A Walk in the woods, one day of geocaching

You asked for it, the story of a typical day caching. This morning the day dawned bright and sunny, with some time to spare I decided to head out caching, along with my camera.

The first stop was at my computer, logging into Geocaching.Com to see what was new today.


The next step was to look at the description of this cache.

Following that I look at the Google Map of the cache location. In this case the cache was in the woods, so even the satellite image wasn’t not much help, but it did show me which park this cache was located it.

And then my next step was to load the coordinates and description, copied from the Cache Description page to my GPSReceiver and my iPod. Using the Notes in my iPod I can take the entire text description with me without using paper. “Paperless” caching saves the trees in the forests we all like caching in. I also made sure the batteries were charged, and my “caching’ stick (a hiking stick) was in the car – it always is.

And out the door I went. After a quick stop at the grocery store, and a stop at a local Great Harvest Bread Company for some coffee and a sample slice. Today’s special was a Peperoni Piza Bred – one of my favorites. I arrived in the parking lot for the park where the cache was hidden, and soon I was on the trail.

Once on the trail it was just a matter of following the “Needle”, looks like the cache is about 0.4 miles ahead.

What a beautiful day for a walk in the woods. Sorry the deer didn’t pose for this photo, but on the way out I did spot a couple off the trail watching me, till I stopped to take their picture. Then they scampered off.

Hmm, getting close, the trail turns and the cache seems to be a few hundred feet to the right.

Ok, I’m just about there, and the search begins. Though the needle says I’m only 4 feet from my target, I still have to search every hiding place around.

The GPS can get me within a few meters, in wet forest it can be off by as much oa 100′, but the best place to start looking is right at GZ (Ground Zero). Though the GPS said I was 4′ from the cache, it was about 30′ away and well hidden.

Out in the woods in the autumn it all looks about the same.

I won’t give away too much ’spoilers’ but “camouflage” isn’t always the brown/tan/green of Army uniforms, but it can also mean to look like something it’s not, to look like it should be there. That ‘rock’ in the leaves isn’t a rock at all, but a cache container. No, sitting out in the open by the fallen tree isn’t where it was hidden.

On the way out I took my time to find a second cache, Believe me, it is almost visible in this picture.

Ok, I shouldn’t say that this one looks more like the ‘typical’ cache, but of the 8 or 9 in this park, this was the only one that was in a “lock-n-lockl” (brand) container. Cachers use many different containers.

At each cache I opened it, found the log book (the yellow book in the picture of the second cache, signed and dated it, then returned the cache to it’s hiding place. One of the great thrills of caching is to be the first cacher to find a new cache. On this set of caches I was second to find each of these caches. But then I have logged a few dozen FTFs as they are known. Two recent FTFs were both “Hydrocaches” one on a lake, the other on the Chesapeake Bay and accessible only by kayak (or other boat).

Now that I was done for today’s outside ‘work’ I still had one more step to go. When I got home I went back online at Geocaching.com and logged my finds.

Where are caches? All over the world, I took a look last week and found that there are some on both Easter and the Galapagos Islands. There most probably are a few within a few miles of you. The closest when I started caching was 0.16 mile, about 850′ from home.

Want to hear more about caching? There are a few excellent podcasts. Two, of many, that I lestn to are Podcacher.com, a weekly podcast by Sunny and Sandy in Sunny San Diego, Ca., Geocaching Podcast Another weekly podcast ‘aired’ live on Tuesday evenings then posted to their RSS feed later in the week.

Brief Intro to Geocaching

Many times I’ve mentioned Geocaching and been asked “Tell me all about it.” So I’ll take a little time here to give a short introduction. Some call GeoCaching, from now on I’ll just call it Caching, a sport, a hobby, or just an activity. In any case Caching is an outdoor activity that can be enjoyed by anyone of all ages. I’ve seen families with small babies and (very) seniors out caching. It can be done alone or by groups. Caching can be done in all weather conditions and in most all countries. Caching can be done on dry land or by boat, many travel on bicycle when caching. When I travel I break up the drive by stopping periodically to cache. If it is a longer trip I find a cacher near my destination and ask if she or he can point out some caches nearby. I’ve crossed the U.S. met a cacher. We found about half a dozen then had dinner together.

Ok, so what is Caching? Well to describe it very briefly, it could be called a world wide scavenger hunt. We use containers that range from very small to Ammo Cans, a Tupperware box is the normal size. These caches will contain a Log Book, and maybe some small toys for trade – great when you are caching with children. Cachers first place a cache, note its coordinates, then publish the coordinates on one (or more) websites. The most popular of those sites is www.Geocaching.com. Then other cachers load the coordinates into GPS receivers and try to find the cache.

Take a minute to see This Article That appeared in The Bulletin, in Bend, Oregon. Bend, by the way, is one of my favourite small towns, located just east of the Cascade Mountains, about 100mile bike ride from Eugene, Or.

That all sounds simple, but in reality some caches can range from very obvious to very hard to find, the GPS receiver can locate a point within a few yards but in a forest there can be dozens of hiding place within a range of 10-feet. I have found caches that are up to 50′ from where my GPS receiver says it should have been. The signals from the GPS Satellites can bounce off buildings, High-Tension towers, trees, or what have you. And tree leaves, wet or dry can affect the GPS signal. So if the hider’s GPS is off by a few feet, and yours is off in the opposite direction, the apparent location may be many feet in error. Enough of the technical details.

So how does one go about finding a cache. I’ll assume you have a handheld GPS receiver, many times abbreviated GPSr, or can borrow one. You will need a GPS that can accept coordinates and show distances to a point with an accuracy of feet. Automotive navigation systems will get you to the correct parking lot, but not much closer. First connect with Geocaching.com, you will need to open an account, which is free. Choose your caching name, then login. In the main menu you will see “Hide and Seek a Cache”. Select that, then enter a location near by your home, and limit the search to only a couple miles. In a few seconds you will see a small map and a list of caches that appear in that map. Selecting one of them will bring up an information page with all the information about that cache. Read and print it, you’ll need this information when you go out for your first find.

A couple things to note first. At the top of the page are a few things you should note first. The size, terrain and difficulty. As a beginner you will want to find a ‘regular’ or ‘large’ cache. And you probably don’t want to find a cache with a terrain of 4 or 5 (very difficult) for your first few caches. Also you probably will want to limit the difficulty of cache you are looking for to a 1 or 2 (fairly easy).

Ok, Put the coordinates of your desired cache in the GPS, put on your walking/hiking boots. Prepare yourself for an enjoyable time outdoors. Get yourself to somewhere near the cache. If you have looked at the maps on the cache’s page you should have found generally where you cache is, probably in some park. So the closest parking lot will be your starting location. And if the Cache Owner was extremely helpful you may even know where the trailhaed is.

Watch the ‘needle’ or map pointer on your GPS. Walking generally toward your goal. Generally! If you are on a winding trail and the pointer says that the cache is 400′ to your left, you may not want to turn left, but follow the trail, which often will end up passing within 10-25′ of the cache. Bushwhack or go cross country only when really needed. I once was about to start out for a cache only 500′ away but then thought better and drove around. I’m glad I did because there was a small dense forest and then a small lake that stood in my path.

Ok, now that you finally gotten to where the GPS says you are only feet from the cache, now what? Re-read the description. Then read it again. What does it tell you. Often there will be little hints that will tell you to look in a tree root, in a fallen log, or even suspended high in a tree. Once you have found many caches you will develop “Geo Sense” and you will know many kinds of places to look. Keep looking and if you have picked a cache with a difficulty of 2 or lower you should be able to find the cache with no great problem.

Once you have found it, find the log and sign with your caching name and date it. Then, repack everything, and hide the container back where it was. Congratulations you’ve made your first find.

Once home, go back online, login and select the cache again. Pick “Log Your Visit”, select “Found It” and write something about your experiences, but don’t give away any spoilers. You’re now a GeoCacher.

Once you have a few ‘rural’ caches, you may want to try some ‘urban’ caches. These can be lots harder to find, mainly because you have to watch out for ‘muggles’, non-cachers. Some urban caches are not any bigger than the tip of your little finger, and held in place by a magnet. These hides could be most anywhere, under pay phones, in fence posts, the possibilities are endless.

Another type of cache that you should consider is an “Event” cache. These are informal get togethers, we call “Meet and Greet”, normally on an evening at a Pizza or Donut shop. This is one place to meet others, tell stories, and ask questions. In short the Meet and Greet is one of the social aspects of caching. Sometimes after a M&G others will head out to a nearby cache, this is where you will really learn how others search, and what they are looking for. Learn from their experiences.

When I mentioned the Terrain rating I said to skip 4 and 5 at first. a terrain of 4 is very difficult, and 5 requires specialized equipment. That could mean ropes in mountains, or a kayak, or scuba gear in maritime areas. The terrain rating system is described on the website. but runs from 1 – easy walking to 5 – most difficult.

A summer day in mid November.

This isn’t the posting I had planned, about knots and ropes, that will be put off till the next time.

Whoda thunk it? here it is well into November and it is shirt sleeve kayaking weather. The high daytime temperatures had been falling into the 50s with nights approaching freezing, and I was thinking of finding a better storage place for my Manitou.

But Monday morning dawned bright and sunny with the forecast high of 72. What better day to celebrate a good day than getting the boat our for “one more last paddle”. Add one more incentive, checking Geocaching.Com showed that a new cache had been approved, and that it was a hydrocache. I loaded the boat and headed to Prince Frederick, Md. Arriving just after lunch time I set out for what would have been a 0.89 mile paddle to the cache.

Unfortunately after paddling Ground Zero, as we cachers call the cache location, I looked for about half an hour with no luck. The cache difficulty rating was 4.5 our of 5, so I did expect a difficult time of it.

As I was about to give up, another paddler showed up, we chatted for a couple minutes on shore then I gave up the cache search, and headed out with the other kayaker, Bryan, for what turned out to be a 6 mile trip. A power plant occupied the far shore and and we ignored it and enjoyed the wilderness beauty on our shore. The leaves here have mainly turned brown. our course took us close to a gaggle of geese and a bunch of ducks that took to the wing as we came near.

By mid afternoon the sky did start to grow overcast and the temperature dropped, but the long sleeved shirt I wore was enough.

If you are planning on paddling in tidal waters, Salt Water Tides has tide information for many tidal saltwater locations in the USA. I’ve used it a few times to plan my paddling schedule. It’s nice to know that the tide isn’t going to rise and float your boat off the beach while you are having lunch. The results returned for an inquiry include times of Sunrise/Sunset, and Moonride and Moonset.

And before I close this, The next posting is planned to be the first of a couple postings about knots and ropes. If you have any requests, leave them as comments.

Happy paddling.

7 Tips for keeping Predators from your Camera

Following my recent post warning about FOG on the lens I had one good example. Almost any morning take your glasses into the bathroom immediately after you shower, they will probably fog up almost instantly. Don’t wear glasses, then use one of you extra UV filters. See what happens. This could be your camera too, but why take the chance. We’re trying to avoid having condensation on your expensive camera.

Now on the the real reason for this post, a pointer to a good read.

The Digital Photography School has a great article about keeping 7 of the worst Predators from your camera at bay Take a look here for all the details. If you’re of the old-school and are using a [classic] film camera, the tips are just as relevant.

Watchout for the fog!

This has been mentioned before many places, but it still stands to be repeated. If you’re shooting outside during the cold months (I’ll mention summer in down lower) the lens on your camera does get cold too. So when you come into a warm room or building that cold lens will cause condensation to form on it. The temperature difference between indoors and outdoors doesn’t need to be too great.

As an example I was at an Autumn Festival this past weekend, the temperature outdoors was probably in the low 50s. Then I went into an auditorium that was still cool, probably in the mid 60s, but with many people and the resultant high humidity. And I didn’t take my own advise to take time for the lens to warm up. The result, no way to see anything through the lens for at least 5 minutes.

I should have kept the lens cap on the camera to avoid having water actually condense on the front of the lens, but I just waited for everything to warm up. At a time like this you should not attempt to change lenses, opening the camera body will let the warm damp air condense on the rear lens element, the mirror, and possibly the sensor though the sensor would be partly protected by the shutter.

I mentioned Summer a bit higher in this post. The same applies to shooting in the summer, but the direction would be the other way around. When you take your camera from an Air Conditioned building, or car into the humid outsides air you’ll have similar condensation.

Give your lens plenty of time to warm up before you take the lens cap off. Or put the entire camera into a bag and wait. Those of you who wear glass glasses (plastic reading glasses are not as prone to this problem) have probably experienced very similar condensation on your glasses, instant fog when going from cold to warm.

Thinking back and ahead

I don’t have lots of experience in Sea Kayaks and even less in White Water Kayaks, so I write from the point of view of a beginner. My history on water, though, goes way back. I sailed with my dad for many years on the Chesapeake Bay, sailed Sea Shell dingies in the club’s Frostbite Series, racing during the winter when the temperature hovered close to freezing. I even remember a couple races when the club’s work boat was fired up to break the ice so we could sail. Then later in life I sailed a SunFish on Lake Michigan for a week.

My kayak experience isn’t as great, owning a Whiter Water boat for a few years I quickly found that I really didn’t enjoy White Water, but liked Sea Kayaking, and what on the Chesapeake is called Gunk Holeing, exploring marshes and estuaries along the bay. I feel at home in kayaks but when I bought my own boat this spring I found I didn’t really feel at one with the boat.

Then the Admiral of the Fleet suggested we both take a local class in Rescue and Recovery, and I readily agreed. Robert, the instructor started by telling us that we would work to exhaustion, lots of work. And after about 3 hours we both knew he was right.

I was the first to go over and be rescued. The first thing I learned was that a Sea Kayak doesn’t go over easily. Then when my partner tried to rescue me the first time she over did it, and I went over the boat and back into the water. But we both learned fast how to get back into our boats both with a rescue boat and if we go over when out alone. And my confidence in the Kayak really increased. After that class I began to feel at one with my boat. Of course after each paddle, especially in (slightly) rough water and breezy conditions my confidence increases even more.

If you’ve never had a class in Rescue I highly recommend taking one, The one we took was in a small tributary of the Chesapeake Bay, but I guess a pool would be just about as good. I also recommend watching some YouTube videos, search for paddle float, there are many videos available. Also Sea Kayaker Magazine has been running an article or two in the past few issues. They are good reading. Another good source of reading is PADDLENEWS: The Weekly Newsletter of Paddling Network and their Weekly Email Newsletter. Subscribe to that and read news and news and articles, the last issue had a good article on rescue.

I met two White Water kayakers this afternoon, they were headed out onto a calm river with the intention to practice their rolls. As the weather cools and paddling gets ‘weathered out’ I’m planning on taking the Rescue class again next spring. I think it is well worth it.

Autumn is coming, to be followed by Winter

After many good paddling days this year it’s almost time to winterize my kayak, whatever that means. So this week on a warm day – highs nearing 70F – I headed to one of my favourite put-in places and headed out for a few hours paddling in and around Annapolis, MD. I started at Truxton Park, in the Eastport section of Annapolis. There is plenty of parking, a retainer wall near the parking lot so removing and replacing the boat from the back of the car is easy, the boat starts off about 3′ high. also a small, clean beach on Spa Creek.

The paddle started by heading upstream to the headwater where I did run aground and had to back out. Heading downstream I crossed under the Spa Creek drawbridge and along the Annapolis Yacht Club where many ’ships’ from around the world were berthed, some probably on a stopover on the way to warmer climates in the south.

A left turn then took a left turn into the Annapolis City Dock, once a busy port for Oyster and Watermellon boats from Maryland’s Eastern Shore. But now a days it has more Water Taxi and tour boats than anything else, and of course tourists, mainly on summer weekend days.

From there I paddled around the Tall Ship Sultana. The end of October I plan on heading to Chestertown, Md with my camera to get some good photos of all the Tall Ships that will be there.

On the first weekend of November each year Sultana Projects hosts a three-day festival known as Downrigging Weekend to celebrate the close of Sultana’s sailing season.

From there I recrossed Spa Creek and headed out the Severn River for a lunch break, then on around to Back Creek. All this was in a gentle breeze and calm seas.

The return was different. The wind had been forecast to be out of the west at about 15kt. Since I was on the western shore of the bay I wasn’t worried. As I rounded the last point on the Severn and headed up Spa Creek the wind picked up and I found myself headed into a very strong breeze. The last couple of miles was work! At times I hardly made any headway, at other times I searched out boats and shores that I could protect me from the wind.

Bicycling and mapping.

Today I decided to get out on the bicycle and do something more than just exercise. I emptied the memory on my GPS, normally I keep it loaded with Geocaches, and proceeded to take one of my normal 10 mile loops. Columbia, Md. is a town with many “bicycle” paths, though more properly they could be called ‘muli-use’ paths. I’ve seen everything but horseback riders on them.

The trail starting just behind my home, I can see it from the computer room, runs about three miles to ‘town center’, and connects with many other paths in Columbia. The paths on the west side of Columbia had not been showing up on OpenStreetMap.org or on OpenCycleMap.org, though some of the paths on the east side of Columbia have. One major limited access highway, US-29, bisects the town, thus the ‘ease’ and ‘west’ labels.

I started the ‘track’ recording when I started, and kept it running for my entire 12-mile route, downloaded it from the GPS, then uploaded it to OSM and edited the resulting track, keeping only the actual bicycle path. I marded it as a ‘local bikeway’. When I expanded the map to see the entire town I find that whoever has been mapping the east side has classified them as ‘walkways’. What’s the difference. The trails on the east side are red, and the west side trails are marked in blue.

While out Caching early this week I found a new community that is missing on OSM. Probably next week I will get out on the bicycle and map it. Yes I could do it by car, but bicycling is lots more fun, and definitely easier to get into all the small streets and cul-de-sacs.

Kayak the Eastern Shore of Md.

Again this week I had a chance of combining two of my passions, Kayaking and Geocaching, again. And for the second time I was First To Find (FTF) a cache by Kayak. This one had been out for 18 days without any one finding it. I’ll again refrain from spoilers, that’ll be easy, I didn’t bring a camera with me.

As usual I had great plans to start out early, and have time for some photography on the way there or back, but I didn’t leave home till late morning. The one plus to that was that I missed all the morning traffic.

I started in Hoopersville, Md. This small town is on Middle Hoopers Island. I know where it is, even though Google Maps had troubles finding it. I launched at The Public Boat Ramp which was deserted on Monday. The 5kt NE wind had been forecast for the day so the paddle looked like it would be easy, and it was. The Honga River is only a couple miles wide there, I reasoned that there was not a long ‘fetch’ to build seas, again I was right. My destination was about 3 miles to the SSE on Lower Hooper’s Island.

I hung in close to shore most of the way down. Found the cache and headed back. I elected to paddle a bit more direct route on the return. The reason, the outbound trip gave me quite a bit of chop across my track, nothing at all really difficult, but just work. I figured that I would have a bit more leeway in picking my course with more open water.

I was a bit surprised that there was quite a bit less chop further offshore, and as a result lots less work. I checked the wind at a couple local weather stations later and found that the wind had eased from 6kt to 4kt during my return, maybe that was enough to flatten the water.

For more about Hooper’s Islands see the wikipedia entry. These islands have quite a history in the early times of Maryland and are worth a drive just to see. I’ll definitely come back here again and explore both the Upper and Middle islands on both the Chesapeake side and the Honga side.

Oh, about the cache. It was an easy find, just where it should have been. As a bonus, the wind kept al bugs away, except for a dragonfly that passed me a couple times.

Kayak for Cache

I wish it was kayak for ca$h, but not yet. After my Resurection Bay tour a couple days ago my kayaking this week seems a bit tame by comparison. A local cacher placed a multi-cache based in two local lakes about 3 weeks ago. Coming back from my Alaska trip it had still not been found. So when the weather turned good twice this week I loaded the boat and headed out. So as to not give out any spoilers, I won’t tell the cache name, and I won’t leak any clews.

I felt like paddling on Tuesday and the first stage was about 6 miles from home so when the weather didn’t match the forecast I headed for the first stage, an easy 1.5 mile paddle on Rocky Gorge, but when I arrived at the coordinates I was in the middle of a wide expanse of water. But looking around I was able to find the hints that fit the clew. I entered new the coordinates into the GPS, and realized that this was a two trip cache. The second stage was some distance away and not even in the same lake.

I had been in email contact with two other cachers interested in finding this cache and possibly a three person FirstToFind team. When I talked with them at a Meet & Greet on  Wednesday. They cheered me on, and said go for the FTF without them. The forecast the next day was not good, but all morning the clouds thinned and by noon the sun broke out. Well, housework be dammed, I loaded the boat again. The drive to the other lake took about half an hour (no name, no spoiler). Being mid-week the parking lot at the boat launch ramp was empty. The warm sun was better than I expected in mid September.

The GPS receiver indicated about 1 mile to the target, but since it was hard to paddle over dry land, especially busy highways I stuck to the water. Paddling is easier that way. The trip really was closer to 1.7 miles, with a slight crosswind. Overhead a chopper was circling in what looked like a search pattern, sticking to one side of the lake. Some fair weather Cumulus clouds formed and some buzzards soared overhead. This was a great day for a paddle. After I rounded the last point of land and the GPS pointed directly to the cache, I ignored it and navigated directly to a tree that was turning fall colors. I stayed on that course till the GPS beeped it’s “approaching waypoint” alert. I still didn’t look at it, just looked for the most likely spot for a hide.

Yes, I was still First To Find. And my second Kayak Find. Now I’m looking for good weather for another cache to find by kayak, maybe next week. Any excuse to cache, any excuse to kayak. Combining them is even better.

The paddle back, just like the trip out but with maybe a knot or so more wind, was just as pleasant. I was wishing that the day wasn’t getting old and dinner time approaching or I would have explored more of this lake. It’s now on my ‘gotta paddle here’ list.  And that list is growing. I’m going to be busy next summer.