?November 13, 2005
UB: Guerilla Warfare - Arms Cache
5:20 pm - DNF #2. I got the new coordinates since my last find, but I just couldn't spot the darned thing. Once it got dark I admitted to myself that I'm no winini and I would never find it. Here's hoping on attempt #3.November 12, 2005
Coyote Point
2:37 pm - Searched and searched for this one, even calling a lifeline. We did get to meet idleCPU and some brand new cachers though.October 22, 2005
I-93 Exit 4 Travel Bug Hotel
12:28 pm - We looked all over the place for this one, even after decoding the hint we could not find it.I should have check the updated coordinates first I guess.
October 16, 2005
The log Cabin
3:48 pm - I skipped this one on the way out the trail end and perhaps for good reason. I could not find it on the way back. I found a darn good place for the cache though with the remnants of a cabin. The box from the drink mixer that Jimswim left was on the ground and looked it has been for some time.September 25, 2005
Lilie & Lois's
4:00 pm - I like to be first at things. Take this cache for example. I was first to solve and now I'm first to DNF. I checked all the nearby objects and couldn't come up with it. I'll be watching.September 24, 2005
Thank God?
1:32 pm - Some Corvette club was hanging around in the parking lot and people were right next to the cache. They weren't leaving anytime soon, so we split. Another day perhaps.Jellies
1:21 pm - We've been talking about coming here again for a while. We decided it was time for another sugar fix and made this the destination for our day. We went in and bought $86(!!) of beans and then looked for the cache. Looked and looked most of the way through a jawbreaker but couldn't spot it. With the sugar buzz we were on, it was hard to care.September 18, 2005
Play Ball!
2:47 pm - We looked for this one a bit until we read the logs. Time to kill this one I think.September 05, 2005
Railway Bridge
7:30 pm - I came armed with a hint from the owner after my last DNF many months ago. Checking carefully, I came up empty. It might be time to check on this one.September 04, 2005
High Water
5:49 pm - I tend to be pretty blind when it comes to decons, but I could not find this diff 1 cache. Some kids were nearby; perhaps they saw TeamAlamo and friends earlier.Comanche Pine
4:46 pm - Local hoodlums were hanging out a few feet from the cache. I buzzed by then waited but they weren't going anywhere. I left this one for another day.September 03, 2005
Blanston's Stinker
4:01 pm - Searched for a while, but I was really tired after getting up early for the event, so I called it a day. Must be great camo!August 28, 2005
The Fiber Channel
1:34 pm - This one was just a matter of tracking down the right info and writing some code. Once I got it all right, the numbers popped right out.I had less luck with the cache though. I spent a half-hour searching and came up with nothing. No hints? Hmpph.
August 27, 2005
Somewhere in Los Altos
5:20 pm - I spent 20 minutes or so looking for this one and failed to connect to a lifeline. My Dad IMed me and reminded me that the baseball game was on. That sounded like a lot more fun and it was.Anchor
I was by here last weekend and noticed the kayak rentals so MotorBug made plans to head over and grab this one. Well, we rented a double and headed over. It was a nice day and the water was refreshing. It didn't take long to make it to the coordinates. Once there, we didn't have any luck. We were within feet of the coordinates and the hints seemed to make sense, but there was no sign of the cache. Well, that was a bummer. Had a nice kayak paddle though.August 21, 2005
LOOKY -LOO ""---> ""--->
1:16 pm - Coordinates all over the place, poison oak, stickers, flies, signs that say danger and the feeling that I shouldn't be there didn't make this a pleasant experience. I gave up after checking all the obvious places and spending 20 minutes here.August 20, 2005
Buggy
11:32 am - I found the original Bugs, but not this one. Looked pretty thoroughly at ground zero, but I think kids play here.August 14, 2005
Safe Diligence
11:34 am - Too many people around here today including one guy 5 feet away who seemed fascinated with what I was doing. Some other time.July 24, 2005
back door
11:28 am - First to DNF! Actually we just never found a way in. We tried 3 different approaches and couldn't find a trail from any of them.July 17, 2005
Monkeying around McLaren
3:05 pm - We're hitting a dry streak here. I thought I knew where this one was and we got exhausted searching for it. We then tried a few other spots, but couldn't find it.This was a weird road. I wonder what it used to be for. Another day, perhaps.
NORTH MCLAREN
2:34 pm - Hmm, we read the very descriptive hints on this one, but still didn't find it. What I think were the pinecones were around, but not together. Hopefully it's still in there somewhere.Moo!
2:00 pm - I was a little confused at the first waypoint until I read the description again and realized there were no coordinates on the sticker. Actually I'm not sure why there needs to be a sticker at all; can't you just project the waypoint from the posted coords?Anyway, we hopped back in the car and drove down the street to the projected waypoint. It looked like a good spot for a cache and we looked around and around but came up empty, even with the hint. There is some construction going on here, perhaps it's gone astray.
July 03, 2005
"To Honor Surfers"
1:21 pm - When I arrived there were two guys there - one talking on a cell phone, the other napping. The guy on the phone was away from the cache was a bit away, but the napping guy was right next to it. I walked around a few times and woke him up, but he was sleepy and laid down again. I ran out of time and had to go. Some other time I guess.July 02, 2005
June 26, 2005
Hexpedition #1
2:07 pm - DNF #2 on this one. Hasn't been found in a while though, so perhaps it's gone again.June 16, 2005
Somewhere in Cupertino?
6:50 pm - Adding my name to the DNF hall of fame. Searched for about an hour with MotorBug, wstefanc, mcpuke, TeamJiffy, and DavidT21. We didn't find a thing. I really hope this is a truly ingenious cache that cachers with tens of thousands of combined finds haven't seen before.June 12, 2005
Cherry, Cherry pie. ohooo oohh oohhhh
10:26 am - No luck today. Then again, I have a cache in a similar location and I've DNF'd it myself a couple times. Lots of people around, so it was tough to get down and dirty with this one.June 10, 2005
$100,000 Reward
9:08 pm - I thought it would be really cool to put a cache at this place, but didn't make the connection with the title until later.When I arrived, there were two locals hanging around, one with a truck on one side of the wall and the other with a car in the lot. I'm not sure what they were actually doing, but they weren't going anywhere soon. I waited and waited, watched one of the guys relieve himself in the corner, and finally decided to leave. At least I got some dinner on the way out.
June 09, 2005
Bottom's Up
8:29 am - SBC guy was working 10 feet away from the cache. I waited a bit but he looked like he would be a while, so I went over to do BOP. I returned after that and he was still there, so I decided to come back some other time.June 06, 2005
Trinity
9:07 am - People were asking me if I had solved this puzzle yet before I had even seen it. I took a look and found a tool to solve it quickly.I finally got around to searching for the cache this morning, but came up empty even with two lifelines both confirming where I was looking. I think it's missing.
May 29, 2005
Welcome to Alabama
1:54 pm - DNF. Despite the heavy rain, I ventured out to this one to see if I could grab 'nother Alabama cache while we were stopped here. I found a spot that matched the hint perfectly but didn't find a cache.May 28, 2005
Box Cars and Snake Eyes
3:59 pm - DNF. Looks like there's been some construction exactly where the hint indicates the cache has been placed.May 22, 2005
Saxocache
12:25 pm - There were lots of people around today, but we still did a pretty thorough search. Didn't find the cache though. Could be missing.May 15, 2005
Noe Cache One
1:55 pm - We searched high and low for this one, turning over every log, but couldn't spot the cache. I feel a bit better about it after reading some of the older logs.Of course we came from the bottom which was made even more difficult by some fallen trees across the path. We left wet, dirty and tired. Next time, we'll return with a hint. Thanks.
Mini Park Cache (Sunnyside Conservatory)
11:28 am - Man, our first cache in the city today, and we didn't find it. I'm pretty sure we looked in the right place. It looks like the area might have recently been cleaned.April 30, 2005
A Red Bridge Near A Blue Pheasant
12:42 pm - DNF #2. Apparently I misunderstood the hint I got after my last DNF and I looked in the wrong place. I'll try again, though I swear I looked in that spot last time. Oh well.Loehmann's Plaza
11:40 am - I spent about a half-hour looking for this one. There were people walking up and down the sidewalk and I felt strange standing in this spot. It was also kinda trashy. Maybe I'll try again another day.April 17, 2005
Micro Park Micro
3:29 pm - Yet another DNF for MotorBug and I today. I'm not sure this is really a park. It's definitely private property though, making searching here even more awkward.Island Falls
2:33 pm - This was our second consecutive frustrating DNF in this park. We read the description and it said we could start from either of two trailheads, so we used the one that made the most sense from in the park.We went for where the coordinates led us and searched. Lots of places for a cache, but no cache. Then I got a better signal and searched on the island. No cache there. We searched for a long time. Eventually I punched in fizzy's coordinates which pointed us off the island to the other side. We weren't going to walk all the way around now and the stream was too deep to cross.
How about some coordinates for the suggested trailheads? I think the difficulty and terrain for these could be lowered quite a bit if the descriptions were straightforward.
We left tired and all scraped up from searching. There was lots of PO too. We had planned to do Weeping Willow, but didn't bother now.
Babbling Brook
1:31 pm - After struggling to find even one way in, we searched for this one for an hour and came up empty. We searched high and low. MotorBug became a man obsessed, no longer a friend of nature. I think he even started babbling himself! I'd be surprised if this one is still there.April 09, 2005
Along the De Anza Trail 9 - Los Altos Hills
6:08 pm - I looked for this one for a while but there was lots of traffic and I felt weird standing here. I was exhausted from a longer than necessary hike in Portola Valley anyway, so I called it a day here.April 02, 2005
Kayak Cache
4:30 pm - I'm pretty sure this one is gone.Not having a boat, I decided to walk to the cache. I studied the satellite maps and determined that I could at least get pretty darn close. While I have performed a few miracles in finding caches, I can't claim to have walked on water.
Instead, I walked along the abandoned railroad tracks for about 1.5 miles to the bridge. The whole way there I had that "last man on earth" feeling.
Once there I really had to decide how much I wanted this cache. I couldn't see it from on the bridge, so I had to climb down on top of the gate structure, hoping I wouldn't fall into the water even though it was low tide.
While I carefully climbed around, the sea lions nearby watched and mocked me. So getting to the cache is a challenge for me, but It would be pretty darn hard to sign the log book with flippers, now wouldn't it? Now who's better??
I looked all around and couldn't see any cache, so I climbed back up to get some more information. I called mmp to see if he could describe where the cache was. It didn't help that my cell phone reception was spotty. He tried to remember and describe the location while I looked at the bridge from a bunch of different angles. mmp reminded me that there was a picture in the cache description, so I downloaded that to my phone and got a pretty good idea of where I should be looking.
I went to the spot where I think the picture was from and I didn't see the cache. I climbed up onto the pilings again and looked for the cache from above. No luck. I did find quite a bit of rope which didn't seem to be attached to anything on the other end.
After trying again from several angles, I still couldn't see anything at all. At this point I decided that it probably was gone. It has been 5 months since it's been found. I walked back quickly as it was cold and windy out here now.
Haunted DugOut
9:48 am - The owner set me straight on the puzzle, but I couldn't find the cache. Mostly I just couldn't find a way in. I'm not sure I'm supposed to be in there anyway.March 30, 2005
A Red Bridge Near A Blue Pheasant
8:45 am - I searched for a half hour for this one and came up empty. I understood the hint, but apparently didn't look in the right spot. I got a hint later on in the day, so I must have been really close, just didn't get my eyes on it. Tomorrow perhaps.March 27, 2005
UB: Guerilla Warfare - Arms Cache
10:39 am - My coords were a little off, but the hint helped me get in the right place.Unfortunately there were some people in the area which made it hard to search. I waited a while but more people just kept coming. I'll come back another day.
March 13, 2005
Namcfee
3:53 pm - We found the first point and the second grave which matched the title. We couldn't find a cache there. Seems pretty likely that this one is gone.March 04, 2005
Sunnyvale Skate Park
8:35 pm - Strike 2. No vagrants today, just some kids on the bleachers.One of them asked me if there was anything interesting about this park. Well there is to me, of course, but I told them no. I'll try again some other time.
February 27, 2005
Steinberger Slough
12:43 pm - We parked right by here to start our bike ride, but skipped it, figuring we'd grab it when we got back.Unfortunately there where some people fishing right next to the cache when we returned, so we had to skip it. Bummer. Thanks for the nice bike ride though.
February 24, 2005
Sunnyvale Skate Park
8:30 am - After "In the Shade" was archived, I was thinking about placing a cache in this park.When I arrived today there were homeless people all over the place including one right above the coordinates who was intent on staring at me while I tried to search. I decided that his was not a pleasant place for a cache and left.
February 05, 2005
Bridge View
1:52 pm - We tried a few approaches the the cache, then found a secret stairway to where we wanted to be. Unfortunately there were some people moving in to the high rise 10 feet from the cache, so we aborted. Next time, perhaps.January 31, 2005
Zeno's Paradox
8:50 am - DNF #3. I spent a good half-hour looking, but came up empty-handed. My coordinates were confirmed with mmp who confirmed them with the owners.There's quite a few places to look for a micro in this area within reasonable GPS accuracy, even excluding the ivy.
If the difficulty of this cache is supposed to be in solving the puzzle and not in locating the micro, then a descriptive hint would be helpful. I did find a secret walkway though which at least made the trip in shorter.
January 29, 2005
Along the De Anza Trail 7 - Embarcadero
4:33 pm - Second try on this one, and this time was without all the kids and parents.I looked where MotorBug suggested, but found no cache.
January 26, 2005
Northwood Sign Only
8:08 am - A geobrowns cache is always good for at least one DNF. Here's my first.I felt pretty uncomfortable here, standing in the rain while kids and parents walked by to the nearby school.
I'll try again some other time and hopefully by then geobrowns will get over their fear of hints. :-)
January 25, 2005
Fun and Friendship Set to Music
8:42 am - I fixed some of my answers and thought I had it all right. Some of them were pretty tricky.I found myself in a much more likely place this morning, but there was a sign that said private property. I wasn't sure about that so I waited at least until the cop parked across the street left and tried it out anyway. No cache. I left. On the way out I noticed a place that would have fit the theme well but didn't explore it.
Later that day I looked at my coordinates again and I realized I hadn't corrected all of the digits with my new answers. Agggh! And the coordinates put me right in the place where I parked and noticed! I better get this one next time...
Along the De Anza Trail 7 - Embarcadero
8:20 am - This was just about the worst possible time to try this one. There were kids and parents everywhere. I checked a few obvious spots while trying not to look threatening especially to the crossing guard.I was feeling up a sewer grate when I heard a mom say to her curious kid "well he's working on... I don't know what he's doing."
I'll come back some other time!
January 24, 2005
Fun and Friendship Set to Music
8:39 am - I found the answers pretty quickly and felt pretty confident in my answers. I went out today searching for the cache and found myself in the middle of a residential neigborhood. I stood there stupidly for a minute and then decided I must have gotten some of the answers wrong.January 17, 2005
SC-6 - Mary Gomez, once again
8:30 am - Gaaah! I DNF'd one of these! I thought I had the right place according to the hint, but I guess not. It's probably fitting because I DNF'd the original cache in this park a long time ago. Let's see... I think I'll blame the coords. Yeah, that'll do.January 15, 2005
Juan Pickens (revived)
3:40 pm - We had to call a lifeline, but even with the help we didn't find the cache. Maybe in a few months it will be easier.
First Cache of Spring
11:19 am - I found only half of the cache, and full of water. Bummer.January 09, 2005
The Bridge Between
2:18 pm - We searched for this one and all we found was a film cap. I sent an IM to kablooey about it and he let me know that it had been disabled two days ago. I guess your pocket queries can never be too new. Bummer.January 03, 2005
Licau II
12:29 pm - I came back to give this one a more thorough look and came up empty. When I got desperate I called MotorBug who had found it a while ago. Even with his help, I couldn't find it. I did get a nice memory of my last trip with a good amount of fresh mud on my shoes.Perhaps this one needs a checkup as it hasn't had a successful find in two months.
December 12, 2004
Tree Puzzle
1:40 pm - Spent 20 minutes or so looking where I thought it would be even though my GPSr was putting me in the middle of the grass. I guessed at the camo, but found nothing. Some other time, perhaps.December 11, 2004
Railway Bridge
3:06 pm - We attempted this one on the way up the trail and then again on the way back. I thought I picked up a hint in the description, but that didn't seem to pan out.I'd feel better if you added a hint or one more star of difficulty. :D
Licau II
10:30 am - I had an hour and a half to do a cache in the Fremont area and this one fit the bill perfectly. I made a brisk walk of the first stage and then headed over to the second and third. The third was was tougest as the mud was thick and sticky. At several points I had built up "mud shoeshoes" as a I slogged along.I got all the info from these familiar spots, then headed back to the car and the cache. I didn't have much time left though, so I only made a cursory look under the eye of a security guard and without the description in hand. I hope to get back soon and nab the cache.
November 22, 2004
Ultimate Battleship: J15
8:27 pm - I managed to wait out the security guy, but when he left, there were some (homeless?) people hanging out near the cache. Another day, perhaps.November 20, 2004
Arn Haws Pa King
4:01 pm - U-turn #13 of the day. DNF, but we provided some amusement to some people in the parking lot though!Bumpy Indian Ride
3:20 pm - I dunno, this seems like private property from any way you approach it. Even ignoring that, we arrived to find many children playing in the area, so we aborted.Pico de Alamo
3:10 pm - When we arrived there was a guy shooting hoops. It was just one guy though - we can take him. A few of us searched until it because obvious where the cache was and a group of about 8 kids with basketballs showed up. Oh, shoot. This is actually the second cache I've DNF'd in this park. Another day, perhaps.Dog's Revenge
1:21 pm - U-turns #9 and #10 of the day, 1 of them being illegal! We couldn't find this one. Maybe it finally biodegraded.Passerella iliaca
7:34 am - U-turn #2 of the day. I found this one once before, but couldn't find it today.November 14, 2004
Hull I Tre
4:30 pm - Hmm, no luck with this one. I searche all over the place. Now that I'm home and translated the title, I'm pretty sure I looked there, but maybe for not something as small as the description indicates.November 07, 2004
Plant Grapes Everywhere
6:02 pm - I really don't get this multi. It appears to encourage you to walk along train tracks to several uninteresting locations. I drove back and forth between them instead.The coordinates at several locations seemed to be off. I double-checked my answers, but ended up at an intersection that couldn't be the final location. I guess I'll have to seek some help on this one.
Zeno's Paradox
11:20 am - I was thankful soccer was in season, not baseball, which made this cache accessible. Or it would have if I had found it. I looked in the same place as before but couldn't find it. I think it's missing again.October 25, 2004
Discover Water
6:36 pm - My fourth consecutive DNF. This must be what it feels like to be Kablooey.I searched up, down, and on each end. All I found was a cat who was apparently hanging out with some food someone had left for it.
October 24, 2004
Romantic Rendezvous 5 - NEM
4:16 pm - Third of three consecutive DNFs this afternoon.I've definitely been here before, but the immense play structure is definitely new. I gave the subject area a thorough search, but finally decided to give up, given some of the comments in the logs about it being susceptible to wind.
All's well that ends in ice cream though, so we stopped for some on the way home and I quickly forgot about my unsuccessful afternoon.
CB-2
3:54 pm - Second of three consecutive DNFs for the day. The logs for this one are quite entertaining.My first dumb mistake was to delete the waypoint from my GPSr. I saw the object referenced in the title, so it must be right there, right? Wrong. After I searched for a while, I read the description and then reentered the coordinates. I was searching about 70 feet off.
I searched for 10 minutes and then decided to call a lifeline. That helped narrow it down a bit, but still left quite a few possibilities with the cache moving around as it has been.
Then I turned around to find someone looking at me. Then she asked what I was looking for. I told her I was looking for a geocache. She didn't know what that was, but told me if I was looking for a white cat, there was one down the trail. Uh, thanks.
I found some cat food and later did see the white cache, but no cache.
October 17, 2004
Pure Corn
6:32 pm - Despite the big sign that said "OPEN", this place was definitely closed, so I was able to search freely. I searched all the likely places and then went back for a flashlight. After removing some stuff, I saw a film can way in there. I used a tool to pull it out and open it. It was empty! And it turned out not to be a film can, but a very old presciption bottle of some type. Well, it'll be a cache someday. :-) It was raning and muddy, so I cut my losses and headed home. Might be time for check on this one.GeoJack's Park
5:52 pm - DNF #2 for this one. I had a hint from a previous finder and checked all the spots that seemed to match between passings of dog walkers. I couldn't find it and the plants are getting pretty beat up. It started to rain pretty hard, so I punted on this one again.October 15, 2004
Zeno's Paradox
9 am - I searched and searched, then finally called a lifeline because I had to get to work. He confirmed that I was looking in the right place. So either I've gone blind (completely possible, too many puzzles) or this one is missing.October 10, 2004
TNLN, I Don't Think So #1
6:12 pm - I prepared for this one by collecting a complete set of coins from years 2002 through 1978 or so.They weren't so useful since I couldn't find the cache. :(
I tried high and low and higher even, but no luck. I'll try again some other day.
October 06, 2004
Behead Me
7:20 pm - This cache popped up right as my closest so it had to go. No cryptography - great, but 5-stars... hmm.I looked at it for a bit, but had no ideas off the bat. Of course 'Rat' seemed to work perfectly for the last word of both. :-)
Next I used some tools I had to generate better lists and pored over them with another cacher. I stared at them for many hours, but nothing worked. Then the cache difficulty was lowered and I felt even more stupid. Gotta figure this one out!
Finally, I found the answer to the second riddle and confirmed I was on the right track.
The first riddle, however was much harder. It took some hints from another cacher to narrow down the possibilities. At last, we came up with an answer that seemed to make sense. I asked for confirmation from another cacher and was told I was wrong, but only by one letter. It didn't actually make much of a difference in the final coordinates.
It was only a matter of physically grabbing the cache and signing the log...
I drove over to the cache site this evening looking for a legitimate place to park with access to the target area. After driving around for 10 minutes I setted for one with only the latter about a block away.
I avoided some local kids as I made my way to the cache site and spotted the obvious location. I reached in to grab the cache and felt something slide. Uh oh. I reached in again and felt nothing. Crap. I paniced and tried to think of a way to recover the cache. I know - a stick! I scrambled around, found one and poked at the cache to try to get it back. I think I only succeded in making it worse. What could I do? I know! A bigger stick! No, that didn't work either...
Then I remembered I had a ready-to-go replacement cache in my car that I had picked up from WalruZ's Magnetic Therapy cache. I had planned on placing a cache after this doing this one, but I though I could make things right by just replacing this one.
I walked all the way back to the car and returned to the cache location. I carefully placed the replacement and felt it grip. I took my hand off the cache and it immediately dissapeared, probably making the original cache even more hopeless. It was now dark and I was out of sticks, replacement caches and ideas.
Then it was only a matter of typing up the log and conveying the bad news... Of course I screwed that up too, deleting the whole thing when I had already written most of it. I suppose my penance is to retype it all.
Sorry about whole fiasco. I'm afraid to learn what the penalty is for destroying this cache... uh oh, I think I already know!
October 03, 2004
Walkway to Deep Cliff
10:30 am - I searched for a half-hour and then decided I must be missing something. I called a lifeline to MotorBug who described precisely where I should be looking and I didn't see it there.September 18, 2004
Burton Park
2:44 pm - We looked and looked in the most obvious spots, but couldn't find it. Missing?August 28, 2004
Fred Flintstones Twinkletoes...
12:02 pm - Well, we were there with nostrada and workerofwood and shared in the fun. I took the high road with nostrada, which was a trail in some parts, but had none in others, with plenty of poison oak just to keep it exciting.We climbed all around where the cache should be and found no signs of it. I checked a few times just to make sure since I wasn't coming all this way for nothing. When it was clear that we weren't going to find it, I tried to follow Nostrada across the rocks to the other side.
My first leap was off-balance so I jumped into the water rather than risk falling face-first into a rock. The water felt good in my shoes for a while, but when I got home I had to hose them off from all the sand and dirt that clung to them.
My consolation is that if this one is replaced, it's much shorter walk from other points than from where we came. Thanks for the fun.
August 21, 2004
Monarch Community School Geocaching course
5:35 pm - Couldn't find this one. There were people in the park, but that didn't deter me from searching wherever I thought it might be.August 08, 2004
Marina Park - Northern Micro
3:26 pm - As we approached this one, there was a couple laying under a blanket right where I thought the cache would be. They were eyeing me occasionally, so I had to stealthy.I checked several spots, getting sticky in the process, then I stuck my hand in one spot and felt something drop. I don't know if that was the cache or not, but my attempts to reach down and grab it if it was a cache failed. I couldn't see down there, not did I know of what kind of tool could get something out if it was in there.
So I'm not sure about this one. It might be inaccessible. If so, my apologies, but it's possibly a caveat of that spot that it's easily lost.
July 24, 2004
Tickle Those Ivories
4:15 pm - When we arrived here, the beach was packed. But everyone must have decided it was dinner or something because shortly after, everyone had left.The first thing we found was an empty white film can in the sand, just below where we thought the cache should be. We kept looking though and checking as many spots as we could think of.
I was trying to pull up the picture on my Treo when I finally spotted the man on the chair. It looked different than what I expected because it was a profile.
Above the man was the original spot we checked which appeared to be a good one for a cache.
If I was thinking right, I would have scrounged together a container and replaced the cache, but it was late in the day and I didn't think of it. I did use the white canister as half of the container to replace NIC'S NIGHTMARE though, so hopefully that makes up for it.
July 20, 2004
Cold Hard Cache
4:00 pm - This was probably the most fun I've ever had for a cache I didn't find.The cache was an adventure from start to finish. We had never been though a bamboo forest before. The stream was nice and cool. The scramble, then the climb were great challenges. The best part was the swim to the cache area. Between looking for the cache, we spent time swimming in the pool under the magnificent waterfall and jumping off the rocks.
I checked all the caves around the area, but couldn't find the cache. Oh well, lots of fun! Thanks!
July 04, 2004
Mission Hospice
6:43 pm - I made far too many u-turns to get here and then couldn't find the cache. I couldn't get a good signal here and I was all over the place.Biscuits 'n' Gravy
5:39 pm - The coordinates were putting me 100 feet into a driveway. I walked around the block to see if there was another way in, but I didn't find anything.Happy Birthday JoeSpaz #22
12:17 pm - I had good karma in Fremont today, so I thought I'd give this one a 3rd try. Even with a hint from another cacher and a lifeline from MotorBug, I couldn't find this one. Either I'm regressing in my caching stills or this one is missing.June 29, 2004
Secret Stairway #2- Downtown Saratoga
9:00 pm - I got confused and thought I was looking for Secret Stairway #1. As such, the hint just made me look for something that wasn't there while it got dark. Darn.
June 28, 2004
Assume Nothing #2 1/2
7 pm - I was out with nostrada and we searched for a long time, but couldn't find it. We twisted everything we could twist, and defintely some things we shouldn't have twisted. I assumed nothing, yet I still made an 'a**' out of 'u' and 'me'.June 27, 2004
Santa Teresa Station
4:21 pm - There was only one place that seemed reasonable given the coordinates. I checked there and couldn't find it. Maybe it is gone."We Live Here"
9:30 am - Searched for a while in all the places the cache should be, but couldn't find it.June 26, 2004
1870 Art Center
2:22 pm - I parked in the wrong spot to get to this one - twice. I finally made it to 1870 and started searching. I looked for about a half hour but couldn't find anything. I gave up when I couldn't find any other places to search.Unless I'm missing something, the hint doesn't tell me anything that my GPSr doesn't already.
June 23, 2004
Niles - Off the beaten path
1:41 pm - This one beat me after a half hour. I used all the logs and hints. I came up with several possibilites for the type of camo, but saw none of them."04 Spring Break
12:04 pm - Either I'm getting worse at this sport or this one is actually missing. I talked to another cacher and he said that it was pretty visible. I dunno.Los Cerittos Community Center
11:32 am - Spent a half hour here crawling through the bushes because I couldn't see any other way to find this thing. After getting all dirty and CITOing some trash, I decided to give up and come back some other day, hopefully with backup.Happy Birthday JoeSpaz #22
10:21 am - I spent 45 minutes looking for this one today and this was my second attempt. I'm not sure what I'm missing here, but maybe 'soon' will come and they'll be a hint when I return.Happy Birthday JoeSpaz #7
8:39 am - A while back I got some information about what to look for here. I looked for another half hour and found nothing.In Suspense!
6:54 am - Searched for a while, but couldn't find it.I questioned a mutant turkeyduck about the whereabouts of the cache, but he didn't know either.
June 19, 2004
Pescy Marsh
I really hope this is missing. Otherwise, it requires more than the painful half hour of walking through prickly berry bushes and poison oak than we endured. While the the cache is supposed to be right on the trail, the coordinates indicate otherwise, which is why things are trampled. Surely there is more pleasant place for cache in this lovely marsh?June 06, 2004
Trails' End
No go on this one. We searched and searched using the hint, but found nothing.May 22, 2004
Panther's Secret Passage
1:30 pm - According to the logs and our lifeline, this one shouldn't be that hard. Nostrada and I looked for a long time. Couldn't really find the second part of the hint either.
Salt and Pepper
11 am - Can you log a DNF for a cache you'd already found? Nostrada needed to find this one and we weren't sure of the state of "Salt", so I figured we'd try to find this one without the coordinates since I "knew" where it was and we were already very close. Well, we searched all around and couldn't find it. Even a lifeline didn't help. It's probably still there, but having the coordinates would definitely help. :-)We spent an hour on this one and returned with only with socks and shoes full of painful stickers. Fun!
May 21, 2004
Golden Spike
8:30 pm - I'm pretty sure I got all the info right, but I couldn't find the cache. Maybe it's because it was dark. I'll be watching this one.Happy Birthday JoeSpaz #25
8 pm - Ball games were in full swing. I tried, but no way, no how.
May 14, 2004
Wind in the Cattails
7 pm - Looked all around here and even went to some places I'd didn't really want to, but couldn't find it. I talked to MotorBug who had found it and it seems like it's in a pretty easy location that I would have looked. Maybe it's missing?April 24, 2004
Happy Birthday JoeSpaz #33
6:45 pm - Searched for about 45 minutes on this one and couldn't find it. I sure wish the hint was more specific than just the general area. You certainly could hide something larger than a film canister here.April 17, 2004
Love
Ok, I think I've solved the puzzle, but I haven't actually gone out to find it. However, I'm loving these watchlist notifications though."kablooey found Love"
"mmp found Love"
Such a matchmaker you are, Rat!
April 11, 2004
Happy Birthday JoeSpaz #2
5:46 pm - DNF. As soon as I got close to the cache area, a dog on the other side of the fence would start barking, which would cause the dog next door to start barking and the other dog across the path to start as well.Needless to say, I couldn't search very discreetly, so I gave up after looking in a few typical places.
Happy Birthday JoeSpaz #7
5 pm - Searched for this one for about half hour but couldn't find it. I tried both sets of coordinates. I didn't find either of the hints.March 21, 2004
Cheesy Cache
5:20 pm - Found the first waypoint quickly, but got stumped on #2. Maybe some kids found it?Tried to find the final stage by brute force, but failed there too. Be careful - there is poison oak in this park.
March 20, 2004
Girly Girl
5:17 pm - Looked where I thought this one should be with a flashlight, but couldn't find a thing. Might be missing.March 07, 2004
Fisherwoman's favorite foliage
11:07 am - The little league games were going on full force today, but I hung out and tried to find the cache anyway. I'm going to say that this is my least favorite foliage as I DNF'd on a similarly hidden cache not long ago, and now this one. Ug.February 29, 2004
Where's George
Searched for this one after a long hike in Diablo Foothills, but didn't find anything. The restroom was a great find though!February 22, 2004
Mr. Ranger's view from work
12 pm - There was some kind of event with people and dogs going on at the parking near gate A, so we drove on and found some legal parking a little way past gate B. At least 3 other people thought it was legal.We made our way up to the road and the water tower. Trail closed. $1000 minimum fine. OK, so we went back down and took the main path up. Got within a quarter mile again when we were stopped by another chain threatening a $1000 fine. What the heck is going on up there?
We couldn't see a way to get to this one with the trails being closed, so I guess we'll try again some other time.
February 16, 2004
Tee Off
3:08 pm - Searched around but couldn't find a cache here. Perhaps it is gone.HAPPY CACHE
2:42 pm - Searched high a low for this one, but went home unhappy. Not sure where else to look as I used the hint.No need to be Coy Roy
1:51 pm - Searched quite a while for this one but didn't find it. There were some fresh clippings on the ground, so maybe it got clipped. I tried to dig through those, but it was literally too painful.February 15, 2004
Bend Tree Hunch
Lots of traffic on this trail today. Searched in all kinds of places but had no luck. I'll try again some other day with the anagram solved.Buzzy Kaboom
I had an idea how to solve this one and after a bit of playing around with some tools I was unfamiliar with, the answer appeared. Or at least half the answer. I had to obtain some more advanced tools to get all of it. I went out to try to look for it the other day but came up empty.I thought about it some more and confirmed with two previous finders about where I thought it was. I was driving home today when I saw the cache location and took a quick exit to give it another try. I watched the rent-a-cop carefully and when the coast was clear, I gave it my best shot, but I'm physically unable to obtain it. I'm not sure how fizzymagic got it there.
January 25, 2004
Pajaro Cache at Palm Beach
1:11 pm - We searched for quite a while on this one and came up empty. We looked where the spoiler picture indicated and it was definitely not there. Lots of evidence of some late-night revelers to boot. Nice beach, though!Cobalt Blue Vier
Searched high and low for this one for about 45 minutes with no luck. GPSr reception was good and it pointed us at a place which looked likely, but it wasn't there. After climbing up and down and up again, we decided to call it when the plants started fighting back, giving us gashes on our arms. Enjoyed the beach, wish we could have found the cache. Luckily the rest of our day was more successful.January 18, 2004
OakHill PlayLot
5 pm - Kid and parent were here when I arrived. I waited a while for them to leave, but it didn't look like they were going to be done playing for a while, so I walked to Black Gold and back. When I returned the kid was still there and anothe family was approaching, so I decided to go for other caches in the fading daylight.I'll come back again, probably armed with a hint.
San José Public Library - Berryessa Branch
10:39 am - I've had terrible luck with these library caches and this was another one I was unable to find. Bummer.January 11, 2004
Ohlone Sanctuary
Yet another example of why reading the description is important. We found all the waypoints except one - #6, which we couldn't find a path to. Now I know why. We ran out of time finishing up Indian Montage and decided we couldnt finish this one. Well, we have the final coordinates now and as I look back on our tracks, we went right by it. Doh!Oh well, there are worse things than having an excuse to come back to this park. Thanks!
Salt Ponds
We were in the neighborhood of this cache and hoped maybe it just wandered a bit and wasn't actually missing. We found a spot which looked like a likely spot and reading the logs now, it appears it was correct. We spent some time looking all around anyway, but didn't find it.December 23, 2003
Visiting Fremont
This cache is proof that banging your head on puzzles for hours on end and trying ridiculous solution after ridiculous solution might not entirely be an exercise in futility. I had tried to solve another cache using this method once before, so this came to me rather quickly. I made some stupid mistakes of course, but eventually I got with a little help from TeamAlamo.I reached the cache area OK and did notice the occasional stench of skunks. Didn't see any though. Checked all the places I could think of, but couldn't come up with the cache. I think daylight is probably required to find this one. I was a bit apprehensive about shining my flashlight all over the place as that might look awful curious to a cop that might just drive by. Since I had a run-in with the law while caching not too far away, I decided it might be best to save it for another day.
I did find a beach ball on the way out though, so not all is lost. I'll be back.
December 17, 2003
Little House at the Park
I'm gonna guess this one is missing considering how easy it's supposed to be, and also that I found the only object that matched the hint. Bummer.November 27, 2003
First Shot
We decided to give this one a try on our way to Thanksgiving dinner in Deerfield. We found the grave easily and did the math. The five of us looked for a while, but couldn't find it. I thought I may have misread the instructions, so I just replaced the two digits with half of Maj. Simpson's age and we tried looking there. Some promising spots, but no luck there either and by now we were late for Thanksgiving, so we had to give up for today.November 21, 2003
Urban Assault #10
I didn't realize this one was archived and I still had the coordinates in my GPSr. I searched for a long time, but obviously did not find the cache. I did find the cap to the cache though (with #10 written underneath) and a Butano signature item. Oh well.Branham Station
I pulled into the parking lot here and got out to grab the cache when the guard came out of the portapotty. I immediately did an about face and headed back to my car. She came over and asked if everything was alright in a way that made me think she really just wanted me to leave. So I got back in my car and with her standing behind watching me, I drove off. Next time I guess.Benchmark Moon
This was my first benchmark find. How do you log these things? Anyway, I found the benchmark and found the object above and some numbers, but nothing that matched the description, so I'm confused.Sly Dog's --Looking for George in Vista Park
After waiting out the construction people, all I had to contend with here were the Moms having a social event while their toddlers played on the playground. I looked some over and and some under places, but couldn't find it.Not in the Meadows
Hey look, it's another cache I didn't realize was disabled and spent 20 minutes looking for! Oh well, nice park.Camo Cache#1 (Mission One)
Well, someone else found this one after it was disabled, so I thought I would give it a try. No luck.Watto's Junk Yard Cache.
I don't think I've even found one of Boba's caches. Today I spent way too much time looking in the wrong place, then I found the right place, but there were too many people looking at me suspiciously. One guy would take a few steps, look back at me, take a few more steps, take a look. He kept doing that. I'll be back at a less busy time.November 12, 2003
Stop and Rest
My third attempt and third DNF on this one. I wonder who picked it up and hasn't logged it yet this time. Interesting that it ended up in the same park that it was in two stops ago.November 09, 2003
History of Los Gatos
Got to stage two, but couldn't figure find the name of the fountain. For some reason this place was closed today.November 07, 2003
Stop and Rest
Tried to track this one down again, but it seems someone else has picked it up already. Grrr. Now I know why they don't allow moving caches anymore.November 05, 2003
Stop and Rest
Well, I played my hand on this one for a few minutes. Apparently, I lost.
October 26, 2003
A Charming Spot
I worked my way through this puzzle on Friday, make some guesses on ones that I wasn't sure of and came up with some coordinates that looked pretty good. Since I've probably seen only 1/2 an episode ever, I was pretty proud of myself. I had no idea there were was such a large and devoted following to this show. I considered posting the questions on some message board and letting a ravenous fan work it all out for me.Anyway, I confirmed my coordinates with SpiderWoman. I found myself in the area today, so I thought I'd give it a try. After spending a fruitless hour searching for Flyway Rest Stop, I though this would be a nice consolation. No such luck. Searched in the areas that seemed to be indicated by the hint and found nada. I'm sure I'll find an excuse to be around here again soon, so I'll be back.
Flyway Rest Stop
I wasn't sure where to park for this one, but I guess we managed to find the right spot near the dump. We had a nice walk out to the cache site. We've been on this trail before, but coming from the other direction. As we got close, we saw some girls sitting close to the cache chatting away. After 20 minutes or so, they left and I started to look. I looked here, there and over there for about an hour and couldn't find it. I got partially wet trying to be super thorough, but I sure couldn't find it. It was a nice walk though.San Jose Public Library - Educational Park Branch
I was apprehensive about trying for this one since it hasn't been found it two months and these library caches have a way of going missing. I checked the locations indicated by the hint (I think), but couldn't find it.October 19, 2003
Tiny Tennis
There were some regular-sized people playing in the tiny courts and I couldn't get close enough to search. I'll come back some other time.October 18, 2003
scout orchard
We've had more than a few fiascos during our geocaching adventures, but this one takes the cake. Somehow I imagined this one as a nice walk through a grassy field with a little hill at the end. Not even close.In July we planned to do this one along with a few others in Stevens Creek Park. We didn't read the description, had an argument about where to park, and then decided to come back to this one after we did some others nearby. We couldn't find any of them, got lost (GPSr coudn't get a signal) and ended up in Palo Alto!
Today after doing some other caches in Fremont Open Space Preserve, we came over here to try this one again. We found the parking OK, then wandered around looking for the trail, passing by a group of people singing songs in a language we couldn't understand.
The trail was nice and we got within .1 miles of the cache, but we didn't see a way up the hill, so we continued walking. At one point I spotted a small trail, but it didn't seem big enough. As the flat trail became very vertical, we started to wonder if we were going the right way. My hunch was that the trail would bring us up to the ridge, then we'd walk back down the ridge to the cache. Sure enough, we got to the ridge, and started following the trail directly towards the cache. We arrived at the park boundry gate and the cache was still .1 miles away, with no apparent way to get to it from there. Having realized our mistake, we headed all the way back down (and parts up) the trail. We ended up walking 4 miles unnecessarily, though there was a nice view from the ridge.
On the way back, we found a spot .1 miles away again that looked like a trail. We headed up a bit, only to turn back 490 feet away as the brush got too thick and the terrian too steep. We continued down the trail some more and saw yet another path that could have been a trail. I headed up this one alone. The path quickly dissapeared and I was scrambling up the hill again. After hiking at least 8 miles so far today, I was pretty tired. When I lost the trail again and couldn't find a away around the brush, I turned around, this time 250 feet from the cache. On the way down I suddenly noticed that my legs were feeling prickly. I looked down and found that my shorts, legs, socks and shoes were covered with small burrs. I walked slowly back to the main trail, then we spent about 10 minutes trying to get them off enough so I could walk without pain.
At this point, we decided to give up. We had been hiking for a few hours up steep terrian, and we were very tired. We saw a few other potential trails further down, but didn't attempt them. We did another cache nearby as a colsolation, but I was full of scrapes and burrs. When I got home, I found the easiest method was to use scissors to get the stubborn ones off my legs.
Overall, this was a painful excersize, partially our fault. Reading all the logs now, I have a better idea of how to get this cache, but it's one we won't soon forget, especially not until I've removed the hundreds of burrs from my socks and shoes.
Hilltop Hideaway
As we approached this one from Hanging Around, we read the latest logs, but figured we'd try it anyway. It was a nice walk up to this spot with a rewarding view. We gave it an extra thorough search, but we didn't found it. We found the pen and we definitely looked in the area shown in the spoiler.October 15, 2003
No Trespassing!
I'm not sure if I trespassed or not on the way to this cache. I'm pretty sure I parked somewhere I shouldn't have, but when I got back, my car was still there, so no harm done.I found what looked like a perfect spot for this cache and a place that matched the hint. I looked and looked and looked, only to end up with dirty and bloody hands. I'm not sure where else it could be.
San Jose Public Library - Cambrian Branch
As I approached this cache, there was a squirrel hanging out where the cache should be. Once he left, I took a look, but didn't find it. There's a perfect spot for it there, so I'm guessing the squirrel may have removed it. :-)September 27, 2003
The Little Pictures
We gave this one a try while we were in the area. Found the fist picture and wandered in all kinds of directions after that, but couldn't find the others. There was a cool car art thing going on downtown though so we stopped by to take a look at that.
September 14, 2003
Not during the week
I looked all around and under for this cache and I could seem to find it. Good thing there was no one there today, or I would have surely gotten trampled.
Canoas Flock Revived
There were some people having a picnic and some kids playing right next to the cache. I didn't feel like crashing their party, so I decided to come back some other time.
Curtner Station
Goodwill truck and guy accepting donations was parked right next to the cache. Tried to get close, but he was watching me. I'll be back.
September 13, 2003
The Cache with no Name
I looked high and low for this one, finding a couple areas that matched the location described in the hint. I got really dirty looking around and decided to give up. I had some trouble understanding the description. The Rat and his heavily armed Word Police would be all over this one!
September 11, 2003
Namaste
I solved this one with some help from Nostrada. Had some time to go find this today so I gave it a try. When I got there, there were some people backing up in a car very slowly. I nearly approached them as I thought they might be looking for the cache, but then they took off. Once they left, I went searching for the cache. Tried a few places, but it was starting to dark. I went in for a closer look and some other people showed up and started backing up slowly, stopping right on the other side of the bush I was hiding behind. They repeated this 3 times. After waiting for these people to leave, it was too dark to see and I had to go. It's a bummer that it's getting too dark to do much caching after work these days. [:(]
September 10, 2003
Dr. Mahoney Baloney
Spent about a half hour looking for this one before I had to go. Lots of nooks and crannies to investigate, clue didn't help at all.
September 01, 2003
Shark River
Looked around for a while on this one, but got no love. The area was clearly a home to some homeless people and it kinda scary crawing around there. I looked in some places that seemed liked they matched the hint perfectly, but didn't find it.
Do You Hear Water Running?
After driving around aimlessly for a few minutes, I stopped at the end of a dead-end street to figure out how to get to the cache and there, right across the street was a path to the trail! I quickly figured out that I was on the wrong side of the creek, but there was someone sitting right near where the cache would be. I went over anyway and saw that it was an "urban camper" and he was well-settled in. I decided to go do another cache and come back later. Did that, but the man was still there, so I'll catch up with this one another time.
Hamann Hangout
Searched high and low for this one for quite a while, but came up empty. What's the going rate for bribes on this one, anyway?
August 31, 2003
The Organ Park Cache
What a strange cache! I was able to figure out some of the puzzle beforehand, but not all of it, so I went for the multi. Found the first and second locations ok, then I tried to find the cache location, but didn't see anything appropriate, so I went back to Sarah Wallis park to recheck my coordinates. I confirmed them and then walked back to the final location, looking in a few other spots along the way.
I get the title, but after 20 minutes of looking, I couldn't find the cache in the location described in the hint.
Olive 2 Pardee
Just as I approached this cache, some people stopped with a kid to play at the nearby play area. It might have been the same people that Chrissy and Blaze encoutered. I decided to leave and live to cache another day.
August 30, 2003
A Day at the Races
Looked for a half-hour for this one, between dodging glances from park walkers and people watering their lawn.
X marks the spot
Didn't find this one, but there were too many people around to do a good search. It wasn't in the standard place. I'll come back again and hopefully there will be fewer people around.
Catching the news
I pretended to tie my shoes, read the auto trader and look like I was waiting for a friend. In between I looked for this cache, but couldn't find it. I even paid 50 cents to check another place, but I didn't find a thing.
Overlooking a Hidden Lake
There were lots of people out walking their dogs or themselves this morning. Found the cache location ok, but couldn't find the container. It's possible that it's too far in to reach. I think I checked all the locations that matched the hint. Nice spot though, so if someone else finds it, I'll be back.
August 24, 2003
The Forgotten Flying Redwoods
Couldn't find this one. Maybe it has gone missing.
August 23, 2003
Hail Ceasar
DNF - Was accosted by Santa Clara County Sheriff.
I "solved" this puzzle a while back. When I was solving it, I thought it would be neat if the decrypted text also had the coordinates in it somehow. I didn't see anything obvious though, so I figured I'd simply go to the location and look around based on the decrypted text. Of course, this was before the hint that the coordinates were in the puzzle.
I found the parking spot no problem, and headed to an area that looked like a likely spot for the cache. I looked in all the appropriate places a few times and was about to give up when a sheriff's car stopped across the street. I decided it was now time to give up the search and as I started heading back for the car, the sheriff's car appeared to back up and turn on another street. In the middle of the 280 overpass, he caught up with me.
"What are you doing?"
"Oh just looking at the trees."
"You look pretty suspicious and when I stopped, you didn't wave and looked like you were trying to hide. What were you doing?"
"Just looking at the trees."
"Do you have an ID? Do you have any warrants out for your arrest?"
I handed over my ID and decided I should try to explain geocaching. I showed him my GPS and described the sport. He called me in anyway and confirmed I wasn't a fugitive.
We got to talking and he pointed at the GPS V he had mounted in his squad car. Then he asked me where I lived, where I worked, if I was married, had any kids. It was clear by this point that I wasn't in any trouble, but he filled out a card anyway to record that he had talked to me and sent me on my way. I told him that lots of people were getting into geocaching and he should expect to run into more suspicous-looking people.
He drove over to the parking lot where I had my car to confirm I was leaving. I decided I was done caching for the day and went home. Next time I hope to return with real coordinates and fewer cops.
July 19, 2003
Urban Assault #17
On a Saturday afternoon, this parking lot was completely empty - except for the two people sleeping in a car 15 feet from the cache. Couldn't get a good search, so we'll have to come back for this one.
July 15, 2003
Resistance Is Futile
Anybody interested in some slightly used tennis balls at a discount price? I think I've found at least 10 here without finding the cache.
I had a few minutes to kill and coming off K3 Gang I was feeling confident so I went to try this one again. There were lots of people around again, but I hardly care at this point. Come on over, help me find this thing!
Didn't find the cache, but did get to watch a toddler throw a tantrum when he had to leave the park and snagged a few more tennis balls. Maybe marwagsalot can sniff it out for me and I'll pay in tennis balls. Yeah...
July 13, 2003
Stomping grounds
Boy, we must really stink at this sport. Spent a half hour looking and found nothing but a lot of lunch trash.
more quick cache
This was a very nice park. Unfortunately it doesn't appear to have a cache in it anymore. We looked in all the 'quick' places and didn't find it.
June 29, 2003
Border Patrol #3
Busy day at the park today. There were lots of families hanging out and kids playing in the creek. Took us a little while, but we found all the plaques without the hint. With the final coordinates, we looked for quite a while but came up with nothing. There was a gathering in the area just beyond the cache area, so there was too many people coming through to search well. Some guy came by and jokingly asked us if we were stealing squirrels. We gave up looking for now, but we'll be back when there's fewer people around.
June 24, 2003
Resistance is Futile
I'm going to give up on this one, at least for now. Solved the puzzle long ago (confirmed by componenx), but can't find the cache container. I've been to this place about 10 times now. Several of those times we couldn't even look because it was just too busy. You'd think that anytime after dark would be ok - nope, the lights stay on until 10. And at 8:30 am on a Saturday, it's full of people.
I thought the puzzle was a bit obscure. Apparently the cache is more so!
June 21, 2003
Pardee Cache
Spent a lot of time looking for this one, but came up empty-handed. We were totally perplexed by the clue as well, even 0 feet from the coordinates. Oh well.
June 08, 2003
Eschew Obfuscation
DNF. Looked around for quite a while at all the levels, but didn't find a thing. Lots of good places to hide. Maybe that's the problem - there were too many places to hide a micro here. We were surpised by the lack of security people around, though we did smile at the cameras a few times. We had a great rule all ready, too. Well, all isn't for naught. After this one and other earlier today, I think I have a good idea where The Rat makes his nest and toils for his cheese. Maybe we'll stalk him for a better hint
June 07, 2003
Sly Dog's---Mary Gomez spots George
Stopped by today but there were about 50 people having a 30th birthday party for someone right near the area of the cache. We'll have to come back some time again. Nice park and pool though.
May 31, 2003
Memorable Kids Cooper Cache (Sticker TradingCache)
We spent a long time looking for this one. We decoded the hint and read all the logs. Maybe it's buried somewhere? We found yellow caution tape which seemed to be where the cache should be, but not sure if that's part of the cache. There were people playing tennis nearby, but they didn't seem to be paying attention to us.