June Recap | Ian's 1000 | Pathtags | #1500

What a month it has been. I haven't generated the stats yet, but from what I calculated I got 414 caches in the month of June......that is a lot. On the 27th 1/4 Sommer and I headed to Lexington since I'd be going out of town this weekend. He had a record day of 51 caches (Sommer Family had a total of 56 that day because another 1/4 Sommer hit some Michigan caches) and I had 48 caches. those days are always good pushers for the next milestone. It was nice to be in Lexington as opposed to some of the other runs I make. Lexington has lots of earthcaches and virtuals, so more history it seems you can learn from caching around there. The only bad thing about those caches is when logging you spend all the time emailing the pictures and answers to questions and yadda yadda. It isn't really a problem, but I mean if you have a run of 50 caches of virtuals and earthcaches, your sorting out an album's worth of photos and pretty much taking an SAT with all the questions to answer. We got most all of the existing caches in the downtown area and started to spread our venture a little bit. I was supposed to double 1,500 milestone with Slammer47, but he can't really make a trip for anything before the 12th of July, and to keep up with my personal stats and rates I like to keep for myself, I just couldn't do it. I thought maybe I'd be able to sit on a few logs, but a few turned into a handful, which turned into 60 something, which could easily turn into a few hundred. It already takes me a good hour or two to log, so I just couldn't do that to myself. Sorry Slammer, but we WILL milestone together!

I just put out a new cache, Down the Rabbit Hole - GC1DJH5: a 4/3.5 multi cache. I put it out for Ian's 1000, not necessarily for him to get as #1000 as he has debated Freefall 35,000's recently re-activated 4/4 Litte Brother, Big Brother. However, I put the cache out in honor of him and his favorite style of caches: tunnels. It's a 3 part tunnel cache, and I find it very fun. It's the first of 5 multi's I plan on putting out from Alice in Wonderland. the next chapter is "Pool of Tears", where alice is first a GIANT and then is SWIMMING in a pool of tears...if that tells you anything.

Yesterday morning I placed my order for my pathtags. A wonderful woman named Jennifer from Wicks Works Designs made the design for me which I think is VERY cool. I took my normal trade item (my signature guitar pick) and placed it in the background of my tag with a big BTBAM going across it and a geocacing "G" symbol in the corner of the pick. I have the design she made, but I'll wait until I get the blueprint from Pathtags before I load a picture of it, be on the lookout for a new post about it.

On a side note (and only because I know he'll be reading this), Ian bought himself a new GPSr...the COLORADO! I haven't even been able to touch the dang thing; my dream GPS. I always wondered what they were like, but no store has a demo of them or anything for me to mess with. The display screen looks incredible, the icons are small and non-cluttering, it can hold 2,000 waypoints, has the notes and cache pages...it's pretty much incredible and now I need one. One downfall he mentioned was that it eats batteries....but I'm pretty sure I can deal with that. Consider it Wishlisted.

So, this past Sunday I tackled my #1500 milestone. 1/4 Sommer and I finished the 3.5/4 The Forgotten Cemetery Tour III - GCRZ8V. it was a 6 stage cemetery multi, with multiple stages per cemetery. It went through a lot of history about the person's family and other people influenced in the area. It took several hours to complete, and almost an hour getting to the place, which apparently turned out to be right outside of California. The second cemetery showed us why it had a 4 terrain rating, as within a mere 200 the altitude changed by, oh I don't know, 400 feet? It was pretty wild, especially for a cemetery. Anyways, we finished that, and I got one more block on my D/T matrix. Actually,

Sunday alone I got 3 blocks filled in, 3 of 4 that I need to finish up everything within 4/4 (which is pretty exciting to me). I have less than 20 boxes left to completing my matrix: YES!

Brian's first boat...ish.

I'd say the title says it all. I got myself my first boat...ish. A new cache popped up last night right on the coast of Ft. Thomas, only a few miles from where I live. It was called "Red red robin comes bob, bob, bobbin' along" - GC1DF5N. It was also a 1.5/5. I decided that I wanted to be FTF, and I also needed it for my Difficulty/Terrain matrix. Plus, I have yet to complete an Island cache or a cache that involves a boat or watercraft...so now seemed like the perfect first time. I went to Bass Pro and bought two inflatable boats, one for me, and one for Sommer Family. Here is my log for the cache:

Last night I saw this cache pop up and just knew I wanted to get it. I wanted to get it because it was a few miles from me. I wanted to get a FTF. I wanted to get a 5 terrain. I wanted to get another spot filled on my D/T chart. There was no reason I shouldn't go. So...what did I do? I went to Bass Pro and bought 2 inflatable boats (rafts) and called Sommer Family, "Hey Sommers....good night for a swim, eh?" Needless to say they were all for it. 7:30 rolls around and we embark on our journey. We set off from Brent Ferry about .64 away, march down the shore awhile, and finally decided to go in.

Red Red Robin wasn' really the song that was in my mind. Actually, It was Primus' "Sailing the Seas of Cheese" album that kept coming to mind. Just...sifting through that curdled mess of goop. I mean, I know people talk about how polluted the Ohio is...and how nasty it is...and about the mutated fish and what not, but is it really true? The answer is yes. If only you could see the dead fish we saw on the bank before going in. About 2 feet long....and hair all on it's back. Some mammalian sea creature I suppose. Anyways, back to the story.

So...it has been awhile since I've been kayaking or even canoing for that matter. I had to get back into the motion. Here is how it went tonight:

Paddle in the water.
Stroke.
Paddle out of the water.
Hit Phil in the head.
Paddle in the water.
Stroke.
Paddle out of the water.
Hit Phil in the head.
Paddle in the water.
Stroke.
Stroke.
Wait...why is this spinning?
It's spinning.
Still spinning.
Like Kobe Bryant in the playoffs spinning.
Okay back on track.

And another hit to Phil's head for the heck of it.

Anyways...so we get 234 feet from the cache GZ and what do we find, A DECOY! HOW DECEPTIVE! (not really....but we did find a floating pill container, and we kept it for evidence)

Eventually....the two twinks in the little raft looking thing among all the speed boats filled with people staring at us like two twinks in a little raft looking thing spotted the cache location, made the grab, and signed the log. Approximately 8:30PM...FTF!

Thanks for the adventure. Upstream back was definitely easier, and a little rewarding.

Now if you will excuse me...I have a shower and 16 Advil calling my name.

TFTC!

#1443

#1400

Okay, so for 4 weeks now I have hit a milestone. That is pretty exciting! In my first 2 months of caching I hit 500. It took me around 2 weeks over the next 2 months to get my second 500. If I get to 1500 (I'm sitting at 1442) before the 13th of July, that would make my third set of 500 in 2 months again (being 2 months since I completed Mini-Me). That is great! there has been talk about double 1500 milestoning with Slammer47 or tripling with Ian for his 1,000th also...or POSSIBLY even quadroupling with Big Mamma K for her 1,000 also. Phew.

Anyways, let's talk about the milestone.

Ian, Kristen and I went to Springfield, Ohio (east of Dayton) this weekend with a mission. That mission was to grab "How about these apples?!?!" - GC16Q52, the 2/4.5 TUNNEL cache. I was nervous it wouldn't be there (as we have had such excellent lucky with our other milestone attempts). This one we did prevail on! We even had a few bags of apples with us to make it a little more fun! Here are a few pictures and a cute video for your visual pleasure. See more pics on my Flickr page.

DNF!!!!!

So last night was the Fluttercat Chat (Event cache). We decided since the Sommers, Ian, Kristen, and I were all available, it would be a great night to try the night cache "Caesar's Darkside" - GCACEE right? WRONG! We had a great hike in. the area was beautiful, and we came at just about the right time. We had enough light to see around, but by the time we got to the destination we require darkess for, it was provided. However...that is also when the problems began...WE COULDN'T FIND THE REFLECTORS! It was aweful. We were out there I'd say an hour and a half with no luck at all. We called several people (as we always do) and no direction helped us find it. We came to the conclusion it is missing, and the markers have been removed. The bigger problem with that is that the owner hasn't logged into the cache site in almost a year, so this may never get put back for us to grab. Aweful. That is what a call a FAILED MILESTONE ATTEMPT!

#1300

Alright, alright. Moving right along. That same day (but not really) we got a double milestone (1300/500) with "Ammo with a Problem" - GCZJ6C. This was a 2/4 tree cache. We hit it going into the evening. We had plenty of light when we started, but it faded quick while Sommer attempted to find the cache. I say "attempted" because once getting up and looking as well, we both determined this one was missing. We called Slammer, we called back home to read through the logs, we called Pokerbuzz. We tried everything we could to figure out if we were doing SOMETHING wrong. We weren't...it was just missing. Apparently it has gone missing a few times before also. We had done the work. We set up the rope...done the climbing...we were not leaving without a find. After about an hour and a half, we decided to replace the container with a new one, and a new log. We logged the find as normal - and it is a good thing because someone found it just a few days after us...YOUR WELCOME! Anyways...it was a well deserved milestone, as the climb was tricky - but good company (miss you Ian) and goof times made for a good cache.

#1200

So...I've been busy lately. doing what exactly? Getting caches. Eat, sleep, work, cache. That is pretty much all I do. I've gotten milestones every weekend the past 3 weeks, which is pretty nice in my book. the first one was Earock which I talked about in one of the last posts. the weeks after was busy with me, Ian and the Sommers. Out almost every night. Clearing Hamilton, grabbing some in Springboro, Middletown, Kettering. In that time was the "Thank You Reviewer Webling" event too where I finally got to meet Slammer47 in person.

One weekend the Sommers and I went to Dayton (Kettering) in pursuit of our next milestone - two milestones for me. I like to have a celebratory milestone, and sometime I sit on a few finds to make that happen, but #1200 just wasn't playing the right hand. I was sitting on about 75 caches, no milestone in sight. The only thing I thought to do would be to grab a liar's cache, and I picked the 5/2.5 "A Fantastical Grand Adventure" - GC18K1K. The goal of that cache was to create a Sci-fi story. What a better way to go back in time and grab my #1200 than actually GOING BACK IN TIME. Here is my log along with some pictures:

Some of you may be thinking, "Brian, how do you think this is a milestone for you? You reached 1200 on 6/10/08 while out caching with Sommer Family? This is actually your 1287th find..." While you may THINK that is true, you don't even know the half of it.

There was only one way known to man to log this 1200 milestone when seemingly passing my prime opportunity to do so. I had to travel back in time. How does one do that though? What? you didn't know the powers that lie behind "GC18K1K??!" It's the ONLY way to do it!

I crawl for miles, for what seemed like years. I was in darkness, the only thing I could see was a pinprick of light off in the distance. I followed it, for days and days I followed the tiny pinprick of light until it started to get bigger and bigger. Finally, I come to see a checkered pattern and burst of light. I had reached my destination.

I observe a creature unlike my own, holding what I knew to be the cache. Secretly and quietly, as silent as I could be, I make my way out of the darkness I once called my home.

The creature noticed me, he panicked, and started running away. I had to chase him...it was the only way. Through land and through water I pursued him. After nearly 3 hours the pursuit came to a close. I tackled the creature to the ground, leaving the cache flying through the air. The creature had met his demise. I ran after the cache, scooped it up with my hands, and fled to the "Anchor" : The time travel machine. I strapped myself aboard and BLASTED back in time.

All of a sudden I was back in Sommer's car on 6-10-2008 grabbing park and grabs; the cache and log for GC18K1K was in hand. I had done it! This was now OFFICIAL my #1200! After signing the log it was time to come home. I mounted the anchor one last time, and fled back to the future. Upon arrival, I gave a shout of victory, raising the cache up to the heavens, and replaced as found.

Back to the tunnel I went. I crawl for miles, for what seemed like years. I was in darkness, with nothing ahead in the distance but a pinprick of light.

#1200

The Traveling Cache, The 81, & More

So, I met this amazing caching group here called The Sommer Family. Husband, Wife, Mom, Daughter. Really fun group (haven't met the daughter yet). Well, I had lunch with the Wife and Mom, and they let me in on a little something, something. It was a grandfathered traveling cache they had come across at Jungle Jims. "Final Approach" (MacGyver MOVING Cache # 27 ) - GCDB76. I always wanted something like this in caching, and it was really cool to be a part of it, especially since it is extinct now!


Also, Ian and I's first cache in our new series got published: The Beginning, or rather, The End: The 81 Series - GC1CWW7. This series will contain 81 caches, one for each of the Difficulty/Terrain ratings (1/1, 1.5/1, 2/1, 1/1.5, 1/2, etc). Whether you are new to caching or old, 1,000 caches in or 10; this will walk you through it. Over the next few months we will be placing caches all over the tri-state of all difficult and terrain: puzzles, multis, traditionals - everything you can think of. Many of the ideas already created are completely original, and some will not be. The one thing to be sure of is this: if you complete the series - you will have the 81 and can then call yourself a "well-rounded cacher". We will soon develop our own Fizzy challenge puzzle for completing the matrix of OUR caches...and we are very excited to see this come about!

I also was able to go back to some of my milestone locations and take some new, cool pictures for my profile. You can also see them in my flickr gallery here.

PLUS! I updated my bookmark lists for a lot of cool things. I made a list of my favorite non-terrains, my favorite higher terrains, and my "Must Do" list. There are now a LOT of items on my must do list, and lots of new milestones I want. Lots of fun ones, some scenic ones, and tons of high D/T combos.

#1100

Boy has it been a busy month. Graduating, moving into a condo in Northern Kentucky, band, full-time work status....and CACHING! I've managed to go up to Dayton a few times, and just went this past weekend with Abuhhhh and jcklm for another milestone, #1100.

We tackled Ice Pick Man's Cave Multi Cache - GC15Q4B earlier in the day, which was one of Slammer47's favorite caches. It was a pretty fun tunnel cache. Here is a wonderful picture of Ian apparently being chased by the Ice Pick Man.


There is also the wonderful picture of me and my Surefire L2 LumaMax
which illuminated my way.





Luckily, it didn't appear that anyone was following us....but it sure was a loooooooooooong way back out.





A picture of Ian and I at the end of the tunnel. All the information has been snagged - on to the final!







The highlight of our day however (besides the drinks, laughs, and 37 caches on the day) was the milestone, earock 2000finds - GC16GDJ. The following post will have:

SPOILER PICTURES! Please don't read on if you don't want to be spoiled!!!!!!

Just as a safeguard, the first picture will be of our whole team after finding the cache.





It was a very interesting find for the cache. I heard Slammer tell me that you will never find anything like this cache anywhere. It was rated 4.5/3.5. I was excited out of my mind. We get there, and the cache is a small container, just sitting in a tree, maybe 7 feet off the ground. I got very frustrated. There is NO WAY this was the cache. Something had to be wrong. I tried calling Slammer....no answer. I tried calling Pokerbuzz....no answer as well.


We decided we'd atleast leave the cache a little harder to get than we found it. We decided to prop it up with a stick. After looking at that for a few minutes...we decided to go back to the car, and see if we can't get some rope and hoist the thing up higher. I kept calling Pokerbuzz hoping he'd pick up. As soon as we got back to the car, he told me that is NOT how the cache was supposed to be...so back in we went to maintenance.



It was then....when we started working...I got to witness how gorgeous...how simply....amazing this cache truly was.
Slammer told me the tree used to be perfectly balanced in the V of this other tree. Can you imagine? A...60-80 foot or something long tree...perfectly balanced in the V of another tree. For 1) for that to even happen, and 2) for someone to find it to put a cache there. It is just incredible. That, or if like in this picture, the tree was completely leaning the opposite way...and the cache was sitting nearly 80 feet above you. How killer.

New Gear

Well, it is that time of the year to buy new things for the upcoming season. I have been telling myself for 3 years I would buy some good camping stuff, and 2 summers have gone by with nothing purchased. Well, since I got some money for graduation, I decided to finally go out and get some stuff!






First up I got some new hiking boots. Merrell Chameleon Wrap Gore-Tex XCR's. They are super awesome shoes - perfect for geocaching. If you don't believe me, just read the tag. Particularly note the part where it says made for people who endure "TERRAIN". These will definitely be the shoes I wear this summer while cracking down on the difficult terrains.











2 Military style cots for Kristen (or whoever) and I to use. VERY comfortable.











North Face Terra 40 Backpack. Perfect for overnighters and long day hikes - perfect for this summer!







Large enough tent for the cots and some extra room. Nothing too special - got it at Dick's.







Every guy should have a pocketknife...right? Just needed a new one.







New Leki trekking poles. I never knew how helpful they are until I started using them, and now I love them.













A very nice sale at Bass Pro for a very small backpacking size sleeping bag. fits right into the bottom storage on my Terra 40.









20L Dry bag...just in case it gets a little too wet out there...








A nice 70 oz camelbak that slides right into my Terra 40 (set up for hydration).









Now for the cream of the crop. the big shabang. I also bought myself several flashlights. First off I bought a Maglite 4D LED lite. It seems everyone needs a maglite - the weapon light. However, while I was at Bass Pro this guy showed me these Surefire lights. They were expensive, but I became obsessed with them, and now I have 3 of them.

The 6P LED, L2 LumaMax, and the C-3 Centurion. The 6P has 11 of 80 Lumens, the L2 has a 15 lumen stage and a 100 lumen stage, 18 hours/1 hour respectively, and the C-3 Centurion has a Xenon bulb in it which produces 105 lumens of white light for 60 minutes. All have their perks.



I also bought a Nintendo DS with the addicting puzzle game "Professor Layton and the Curious Village," which Kristen kidnapped and beat.

The big 1-0-0-0.

Well, after the 900 milestone and the caches I had done prior, I was backlogged about 106 caches. Ian had actually made a list - a map of caches if you will - for me to tackle in his hometown of Harrison. It hit several surrounding areas, and I went one morning trying to get as many as possible. I didn't think it would happen, but I reached the end of the night with a record 53 caches - and that was nearly solo (except for a few going around with Abuhhhh). Anyways, with all those caches, the ones I did while in Anderson, and several here and there around Cincinnati, I had a list. 2.5 hours later (monday afternoon) they were logged and I was ready for a little caching break. I spent the next week only gathering about 12 caches. However - this was a good in leading me up to the next milestone: the Big 1,000.

I knew exactly what I would do, The new epic Tipp City (north of Dayton) multi-cache Mini Me - GC1AW67. Here is my log entry for this cache:

"I knew nothing about Slammer47 until I heard the name in reference to a cache: Evil Easter Bunny. See, the whole idea behind this cache of his was nearly an exact replica of an original (or so I thought) cache idea I had thought of and was getting ready to put out, when my cohort ydissac informed me, "uhm, there is a new cache called evil easter bunny in Dayton that I think is just like the cache you were going to put out..." It was in hearing this that I became mildly upset, but then emailed the owner telling him that 'great minds must think alike'. He then responded telling me that if I was going to be coming up to check it out, that I should wait and come up for this new multi he was putting out, and it would make the whole trip up for evil easter bunny worth it. Well, a week or so came, and the cache got published, but I thought nothing of it. 'Mini Me'. I don't really get it. He has Austin Powers pictures and some lines, but so what? 2.5/4.5, alright. Well, then I started reading ABOUT the cache...miniature versions of amazing milestones he had done. I had soon become wrapped around "Slammer47" and his incredible profile, full of wonderful milestone caches he had done. I began feeling down on myself, about how I haven't done any wicked sweet killer fun caches in my time. Now, I've only been caching 4 months...but I still felt I needed to pursue more. I had already done the cache Lane Change, but we had sent up another member from our team to retrieve it. Slowly, all of Slammer's favorite caches had been added to my "MUST DO THESE" list. However, in studying and prepping for my milestones, and coming quickly up to my number 1-0-0-0, I thought...what a better cache to do than one that embodies all of these other caches in one...the very spirit of these amazing caches, not only to Slammer, but to every other person who has used any of these caches as a milestone in the past. It is in that, I knew this had to be my 1000. I set out, thinking the worst...that some climb would be more than I could bare, or that the tunnel tighter than I would be comfortable to enter. However, with Abuhhhh taking on the tunnels, and me doing the monkey work, I can successfully say that I have done one of the best caches to date, and recovered my 1000th cache. Thank you Slammer for the exciting cache, and the great memories. Now on the rest of the big versions!"

Here are some pictures from the different stages through the multi:






Here is Ian entering the first stage - A narrow tunnel with the second stage clue inside.







Me going after the second stage - A mini ammo box somewhere up this tree - only problem was there were no branches, only little nubs and notches along the way.





Me trying to retrieve a covered matchstick box tied to a branch just out of reach on the 4th stage while walking along a horizontally fallen tree over a little pond area.







The 6th stage, the mini "Lane Change" - climbing REALLY high in the tree to retrieve the last clues for the final:










Slammer had visited earlier in the day, preparing the cache, making sure everything was in tact, and leaving a travel jeep "trophy" for me to retrieve.




After caching with Ian around Tipp City, and clearing the 1,000 cache mark, we celebrated with a set of wings and a few beers at BW-3 on our way back home. It was a good way to relax, and think about the past 4 months of caching. I can't wait for the next 1,000 and what they bring!

The 900 recap

Well, it has been a little bit. I normally get really antsy if I haven't cached in awhile, but it has been an exhausting past few days leading up to and just after the 900th milestone. The day before we went to anderson for our double milestone cache we met up with jcklm to tackle Cincinnati's well known 1/4 cache, RR2K#L - GC677B. It was one of the old railroad tunnels, long abandoned, dark and WET. Well, the entrance was wet, the actual inside was pretty dry. It was a creepy hike, not knowing anything at all to expect with the cache. We passed up it's location on our way in, but backtracked and I made the find. We got some celebratory pictures on the infamous "throne" and made our way out. What a fun cache...but, it was only a taste of what tomorrow will bring.

Sunday Ian and I went to Anderson, Indiana where the 5/5 "Hydrology" - GCXP99 lies. We didn't really know what to expect going into it. The aerial maps show up an icon on the side of a river. We couldn't tell if it was actually in the water, or on the land. That information alone can give it a 5 difficulty. Also, it was a little chilly of a day. Maybe in the 70s, but for the beginning of May, that is still really cold to be getting into a river. We still knew we'd do it anyways.

We didn't get but a few caches on our way up, as we wanted to save for this milestone. We got to the cache at near 1:30-2 o clock in the afternoon, dressed in our water clothes, and analyzed the situation. It appears that we would have to get in. We got in the water, which since it had rained a lot two days prior, came up to atleast my chest. The water wasn't too strong, but it did catch us a few times. We felt more than confident that we'd find the cache, and not too long of looking secured that though. We found the cache, and got more than excited that we just 1) hit another milestone, and 2) found a 5/5 cache! It was a rush. We swam/waded back, dried off, and spent the rest of the day/night caching in the area. Overall I'd say we had almost 35 caches (I think 34).

Another cache we had found afterwards, as directed by the local cacher "doobies" to do was Big Ball of Paint - GC12FPA. The cache was at the Guinness Book of World Record's record holding largest ball of paint. The man there gave us the history of how it got started, how much it weighs and all that, then let us paint a coat on. We painted coat number 21,061. It was very cool, and made it to my list of favorite caches. This was the second cache I've been to at world record holding places (The other being the world's largest basket - GC8F96).

Another funny moment of our day showing up for one of the caches, Another Shadyside Cache - GC105YW that happened to be a 4/1 in a baseball park's parking lot. Anyways, it was one of those micro caches on the end of a piece of rebar in the concrete beams at the end of parking spaces. However, this particular piece of rebar had been welded to it's container, and the welding had broken off; leaving the cache stuck in the ground. However, ingenuity beat out strength and we chewed some gum and got it out. I replied in the log about how "big league chew" comes in handy here. I thought it clever.

Backlogged...back soon.

Sorry it's been a bit since I've updated. I was planning my 900th milestone with a friend and in doing so caching constantly. I am now backlogged 105 caches, a few FTF's, and some nice pictures to go along. I'll update as soon as I can, but then on to planning the 1,000 milestone celebration.

Don't you just hate..

Doesn't it just irk you when you decided to work on a puzzle or a multi only to not end up with a smiley in the end? Whether you work the puzzle and go to the coords and you don't find anything or you complete all the stages of a multi, and the final is no where to be found? Yea, that's pretty much what happened to me today on Children's Museum Multi-cache - GCYVWY in Indianapolis, IN today. I was visiting as part of my schools concert choir tour (I play guitar), but just couldn't come up with the grab. The bright side is I now have the coords for the final, but I still can't get over that I went and came up empty handed. The stages I went too were very cool however, so I suppose I can still be appreciative of that...