Caches - Fun or Evil?

When I was working on digging the trench, I found a cast plastic head in one of the flowerbeds that I was removing. I decided that with a paint job, it would make a good cache. It served as the impetus for a series of caches featuring the Lost Dutchman, Pegleg Smith, and Captain Kidd treasures. They've been in place nearly three weeks now.

I'm loving the comments I'm getting in the logs for the Lost Dutchman and Pegleg caches. Here's a sample:

• For the Lost Dutchman: "Freaky looking;" "So grotesque;" "Some caches stick in your mind, this one will for me;" "Freaked me out!;" and perhaps the best, "Sheesh, wondered where that went to!!!" (Maybe I should have asked?)
• For Pegleg: "Got a real kick out of the container;" "What an awesome container;" "Great imagination at work;" and, "I absolutely love it!" 

Since I was in the area when the caches published, I went out to get some pictures. Turns out the puzzle to solve for the coordinates of the Capt. Kidd cache was pretty puzzling. I think I heard "evil" mentioned more than once. (Insert evil laugh and huge smile here!)

While Spencer was here, we finished up some caches that he named Waterworks since they were all made from pipe. They're all classic, fun caches, but unique for this area. Unfortunately, we didn't get placed before he left, but he'll be able to watch the logs to see the comments that people leave when they find them. I've been pleasantly surprised by the very positive comments from folks that have found them.

On a very different subject, the location of the 2nd Annual BloggerFest in Quartzsite has moved to the La Posa South LTVA. I'm still looking forward to meeting other RV bloggers there.

Caching with Spencer

With snow on the ground in Alaska, it wasn't too hard to convince Spencer and his Dad to come to Arizona for a couple days of geocaching in the sun. We took him to the trailhead for some of our favorites and turned him loose with the GPS.

He made short work of my bird house and didn't even leave a favorite point.

On our second day we went to a park to visit some caches that everyone has mentioned to me.

We hit the jackpot with our strange weather. Two days of sunshine and mid-60's temperatures. Couldn't complain about that!

While he was here he did his first multi-caches including one night cache, his first mystery cache, and his first earth cache. He helped finish up some cache containers but we ran out of time before they could be placed. He proved he was a good cacher and also a good eater.

I'm looking forward to the next time we can spend some time together.

Wave Cave

On Boxing Day, one of BJ's hiking buddies suggested a hike I'd never heard about. The destination for the day was the Wave Cave, in hopes that the weather would be warmer at the beach.

The hike started from the Carney Springs trailhead on the west side of the Superstitions. There is no official trail, and none of us had been there, but how hard could it be?

Early on, we spotted what we thought was our target.

After crossing the border into the Wilderness, we started looking for a track turning off from the Carney Springs trail.

We passed an area that looked like it may have been a miner's camp at one time, with quite a pile of rusting tin cans.

Once we turned off the Carney Springs trail, our track was consistently upwards, working across the face of the hill and then turning into a large ravine.

As we continued climbing in the ravine, our views continued to get bigger. The wind was cold and we were all appreciating our layers, but the views were wonderful!

Almost there!

It's pretty obvious how the cave got its name.

If she could surf the rock, I had to try as well.

It took us as long to work our way back down the track. While the route was obvious if you made the turn off the Carney Springs trail in the right place, it's clearly not an official trail, and demands respect, especially downhill where the loose rocks can be a challenge.

All in all, a really fun hike on a beautiful day. Thanks, Candice!