Go Climb a Tree

Has caching entered a new stage here in the Valley? One cacher in Chilliwack (geo canuck77) has decided to elevate, literally, the game somewhat by placing caches into trees. Now caches in trees is nothing new, but they are always within reach of a person of average height. They are mom's strong point while I can not ever find them, perhaps because my sense of colour is somewhat off and everything blends in too well.

However, geo canuck has given the whole idea a different twist. You now climb into the tree, often 15 or 20 feet up. Sofar they have been nice big, safe trees, but not the kind that you just kind of walk up into, you know. like Zaccheus.
The bottom branch is high enough to motivate the first cachers to arrive at the first one of this series to go back home and get a ladder. Of course, it did not help that irlpguy is not as nimble as he used to be now he is retired...

This first cache was attempted in a blazing snowstorm, in darkness, and as the attack was planned and executed more and more people arrived, even titelines from Abbotsford. If you know what driving from Abbotsford to Chilliwack is like in a snowstorm, you either admire their mental fortitude or wonder about their mental stability. But we all know, an FTF is an FTF, and more than once have we ourselves been described in various forms of not very flattering language when the topic of our crazy FTF adventures comes up.

The first Tree Climbing cache was found and FTF's were claimed. Which brings me to an interesting point. It is becoming quite common for FTF's to be shared by two or more parties, and I say more power to you. I even feel a little ashamed that I have not shared some of our FTF's with the person who was there with me at the same time...sorry TK and BR...But I was not aware of it at the time that one could do that. For think, if there have been 100 new caches in the past months, there must be at least 140 FTF's relating to same. What must people think...? Or is it not important to always ask ourselves, 'What must people think'? I would think so!

When the next Tree Climbing caches came out, we found that one of them was right across from where Alfred and Kirstin live. This discovery was grounds for a great idea: why don't we go visit them and have Alfred do the climbing?
As the picture shows, that was no hardship for him and a nice way out for us.
When that first one was in hand, we suggested that he might want to do another one...? So off we went to the old base where he went up a tree again and delivered another cache into our hands. Thanks, Alfred. Don't get out of practice, we have a few more coming, including the final which apparently is in one of three trees...

Then the day came that we wanted to go out to clean up some more in Chilliwack and right into our path to Little Mountain was another Tree Climbing cache. Knowing this, we had put our puny three foot stepladder in the Jeep...if others bring extension ladders, why can't we. We stopped and looked at the tree...The bottom branch was perhaps seven feet up? Eight? After placing the ladder, I tried to get my leg over it, but even stretching beyond my limit was not enough to complete that feat. That left us no choice but that the other goinggoner get up on the ladder and then use my shoulder as the next step up. Did she blink? Did I hear loud protests? Neither!!!

On the ladder, on my shoulder, and up she went...

Intelligence never being in short supply when we go caching (we like to believe) we had determined before she went up where the cache was. Twenty (?) feet up? No matter, she reached it, opened it, reached for her pen and, oops, found it missing. Three deft throws and one deft cache, make that catch, later the log was signed and the journey down to terra firma began and was completed without my cell phone having to come out to dial 911. Was one of us just a tiny bit proud of her daring feat? You bet! Was one of us rather proud of his brave-hearted partner? You bet!

A remarkable thing was that several people walked or drove past, the tree being pretty well next to the side walk of a fairly busy street. Did anyone questions what we were doing? Never! Did people driving by stop to take pictures or at least hang out of their windows and honk? Not a one! Did someone phone the Parks Board or 911? Think of another N word!

All of this goes to show that even after 1000 caches there are still new things to learn and experience, a fact we do not rue. Instead, we look forward to further feats and accomplishments. And we are so thankful that we have the health and time to do all this. Won't you join us sometime in February like you did last year?

As you can see, I managed to spread the pictures around...thanks, Ed...!

Weather Woes...

Most cachers in our area had no choice but to take an unwanted three to four week break from caching because of the weather and all the snow we had. Today, there is still a lot of snow around in some places, but the roads are clear and the sun has been shining in some parts of the Fraser Valley, mainly the Abbotsford area and east. West of Abbotsford was souped in by fog for 21 days.
One day last week we decided to start caching again and decided on the Watershed Park in Delta. Bad move! We were in the fog all day while back home everyone was basking in the sun, behind their kitchen windows that is.
Friday the fog finally lifted in Surrey so that's where we went on Saturday. It is true, there was no fog, but there was not much in the way of sunshine either and still a lot of snow in places.
We have not really come across anything very exciting in the way of caches except for one series that I will talk about in the next post.

As you can see, I have posted three pictures. I wish there were a way in blogger to place them in different areas than just at the top. If someone has some ideas about this, please let me know.

And they said "He is a hobo."

This week and last week I did most of the caching on my own. The good half of goinggone had so many other things on her plate that she had no time to come along.
One of those days I spent in Coquitlam. For one cache I ended up in a small park that was situated right behind an elementary school. Moments after I got there the bell rang for recess and all of a sudden there were more kids than trees in the park. And it did not take long that they spotted me.

"Look, there is a hobo". " A hobo, a hobo. Come look at the hobo!"

The word spread like wildfire. Before long I was being stared at and commented on and analyzed by at least 150 kids, all at a safe distance of at least 80 feet; make that 25m...Some kids found it too scary to stay; they ran. Others took their place. It was an ever shifting group of gawkers and hobophobes! And I, instead of tactfully retreating, just stood there, watching the spectacle with what I am sure was a beatific smile on my weathered face...

But I did get a little scared as it went on. What if the principal or one of the teachers comes out, witnesses the commotion, and phones the police? Not that I had done anything illegal, but sometimes non-illegal people get picked up to tell their story away from those that have been upset by their mere presence.

In addition to that, it is true that I looked probably more like a hobo than a civilized city dweller. My coat had picked up lots of green from wet trees and branches; it would not surprise a lot of people if I told them that I slept in the woods in this garb...Neither is it surprising that people jump to conclusions.

I mean, what does it take anyway? I have a daughter who would regularly proclaim to all in view and within hearing, "I do not know this man. I am not in any way related to him. Quit looking at me. I am someone else, okay...!"

Then a little miracle happens. A boy, say he is ten years old, comes out of the crowd and walks up to me. He does not look scared. My smile had won him over!!!

"Do you live here in the forest?", he asks.
"No", quoth I, "I live in a house just like you."
"Then why are you here?"
"I like the woods, just like you do."
"Oh."

And away he walks and announces clearly to all present,
"He is not a hobo."

I did not really hear any sighs of disappointment, but they were in the air...they kind of wafted among the trees...Now there was no hurrying back inside and tell the teacher; nor wait impatiently for school to end to get home and share the horrible news about the hobo.

The hobo that almost was.

Of sun, snow and caches.

The weather channel had one of those awfully red screens yesterday, warning us that we would get snow! That is a big thing for them, for once or twice they have been caught totally off guard by not predicting snow, and then we would get a dump with all the consequences of that: cars not being able to make it uphill, cars in the median on the freeway, etc. It ain't ever happening again that we have snow and not having been told about it.

You in snow country know how you talk about snow in BC and that we don't know how to drive in the snow, and how we call two inches of snow a lot of snow. But you probably don't know (and it is true, you cannot know everything...) how we sit here in amazement every winter when the news and the weather channel show us all those pictures of cars in ditches and on top of each other and stuck in the city and all that...we say to each other: did you know that so many people from BC moved to the Prairies and Ontario? Poor sods, not knowing how to drive in the snow...not even with all those experts around them, not even with all the practice they get...

Anyway, the weather channel is not ever going to be accused of not predicting snow for this region. So now they will put up the red screen and tell us that we may have severe weather, to wit 2 inches of snow...never mind how likely or unlikely that may be.

We did not get any snow where we live, but they had some in Vancouver and Victoria, so they can proudly say to the folks in those towns: See, we told you so! Ha!

Today it was invigorating but rather windy weather, especially enjoyable inside. But after noon we said, "Shouldn't we go out for a bit? Aren't there any caches left nearby that we have not found?" So we thought of some: on Sumas Mountain. We took the truck, and a good thing we did.

The first cache was at Gate 1, just after we got off the pavement. It was howling up there, and it was a good thing we found the cache rather quickly so we could get back into the truck.

Then we had to go way further up the mountain. The gravel road started to show snow and ice. The driver, she switched into 4wd. The truck, she did just fine!
We got to Gate 2, parked the truck and stepped out into the snow. We took time to take pictures to prove that I am not telling no tales either.

We found also this cache quickly. Good thing!
Then back down the mountain to do one more in the McKee area where it was colder than up on the mountain...more open to the wind, I guess.

In all, it was an invigorating adventure, and we feel great now that our hands have thawed and we have had a warm meal. Who said caching had to be boring, eh?

Puddle-de-dum

This morning I had the privilige of being allowed to go caching all on my own. The main reason for that was that mom went to see the doctor yesterday who, when he heard that she had already been on the trails again, was not amused. When he proved to her that her muscle has not yet healed completely by squeezing her calf gently in the crucial spot, she was not amused either. Doctors' offices clearly are not always the amusement parks one would like them to be...
The other reason she had little desire to join me had to do with the weather: we had some refreshing rain.
I went back to Campbell Valley Regional Park where on previous occasions one cache had eluded me: Clue: The Kitchen. Perhaps I have mentioned before that this is a series based on the game Clue. At each cache you get some information as to where the murder might have been committed or not, who might have dun it or not...You, dear reader(s) might as well acquaint me with your familiarity with the game so I can have you help us solve the mystery. Clue: not in the kitchen...Clue: not the colonel or Mrs. White. Rest to follow upon approved qualifications, yours. By now you, if you are worth your salt, have figured out that I found the cache, no?
I also found some others there, puzzles that you do not know where they will be until you solve them and get the coordinates.
Did I mention it was raining? I had to take the Shaggy Mane trail again for a stretch. They should change the name to Sh...y Mane trail...; again, if you are worth your salt, you have figured out what the name should be. You can mention it in your application if you are not averse to using that type of language...I will close my eyes so I do not have to be party to it...
Rain makes for puddles. Puddles bring out the little boy in me, the Dutch little boy. No, not the one with the famous finger, but the one that produces dry land out of watery places. That happens by digging canals so the water can move to where no one lives. I have not yet succumbed to the temptation of having a shovel in my cache mobile on rainy days, so I am reduced to the one, stone-age tool I always have with me: my stick. So on my way in I dig little canals, seeing the water gush out of the puddle, off the path, into a lower area. Such instant gratification this produces that one forgets about the rain and wet feet and all the concomitant misery of BC weather. And one wonders why the duo of cachers that calls itself Puddlejumpers is not with me but would rather shovel snow...or hang drywall...ah well...
So from puddle to puddle I hopped and skipped, humming as I went, puddle-de-dum, puddle-de-dum, until I got onto the Ravine Trail. Not much in the way of puddles there...the ground does not get mushed up and holes are not created by horses hooves...and as a result it is not a Sh...y Trail, as a matter of fact the ground is hard enough to make it a bit of a skating rink, especially when going downhill...four times I almost had my back join my feet at the level where they live, but thankfully my legs have become strong through all the exercise of this year that I was able to stay upright...
On my way back to the car I checked on all the work I had done. I had a hard time finding back the spots where I had laboured: most puddles had become dry land!!! Welcome to Holland, I thought. Puddle-be-gon, puddle-be-gon...

1000

It's been at least a week now since we arrived at the milestone of our 1000th find. Some of you probably classify that as belonging under not quite sane, while others stand applauding (thank you, thank you...please imagine us bowing humbly...) for this wonderful accomplishment. Some of you even contributed to it.
We had kind of hoped to make this find in relation to a special cache, but we could not think of one worthy of it, so we decided to just let it happen. And so it did: it was kind of part of a 'normal day's work'. We went to Rolley Lake where there was a new series, and the second one in that bunch of five was the one. Mom is looking for the picture to prove it but it starts to look like we left it with the cache for it isn't here.
We plan to place a special cache celebrating and commemmorating this event. We have called it Millenium I {the 'I' is something like a hopeful hint at some future event (can you perhaps guess what that might be?) and we hope to put it somewhere near Rolley Lake.} Perhaps we will take a picture that will keep.
Mom was in Victoria for four days last week to help celebrate Paige's birthday and to do some caching there with Niki and Paige. Niki is quite hooked on the idea of becoming a cacher and now she discovered that her phone will actually function as a GPS she might actually realize her wish.
By the way, the pictures have been found...
Last week I promised to write another blog right away but it never happened. I was meant to mostly glory in the fact that we had one day in which we had four FTF's. I guess the glorying idea was wrong so I now mention it somewhat modestly...hmm.
I might as well reveal in this post that I (the other half of goinggone was deemed not be fleet enough of foot) went with a group of four others to Mt. Vernon Saturday a week ago to just cache for the numbers, in other words to add to our respective totals. We did 33 caches that day, but it wasn't really a lot of fun. Just going from parking lot to parking lot, lifting skirts on lampposts, looking under benches, signing the log and moving on to the next one...no, I'd rather go on a two hour hike for just one cache...
Regardless of it all, we (I especially) are very happy and thankful that we have this hobby, that we have the health to pursue it, that we can do it together (when there are no ouchies), that it gets us out in all kinds of weather and at all times of the day (the second batch of that foursome of FTF's had us hit the road at close to 11pm). We are also glad that the gas price is coming down...
We are toying with the idea of un-winterizing the RV and taking off for a while, setting up in a few places and do some caching...I have to see yet whether that will actually materialize...we will keep you posted.

Our First Cache! Finally!

I am getting rather behind with my blogging. We (I) are (am) just too busy caching during the day (the leg is pretty good again) while at night we are occupied with other activities. So today I will try to cache(!) up a bit by writing more than one, hopefully.
As we were getting closer to the magic number of having 1000 finds, we felt more and more guilty about not having placed a single cache ourselves. Well, we did something about that feeling of guilt and went and bought a bunch of containers and other paraphernalia.
Our first cache is called All About Caching, a container full of helpful items that cachers use: tweezers to get the log out of these little nanos, a couple of bison tubes, etc. We put it at the rest area between here and the 264th exit. It has in the meantime been found several times. Our second cache is one aimed at scrapbooking activities and has the title of Scrappy...would never have guessed that one, would you?
The third one we placed in some trees near a clearing for a pipeline so it has the appropriate title of PLINE. This one almost landed us in the ditch. I thought I'd drive into the clearing and somehow the little ditch was not in my view until one loud scream stopped me dead in my intentions, saving us from going down. I was able to back us out of our perilous situation.
We have more caches ready to go but need to find suitable places for them. Mrs. Goinggone had the idea of doing a series to do with nursery rhymes, so you can look forward to those. But the one that needs to go out first and soon is one that we will probably call Millenium I, to celebrate our 1000th.
Mom is going to Victoria on Tuesday, so we will need to do this tomorrow.
We will keep you posted on that, hopefully accompanied by picture(s).

Campbell Valley Giant - 900

Last week I spent three days in Campbell Valley Regional Park which is located south of Langley, close to the border. It is a good size park and at the present has over 20 caches, some of them multi's which means that they can be two or four or more parts.

Unfortunately I had to go by myself each day because of the affliction my dear wife is burdened with. Btw, it is getting better but it will be a while before she'll be her old-mountaineering-self again.

Going out alone is not a total disaster but it is way more fun doing it together, especially when one comes upon a problem that seems insurmountable and for which an additional pair of eyes would be very welcome.

I had only one such problem: 'Clue - The Kitchen'. This one is part of a series based on the game Clue where each cache contains a clue. In the end, when all the clues have been obtained, we should be able to tell 'who did it' and in which location. We are not there yet and may never get there if I/we don't find all the components. Like I said, an extra pair of eyes, especially eyes that are kitchen trained, would have been welcome.

The park is for a large part suitable for horses. This means, among other things, that the trails are well fertilized. Unlike dog owners, horse and rider are under no obligation, apparently, to do the scoopy/baggy thingy. Or the shovel/wheelbarrow thingy. I could support this problem with pictures but I won't. I am sure most of you thank me for that.

I did a lot of walking those days, especially the first. When I left my car, I was sure I would only 'do' this one cache called 'Have you seen Douglas?' and then return to the car to move to a different parking spot. Well, I saw Douglas, one of the largest Douglas firs I ever saw. I cannot show you a picture; you will understand in a moment.

However, when that one was in the bag, the next cache seemed to be closer than the car was at that moment so it's not hard to guess what happened. What is worse, it kept on happening so that by the time 2 o'clock came around I was miles and miles (kms and kms just doesn't do it justice, I feel) removed from my vehicle that is adorned with the sticker: "Found cache, Lost car".

I had left everything in the car: drink, food, apple, camera, and some might add, my wits...Neither had I taken a reading of the car's location in terms of coordinates when I left it; of course not, I was going to be back in a short while...! And my park map was guess where: in the car.

In the end I had to bother someone to tell me how to get back to my car.
It is now 4 o'clock. Why not ask someone at 2? Well, you know, there was one cache fairly close by, so it would be a shame to leave that...and then, of course...etc. etc.

The lady that I approached must have seen the condition of my body on my face: before she even bothered trying to tell me where to go she gave me an apple and a candy...the apple was meant for her horse, the candy for sugar. But there was no doubt in her mind that I needed it. She said, 'I don't want to read about you in the paper tomorrow.'

Anyway, she told me how to proceed to the car and nice as she was, I was sure she was wrong. So I let her depart and then headed in the direction I was sure I should go. Until, of course, I stumbled upon a cache...and got lost again. And had to approach some others. Fortunately, the weather was nice so there were lots of people on the trails. Anyway, to make this already long account not any longer, I did get back to my car. And drank, and ate...and headed home, and ate again...and looked back on a day well spent.

Somewhere in this account I should have mentioned that one of the caches I found was our 900th: Campbell Valley Giant, a huge cedar. Again, I have no picture....

Lights Out In Lynden