This is my very own blog to record and share my experiences of the world of geocaching. On geocaching.com I go by the name BomberJjr. I have been enjoying this sport for now more than two years and have visited many cache sites. As I continue to geocache, I have only become more addicted and can see only an increase in my personal activity.

Friday, August 18, 2006

Something Else

A few monthes back I half-heartedly attempted a cache after the DNF of another cache in the Douglas State Forest/Buck Hill, but decided to try another day, due to the fact that it was such a long hike. This cache was, Is This the Beginning or the End (GCTB4E). While checking the condition of the cache online the other day, I noticed the Rhode Island caching team, Fisur, was the last to visit and as usual, they posted that they left "something else". Because I knew, "something else" was how Fisur referred to one of their untrackable geocoins, I decided that a trek out there with Snidy might just be worth it.
For today, I planned to do a few nearby caches with Snidy before he had to go to work for 4 o'clock, including Is This the Beginning or the End, but due to a late start it looked like we might not get to as many as we previously hoped. We started with the cache with the Fisur coin at a trailhead that was unlisted on the cache page, but looked quicker than the two entrances given (.99 miles compared to 1.20 miles). After about a half hour of hiking, we finally got to the cache site and searched for a few minutes. It was actually Snidy that spotted the cache container. We pulled it from its resting spot and opened it. It was then that I noticed the coin began to smile. I now had in my hands a CoinFusion Project 2006 coin that commemorated to forefathers of the geocoin revolution (Mount10Bike, Team Fisur, DHOBBY1, and Indy Diver). We then hiked out and found we might not have enough time to do another cache, so we decided to head back to Snidy's house to log our find and so he could get ready for work.

Sunday, August 13, 2006

Weekend With BomberJohn

As this week was a vacation at work, I was able to go out to Leominster to spend this weekend with my dad, BomberJohn. On Saturday, with a little free time we found, we decided to finish up a multi that my dad had started with frf and Lloyd&Jess. This multi was the Tour de Fitchburg (GCV1A7). In order to find the final, the numbers of the years found at a few nearby stages had to be munipulated to find the cordinates to the final leg. With the final set of cords, we headed out to find the cache. It turns out that the cache was actually planted in an area where we have previously found a cache. (Writing this the day after, it looks like the owner decided to drop a GJTB today, as I write this after just getting back from that area of the state.) After finding Tour de Fitchburg, BomberJohn remembered about the nearby Crocker Concervation Area. We drove over there and began to plan a cache that we would plant there the next day.
For Sunday, BomberJohn and I planned to do three Fitchburg/Leominster area caches, I hate micros(V) carter park (GCVDVT), White Puffy Cloud Cache (GCX4WV) and The end of the (steam) line (GCXDX9). The Carter Park micro ended up being a micro in a great, little park in downtown Leominster that we had been to before. We then hopped into the car and drove over to Leominster State Forest for White Puffy Cloud Cache by Team Lucky Cat. This was a new cache with really nice trails through the state park. We searched the rock wall for a few minutes and ended up finding the cache with no bees in sight, as it was posted that there was in the online logs. At this one, was able to trade one of my own signature cards for a Team Lucky Cat one, which had a nice story on the back. After hiking out of the park, we made our way over to West Fitchburg in the car to look for The end of the (steam) line, which was put in the new, West Fitchburg Steamline Trail Park. This was a really great park with an old steam plant and about a 1/2 mile section of a steamline pipe. The old plant, the waterfall, the nice, new trails and the pipelines made for many really nice pictures. As we aproached the cache site, we saw TheMaadMacks logging there find. At the time we weren't 100% sure thats what they were doing, due to the fact that we decided to keep our distance, because they were standing where we needed to be. After they left, we logged our own find and checked out the bottom of the railroad bridge, which will soon house a wooden boardwalk that will extend the trail. We then got to the car and went to the Crocker Conservation Area.
When we got to the CCA, BomberJohn and I thought we should scope out the area before he picked a spot for his first hidden cache. After a decent inspection of the conservation and taking a good few pictures of the structure in the reservoir, my dad settled on a spot along a rock wall. We moved around a few rocks to make the perfect fit and set up the container with a logbook, pens, and a FTF spinning geocoin. We then took a bunch of cordinate listings to form a solid set of cords for accuracy. After planting, BomberJohn's first, we went over to his house to then log our new finds and great new hide.

I would like to give a big congrats to both BomberJohn for planting his first cache, CCA Traditional Cache (GCXP3F) and to fitzfive, the FTFers that are the new owners of a spinning geocoin.

Monday, August 07, 2006

Rt. 395: Up, Down, and All Around

After getting out of work early yesterday, I decided to call up Snidy to see if he wanted to go out geocaching. I had a few scattered ones that I had been keeping my eye on and was in posession of a southbound geocoin. I ended up selecting two caches from the Webster/Dudley area, Chargoggagoggmanchauggauggagoggchaubuna (GCCC88) and Crawford Notch Cache (GCW4PX), which only be a short ride on 395 south and one in Auburn, Eddy Pond Bug Hotel (GCHHPH), for which we would drive to by means of 395 north and drive through a few back roads to return to Snidy's house afterward.
We pulled into the parking entrance to the Webster Lake cache (Chargogg...) and were completely shocked by the $20 parking fee. After learning of the price, we said no thanks and put the Cachemobile in reverse. From looking at previous logs, it looks like a visit after 5 PM will get me in there without handing over an arm and a leg to accomplish the easy find. Though bummed after the failure to get this cache, Snidy and I continued on to find Crawford Notch Cache at Ardlock Acres in Dudley. This was plot of land donated by the Crawford family, with a few nice trails that seem to have been worn in by ATVs. It was a nice little hike out to the cache site, which itself was a pretty nice place to stop and check out the cache. I actually left the Alec's Tribute Geocoin that I found last week in Auburn in this cache and picked up a Birdsong-n-Bud wooden nickel to add to my signature item collection. We hiked back out to the car and hopped back on 395 to Auburn.
In Auburn, we checked out theEddy Pond Bug Hotel, which BomberJohn had done monthes before. Just as my dad saw old men roaming around in the area, Snidy and I saw an older man doing just that. He eventually went back to his car and admired the pond. Once he was out of the direction we had to go, we got out of the car and took the short trek through the woods to the TB Hotel. The cache was an easy find. I took a MountainWanderer card to, again, add to the collection. Snidy and I then got out of there and went to his house to log our finds.