Andean Trekker

El Cristo Blanco - Cusco

2012-02-05T01:53:00.000-06:00

One of the geocaches that GTAbusquedor put out recently which is gaining populatirty is Camino al Cristo (GC34J5Q). It is located high up on the mountain overlooking Cuzco and can be seen from many parts of town. If you take the tour of the sites around Cuzco you are sure to pass nearby. From the Cristo you can get a beautiful view of the city. The cache is not right at the Cristo but down the mountain a little way. You can climb to and from the cache along a cobblestone walking path that leads up the mountain. Somewhere along that path you'll find the cache. If you hike up to find the caches on the mountain be sure to take rain gear with you. Storms can appear out of nowhere. Enjoy!

Pululahua Volcano Earthcache

2012-01-29T01:19:00.003-06:00

This is a story has a good side and a bad side. The good side is the adventure, the view and the fun of the hike. The bad side is that my attempt to place an earthcache in this location met with so much red tape that I simple gave up on it. Maybe someone else will locate an earthcache or a traditional cache here in the future. One of the spectacular views around Quito is that of the Pululahua Volcano. This is an extinct volcano located about 6 miles north of Quito. It is just on the north side of the equator and very near the equator monument and tourism area known as Mitad del Mundo. Pululahua is now the home of farmers for centuries. Some sources say this is the only inhabited volcano crater in the world. Most of the crater walls have worn down but the lava dome is still intact and observable. If you are going to visit Pululahua and hope to see the crater be sure to go in the morning. The moist Pacific coastal breezes blow in around noon and with them come clouds. As you stand on the rim of the volcano you can see the clouds blowing right up in your face. It will block your view of the crater. It rarely rains in the caldera. The crops that grow there are dependent on the fog that rolls in everyday about noon. Once the fog rolls in from the west it will block your view of the valley below. By the way, the name for fog in Quichua is “fuyu” or a slightly modified “puyu” or” puyo”. The remainder of the name seems to come from Spanish “agua” = “water”. It is likely that the name means “cloud of water”, which is a perfect description of the place soon after noon almost every day. There are a variety of plants that grow in the walls of the crater and in the cloud forest of the lava dome. For this reason the Ecuadorian government has declared this a geo-botanical reserve since 1966. At present there is no cost to park and visit at the overlook. There are Quichua people selling souvenirs there too. Since I failed to make a go of it I challenge the reader to place an earthcache here!

Quenqo Chico

2012-01-22T01:32:00.000-06:00

Along with the entrance fees for the Sacsayhuaman tour in Cusco you get the opportunity to visit some other sites. One of them is Quenqo, a labyrinth sight with channels of water. Some believe that the Inca built this sight as some kind of oracle. By sacrificing animals and watching which way the blood and water flowed they divined answers to their questions. Be sure to check out the geocache there. Quenqo Chico (GC34J5A) is just down the hill from Quenqo Grande and is a elongated mount of rock and dirt where few people seem to venture. They are all focused on the principle site above. You can follow the trail down and make a quick find. On the day we were there we broke away from the tour to venture down to the ancient site and visit the cache. We were several families with kids. The kids enjoyed running around the area. Check out the beautiful stand of eucalyptus trees bordering the site.

Triad Park Winter Caching

2012-01-15T01:26:00.004-06:00

My grandson and I had a great time caching on a sunny winter afternoon in the North Carolina piedmont. We drove 20 minutes to Triad Park on Highway 421 near Colfax, NC and parked the car near the main gate. We could have driven around to parking within several hundred feet of the caches but we needed the exercise. Our first cache took us to an abandoned hawk's nest. The cache itself, Hawks Nest (GC299JB) was not in the same tree but you could easily see the hawk's nest from the GZ area. We then hiked through the woods and into a large open field. We hiked across the field to a barbed wire fence defining the limits of the park. There we found Ghillie Cache - Operation: Evergreen Fence (GC244JN). I'm thankful for my grandson's eyes as I totally missed this one. From this location we were off on an azimuth that would lead us to our next cache. About half way along a .4 mile hike to the next cache my grandson shouted that he'd found the cache. He thought I was walking past it to give him the chance to find it. It turns out that he had found the final stage of a multi-cache. We signed the log and traded some items before replacing the cache. We later found out that it was a premium member-only cache so we couldn't log it. We continued on to find another great woodland cache followed by a multi-cache. The multi-cache involved a pair of boots located at different ends of the park. By the time we were through with the final stage of the multi the sun was going down and the weather was quite nippy. We did stop in at the rock climbing site so MasterYoda1 could demonstrate his climbing skills. He was ready to head home after a stop at the local corner store for a treat. Caching with my grandson is one of my favorite ways to spend time with him!

A visit from Glenn Weaver

2012-01-08T01:13:00.002-06:00

I could be a geocaching tour guide if such a thing existed. I really enjoy getting to meet fellow cachers as they come through Ecuador. I received an email from Glenn Weaver, a geocacher from Philadelphia, PA. He asked if we could meet up and go caching when he came through Ecuador. We met up on Sunday afternoon and traveled from his hotel in Old Quito to the Metropolitan Park. We made a circuit hitting a number of the caches in the park. Glenn dropped a TB while finding a number of caches. He also placed a cache, Support Power (GC2ZCN3). I'm eager to get back out and find it! Probably the highlight of the day was Glenn's first ever FTF! He found Oh Canada, EH (GC2PBAK), a cache placed by Doogerd on his recent trip to Ecuador. The afternoon gave us a chance to become friends. For me one of the highlights of geocaching is the friendships that I get to make along the way. I wish Glenn safe travels as he travels the world!

Dirty Santa 2011!!!!

2012-01-01T01:18:00.001-06:00

This year we are super blessed to be back in the good ole USA with family and friends! We have been traveling about promoting our new geocaching-tourism venture (more on that later in 2012). For now, we are enjoying the time at home. One of my favorite songs is Kenny Loggins' "Celebrate Me Home" and it speaks to where we are right now. One of the local cachers has started a tradition that I like. This is the second year he's played the Dirty Santa game with the geocaching community in the Piedmont of North Carolina. Thanks to RhettButler2 and Scarlett for putting out Dirty Santa 2011 (GC38QY7) in the woods just around the corner from my daughter's home. Along with my grandson, MasterYoda1, I made the trip a short way into the woods to find a giant blue package all decked out with a bow. Inside were many gifts. According to the cache description some were gag gifts. The instructions were to avoid cherry picking but to just reach inside the bag and come up with the wrapped gift that you are going to open. We took our turns at it and got our gifts. Our gifts were not gag gifts. I got a nice pare of work gloves and my grandson got a nice picture frame with the photo of the cache owner. Hats off to RhettButler2 and Scarlett for their generosity!

Triad Christmas Party Geocaching Event

2011-12-25T01:04:00.005-06:00

A great time was had by all who attended the Triad Christmas Party (GC38XB0) geocaching event at the Farmer's Market near Greensboro, NC this past Friday night. Thanks to markcase for organizing the party. We had some great country cooking at the Moose Cafe in a room set apart for our group. We were probably 50 people or so. My granddaughter, who declined attending, calls us geo-weirdos but I don't mind. I was accompanied by my grandson, MasterYoda1, who was thrilled to meet some of the people who have been finding his geocaches. I met some new geocachers from the general area. I sat across from some folks from Martinsville, Va. and beside a fellow who started caching two months ago and who is from Ashboro. We all brought a geocache to exchange. We formed a large circle and markcase read a silly story about Christmas. Everytime he said the word "right" you passed your geocache to the right; everytime he said "left" in the story you passed your cache to the left. At the end of the story most of the caches had made it around the circle. When the story ended you had your cache. My grandson took a unique cache. His was a bubblegum dispenser full of swag. Mine was a micro. I saw some unique and interesting cache containers. On top of everything this event was my 1500th geocache find. After the party we went out to find two caches that were specially placed for the event. MasterYoda1 was the FTF on one! We came home content and ready to attend future events if given the opportunity. Merry Christmas to all!!!!!!

Sacsayhuaman Earthcache - Cusco, Peru

2011-12-18T01:07:00.000-06:00

We had the pleasure of meeting up with some good friends recently and got to tour the sites around Cusco. We rented a van and bought passes to see Sacsayhuaman, Quenqo and several other Inca ruins within a short distance of the city. The day was beautiful and everyone was well. We climbed through the Sacsayhuaman fortress ruins. What amazing stone work done so long ago! For me another highlight of the visit was the earthcache at the location. After touring all the fortress off we went to complete the requirements for Striated Extrusion of Sacsayhuaman (GC2Q45T). The cache page included a photo but none of the rock formations I could see seemed to match up with it. While my friend continued looking around on top of the hill I climbed down and told my wife I was going to look around the back side of the hill. Before I got around the hill I could hear children laughing and screaming with delight. There it was; the scene from the picture. The rock formation leaving two perfect stone slides about 30 feet long. There were about 15 Quechua children having the time of their lives sliding down the stone slides. The five kids in our group joined right in. This made their day. If you get to Cusco be sure and visit this archaeological site and check out the slides. They are great!

Bulls

2011-12-11T02:36:00.002-06:00

In almost fourteen years in Ecuador I had successfully avoided the bull ring. I just wasn't interested in seeing man take on bull. During a recent visit by my daughter's father-in-law he talked me into taking him to see what he and I thought would be a bull fight. Quito has its bull ring in north Quito where during Quito Days (the first week of December) there are full fledged bull fights with famous matafores. This was not what we went to see. We saw a sign advertising a bull fight in San Jose de Moran, one of the outlying communities on the northeast side of Quito, so we decided to go. It was advertised for 2 p.m. We caught a bus up to the small plaza in front of the San Jose de Moran Church. From there we asked directions to the bull fight. Some children knew the way and for a quarter we had a guide. Think small town rodeo now. We paid our $3 entrance fee and came into an area that was partitioned off from a soccer field. The owners had put up tarps to block off viewing by those who didn't pay to come in. There was a coral around which people could gather and then there was a raised platform. We paid $1 to rent a plastic chair each and climbed the ladder to the covered platform. We set up and waited. While waiting for the bull fighting to begin, along came a young man. He sat down on the edge of the platform and promptly dropped something. He climbed into the ring and on his way out my son-in-law offered him a hand up. Unfortunately the young man was already running on alcohol or some other drug. He wanted to know if we were going to "torrear" (fight the bulls). We quickly told him no. He pulled out his cape to show us his plans to fight. Soon the loud music ceded way to an announcer who told us of the imminent release of the first bull. Suddenly a about 10 spectators entered the ring, most congregating around a small safe zone in the center of the coral. This area was about 4 feet by 4 feet wide and was nothing more than a small cage made from logs stood upright in the earth. As the first bull was released these young men did all they could to taunt the bull into coming their way. They were mostly operating on liquid bravery or a sense of machismo designed to impress their girls. It was interesting to watch one strut onto the field like he was something and then scurry to the safety of the safe zone the moment the bull took a step in his direction. Suddenly our bull fighting friend appear in the ring, cape in hand chasing behind the bull. Of all the amateurs on the field of battle this young man was clearly the bravest or the most foolhardy. We weren't sure which. Time after time as the macho men dived over the wooden fence or ran for the safe zone, bullfighter used his cape to trick the bull to the left or right of his body. Only on a few occasions did he feel the need to climb the wall. There was another group of men there. I guess they were a subset of the macho men. They were the vaqueros, or cowboy types. It was odd to see the spurs, the pointed boots, jeans and cowboy shirts and hats on Ecuadorians. They too scurried for safety every time the bull came their way. Bullfighter persisted in tracking down and engaging the bull, occasionally losing his footing due to drink or drug. We were concerned for him. It would only be a matter of time until the bull would win. Bullfighter made it through the first hour and it wasn't until the third bull came out that his time was up. The bull pinned him against the fence, fortunately not goring him but apparently breaking his wrist. As he retired from the ring the fire department medics came to check on him. He was through for the day. We were glad he was not seriously injured. After an hour and a half of drunks taunting and running from the bulls we wondered if the main event was about to begin. Certainly a small community bull fight isn't just a bunch of drunks running around with the bulls? Suddenly in came the clowns. These guys were used to fighting the bulls and were pretty good. One made a big deal of grabbing the microphone and asking where we three gringos were from. They were proud that we were there at their small time bull fight and made us feel welcome. Maybe a little too welcome as after the first period of clown antics with the bulls one climbed into the stands to try to offer us a drink from the same big beer bottle that they had forced into the bull's mouth. We declined because we don't drink and if we did we wouldn't drink after bulls. Some of the crowd did. This was followed by one of the young macho cowboys riding a bull. He did a pretty good job, staying on the bull until it surprised everyone by crashing between the upright logs of the safe zone leaving the cowboy hanging in the air. Whether we arrived at a midway intermission in the program or the end we weren't sure. I suspect it was intermission. We realized that there wasn't much more that could happen that was new unless they were going to have drunk women fight the bull next. I wasn't sure I wanted to see that. I remember a sign at the ticket booth that said that children under 12 were not allowed in the bull ring. By now there were boys even younger than 12 in the ring. The police and medics didn't seem too concerned. Time to go. I thought of placing a cache in the area but it was just not practical. Chalk it up to another interesting cultural experience. Rural town Ecuadorian bullfighting isn't what you think of. Yet, a positive point is that they didn't hurt the bulls. If anything it was the drunks who get hurt. Not the best day of entertainment. I won't go back.

Unique Caches

2011-12-04T01:54:00.000-06:00

While caching in the Triad area of North Carolina I've come across some unique and interesting caches. Here are just a few:

1) It was one of those days where I had to get just one. I'd started the day saying that I'd spend it with family and help my wife pack for our return to Ecuador. Then as the day dragged on and it became evident that she didn't need me as much as I thought she did, the nagging feeling that there were geocaches out their waiting for me got the better of me. I only had an hour before time to go to my son-in-law's parents house for supper so I had to be quick. I parked the car on the exit ramp where the truckers have parked and worn down a pretty definite parking area. I crossed the ramp and into the woods. Just as described, Nuke It (GCW6A0) sat as big as day for all to see. All that ventured into this part of the woods would see it but not the casual passer-by. I opened it up, signed the log, picked up a TB and was on my way to supper.

2) Later I was out for a few more caches. One caught my attention. It was Slice! (GC21T5F) just off of an old golf course. I parked at the recreation center and started to track into the woods. I was not prepared with long pants for the briers I encountered so I headed out to the main road to try it from there. I found it not much better. Nonetheless I beat my way through a patch of briers with my walking stick. Once in the pine thicket the undergrowth was much less of a problem and moving was easy. I found the red bucket and the spilled golf balls described in the cache notes. Within a few minutes I had the cache in hand. To get out I decided that the direct way through the woods and briers to the recreation center couldn't be much worse than the round about way I had come in. I was right and was on the road to another cache in no time.

3) Kicked the Bucket (GC1R9Q1) was another fun cache. I parked the car at my wife's maternal grandparents' old place. They have since passed on. I walked down the road and then began some serious bushwhacking through the high weeds and briers. My wife waited for me back at the old home place, reminiscing about days gone by. When I got to the GZ I found the old car in the photo above. The clue required that I look a certain distance at the 1:30 position from the driver's seat (had their been a driver's seat). The clue was good and I had the cache in a short time. The trip out of the wilderness was just as rugged as it was getting in.

4) The last one isn't a cache but one of the interesting sights seen while caching recently in Greensboro, NC. I'd just come out of the woods near Price Park. I was actually in a residential section when I saw these two fawns walking through a yard. They casually crossed the street and stood in someone's front yard as I snapped this picture. They seem to be very used to humans. We never see deer in Ecuador so I'm always intrigued when I get the chance to see them!

The Banana Man

2011-11-27T01:12:00.000-06:00

It was a real blessing is to be able to spend time with other ex-pat friends recently. We gathered in a house not to far from the new cache I placed in Pucallpa, Peru. Pucallpa is a jungle city of about 400,000 population situated on the Ucayali River. The logging industry is probably the biggest business in this region. For much of the year this region swelters in heat and humidity but is blessed with all the beauty of the rain forest. Pucallpa is a Quechua name meaning literally "Red Earth". A sign as you come out of the airport into town welcomes you to the "Tierra Roja". More and more streets are paved now but most are still red dirt (or mud if it is raining). The major form of transportation is by moto-taxi. The streets are full of moto-taxis buzzing (a rather loud buzzing when there are hundreds of them) up and down with their passengers. They out number cars 15:1 in this town and are the major mode of in-town transportation. I'd like to see the day when tourist geocachers in Pucallpa are running from geocache to geocache in moto-taxis. I'm convinced that those tourist who happen to be geocachers planning a trip to the Peruvian jungle and trying to decide between one location and another will likely opt for the location with the most geocaches. I placed the new cache near the airport and along a well transited road. It's called The Banana Man (GC2JR26) and the picture tells the story. I've spent two mornings walking the streets around this house looking for a decent place to put a cache out but found very few. Most locations are too full of muggles to place a cache and expect it to survive the week. The Banana Man has a good chance of survival if the geocacher is careful. The cache is not right in the middle of all that traffic but is in a more cacher-friendly location within sight of the Banana Man. If you come to Peru let me encourage you to visit the Ucayali River area, nearby Yarinacocha (a beautiful lake) and check out a few caches in the area. Congratulations to Dav&Lin for the FTF!

The Oldest Catholic Church in Ecuador

2011-11-20T01:56:00.000-06:00

Sumajhuarmi and I got up at 5 a.m. in order to hit the road by 6 a.m. We were headed out for one of those fun days of geocaching and sightseeing in Ecuador. We traveled south along the Panamerican Highway from Quito. We traveled through towns like Latacunga, Salcedo, and Ambato to get to our destination: Riobamba. We were hosted by Jimnet2005 and Maria Belen in their hometown. Soon after arriving at their home we headed out in their little red sports car to the Colta Lake area. Colta is not only where the first catholic church began in Ecuador. It is also famous for being the place where the first Ecuadorian highland Spaniard settlement was established in 1533. It is also where the first Evangelical missionaries began their work among the Chimborazo Quichua in the early 1900's. We pulled into the small parking lot in front of the oldest Catholic church in Ecuador. After a quick tour of the building we headed outside to look for Balbanera: The First Catholic Church (GC2J8Y7). This was the first nano that I've found in Ecuador. No spoilers here. You'll have to find this one on your own! After signing the log we traveled a few kilometers further south and visited the new Colta Park right on the lake. I highly recommend it. We took a half hour boat tour on the lake. You can rent paddle boats, rafts or you can go out on the fiberglass covered tour boat with a guide who'll explain the legends of the lake. Colta Lake has lots of reeds (totora). There are also several floating islands made up of totora on the lake. Some of these even occasionally have cattle grazing on them. We were told that the islands float around so for a week or so at a time the cattle graze as they float around the lake. Cow tourism I guess. Today we saw no cattle but as the boat tried to pass between two of the floating islands we got stuck. To get from the south end of the lake to the north you had to pass through a small breech between two floating islands. The guide and driver gunned the boat to get us through going north. Coming back south he didn't make it and we got stuck. It took all four men on the boat to pole and push us out of this trap. The floating island was firm enough that the guide and his helper could lay a long pole down on the grass and stand on it to push the boat. That along with poling got us through. If you come to Ecuador I suggest you visit this church and nearby Colta Lake!

Some Piedmont rural caches

2011-11-13T02:17:00.000-06:00

Hot muggy days may stop some cachers but not me. I have to take advantage of being in a cache-rich environment while I can. My wife had assigned me the task of running several errands so I programmed in a few caches along a route to and from. I started out in an urban setting but ended up in a rural area. I prefer the latter. In the urban areas I typically get to the GZ and find it too muggle-heavy to search for during business hours. I write these off for after hours. There was one urban cache at the end of a parking lot that proved do-able. It was from a "Gone with the Wind" series. I can't figure out the connection between the cache container and the title. The location was beside a fire station thought. It was called Great Balls of Fire! It's Rhett! (GC1YK33). It was a nano cleverly disguised as the picture indicates. From there I hit a few that I had DNF'd last year. They stayed DNFs as I've apparently not gotten any wiser. As I moved into the rural setting I found another cache in a series around the theme of telecommunications. Can Ewe Here Me Now #2 (GC242XE) demonstrated one use for old cell phones. I visited another in that same series before moving on to my favorite, a container hidden on hillside full of large rocks. Hard Rock Candy (GC23EX2) was a little more of a challenge and very much appreciated. Getting to it required a little climbing and some bushwhacking through the briers. Now to the last errand and home. It's KFC tonight and I have to bring it home.

Kusilluchayuc: toads, snakes and monkeys

2011-11-06T01:49:00.000-06:00

During a recent trip to Cusco, Peru a friend and I caught a taxi and traveled along the main route leading to the Sacred Valley. Our quest was to find Kusilluchayuc (GC2XQF2). Our taxi driver stopped several times to ask directions so as to get us as close as he could. This ancient Inca ruin is located off the routes that cars can travel and does not seem to be a main tourist attraction. The driver stopped and asked a farmer if his passengers could cut across his field. With friendly approval from the farmer we were off on a 500 meter hike down the hill to a clump of carved stone outcroppings. My friend tracked us to the cache with my GPSr. After signing the log and replacing the cache we decided to search for the famous stone with the carvings of a monkey and snakes. The name of the cache and also the name of the ruins means "place of monkeys" in Quechua. At this elevation there are no monkeys but the Inca people certainly knew of the monkeys that inhabit the nearby jungle. The stone was described as being two meters in height and shaped like a large toad. Fortunately for us the cache was an easier find. After a short search we found some young lovers hiding out among the ruins. They were kind enough to show us the stone. Maybe they thought we'd go away quicker if we found what we were looking for. It was hard to make out the images. Can you see the image of the monkey in the close-up photo? It looks like they are pretty weather-worn. On one side of the ruins runs the Inca Trail. We walked uphill to get a glimpse of the Moon Temple. It was already getting late so we took photos from a distance and headed back down the mountain. We had several stops to make along the way. One was Quenqo Grande and Quenqo Chico. GTAbusquedor has placed a micro at Quenqo Chico. If you come to Cusco be sure and visit the labyrinth Inca ruins here. We then cut across a stand of eucalyptus trees to the Cristo Blanco statue overlooking Cusco. There we began our descent into Cusco. As we were coming down the steep mountain prepared trail the lights of Cusco began to come on. What a beautiful view! Cusco has so much to see. Fortunately the number of geocaches is growing too!

Historic Quito

2011-10-30T01:13:00.000-05:00

There is currently only one nano geocache located in the historic or colonial part of Quito. It is at the bascilica, the first photo in the group. If you are coming to this part of town be sure and visit the Bascilica del Voto Nacional and take the tour. You get to climb the 300 plus steps to the center and rear spire and get a great view of the city from above. This cathedral has a religious and political motivation. The chapels off to the sides of the main sanctuary are dedicated and named after the provinces. There is a burial section you can visit for the presidents of the country. Only four are buried there at present. While there be sure and look for UIO Basilica (GC1CVMW). You don't have to pay to find it as it is located outside the building. I'm not sure that you can look for it after regular business hours as the gate may close. Recently I had the opportunity to visit a number of the churches in the old city. Part of my goal was to get to know the culture a little better. Part of my goal was to hide a micro cache. I had a great time visiting the churches but I came away convinced that until I get a nano sized cache to hide, this will be near impossible in this part of town. Sorry for that! We highly recommend that you visit the following churches, all within walking distance of one another. Visit the Santo Domingo Church (started by the Dominicans). Also check out the San Francisco Church and monastery (started by the Franciscans). We found the Primada Church to be a good tour. It is right on the main government plaza and houses the remains of two presidents. Probably the most famous being Mariscal Sucre, the liberator of Ecuador. Be sure to visit the Compania de Jesus Church (found by the Jesuits). Another worthwhile visit is the San Augustine Church (founded by the Augustinians). Finally, we visited and recommend the La Merced Church. Why so many different Catholic Churches in such a small area? The answer is that there are many Catholic orders and they seemed to all want to have their own church and convent and to have the most ornate presentation. By far the most gold covered and costly church was that of the Jesuits. If you are a runner you might like to run in the 10 Kilometer night race that goes by all the major historic Catholic church buildings in Quito.

The Senator's Grave Geocache

2011-10-23T01:13:00.000-05:00

A while back we had the opportunity to travel into northeastern North Carolina and visit several churches, one which I pastored years ago. We had a great time staying with some friends and speaking in their church about our work in Ecuador. They had never heard of geocaching so I showed them. Not too far from their church is a virtual called The Senator's Grave (GCH16M). To all who read this I have to say that I can't tell the story without a little spoiler. Be warned if you are planning to look for this cache. This particular Senator (the town where I was a pastor is named in his honor) requested that everyone who came by would place a stone on his grave. Today there is a pile. Thomas Jefferson had some nice words for him that are on a nearby plaque.

Rumiwasi - Cusco, Peru

2011-10-16T01:27:00.001-05:00

We landed in Cusco and were picked up by the Hotel Ruinas van. After a quick check-in to a nice room we were off to find Rumiwasi (GC2K6ZB) . It was an overcast day about 60 degrees F. The cache instructions gave us two options for getting out to San Sabastian, one was taxi and the other by bus. We walked down the hill and found the bus. If you go by bus be ready to stand up since the bus is often full. We got out at the large obelisk with a condor on the top. From there we tracked to the waypoint marking the beginning of a trail up the mountain. We have been living at sea level for a number of months so we could feel the lack of oxygen as we climbed. The climb took us through developing communities. On a Sunday afternoon we mostly saw dogs outside and very few muggles. The ruins of Rumiwasi are great. They are off the beaten path so there are no entrance fees and no tourist enterprise. When we got to GZ we admired the Inca construction by taking a bunch of photos. The cache was hidden just as advertised. We found it, signed the log and replaced the cache before heading down the mountain. What a view of the city of Cuzco and the airport where we landed earlier in the afternoon. Now that I'm back on line I want to do a little research to learn more about Rumiwasi. These were such fascinating ruins to be of little value to the tourism industry! I hope you'll check out Rumiwasi when you come to Cusco. It will be worth the climb!

La Virgencita - FTF after almost two years

2011-10-09T01:38:00.000-05:00

In February 2009 I had the opportunity to climb part of Illaniza Norte. That was an exciting trip. I really gained an appreciation for the difference it makes to acclimatize to the elevation. We spent the night at the hut in the saddle between the two mountain peaks. The next morning we continued up Illaniza Norte until we reach the point that it became rather technical, then we turned back. The views were spectacular. The day before as we started our climb up I hid a geocache, Illaniza, La Virgencita (GC1N83W). At that point I did not think that this would be a long time being found. There are a number of climbers that are geocachers so I figured within a couple of months this would be found. It took 23 months for autobus to make the FTF. Even then autobus waited about 9 months to post his find. I just received the notice the first week of October 2011! Prior to this one cacher lamented the muggle climbers he accompanied to the summit because they wouldn't allow him the time to hunt for the cache on the way down even though his GPSr put him within 20 feet of the cache. That has to be frustrating! I'm glad that the cache has been found and hope that many others who set out to climb these gorgeous mountain peaks will take the time to look for this small treasure. It's not the treasure as much as the mountain that makes this an experience worth having. Enjoy the mountain!

Route of the Hiawatha Bike Trail - Idaho

2011-10-02T01:59:00.000-05:00

Want some biking adventure in a beautiful area. Try the Route of the Hiawatha Bike Trail. It starts just off Interstate 90 just across the state line in Montana. It is all downhill from that end. What do you get? A beautiful ride through the pine covered mountains along an old railroad prepared for biking. Along the way you'll go through seven tunnels and seven high trestle bridges. I wish I'd known about geocaching when I did this ride. I suspect there might be some caches along the way. Panhandle Idaho is simply gorgeous!

Huaca Huallamarca - Ichma Culture

2011-09-25T01:53:00.001-05:00

It was a nice sunny day when we left our hotel in another part of Lima to visit the Huallamarca pyramid ruins in the San Isidro section of Lima. What an amazing thing to see. In the middle of a modern residential community sits a centuries-old adobe pyramid made by tribal people that predate the Inca. The contrast of modern and ancient is striking and pleasant. We took a bus from our part of town and got off on Avenue Javier Prado just a few blocks from the ruinas, called a "huaca". The entrance fee was only about the equivalent of $1.50 US. This gets you the guided tour of the pyramid, which included walking up the long ramp to the top and going into the museum. It was well worth the investment of time and money. It took years for the Lima culture, the tribe living in this area at the beginning of the Christian era, to build this adobe structure. As new cultures rose the site begin to take on different roles. It went from a place of worship to a place of burial several times. Be sure to visit the geocache by the same name. Huallamarca (GC249K8) is located just outside the grounds of the site. You don't have to pay an entrance fee to find the cache. Due to its location in an upscale residential community I recommend visiting during daylight hours. Be sure to check out the other Lima caches while you are here. Stealth is a must as most Peruvians have no idea what geocaching is!

The Route of the Waterfalls - Ecuador

2011-09-18T01:14:00.001-05:00

The Pastaza River makes its way down from high in the Ecuadorian Andes Mountains into the Amazon Basin. As it descends below Baños it and its tributaries create some of the most spectacular waterfalls in the country. Along with my good friend jimnet2005 I have placed a few caches in the area. Be sure to visit them. Along the way you'll see some spectacularly beautiful country! You are in the gateway to the Ecuadorian Amazonian jungle. As you descend the temperatures will start to rise and you'll know you are in the jungle. The fauna changes. The animals you see are different. The way the people dress changes. You'll be amazed at how in such a short drive as you pass through numerous tunnels Andean mountain beauty cedes to another kind of beauty. Come and enjoy!

Some interesting North Carolina Piedmont caches

2011-09-11T00:35:00.000-05:00

SPOILER ALERT FOR PIEDMONT NORTH CAROLINA - I had fun on several recent cache hunts in the Piedmont of North Carolina. Here's to highlighting a few interesting and enjoyable caches. On a hot, sunny afternoon I set out to go caching with my grandson. His mom called me to say that they were running late coming back from church and could I come a half hour later than planned. I was too eager to find some caches and I was ready so I started driving to their house but planned to stop off for one along the way. This was Another Dam Cache (GC2F57F) and it was reputed to be a difficult one. One cacher indicated that one of the caches he found served to help him find this one. Great! The cache he referred to was still on my DNF list after several tries. With 30 minutes to give it I pulled in and started tracking to the GZ. Loggers encouraged you to trust the coordinates even though they take you to an open, mowed field. Where in the world would this cache be hidden in a field with no trees, no rocks, no nothing but grass cut down to the ground? I set my swag bag down at what averaged out as ground zero on several approaches and started to go over the ground foot by foot working my way outward from my bag. I wasn't too far out when I saw what looked like a coke bottle cap stuck in the mud. I bent down to pick it up to throw it away at the parking lot trash can. Eureka! The cache!

I talked my daughter into coming with me on one cache run. We headed out near the airport to pick up a few. Most were easy park and grabs because I knew she wasn't going to go for any woods caches. One of our favorites that caused us to pause for several photo shots was Bull Market (GC1XVNZ). When I do a downtown --very urban-- cache run I prefer to do it on bike. Finding parking is often difficult with a car or truck so this works better for me. I had a great time biking through downtown High Point to pick up a few urban micros. One was Ole - A tribute to John Coltrane (GC131H4). I know those stopped at the stoplight in their air conditioned cars thought the crazy biker had gotten to much sun as I looked high and low for this one. One that I had found previously but was along the same route was Dirty Drawers (GCXDYY). High Point, the furniture capitol of the world, has several slightly over sized pieces of furniture on display. This cache is looked nearby.

El Puente de los Suspiros - Barranco, Lima

2011-09-04T06:16:00.000-05:00

If you are touring Lima, Peru, be sure to make the short trip out to Barranco, a part of the greater city of Lima located along the coast. It is famous as the part of town where many artists have made their home. Today the area is populated with homes, restaurants and a nice beach at the base of the cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. A trip to Barranco at night will give you the opportunity to see many old houses and restaurants with all their beautiful lights. For geocachers the highlight might be the micro hidden somewhere around the "Bridge of Sighs", or as it is known in Spanish, Puente de los Suspiros (GC2ZQG8). Along with sumajhuarmi we started out around Avenida Javier Prado and the Via Expresa. From there we took the Metro bus, which travels down the express way, passing under the intersections and avoiding stoplights. We got off at Plaza Flores, which is the end of the line for this bus/trolley. I got out my GPSr and found that we were .97 miles from the cache. Off we went walking down a residential street headed towards Barranco. Slowly the architecture started to change as we headed further south. It went from modern construction to old houses built in the 1800's. Another thing that caught our eye was that some of the houses are painted in different bright colors. This is particularly nice given the fact that Lima is cloud covered for months at a time. The color adds some life to the street! Within about 1/5 of a mile of the cache we spotted a park down a street to the right so we headed towards it. There it was! A wooden bridge spanning a ravine that descends towards the ocean. The bridge connects a small plaza area and an outdoor staircase between two restaurants with a street and a beautiful yellow Catholic Church building on the other side of the ravine. There were tourist there with their guide. He was explaining the history of the bridge. According to him and the legend he was drawing from a rich man's daughter fell in love with a poor young man. He father would not allow her to marry him. As the story goes she sat at her window overlooking the bridge watching for her love each day. She did so for many years. The bridge became known as the "bridge of sighs". Did it really happen? Who knows. It's a nice bridge in a beautiful part of town. Underneath the bridge a small road descents towards the coast. It is lined with homes and restaurants. Many of the restaurants have balconies where you can eat your meal and watch the people pass by. At the bottom of the ravine a set of steps will take you all the way to the beach. While standing around listening to the guide and scanning the area the cache hint told us to consider sumajhuarmi announced to me that she saw it. We waited just a few minutes to when no one was watching to retrieve the cache. We sat in the little park below the bridge to sign the log sheet. It took a little longer to hide the cache again as a new group of tourist were on the bridge. We had a great time in Barranco. Be sure to come visit and don't forget to visit the bridge and the cache.

Cochasqui Pre-Inca Pyramids

2011-08-28T01:44:00.000-05:00

One of the must see historical and archeological sites near Quito is the Pyramids of Cochasqui. To get there you can take a bus from Quito to Tabacundo (about an hour) and then take a taxi trip up to the nearby Pyramids. Before the Inca conquest of the early 1500's this region was occupied by the Quitu-Cara culture. They occupied the area between present-day Quito and Otavalo, Ecuador. In the 1800's the land where the pyramids are was part of a hugh hacienda. The owners wondered what the earthen mounds were. About 1912 the owner dug into one of the larger mounds, leaving a jagged scar across it. In the 1930's the first archeological excavation took place revealing over 500 sculls in a room inside of the pyramid. Since that time archeologist have determined that the 15 pyramids and numerous tolas (burial mounds) built before the Inca conquests were for religious, military and astrological purposes. We are told that the Quitu-Cara people, as they saw the impending approach of the Inca closing in, began a process of burying the entire pyramid complex under several meters of dirt. This left the mounds that we see today. Below the earth covering you will find block pyramids reaching up to five or six stories in height. The visit is well worth the time and effort to travel outside Quito. For Ecuadorians the cost is $1; for visitors from other countries it is $3. It is a guided tour. Be sure to check out Cochasqui Pyramids (GC2PXXH). It is located off the property and should be available at any time. Happy caching!

Idaho - where I first learned of geocaching

2011-08-21T01:59:00.001-05:00

Allow me to digress. Back in 2007 I had the opportunity to spend a few weeks in the panhandle of Idaho for some survival training. What a beautiful place. During the training we were prepared for an escape and evasion exercise. The trainer was familiarizing us with how to utilize a GPS receiver. I owned one and was familiar but some of the guys weren't. Somehow they planned on us utilizing them in our E and E. At the end of the training exercise on how to use the GPSr the trainer told us he'd hidden several tupperware boxes in the woods and we were to find them. He gave us four or five sets of coordinates and off we went. At first I thought it was kind of lame. We found the boxes and they had pine cones and twigs inside. Later he told us there was a sport designed around a similar hunt. He gave me the website and as soon as I was able to connect I checked it out. I saw that there was one on the Pichincha mountain overlooking Quito. I decided then and there that I would go looking for it when I got back. I did and I was hooked from then on. Thanks Idaho for the lesson in geocaching.

El Libertador - Lima

2011-08-14T01:08:00.002-05:00

One of my historical heroes is Argentine General Jose de San Martin. Not long ago I featured a park in Riobamba, Ecuador where Argentine troops fought to secure Ecuadorian freedom. Recently I had the opportunity to go with sumajhuarmi and see Plaza San Martin in the center of Lima, Peru. Why a big statue of Jose de San Martin in Lima? It's because San Martin, known as the Liberator or "El Libertador", played a key role in the independence of three South American countries: his native Argentina, Chile and Peru. After several failed attempts by Argentine liberation forces to defeat Royalist forces in the high plains of Bolivia, San Martin conceived the strategy of taking Lima, Peru from the Pacific Ocean instead of overland through Bolivia (then part of Peru). To do this required he secure Chile first. After several significant battles in Chile they succeeded in driving the Spanish Royalist out of Chile and moved north by sea to Peru. They landed in the southern coastal city of Pisco where they based for several months in early 1821. While there San Martin organized and recruited Peruvians to the cause of independence. Instead of marching on Lima he sough a diplomatic approach to establishing an independent Peru. The Vice Regent for Spain would not agree to San Martin's proposal of an independent Peru so after several months he began his move to take Lima. Liberation troops from several countries (Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Colombia and Peru) established two fronts, one to the north of Lima and one to the south. Additionally they blockaded the port of Callao so that little to no supplies could enter the city. Soon the Spanish Royalist retreated into the mountains leaving Lima to the liberation forces of San Martin. On 28 July 1821 Peruvian independence was declared from the center of Lima by Jose de San Martin. Was it all over yet? No. Royalist forces moved into the Cusco area where they held out for a few years more. In the mean time liberation forces under the direction of Venezuelan General Simon Bolivar continued to fight for Ecuador's freedom. Both San Martin and Simon Bolivar met briefly in Guayaquil, Ecuador to discuss the path forward. A great mystery surrounds their meeting. It was evident that they did not see eye to eye but little more was ever said about their meeting. San Martin departed for Peru and soon returned to Argentina, leaving the final battles in the hands of Bolivar's generals. San Martin returned to Argentina but soon found that fighting among those who had fought for independence put Argentina in great turmoil. The political situation was such that he departed Argentina for France where he lived the rest of his life. With the exception of one short visit to Argentina he did not participate in the Argentine political or social life again. San Martin is a great hero, the George Washington figure of South America. In the plaza that bears his name you can find a geocache called El Libertador (GC31EJ6). It requires some stealth to find without being discovered. Be sure to check out the equestrian statue of Jose de San Martin in the center of the plaza. Congratulations to Funbiker for the FTF! Latin America needs some more quick FTF finders! This one only took a little under a week!

Cayambe Volcano in the Clouds

2011-08-07T00:19:00.000-05:00

Cayambe Volcano is located in northern Ecuador just along the equatorial line. While I've been up to the refuge on the mountain several times, I've only hidden a cache lower down the mountain. Recently I went up with my daughter and her family I decided to put one near the refuge. We drove out of Quito for an hour to get to the rural town of Cayambe, named for the nearby volcano. We followed the "Nevado Cayambe" road signs which got us through the town. Once on the right cobblestone road we continued the climb. There is one fork in the road where you have to go right to get to the volcano. Unfortunately it isn't marked. I wish I'd thought to make it a waypoint for cachers but I forgot it at the time. If you stay on the cobblestoned road and don't take the dirt road forking off to the right, you drive several miles until you get to a dead end at a large gorge. Then you will backtrack. Continuing on the correct road we climbed up to small town of Piedmonte where you start the ascent towards the volcano by turning left. The road was rough there. Without 4X4 the way would be too much. At about 13,000 feet above sea level we were enveloped by the clouds. The terrain was very different and the fauna in this treeless area was unique. We made it to the refuge where we spent the majority of our time outside. Had it been a clear day the view would have been spectacular. We were clouded in completely. I hid Cayambe Volcano Refuge (GC2PVPN) not far from the refuge. It was so cloudy that I'm not sure that on a clear day you could see the location or not. In Ecuador when you buy vegetables at the market they often give you the "yapa", the extra potato or extra carrot. This cache is the "yapa". The real prize is the mountain itself, and getting there.

North, South, East and West

2011-07-31T02:50:00.003-05:00

Every now and then when caching opportunities are down to nothing I take a look back at some of the caches I've found. I enjoy seeing if they are still there, what the logs say, some the photos, etc. Recently I started thinking about which cache find was the most northern, southern, eastern and western on the map. All of my travels since I became a geocacher have been in North and South America. Here they are: North most: New one for us (GCAD23) - a virtual memorializing fallen firefighters north of Hartford, Conn. I remember how biting cold the wind was the day I found this one; Southern most: Cerro Nielol (GC2016P) - a regular in a nice park overlooking Temuco, Chile that I found with some friends who had never been caching before; Eastern most: Majo y Zou BUE Cache (GCN1VD) - a magnetic micro on an old large port crane used for of loading ships in the Buenos Aires, Argentina port; and Western most: Tarantula Alley (GCH4VZ) - I found this regular cache alone on a windy day when I crawled down into a deep gully overshadowed by several tall power-generating windmills on a butte overlooking San Jon, New Mexico to the north. Hey, what about you? Leave a comment on your cache find that is farther from home in one or all of the cardinal directions!

Piedmont Environmental Center caching hike

2011-07-24T01:10:00.000-05:00

SPOILER ALERT FOR GUILFORD COUNTY, NC ---- It was Sunday afternoon and little did I know that a surprise birthday party was in the works for me that evening. My 10 year old grandson wanted to go geocaching with me. It is this way every time I come hope to visit. He gets excited about going with me but that only lasts several trips and he's bored with it. This time he wanted to bring a neighbor. We met at 3:30 p.m. and headed out. I'd decided to visit the Piedmont Environmental Center again as four new caches had appeared there since I was last in town. We got to the parking area and after a brief explication of geocaching and how the GPSr worked, off we went. Garrett, the neighbor boy, had been with his grandfather before but didn't know much about the sport. He seemed to enjoy it from the very beginning. We made our way through the wooded area working our way east towards High Point City Lake. It was great to find some regular size caches in the woods after so many micros in the city. One was actually a micro in the woods but it wasn't too bad. One cache had us following geo-trails all around a fallen tree and through the briers. Finally we looked up and there it was. Always remember to look up! On a nearby tree we found a rope wound around some hooks to let it down. As the hint said it was in plain sight....sort of. A quick glance at the watch told me that we had just enough time to hike half a mile to try a multicache. The guys were up for it and off we went. The trail was beautiful. All three stages of the cache were right on and we found the final stage in short order. I haven't done many multicaches so it was nice to get another one. We headed back to the car and made it back to my daughter's house in time to get cleaned up and ready for the surprise birthday party that I wasn't supposed to know about. It was great. What a way to spend the day of your birthday party! Please forgive the upside down photo. I tried to change it out but feared I'd end up losing all my photos if I tried to get rid of this one. The tree really wasn't upside down.

Laguna 69

2011-07-17T01:18:00.000-05:00

Recently a good friend who lives in the high Andes of Central Peru posted some pictures on Facebook of his climb up to find Laguna 69 (GC29N6A). After looking them over I knew this would be a great cache and climb to promote on my blog. So give a welcome to low_rider73 as he describes in his own words his climb to this fabulous earthcache in the Department of Ancash, Peru.

During May and June, I invited a small group of college students down to help me do some research in the Andes Mountains. The team worked hard for 6 weeks gathering data, and so in their final few days in country, we had them come back to our town of Huaraz to enjoy civilization again and to do some excursions before heading back to the States. When asked what they wanted to do, they decided to hike to Laguna 69. I was excited because I don't have many opportunities to get out and hike like that and because I knew that it was an earthcache.

Therefore, on Monday morning, we loaded up in the truck bright and early and headed up to Yungay from Huaraz and took the path up past the Llanganuco lakes. Once we reached the campground beyond Yanganuco, we parked the truck on the side of the road and headed off on what we were told would be a 3 hour hike. Along the way, we past a few waterfalls, crossed a few streams, and climbed a few mountains. Although this Laguna gets a lot of tourism, the trail was in pretty good shape and wasn't trashed (as I expected it to be). After hiking for about an hour and 45 minutes, we thought that we were there, but quickly realized that we had another mountain to climb. After about 2 hours and 15 minutes of hiking, we finally made it. Wow, what an amazing place! The water is this brilliant turquoise color that is absolutely beautiful!

There were 4 of us hiking together and 2 of us made it a little quicker than the others. By time they arrived, Richard and I had decided that the glacier that sits above the lake looked too appealing to pass up. You see, we were told that you couldn't hike to the glacier because it was too far away and too difficult to get there. We decided, however, that it really wasn't that far away and that we were up for the challenge. Therefore, we left the other two behind and set off to touch the glacier. After one failed attempt, we backed down the mountain, regrouped, and headed off again on our second attempt. Fortunately, we picked a better route the second time and we actually reached the glacier for a few photos and such. After spending a few minutes there exploring a little, we headed back down to the lake to meet back up with our friends. Over all, it took about 2.5 hours to climb from the lake to the glacier (with the first time consuming mistake included).

Once we made our way back to the lake, our friends that were waiting on us told us that they decided that they would jump in the lake if we actually made it to the glacier. Therefore, we showed them our pictures as proof and they headed off looking for a private place to change into their swim trunks to take a dip in the freezing cold water. Much to our surprise, they actually jumped in, but it didn't last for long. They came out of the water about as quickly as they went in, but they did it!

After drying off and resting a bit, we all headed back out on the long journey back to the truck. Fortunately, the downhill momentum carried us most of the way, and so the trip back to the truck only took about 1 hour and 15 minutes (we were told that it would take 2 hours). Everything was going well on the trip back to the truck until we made it back to the campground. That was where we faced the final climb to get from the campground up to the truck. Not that it is that bad of a climb, but for the two of us that did all of the extra hiking and climbing, we were beyond exhausted and struggled every bit of the way up that little hill to the truck.

All in all, it was well worth every bit of it! If you are ever in the Huaraz, Peru area and have a day to spare, I highly recommend you taking the time to head up to Laguna 69! You certainly won't be let down by the spectacular view! (And if you want another challenge, climb up to the glacier overlooking the lake - I promise that it is well worth the extra effort!)

A Better Bear Trap

2011-07-10T02:00:00.001-05:00

SPOILER ALERT FOR PIEDMONT NORTH CAROLINA Every now and then you see a cache that catches your attention. It can be because it is unique in design, in the way it is hidden or in the place it is hidden. Today I saw one that I really liked. It wasn't all that difficult to find. It was actually very easy. I like the simple creativity of the geocachers who hide these types of caches. When I first saw it I grabbed my camera and snapped a picture. When it was time to sign the log I got to wondering if this were a functioning trap. What if I touch the bison tube and the whole thing springs on me? I poked it with my pen and then, with unnecessary effort, held the armed trap so it wouldn't close on me. Upon closer examination it became evident that the trap is rigged in such a way that it looks armed but will not spring on anyone. If you get to High Point, NC and get to do some caching, check out Build a Better Bear Trap (GC27HWZ) hidden very close to a playground at a recreation center. During the summer months there are lots of children in the area.

Riobamba: Salute to the Argentine Soldiers of 1822

2011-07-03T01:57:00.000-05:00

The 9th of July is a special holiday in Argentina. It is their Independence Day. How fitting that I can tell a story of Argentine bravery on the battlefield to assist in the securing of Ecuadorian liberty today. During the early 1820's the South American continent struggled for liberty. The forces of Simon Bolivar in the north and those of Jose San Martin in the south continued to strip away Spanish control. On 21 April 1822 some of San Martin's Argentine cavalry were on loan to the forces of Bolivar as they fought in the pitch battle of Riobamba. The Argentine cavalry was commanded by Juan Galo de LaValle, later to become a political force in Argentina. LaValle had been sent out with nearly 100 men to reconnoiter the terrain on this rainy, muddy morning. The commanding general wanted to know where best to make his stand against the advancing Spanish forces. When LaValle came upon the Spanish infantry he attacked, even though the force was three times bigger than his own. The Spanish infantry broke and ran and the Argentines pursued them a distance, then turned and slowly meandered back towards the liberating army. This angered the Spanish commanders who ordered a full out pursuit of LaValle's forces. The Spanish charged forward in pursuit and found themselves entrapped as the rest of the liberating army was in position to defeat them. The victory at Riobamba paved the way for the victory on the slopes of Volcano Pichincha overlooking the city of Quito, Ecuador. This battle was the final blow in Ecuadorian's liberation from Spanish rule. So today I salute my Argentine friends and family recognizing the sacrifice that these heroes made so many years ago. Of the 1000 men who marched from Mendoza, Argentina to assist in the fighting in countries like Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Colombia, only six were in the force when, some fourteen years after the creation of the regiment, they marched into Buenos Aires. I also appreciate jimnet2005 for showing me the hilltop park in downtown Riobamba where part of the battle was fought. I had hoped to hide a geocache there but was not able to. I do recommend that you visit the park. Maybe you can hide one there!

Gimme Some Sorta Sign

2011-06-26T01:50:00.000-05:00

SPOILER ALERT: PIEDMONT NORTH CAROLINA I had been after this cache before. Two years ago I took off on a winter walk along Westchester to pick up a number of caches. That day it was below freezing, snow was on the ground and the wind chill was driving the temperature sensation down. I remembered that looking for Just Gimme Some Sorta Sign (GC21J95) was uncomfortable because I found myself searching for the cache out in traffic where everyone could see me. Now a few years later I was back to try it again, just this time in the summer sun. After reading the logs I knew that this one would surprise me. I got to the GZ, left my car in an abandoned restaurant parking lot and went out to the large shrubbery-engulfed brick sign on the corner proclaiming the name of the shopping center. I started my search around the edges of the brick wall and sign. No cache. The cache page said the cache size was not chosen so it could be anything from a nano up. To get to the sign I had to duck into the shrubbery at a crouch. While there I was out of view of the passing vehicles. I felt around in the pine needles surrounding the plants, checked the small trees and the spider webs aplenty. Still no cache. I saw a birds nest and thought this could be it. I've found fake nests before but not this time. This one was real with baby birds waiting for mother bird to come feed them. I didn't want to mess with them as they say the mother might abandon the babies if they've been touched. I continued my search on hands and knees, sweat pouring off my brow. This cache was getting the better of me once again. One log entry had said that the cacher had found it after stepping just a certain way and looking just a certain way. OK, then up off my hands and knees. Maybe it will be sighted from above looking down into the shrubbery. After a minute or two exposed to the traffic entering the shopping center I noticed a hole in the sea of shrubbery. I looked down through the break in the sea of green to see a light fixture for illuminating the sign. No surprise here. I continued on but no cache find. Then I thought I better check out that flood light to see if it was real. I was back on my hands and knees looking through the bushes at the flood light. It was a stretch but I was able to reach it from the prone position. I pulled upward and the entire assembly came out of the ground. It was fake! I pulled it to me and disassembled it. The cache was a bison tube hidden inside the base of the light bulb. What a creative cache! I signed the log, snapped a few pictures, reassembled the cache and replaced it as I had found it. Climbing out of the bushes right beside traffic was a little awkward but the satisfaction at having finally solved this mystery outweighed all that. Mark another one of the DNF list!

Wings Over Orlando

2011-06-19T01:16:00.000-05:00

Want a really cool Virtual Cache? There aren't many out there but I found one just north of the Orlando International Airport. It's called Wings Over Orlando (GC4F78). Come check out the B-52 set up in this beautiful little out-of-the-way park on the north end of the airport. No spoilers here, just a commercial in hopes that if you get there you'll go see it. I really wish virtual caches would come back. I understand the concern over geocachers placing virtuals at every turn but I do believe that there could be some limitations placed on the type of cache that would make it a worthwhile thing. I really enjoyed seeing this place and seeing the aircraft that is on display. Few people know about this park and what it offers. Geocaching brought me here and gave me the chance to see it. Could we not have virtuals that are placed in a location of interest like this? Certainly there is a way to regulate this so that an LPC (Lamp post cache) doesn't become a virtual. Any thoughts on this one?

The Dwarfs and Snow White Series - Orlando, FL

2011-06-12T01:01:00.000-05:00

Caching in and around Orlando, Florida has been fun. The land is flat and good for biking. Fortunately I was able to borrow a bike to do some caching while at a recent conference. I had grabbed up all the caches within a kilometer of the conference area and was ready to extend my search further out. One problem: I had no car and the amount of time when I could break away for daylight caching during the conference limited me to that which was relatively close. Fortunately a friend loaned me a bike and I was able to extend my search out to a nearby park where, thanks to Heymanncachers, the Snow White and the Dwarfs series was waiting for me. It took me several visits to complete the course. I left and pedaled my way out during two lunch breaks and two mornings before breakfast. Each morning required that I leave before sunup to get there when the light was sufficient to see. Some of these caches are along the lake in woods mixed in with residential areas. I didn't want the police to come looking for me hunting in the night. The series was a fun one and it took me to some nice wooded locations. I was thinking that there were seven dwarfs so I'm not sure why there were only six dwarf caches before getting to the multicache that crowned the series. After I finished the series a friend told me about his experience with an alligator on the sidewalk near a pond at first light. It made me wonder just what I could and should have run into going out to at least two of the caches just at daybreak. I wonder if there are any geocachers in Florida that have been alligator bait? Check out the series if you get the chance to visit the Orlando area. It is a few miles south of the Orlando airport. The final cache is Snow White (GC28CDC).

Caches around the Wycliffe Bible Translator Center

2011-06-05T00:23:00.000-05:00

Sumajhuarmi and I arrived at the Wycliffe Bible Translator Center near Orlando, Florida and settled in for a nice conference. I had already scoped out the caches in the area. Since I was last here two years ago it looks like someone on the staff has discovered geocaching. Fortunate me! The next morning at 6 a.m. I headed out ahead of the sunrise to find a group of caches in the area. The weather was cool and pleasant and the paved walkways are great. I was up early enough that I didn't see any joggers for a while. I made my way north and started with The Legend of Wewahottie Willie (GC2KPAT), a cache along the road. This one proved pretty easy. I'd seen this type of cache before. The sun was starting to come up as I made my way back south. All along the way I was able to find caches. Several were in trees, one an LPC and one a nano magnetic. One cache did stump me and I had to give up for lack of time. I will return tomorrow after reading a few of the cache entries for some helpful hints. My favorite of the day I did after lunch. It was the only regular size cache in the area and I wanted to introduce a friend to geocaching. After lunch at the conference center sumajhuarmi, my friend and I headed across the street to find Every Nation, Tribe and Tongue (GC2K7FH). We were pleased to find a nice ammo can container with a TB ready to go. We signed the log, took the TB and replaced the cache as we found it. This cache was definitely placed by someone working at the Wycliffe Center. We had a great time and recommend these caches to anyone who gets the chance to visit. Stop in and visit the Wycliffe Discovery Center across the street. They have a wonderful educational center which explains the work of Wycliffe Bible Translators as they strive to translate the Bible into most of the known languages of the world. You'll be in impressed!

5 Posts

2011-05-26T08:23:00.000-05:00

SPOILER ALERT for the Orlando area. Central Florida was great! I enjoyed getting out and finding a few caches within walking distance of the conference center. One of my favorites was 5 Posts (GC1QH69), hidden in a small patch of jungle not too far off the road. I went to the GZ one day during my lunch break but could not find the cache. I went back and read the logs and was convinced that I'd seen where it was. Many of the logs said the name was of no help to us. The only thing out of place that I'd seen was a deer stand up in a tree. I spotted four metal spikes driven into the tree for climbing purposes. Could these be the "posts" that the name referred to? Where was the fifth then? I went back the next morning early but still came up empty handed. I was convinced it was up the tree but I couldn't get there. The stretch between one of the spikes was too much for my hurting knees so I decided to call a friend to come help me. Back at the conference I rounded up two friends to come with me. One was a lot younger than me and he agreed to climb the tree. He was up the tree in no time. The hint said that the cache was about four feet from the top. Could it mean from the top of the deer stand? Maybe it would be in the Spanish moss hanging there! But that wasn't to be. Where could it be. From his vantage point in the tree my friend suggested I check out a pine tree stump about 15 feet away. It was about six feet tall at the point where it was broken off. I was sure I'd been around that stump. So I went over and checked it out. There is was about a foot off the ground and approximately four or five feet from the top! How did I miss it? But why the name 5 Posts? The cache was an electrical box strapped to the tree. I lifted the cover and there was my answer. There were electrical five posts and a plastic bag with the log page stuffed inside. Now I understand the name. This was a unique and interesting cache worth a mention on the Andean Trekker. I'm gathering some ideas for Latin caches as I go. Thanks to my friends idea and his willingness to climb a tree for me I have another smiley and a great memory of my trip to Florida.

Chaquinan Bike Trail - Ecuador

2011-05-22T01:13:00.000-05:00

Today my consuegro (my daughter's father-in-law who is visiting) and I went after a cache along the Chaquinan Bike Trail between Cumbaya and Puembo, Ecuador. The real blessing is what you see and experience along the trail. The gorge is beautiful and the three train tunnels are a blast. You might want to bring along headlamps for that part. I had not but my trusty cell phone filled in. We parked our SUV at the starting point in Cumbaya and started off. The trail is similar to North American greenways. In this case it isn't paved and isn't really well cared for either. We made it out of Cumbaya and around the 4 kilometer mark we pulled of at the San Pedro portal/gate to look for the cache. Good coords and a good hint made for a quick find. From there the trail wound through several small communities, some of them Quichua with their fields of corn and cebada. The trail, being an old railroad, follows a relatively gentle slope, at times climbing and at times descending. Between Cumbaya and Puembo there is a huge gorge through which the Chinche River runs. The long straight descent allowed us to coast and make good time. At the base of that ride we crossed the Chinche River on a small bridge. The scenery was beautiful and this just had to be a stopping point. Every time you ride down the mountain it usually means you have to go back up it. We started our 2 kilometer climb up the other side of the gorge. Again the path was straight and the grade was easy. On this side of the gorge (east side) we passed through three railroad tunnels. They had lateral tunnels that opened to the cliff side, allowing light in and exhaust to escape. We stopped to visit one of the overlooks at the end of these lateral tunnels. The east bound leg of the trip took about 2.5 hours as my consuegro was not used to riding a bike uphill at 9000 feet above sea level. He comes from a place about 600 feet above sea level. At the end of the trail we were pleasantly surprised to find that they have added another 15-20 kilometers heading north from Puembo to Quinche. That will be a good section to ride another day. We found a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant a block from where we finished the first leg of the ride and got a light "menu" meal. That means anyone who eats pays a $1.60 and gets soup, rice, mote, some kind of meat, and juice. Then we were off again. Having just ridden the trail I knew where I wanted to put the next geocache. We found the location (the name is a give away once you are on the trail) and placed the cache. Our trip back was more demanding than the first leg. We were both tired but we pushed on to finish our 40 kilometer day of bike riding. It was a great day. I recommend that you visit El Chaquinan - Portal San Pedro (GC2N6PT) when you get the chance. If you make the trip on to Puembo you can also be the first to find on Wulckow (GC2Q1P6).

Locomotion

2011-05-15T01:56:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Jimnet2005 Riobamba, Ecuador is getting its first nano-size caches. Recently while sumajhuarmi and I were visiting there we got to look for Riobamba Locomotive #15 (GC2JQQP). This nano is located near the center of town in a small park between two avenues. The cache page gives some of the history of how the railroad was built in Ecuador. Jimnet2005 has added a spoiler to help you find this one. Thankfully I had sumajhuarmi helping me. She made the find!

The Devil's Cauldron Cache

2011-05-08T01:12:00.001-05:00

SPOILER ALERT FOR ECUADOR - I had been encouraged to go after this cache because of the beauty of this place. So on a recent trip to Shell, Ecuador I made it a point to stop off for this cache. When we got to ground zero I was convinced that the cache owner had created an offset cache or that he had given us the general location of the center of town. In the cache description it told about the need to walk 20 minutes to get to the waterfall and that the cache was located behind the waterfall. From this information I was certain that we needed to head down to the waterfall. We asked directions and ended up going to the upper end of the waterfall. A fellow tracked us down and charged us $1 US each. Turns out that there wasn't much to his little park and observation point. We found out that we needed to go around to the east and climb down to the based of the waterfall. Off we went. The climb down is easy along a well prepared path. At the base of the waterfall is a nice restaurant, a hanging bridge giving a good view of the waterfall from a distance and then four platforms giving an up close view of the waterfall. The man who sold us our tickets charged us $1 but told us that there was a tunnel that required one to crawl on hands and knees that would get you to the back of the waterfall. The hint on the cache said it was magnetic and that you should look behind PAILON DEL DIABLO and that you didn't have to get wet. I crawled through the tight space and up to the opening behind the waterfall. I began checking all the metal railings, posts and bolts but no nano cache! The upper platform was being pelted with water from the falls. I withdrew to check the hint again and was convinced that I needed to go back. By the time I finished I was completely soaked. Still no cache. By the time I gave up and returned to the observation platform and my wife we had decided that this was one of those DNFs that affords a spectacular view making it worth the effort. Cache or no cache this was a great hike and a great waterfall! We climbed back out the trail and headed to the nearby town of Baños and our hotel. Along the way we got to talking and began to realize our mistake. How could I have missed it! The coordinates were correct and it wasn't necessary to go behind the actual waterfall, I was to look behind a sign with the name of the waterfall located up in the town! We spent the night in Baños seeing the sights and enjoying a visit with our daughter, her husband, their baby and her father-in-law. The next day after breakfast while the others hit the hot tub sumajhuarmi and I went back to Rio Verde to look for Rutas de las Cascadas: Rio Verde, Devil's Cauldron (GC2MW20). We parked and walked to ground zero in a small city park, found the small sign with the words PAILON DEL DIABLO and looked behind it. It was near impossible to look without attracting attention from muggles. No nano cache! Now it was time for me to phone a friend, in this case the cache owner. Unfortunately he confirmed that we were in the right place. It appeared that the cache had been muggled. Probably two months ago when the first finder found it he attracted attention and then someone came, found and took the nano. Thankfully jinmet2005 allowed me to claim this as a find. So, I completely fell for the clever trick jimnet2005 pulled. I should have known better. Yet had I just settled for the cache find and not gone to the waterfall I'd have missed out on the genuine experience that made it worthwhile. I highly recommend this cache -- since I know jimnet2005 will replace it soon -- and a visit to the genuine Devil's Cauldron cache.

Three Caches along the Machay River, Ecuador

2011-05-01T01:53:00.000-05:00

This is the second time I've joined up with jimnet2005 to go caching. What a pleasure it is to finally have an Ecuadorian caching friend. Both he and his wife, Maria Belen, came to our hotel in Banos, Ecuador during a weekend get away and took me off to show me their part of the country. The site of choice for this morning of caching was the Machay River and a series of waterfalls. The drive from Banos was short, only about half an hour. We parked beside the river and headed up the jungle path beside the river. The goal was to find Ruta de las Cascadas: Machay, a secret place (GC2Hp9F). It was a great time to catch up with my friends. They had visited me in Quito when we first met to do some caching. The climb was easy as we were at about 5000 feet above sea level as compares with the 10,000 feet plus we frequently experience in Quito (where I live) and Riobamba (where they live). Due to the surplus of oxygen we were able to make good time. We arrived at the GZ in about 45 minutes. At first my GPSr was guiding me away from the site so jimnet2005 prodded me in another direction. It was a good 60 feet off from the given coordinates so we submitted an update on the coords. After finding the cache and getting the necessary photos we headed down the trail to hide two more caches. I hid one and jimnet2005 another, bring Ecuador's total number of caches to 100! That's a milestone in our little country with just a handful of geocachers. Now the Machay River has caches at the first three waterfalls along the trail climbing up. Be sure and check out Ruta de las Cascadas: Machay, Las Orquedias (GC2M7H5). We headed back to Banos for lunch. If you get the chance to go down the Pastaza River valley from Banos towards Shell, be sure and pick up the caches along the way and up the tributaries that join the Pastaza. You are sure to see some beautiful waterfalls along the way!

Picadillo - another Cuban Cuisine Cache in Quito

2011-04-24T02:18:00.000-05:00

I really like FreeCuba's Cuban Cuisine series here in Quito. When the Picadillo (GC2B17C) cache came out I was traveling. When I got back to the country and saw that it was yet unfound I just had to go look for it. I parked at the public parking lot near the park, grabbed my hiking stick and swag bag and was on my way. The hike was an easy one, maybe 1/4 of a mile on a easy trail. Just as I arrived at the GZ I had to leave the trail and pick up a less traveled trail. I was in a lightly wooded area with lots of knee high dried grass. This time of year it doesn't rain much in the "sierra" (mountains) of Northern Ecuador so the grass goes brown and begins to get brittle. I looked around and mentally marked off a radius of about 30 feet from where I considered ground zero to be. My GPSr accuracy showed 29 feet. I began poking with my hiking stick in all the obvious places. Still no pole on plastic noise. Where could it be? I continued like this for 45 minutes with no find. Finally I moved on to look for another cache. This one was successful. When I got home I wrote FreeCuba. A few days later he wrote back to say he'd checked on it and that the cache was still there. He did mention that it was behind a tree. I headed back out and found the GZ to be the same as the other day. This time I walked right up to a tree and immediately saw the red top from the jar showing through the grass. How did I miss this the other day? It just goes to show that on some days you miss and other days you are right on target. I quickly signed the FTF line, took a copy of the recipe for picadillo and headed home. I'm on a low carb/high protein diet. Picadillo, minus the rice, looked pretty low carb friendly. It also looked like it would be a good dish. That afternoon I broke out the pots and pans and set to it. My wife and daughter were amused but in the end they were impressed with the outcome. Picadillo is good! It reminds me of the empanadas we could buy in many restaurants there. They filling for the empanadas were made with ground beef with a sprinkling of raisins all fried up in olive oil. So is picadillo. If you get to Quito be sure and visit the Picadillo cache. If you can't visit the cache and get a recipe, let me suggest this recipe at AllRecipes.com.

Cuy, an Andean delicacy

2011-04-17T01:00:00.000-05:00

My wife was visiting North Carolina and was invited to speak to our granddaughter's 4th grade class about life and work in Ecuador among the Quichua people. All that was fun but on the way home our grandson made clear that she couldn't come to his class to speak. She thought that the children had really enjoyed the information and the activities she provided so she was surprised by his comment. Then he told her that they had a pet guinea pig in their class and that if she came to speak to his class he was sure she would eat the pet guinea pig. Not to worry, she didn't and she doesn't like "cuy", the Spanish name for guinea pig. Yet this is one of the delicacies of Ecuador and other Andean countries. We have Quichua friends even in the city who raise cuy on their roof tops and in closets within their homes. Cuy is a favorite dish and pretty easy to raise. This animal reproduces about as quickly as rabbits do. In one of the communities where we have worked a friend of ours has developed what we call "Cuy Hotels". He takes a 55 gallon drum and cuts it lengthwise. With screen wire he covers the open half as well as cutting out a portion of the remaining barrel and screening it in. Then he places as many as eight cuy inside, sets the screened side on the ground and instantly has protection for the cuy (from dogs mainly), containment for them and they have food. Every day he moves the cage over to more new grass and doesn't have to forage for food for the cuy daily. At the same time he is fertilizing the ground. If you visit an Quichua home you are likely to be offered cuy for a meal if you are a special guest or if it is a special occasion. What does it taste like? Well.... I think it is like greasy chicken myself. There just isn't much meat to be found on this little animals. In many parts of Ecuador you can order cuy in restaurants. It is a little more expensive than other dishes. In many parts of the country you can see open grills on the street where cuy are prepared and served. Remember, it is a specialty here and if you are offered it in a home, best dig in. Don't offend your host. I might add that it taste good so enjoy! In honor of the famous cuy of Ecuador I've place a cache by the same name. Be sure to come looking for it. Yes, they even make little cuy from gourds that they paint up. Cuy (GC2MHJY)

Baños, Ecuador

2011-04-10T01:54:00.000-05:00

Going to be visiting Ecuador for vacation? If so a must experience is Baños, a fun town nestled between two worlds, the highlands with their soring peaks and Quichua culture and the high jungle with their many waterfalls. Baños has many hotels and hostels for the tourist. In town alone there are many things to do. Start by taking a ride on a chiva, an open-air touring party bus. Often these are made up from old bus bodies affixed to the bed of a large truck. The chivas are there to take you on a city tour complete with guide, music and fun. You can also take a ride around town in an all terrain vehicle (ATV) or a go cart. The kids like this one at night. See the old Catholic church on the main square or stroll through along the sidewalks and stop in at sidewalk cafes, candy stores stretching taffy (called melchor) or visit one of the main restaurants. The town is full of tour agencies ready to provide you fun activities just outside of town. Go by chiva or horseback with a guide to the Chamana Waterfall, take a long horseback ride up the mountain overlooking the city or a long chiva ride to see many of the waterfalls along the Waterfall Route to the east. There is plenty to do. Sign up for hang gliding, zip lining, canyoning, bungy jumping, hiking .... the list just goes on. In the evening settle down for a canela drink made with hot passion fruit juice and cinnamon. If you are a geocacher, this sport is growing among tourist coming to Baños too. Due to the good work of jimnet2005, a resident in Riobamba who frequents the Pastaza River valley, there are a growing number of geocaches that can be found. jimnet2005 likes to place his caches in places of interest, places you will want to see. For example, visit Cruz de Runtun TB Hotel (GC28NNE) and get a great view of the city of Baños and possibly a view of Tungurahua volcano above you. Or take off down the Pastaza River valley to the east to find a series of caches up the Machay River or even further down at a spectacular overlook of the widening Pastaza River. You'll love the family fun in Baños. Come check it out!

Zamora Knows the Time

2011-04-03T01:33:00.000-06:00

While visiting the high jungle town of Zamora, Ecuador I had the chance to get out and hide a geocache. I've spent time in the jungle before and am accustomed to the heat. I really like the cool mornings and evenings we have here. It just isn't as hot as most jungle locations. The town has a beautiful park and river running through it. I made my way to the upper reaches of the town where there is a large clock embedded in the mountain. You can look up from almost anywhere in town and see the time. I thought this was a great place to place a geocache, Zamora's first! I had to watch out for muggles but was able to find a place for a micro near the clock. Due to bad signal I give instructions on how to find the cache by walking a certain distance from ground zero. It should be pretty easy. Congratulations to luzian from Switzerland for the FTF on Zamora Knows the Time (GC2FJZD)? If you get the chance to visit Zamora, it is the entrance to Podocarpus national park and is situated near a beautiful waterfall.

Tracking Ryan's Arrival TB

2011-03-27T01:52:00.001-06:00

This past summer I released a travel bug, my first and only so far, called Ryan's Arrival (TB33FDM) . It was to celebrate the birth of our third grandson on 21 June 2010. I released it in a TB hotel near the RDU (Raleigh-Durham) airport in central North Carolina. It didn't take long to realize that one can wait a while for TBs to move. Folks were discovering it but for their own good reasons were not moving it along. Finally after a month and a half (yeah, I know; that's really not long) it was picked up and within the month was placed in Nevada. Now as far as we know it is in southern California. Each time it moves I send a note to my daughter so they can track its movement too. It's destination is to come to Quito, Ecuador. We had hoped that it would make it here before little Ryan came to visit with his parents. Earlier this month his parents, his other grandfather and he spent 14 days with us! We had a great time. I see a future geocacher coming up! Maybe this TB will make its way to our beautiful adoptive country soon. Ryan got to meet all our friends. It wasn't uncommon for him to go from arm to arm. One of my favorite photos is of him with Marie Perugachi, one of our best friends. Like any grandfather I'm proud of the boy. Check out the new born and present-day photo of the little man!

Oh Canada, EH!

2011-03-20T01:59:00.000-06:00

Several months ago I received an email from Doogerd saying he and his family were coming down from Canada for a month and wondering if we could meet up to go geocaching. One Saturday we met up in Parque Metropolitano. Doggerd brought his family, the pastor of the English Fellowship Church in Quito, his wife (who happened to know my youngest daughter from when she was a student at the school where she works) and an Ecuadorian friend. We were nine geocachers making our way through the park from cache to cache. Each person took turns with the GPSr hunting an finding the caches. It was great to meet these folks and get to know them. Doogerd presented me with a hat badge from his medic unit and several Canadian pins. I collect these types of things so this was a very thoughtful gift. We've had a lot of rain over the last month so this also served as chance to check on the caches. Many of the caches were wet. The worst of it was that over half the caches we visited were muggled and gone. This was an abnormally high rate of mugglings. Probably we geocachers need to take better care and not let others see us finding the caches. Doogerd also hid the Oh Canada EH (GC2PBAK) in the park. It was well stoked with Canada pins and a Canada geocoin. I really enjoyed the outing a hope that Doogerd's friends enjoyed it as well. If you get a chance to visit be sure and visit the Metropolitan Park and find the numerous caches hidden there.

Chamana Waterfalls, Baños, Ecuador

2011-03-13T01:09:00.000-06:00

I finally got to combine geocaching with horseback riding! Along with Sumajhuarmi and Rubialoca I set out from the tourist and spa town of Baños, Ecuador on horseback to ride out to the Chamana Waterfalls, just east of town. The ride took about an hour or so as we wound down the valley beside the Pastaza River. Yes, that's a picture of a teenager addicted to her text messages, even from horseback! At Ulba we crossed the main highway and began a short climb up the Chamana valley along side the Chamana River. For most of our climb we had a spectacular view of the active volcano Tungurahua above us. The snowcapped volcano was impressive, particularly with the knowledge that it frequently sends off puffs of smoke and flowing lava out the other direction from where we were. We climbed past tourist hostels and small restaurants until we arrived at the base of the waterfalls. There was a large tour group there that was canyoning. They were roped in similar to those who rapel down the mountain except for they were doing it down the canyon stream that led off of the waterfalls. It looked interesting but not interesting enough. That water had to be cold! We dismounted and secured the horses before starting up the path that takes you to the a small pool of water at the base of the first of seven waterfalls that make up Chamana Waterfall. Here people come to relax in the water on hot days. This seemed like the perfect place for a geocache so I back tracked down the path until I found a perfect location to hide the cache. The finder can step off the trail and look for the cache without being seen if he or she takes care. If you get a chance to visit Baños I suggest that you rent horses for this trip and that you check out my cache there. It is Cascadas Chamana (GC2M45Z).

Ecuador has its Cracker Barrel!!!!!

2011-03-06T01:09:00.000-06:00

Well, maybe that is saying a little too much. On a recent trip into the southern part of Ecuador I came across a welcome sight. As we were traveling through some beautiful but somewhat lonely territory we came up on a nice looking cafe/store set back off the road a little. It had a country look to it. We couldn't help but pull off the road. Two things were going through my mind. First, this looks like a nice place to stop. Second, this looks like a nice place for a geocache hide. Upon entering the place we found that it was much more. While the food isn't what we would call Cracker Barrel food the store was a close approximation to the famous North American Interstate favorite stopover. My wife had a great time looking through the store. The prices were a little higher than we like but, hey, the stuff was imported. We talked to the owner. He said that his daughter accused him of getting the idea from the Cracker Barrel chain. He denied it. Nonetheless, it is a nice place and the gentleman was very friendly. He gave me permission to hide Ecuador has its Cracker Barrel (GC2FN1C). Be sure and stop in for a visit. See if you can find the cache too! By the way, this photo, taken from the creative commons, is of the real thing, not the Ecuadorian version.

Casa Tranquila

2011-02-27T01:43:00.000-06:00

While visiting Cuenca recently I had the chance to invite a non-caching friend out to find one of Ecuador's older caches, Casa Tranquila (GCXC0Q). My friend, Al, had seen me hide a cache the day before in Loja and now was driving me out to this mountain just north of Cuenca. The cache owner indicated in the cache page that cachers should find the cache and then come on in to the house for coffee. We drove up the dirt road until reaching the GZ, parked by the road and followed the needle and the clue to the cache. After signing the log and trading items we went to the house but it was all locked up and looked like no one had been there for a while. We recalled that the previous cacher had mentioned that no one was there. We then drove up to the top of the mountain to get a good view of the valley. We could see north Cuenca, the town of Azogues and Cojitambo mountain directly in front of us. When we got back to Al's house we looked up the profile of the cache owner, a North American who had retired in Ecuador, and found that he had left the country to work in the US some four years earlier. Fortunately the cache was in good shape but we missed being able to visit with him and share that cup of coffee. The city of Cuenca doesn't have any caches yet it is the third largest city in Ecuador. If you are coming to Cuenca you can visit the two closest caches. Casa Tranquila is one and the other is Cajas National Park, about 19 miles northwest of Cuenca.

A visit from FindJoy

2011-02-20T01:52:00.002-06:00

Every now and then a fellow cacher that we don't know from Adam is coming through Quito and writes us ahead of time in order to get together. We have enjoyed every opportunity to get to know those who come through. Recently I received an email from a gentleman in California telling me his wife was coming through Quito after visiting Loja province in the far south of Ecuador. She wanted to release a travel bug and couldn't find any caches in Loja province. Since caching is still catching on here that is not unheard of. We arranged to meet on Saturday as she came through Quito. As we drove up to the Metropolitan Park overlooking the city of Quito we saw a lady that matched the picture we had received. Sure enough when we asked it was FindJoy. Off we went to find a place to park the truck and then find a cache where she could drop her soon-to-be-released travel bug. We worked our way down the hill to Karen's Caper Travel Bug Hotel (GC182AC) and released her TB. We had a great time getting to know a little about FindJoy. So, in honor of FindJoy and because she was lamenting the absence of any geocaches in Loja Province, my wife and I decided to place a cache near the city of Loja. We hope that FindJoy and her husband can come looking for it someday! Check out FindJoy's Loja Log (GC2FN1N).

Tungurahua Volcano and the Runtun Cross

2011-02-13T01:12:00.000-06:00

What a great trip! We went to Baños, Ecuador for some fun time. While there we arranged to take a chiva tour (a sort of open-air bus ride with loud music) around the town and then up to the Runtun Overlook. From there the view was spectacular, both of the city and of the Tungurahua volcano. Several times during the day we caught a glimps of Tungurahua as the clouds would break. From the overlook the view is also impressive. I´ve included a few pictures of the volcano from several angles made by others. Their photos are so much better than mine. The tour guide told me that we would be at the cross overlooking the city for about 20 minutes. That didn´t give me much time. It was about 10 p.m. so I left him and the other tourist and headed out with my gpsr and flashlight. I was about 400 feet from the cache when I started out. I started down the trail, one that apparently will take you down to the city below. Soon my gpsr was telling me I was at ground zero. Within a few minutes I had found the large tupperware container that is Cruz de Runtun TB Hotel (GC28NNE). I hurriedly signed the logbook and replaced the cache. I didn´t trade anything as I felt the pressure to be back with the group. I could just see my wife making excuses for the guide to wait for me. I hurried up the hill arriving huffing and puffing. Why the hurry? The tour stayed at least another 45 minutes after I got there. The guide served us hot canela (cinnamon and passion fruit) drink and then we had a bonfire with about 80 people from our tour and others that were congregated there. We had a great time. Whether by day or night, I recommend this tour for the breathtaking view of both Tungurahua volcano and the city of Baños. The flowing lava coming off of Tungurahua is spectacular! By the way, the sign about the 9 p.m. erruption was pretty accurate.

Thoughts on promoting Geocaching in Ecuador

2011-02-06T03:04:00.000-06:00

It's time to get some input from those who check in from time to time to read this blog. If you set out to increase geocaching in a country where geocaching is little known, what would you do to promote it? Could you see geocaching as a means of increasing tourism? If you were approaching municipal leadership about geocaching and tourism, what would you emphasis? Is there a place for geocaching tourism or is geocaching something that geocachers do "as they tour"? I'd really love to hear your thoughts on what could be done with the local authorities and with the local citizenry as I consider how to increase the sport among Ecuadorians.

The Favorite Cache Rating System

2011-01-30T02:40:00.000-06:00

I like Groundspeaks' new cache rating system for favorite caches. It gives a chance to go after the best caches in an area first or to focus in on them if you only have time for a few. It's up to part of the geocaching community to rate these. Geocachers can give out "favorite" ratings or take them away. A geocacher gets so many "favorite" points that can be awared based on the number of caches he has found. The only part of this I don't like is that the only ones that can rate the caches are those that pay for it through the premium membership option. The "common" member who is not a premium member is left in a second class position. Nonetheless, we do get to benefit from the ratings of those who pay to play. I'm fortunate enough at the time of this writing to have several with favorite ratings: First was Metro Park SE (GC15JCC), a well-hidden cache in Metropolitan Park in Quito. Karen's Caper (GC182AC) and Brandon's TB Boarding House (GC1K4MD), geocaches in Quito's Metropolitan Park. These are both TB hotels located near the park entrance. Then there's Entry to Mordor (GC1PTW0) which is also located in the same park. It is in a strange place where you find yourself going up an old creek bed that only runs in rainy season. It is overgrown above and therefore dark and spooky. In the Ancash Department of Peru there is Llanganuco (GC1QPKE), two lakes nestled between high mountains in the White Mountain range possibly nominated because it is at such a beautiful location. By like sign Get on Your High Horse (GC1TTFN) is located high above Quito at the Teliferico grounds. Back in Metropolitan Park is the tricky trails of In Favor of Freedom (GC1VF26). MTMAN2 Surveys His Work (GC23Z9P) employs some trickery and is in the Metropolitan Park. Finally Between Huts (GC2FWBX) takes you up above the first refuge hut on Chimborazo Volcano. It's great to have nine caches listed as favorites! I hope you'll go looking for them. These pictures depict some of the places you'll go to find these favorites.

Milestone: Ecuador has 100 caches!!!

2011-01-23T01:46:00.000-06:00

Living in and promoting geocaching in a small Latin country has been a challenge. Finally we have an Ecuadorian geocacher with whom I'm able to work and play to see the sport progress. Hats off to jimnet2005 for his efforts! Recently jimnet2005 placed the 100th cache in Ecuador! I was honored when he allowed me to find it and then asked me to mark the location with my GPSr and allow him to include me as a co-owner of the cache. Tourism drives the bulk of the cache finds in Ecuador. I can name on one hand the number of active geocachers who live in Ecuador. So join us in celebrating a major milestone for Ecuadorian geocachers! Check out Ruta de las cascadas: Ecuador's 100th cache (GC2M833).

Nate Saint House, Shell, Ecuador

2011-01-16T03:26:00.000-06:00

My daughter recently read the book Jungle Pilot by Russell Hitt and was interested in learning more about Shell, Mission Aviation Fellowship and the missionaries who died in an effort to befriend the Huaorani tribe in the Ecuadorian jungle in 1956. We set out on a sunny day to travel the one hour down the mountain from the Ecuadorian tourist town of Baños to Shell. Along the way I stopped to look for a cache at a spectacular overlook just before arriving at the town of Mera. While there I searched for a while but came up empty-handed with Ruta de las Cascadas: Puerto al Amazonas (GC2FQQZ). Later I was able to talk to the cache owner and believe that I need to go back and take another look. From the overlook we pushed on another ten minutes and came to the town of Shell. Our goal was to find the recently restored Nate Saint House near the end of the Shell runway. We pulled into a parking spot and went in the gate. No sooner than we entered a gentleman stuck his head out to tell us someone would be along to provide a tour. Over the next hour a Missionary Aviation Fellowship missionary took time to give us the tour of the home of the Saint family during the late 1940's through 1956 when Nate Saint along with four other missionaries died at the hands of those they hoped to befriend. For those of us committed to the work among the tribal peoples of the Amazon this house and those who lived here are an inspiration to us and will be for many generations to come. The only parts of the house that are the same way they were in 1956 are the kitchen and the radio room. While there we were able to visit the city's main park and see the replica of Nate Saint's plane. A real highlight was our daughter's opportunity to visit the Nate Saint Memorial School in Shell. Our daughter is preparing to be an elementary teacher and is praying about serving in Ecuador. It was nice to be there with her and see the birthing of a new vision in her life! This called for a new cache. When you come down the Pastaza River be sure to visit the several geocaches between Banos and Shell. One is Nate Saint House (GC 2M53A). You don't have to go on the property to find the cache. But please take the time to call ahead to Mission Aviation Fellowship or to their sister organization, Alas de Socorro, and ask for a chance to see the house and learn more of its history. It's sure to be a moving experience for you.

Geovanny's cache - remembering a friend

2011-01-09T01:57:00.002-06:00

January 11th, 2011 will make four years since a 16 year-old friend, and former boyfriend to my daughter, passed away in a tragic and unusual accident. Soon after that happened my daughter and I placed a cache in honor of Geovanny. The cache is En Memoria de Geovanny (GC18HYC). We miss Geovanny for his kindness, his broad smile and his playfulness. This cache is hidden in the Metropoltiano Park overlooking Quito, Ecuador, where Geovanny lived. It is located off a main trail running through a large stand of eucalyptus trees. From the trail you can easily see the location of the cache but very few people leave the trail in this area. The cache has fared well and has logged over twenty visits. I frequent the cache to maintain it for my daughter since she is now away at college. One of my good memories of this cache was meeting Dryagonfly one day as I was teaching some friends about geocaching. Dryagonfly was visiting Quito from Finland and was taking a long day to hit as many caches in the park as he could. There were so many of us around the cache that Dryagonfly declared it an event. Occasionally I've been able to take new geocachers around the park and this is frequently one of the caches we find. We miss Geovanny and are glad that this cache memorializes his life in a small way.

The Old Man... an Ecuadorian New Year's Tradition

2011-01-02T01:15:00.001-06:00

Ecuador is a country rich with traditions. My youngest daughter, the most Ecuadorian of the three, considers New Year's her favorite Ecuadorian holiday. What is so different about the way we celebrate New Years here? Let's start with the "Old Man". Each family typically makes an "Old Man". This is done by taking some old pants and a shirt, sowing them together and then stuffing them with old cloth or newspaper. Some put some fireworks inside it as well. Then you make or, more than likely, purchase a face mask to place on the Old Man. You can buy masks on most any corner in the city starting the day after Christmas up through New Years Eve. These are usually of political figures or celebrities. Generally if one's caricature is placed on an Old Man it indicates some degree of ridicule. Often a family makes their Old Man up several days before New Years Eve. They often set him outside for all to see. He might even have a jar for coins and a sign asking folks to contribute to some ridiculous cause. All this is for the fun of it. On the 31st of December, a holiday when very few have to work, the family often goes into the street and builds a type of brush arbor with branches from palm trees. They set the Old Man up there. At midnight the family gathers around the Old Man and sets him and his house on fire. The Old Man represents the ending of one year. There are always lots of fireworks. Families typically wonder around the community to look at the Old Men their neighbors have set up a little before midnight. You can imagine with every family in a city of about 1.5 million people burning a life-size Old Man that the city is covered with a cloud of smoke for hours. Take care driving your car the next day too. The city street will be littered with the charred remains of the Old Men and the brush arbors, wood and nails. So, for the ending of 2010 I've placed a new cache called, The Old Man (GC2KVV4). Please come look for it.

Bizcochos, Christmas Candy Bags.....and a new cache

2010-12-26T02:26:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite treats is bizcochos, a brick oven-baked crispy bread strip typical of a certain area of northern Ecuador. Almost every time we travel north from Quito to visit places like Cayambe or Otavalo we stop at our favorite cafe which specializes in fresh bizcochos. They are great with a cup of hot chocolate on a cold rainy day. They are even better with a serving of dulce de leche (also known as manjar in some places). Bizcochos are a traditional snack. Three towns most notable for their bizcochos are Cayambe, Tabacundo and the small town of El Cajas. El Cajas sits on the provincial border between Pichincha and Imbabura Provinces. This little town is built on the sale of bizcochos and the work of a few gas stations. That's about it. Nonetheless, stopping off at one of the cafes where they also make bizcochos is great fun. Our favorite cafe is "La Casa del Senor de los Bizcochos" in El Cajas. The front of this cafe is spotted like a Dalmatian or a Holstein cow. Not far from this location I just hid a cache by the name Spotted (GC2KHWV). Care must be taken for muggles. This is one of those where you might need to sit down and rest on the grass next to the hiding place and talk on your cell phone while feeling around for the cache. The day we had this cache we took a mixed group of Ecuadorian and North American church members to work in the Quichua community of Espejo. it was just a few days before Christmas and we were doing a children's program. we had a clown, some musicians and singers, a preacher and a translator and several folks just to visit with the people. We had a great time. If you get to Ecuador be sure to visit the area around Lago San Pablo. Espejo sits beside the lake and the lake is gorgeous! Check out the several caches in the area too. Hopefully one of them will be mine.

Cool Water Fountain Park in Lima, Peru

2010-12-19T01:06:00.000-06:00

Cool as in neat and cool as in the weather was cold, at least for Lima. After about ten days of travel through the high country in the department of Ancash and then some training events in Lima, my wife and I went out to visit El Circuito Magico del Agua, a water fountain park. We went after dark and had a great time. For only 4 soles (about $1.30) each we walked the grounds, seeing eight large water fountains. At night they are well lit with different colors. One in particular was a lot of fun. It was a sort of tunnel made of water. The tunnel was about 50 meters long. You walked underneath the shooting water lit up with red lights. Another was a sort of labyrinth of water. The children really liked this one. A few adults were also pretty engaged. The water would turn off in certain parts of the labyrinth allowing time for the brave ones to jump across the temporarily dormant water jets that fired bursts of water 20 feet into the air. There were a number of wet ones out there; the ones that weren't quick enough. On a cold night that meant some were headed home pretty quickly after coming out of the labyrinth. The grounds included statues, flower gardens, gazebos and more. The park is open between 4 and 11 p.m. and has a special twenty minute water and light show every hour at the main fountain. If you get a chance to visit Lima this is worth the time. A quick taxi ride of 12 to 15 soles (about $4.50) from Miraflores will get you there. It's along Avenida Arequipa. Sorry that there seem to be no geocaches in the immediate area.

Cerro Nielol - Temuco, Chile

2010-12-12T02:56:00.000-06:00

The most southern part of the southern hemisphere is headed into spring while those to our north are moving into fall. For those of us who live on the equator the changes are much less perceptible. On a recent trip to Temuco, Chile I had the opportunity to look for the one and only geocache in that area. I also had the opportunity to introduce six friends and their children (we were 13 all together) to the sport of geocaching. I was with them for three days so early on we set Monday, our last day together, as the day to go for the cache. The kids were excited about the "treasure hunt" we would be going on. I didn't want to build it up too much not knowing what the geocache would look like. It could have been loaded with swag and of great interest to the kids or it could have been emptied of swag and a bummer for the kids. One of the parents told me this morning that their six year old son got up and wanted to know whether I would forget about the promise to take them treasure hunting. I hadn't. We meet at the Cerro Nielol hill overlooking the city of Temuco a little after 10 a.m. There is a city park there but you do have to pay a little to enter. It doesn't matter whether you are a resident in Chile or not, you pay. For non-residents the cost was about $2.00 and even less for residents. We paid our entrance fee and drove to the top of the mountain. Two of my friends had their GPSr and had the coordinates plugged in. The kids were also plugged into it. With the clue in hand we took off up the trail, climbing slightly to the birdwatcher's overlook. Following the needle of both GPS devices we went up the hill until their needles swung around and suddenly told them that the GC was about 50 feet behind them. We looked at the clue again and realized that it described the cache as being just meters from the overlook. Back we went and found the tree we thought was the place. Along with one of the older children I climbed up to the other side of the tree and started kicking around. Sure enough. We found it. One of the boys wanted to look for another. That simply wasn't possible as the nearest traditional cache to this one is probably 60 miles away at the foot of the Andes. I would love to go there today but there was no way. I had a great time today finding Cerro Nielol (GC2016P). Enjoy the pictures.

Riobamba Overlook

2010-12-05T01:44:00.000-06:00

Jimnet2005, a relatively new Ecuadorian geocacher, has jumped into geocaching with both feet! He has traveled up and down the length of Ecuador seeding the country with caches in some of the most beautiful places here. I'm sure thankful for a serious cacher in Ecuador. I've really enjoyed looking for his caches. We had the opportunity to stop off in his hometown recently. While there we climbed a mountain overlooking the city to find one of his own caches. We followed the cache instructions which led us to the Ricpamba municipal gardens. From there we followed a series of way points designed to keep us on track up to the cache and to help us chart our way around private property. I must admit that at one point I got a little confused and we just headed straight up the hill through the eucalyptus trees. I wasn't sure whether we were trespassing or not. The trail looked fairly well used. After some strenuous climbing we reached a road that appeared to be the main approach. From there we were on track again. We climbed up into a beautiful stand of pine trees. Near the top we arrived at the GZ. What a view of the city of Riobamba! This afternoon El Altar volcano was out and clear. See the photo! The cache was unique to Ecuador. Check out Riobamba Overlook (GC29WGX) if you like. I don't think I've seen on here quite like it. After signing the log we headed back down through the pines. Geocaching is the perfect sport or hobby or whatever you want to call it for seeing this beautiful country. Thanks again to Jimnet2005!

Quito Half Marathon Cache

2010-11-28T01:21:00.004-06:00

On 21 November 2010 Quito hosted the sixth annual Half Marathon. The 21 kilometer race began at the Plaza de Toros (Bull Ring) on the north side of Quito and followed a route past the airport, through Cotocollao, past the El Condado Mall, and out the highway that takes you to the Equator Monument at Mitad del Mundo. The race began a little after 6 a.m. under overcast skies but with no rain. My wife, sumajhuarmi, ran the race today. I'm proud of her! This was the longest race she's done and she did well. I drove out along the route, stopping a couple of times to park and cheer her own as she came by. Over 3000 people ran today. When I arrived at Mitad del Mundo I walked about 500 feet from the finish line in order to hide Quito 21 kilometer HALF MARATHON (GC2JK08). There was lots of trash along the road and at this point, lots of muggle race-watchers. I finally found a place in front of the Dios es Fiel church. I sat down and watched the runners go by and waited for sumajhuarmi to show. I waited about half an hour. During that time I was able to hide the cache gently and unobserved, even with all the people around me. Finally I saw her coming up the hill. You see most of the race was on a downhill grade but the last two kilometers was up hill. She was beat. I must have looked funny running along beside her in jeans and carrying my thermos but I didn't it with her to the finish line. She crossed the line with a time of 2 hours, 19 minutes and five seconds. Not bad for her category. Again, I'm proud of her and this cache is to commemorate her race!

Caching with jimnet2005

2010-11-21T01:47:00.002-06:00

One of the biggest pleasures of geocaching is found in the friends you make along the way. Over the past several months I started seeing a new geocacher appear in the logs here in Ecuador. Soon this new geocacher was also hiding some pretty good caches too. On a recent trip into the southern part of the country I was able to pick up a few of jimnet2005's caches. As a result we struck up an Internet conversation through geocaching.com. Today we met for the first time at Parque Metropolitano and were able to visit some caches together. What a pleasure to get to know Jaime and Maria Belen, from Riobamba, Ecuador! They only have a few geocaches under their belts due to the low geocache density here but they have in just eight months quickly risen to become the geocachers with the second highest number of geocache hides in Ecuador! Thanks for the caches jimnet2005!!!! This is what I've been praying for! Jaime, Maria Belen and I met at the outdoor food court in the park. From there we started a swing through the southern end of the park. They had attempted the northern end of the park but found that a number of the caches there were either missing or simply too hard to find. They found eight caches today and we became good friends in the process. One of our near term goals is to host a geocaching event soon in hopes of getting some of the small caching community together. I'm also eager to visit the high jungle near Puyo and find some more of their caches. They have some caches along some trails to some spectacular waterfalls. I know my wife will like these. Thanks for a great day jimnet2005!

Cajas National Park - Ecuador

2010-11-14T01:18:00.001-06:00

It gets cold at 13,000 feet above sea level when the clouds cover the sun and it rains! Thanks to geocacher museion there is an earthcache in the park. It was starting to rain in Cuenca when Al and I left for the 30 minute drive up the mountain. Cuenca is at 8,500 feet above sea level and GZ is at 13,000 feet above sea level. Cajas National Park is along the highway that runs from Cuenca to the coastal city of Guayaquil. It is at the highest point where you cross the continental divide. Through traffic is given about 20 minutes to travel through without having to pay the park entrance fee. If you hold an Ecuadorian residency and can prove it with an ID card, the cost to stay in the park is $1.50 at this writing. If you are a foreign visitor it is $10.00. We paid $3.00 and went to the welcome center. We quickly completed the assignments in order to get credit for Cajas National Park (GC1EZDD) and then headed for the warmth of the small restaurant with a great view of the lake. While there the sun broke through turning the paramo into a beautiful place. There are lots of trails that you can hike, almost all ranging between 11,000 and 14,000 feet above sea level. The most interesting one to me is the old Inca Trail running from Cuenca to the coast. It takes two days to cover the distance of the trail within the park, only about 19 kilometers.

Earthquake Cache!

2010-11-07T05:02:00.000-06:00

I like a little history with my geocaches. This one provides it. We recently took a trip from Quito, Ecuador south to Cuenca. The drive along the Panamerican Highway has really improved over the last 13 years. I remember when it was some of the roughest roads in the country. Today it is well paved for the most part. Along the way we planned to visit the Terremoto 1797 Reloaded (GC26M6K) cache. As we began our bypass of the city of Riobamba we turned on the GPSr. Upon arrival at the city of Cajabamba we left the main highway. The needle clearly indicated that the cache was on top of Cerro Cushca, a hill overlooking that city. We weaved our way through the city and followed what proved to be the most logical path for our 4WD. This took us through another small town and eventually to the top of the mountain. Thanks to a dirt road cut out by the local telecommunications company we were able to reach the top. The hill is the site of some pretty significant antennas. From the top we had a wonderful view of the whole valley all the way out to Colta Lake. From where we parked it was only 140 feet to the cache. We walked down hill and found the cache easily. Once we finished signing the log and getting a few photos, we returned to the top of the mountain to have a picnic lunch and enjoy the view. The cache page tells the story of how in 1797 an earthquake destroyed the original city of Riobamba, located below where today stands the city of Cajabamba. You can still see some of the landslide that destroyed the old city. Afterwards the survivors moved this city, one of Ecuador's first colonial cities, to its present location further northeast. We thought the stop signs in both Spanish and Quichua were interesting. Lake Colta is also an interesting place in the history of evangelical missions in Ecuador. Over one hundred years ago two brave single female missionaries, Julia Anderson and Ella Ozman, left the safety of the coastal city of Guayaquil to become the first evangelical missionaries among the Quichua of Chimborazo. Ella died of pneumonia within days of their arrival and Julia continued on for nearly five decades. She lived and worked in the area around Lake Colta. Today there is a large evangelical movement among the Quichua of this area. Check out the following article from Christianity Today in order to learn more. Visit this cache to get the full outdoor adventure!

The Haunted Trail - Southwest Park, Guilford Co. NC

2010-10-31T02:37:00.001-06:00

We enjoyed our trip home to Guilford County, North Carolina. I've also had the opportunity to get out with my grandson, Brandon, and do some geocaching. Today we picked the Southwest Park. It is a new complex in southwestern Guilford County. The trails were just recently cut through the woods. Last Halloween one of the local cachers put together the Haunted Trail series. Brandon and I started out early. We started with Fun House (GC1ZAT5) and worked our way around the park finding all nine caches in the series. The trip took about two hours and was a lot of fun. Fortunately today was a cool day. Brandon liked the cache containers, all designed for Halloween. I enjoyed seeing the joy in his face as he found and examined the contents of the caches.

A Trip to the Zoo

2010-10-24T01:03:00.000-05:00

Ecuador has a zoo! And it is a pretty good zoo. Our daughter Rubi is home from college visiting us for the summer. What a blast it has been having her here. She has helped out as a translator for our volunteer teams, visited her friends from the Quichua community she left behind when she went off to school and has caught up with some of her friends from high school who have returned from the four corners of the earth to their beloved Ecuador. She's returning to her sophmore year in college this week and wanted to take us to the zoo. We have lived here for 13 years and never been so off we went. We had a great time, particularly on the "dry forest" hike that they have. It introduces you to animal and plant life common in the dry mountain areas we have in parts of Ecuador. All along the way I wanted to hide a geocache. I found several great locations but didn't want to put a cache inside the zoo area. It took a lot longer to find a place outside the zoo but I finally found the right place. We came out of the zoo and then later took a different road back in. Most of the roads were heavily populated with homes that were wall to wall. Finally we came to a soccer field and a set of cement steps going up the hill, supposedly to another community. There was no one around. Climbing the hill I found the a small trail heading off to the west. Within a few meters of the steps I found the perfect place to hide Near the Zoo (GC2DHCM). For all you first to find guys and gals, this one is waiting on you. It isn't uncommon for a cache placed outside of the capital city to go months without a find. Maybe a tourist going to the zoo will pick up on it.

Equator Cache near Quito, Ecuador

2010-10-17T02:38:00.001-05:00

We were fortunate to host some friends from Shawnee, OK for a week. We traveled out to the "Mitad del Mundo" (Middle of the Earth) site. The place is full of shops and, according to the French, was designated as the true equator. Of course they did this long before GPS technology. They weren't off by more than a couple of hundred feet so who can complain about the work they did during the 1800's. Everyone lined up on the yellow painted line designating the equator for their pictures. Most enjoyable was our visit to the Intinan site, purporting to be the true equator line as verified by GPSr. The location is full of cultural and historical information about Ecuador, it's Amazonian tribes like the Shuar and the Waorani, exhibits with guinea pig (cuy) that you can see, snakes, etc. They take you out to their equator line and perform some exercises to demonstrate that they are the true equator. They drain water from a sink and show how it goes straight down the drain with no swirl right on the equator but goes one way when you are just a few feet to the south of the line and the exact opposite when you are few feet to the north. The cost for the guided tour was only $3.00 for adults and it was interesting. We had a great time. There is a virtual at the site that requires you to locate the true equator and take a picture of your GPSr zeroed out. The problem is that even with a 29 foot accuracy I show the equator as being outside the site in the parking lot next to the road. I got credit for The Fake Equator (GC934A) by sending in the photo of my GPSr but the difference between what my GPSr says and what the folks in the Intinan say is significant. I checked out some of the pictures taken and posted by others logging the find and it also shows that they marked the parking lot location as the true equator. I don't know for sure who is right. Either way I highly recommend the visit to the equator.

Chile Celebrates 200 Years as a Nation!

2010-10-10T01:10:00.001-05:00

I finished up some meetings in Santiago early and was back to my room, changed and out in the warming spring weather headed for Cerro San Cristobol, (Columbus Hill). I walked to the hill and took the lift up to the top where there is a tall statue of Mary. The first cache, Cima del Cerro San Cristobol (GC2BKMF), proved to be a challenge. It required that I go over the fence and out to the ledge to look for a small cache in a space between two rocks. It might be there but my first sweep proved fruitless. On the second sweep the guard caught me and made me come back over the fence. So much for that one. On I went to look for the second one. I walked and ran down the hill to a park near the bottom of the hill. La Fuente de los dioses (GC2BMZD) also proved to be a muggle-infested challenge. When I got to the GZ I found a host of workers erecting a tent right over the fountain. There was no way to look in the fountain and find the cache without revealing it. I moved on. Zero for two. Not to good. I worked my way to the parking area outside the park and struck gold. I found Desde Provi con Amor #1 (GC2EX09), signed the log and decided to continue on even as evening was approaching. I crossed the river and paralleled it for 1.3 miles to the bicentenial park. Chile celebrated its 200th birthday last month. Vive La Republica Chileana! Bicentenario (GC2FGE3) was a fun cache right by the river. Now it was getting late. The sun was on the horizon and I had over two miles to the next cache and then another mile to get back to the hotel. I pushed it and made it to the park. Fortunately the park had lots of street and sidewalk lights. Parque Ines de Suaraz (GC290Z8) was a fun micro. With a pen light I was able to find the point on the ground that was mentioned in the clue and then find the cache. It was dark and foggy now. I made it back to the hotel satisfied at the amount of exercise and the few cache I found today. Santiago in the springtime when the sun shines is nice.

Chimborazo Volcano

2010-10-03T01:26:00.001-05:00

Wow, what a morning! We planned a stopover in the city of Riobamba, Ecuador while returning to Quito from the southern part of the country. We grabbed a hotel and tried to get a good night's sleep in order to get away early the next morning to go for a regular and an earthcache on Chimborazo Volcano. The good night's rest was wishful thinking but the weather and the hike to the two caches on the volcano was great. When we came outside of our hotel we were blown away by the majesty of the volcano. There wasn't a cloud in the sky around it. We drove west and slightly north making our way higher with each passing kilometer. The paved rural road took us through small Quichua Indian communities. The bright colored Quichua dress of the women shepherds stood out against beautiful, lust green pasture land. Soon we climbed up above the grazing land and even above the treeline. As we climbed we could see the many layers of ash fall where the road cut through the hills. Now the terrain was barren and windswept. Eight kilometers short of the first refuge hut we turned off the pavement and onto a dirt road. We paid our entrance fee ($10 US for tourist and $2 for residents of Ecuador) and continued the climb. While weaving our way up the side of the volcano we could see El Altar and Tungurahua volcanos in the distance. El Altar was covered in snow and shining brightly in the sunlight. Tungurahua was in erruption. From our vantage point high above the valley we could see the smoke spewing out in the distance. We arrived at the first hut without even going into 4 wheel drive. We parked the car, put on another layer of clothing and tracked the needle to the first cache. Whymper (GC1ZE8J) was a small tuppeware box with a few items of swag. It was well hidden from muggles but an easy find at 15,500 feet or so above sea level. I suspect that on most days the cloud cover would have hidden anyone looking for the cache from the view of muggles at the hut. Today we had to use stealth as the sky was clear. After signing the log and replacing the cache we headed out to hide a cache and find the second cache. As we climbed we stopped to read the Simon Bolivar monument, written in Quichua and Spanish. It proclaims how the great liberator of Ecuador and much of northwestern South America climbed to an unspecified point on the volcano in the early 1800's. Just beyond this monument was another field of monuments of sorts. These are the stones, much like gravestones, remembering those who have lost their lives on Chimborazo. I made this climb with sumajhuarmi. I have to tell you that she is an athlete. She's a runner and in good shape. She runs circles around me. I don't stand a chance on level ground with her. But on the mountain I had the advantage. The last time I climbed I weighed in at 40 lbs heavier than I am today. I could really feel the difference! Climbing was a lot easier. We pushed to make the climb between the two refuge huts in 42 minutes. Not bad. This include a stop mid way to hide a cache. Check out Between Huts (GC2FWBX). While you can claim the earthcache without going to the second hut, this traditional cache will require you go at least half way up. Once there you'll be sure to make it the rest of the way. Once at the second hut we visited with a group of Czech climbers. They were waiting on eleven of their countrymen who had summited Chimborazo in the morning hours and were working their way back down. The hut is a warm refuge from the cold and a place for climbers to acclimate to the elevation before summiting. You can grab a coffee or tea inside and warm you fingers before heading down. On many days the weather is much colder and the visibility worse. Some come up in blowing snow and sleet. We were fortunate as the photos show. Once at the hut we completed the requirements for the earthcache. We topped out above 16,500 feet according to the GPSr. I won't be too specific as reporting the elevation is one of the logging requirements for the earthcache. Check out Chimborazo (GC1F1GF) for more details. As we began our descent the mountain began to slip from view as the clouds came in from the east. The temperature began to drop so we picked up our pace down the mountain. Chimborazo is the highest mountain on the planet as measured from the center of the earth. If you come to Ecuador I suggest you make it one of your visits!

Where have all the Travel Bugs gone?

2010-09-26T01:27:00.000-05:00

During our North Carolina vacation I was astonished to find that 90% of the caches that indicated in the inventory that there was at least one travel bug present had none! Where have all the travel bugs gone? Are they being held by geocachers who wait extended periods to log them? Are they being stolen by anti-geocaching nuts? There are a few of them out there. The last two summers that I was in the North Carolina it seemed much different. The inventories were pretty accurate. Now they aren't. I've checked back numerous times on several of the TB Hotels I've visited and found that the inventory indicates they are full but the TBs aren't there. Usually I've been able to take back to Ecuador a good number of TBs and coins that have as a goal to travel the world. This time in a month of caching I've only gotten two to take with me and place in one of two TB Hotels in Quito that serve as a great launching point to Europe or back to the US.

This cache sat 22 months waiting for an FTF

2010-09-19T02:55:00.002-05:00

In a previous blog I told about my climb up Sincholagua Volcano and how I hid a cache at the base of the volcano. Finally after 22 months a tourist from Germany has logged an FTF on Eleven Good Years (GC1FV2N). I noticed where MTMAN2 from Ohio had marveled in a note in the on-line cache log that this cache was still undiscovered after many months. I suspect that no cachers had ventured into this remote corner of the Cotopaxi Volcano Reserve. Boy have folks been missing out on some beautiful country. The lava plains below the mighty and impressive Cotopaxi volcano give you a feeling that you are in a lonely place; and you are! We had a great climb, beautiful views, and a perfect campground beside a brook. If you are a first to find hound, come on down to Ecuador for your opportunity. I have three caches that have been out for a long time and are waiting to be found. Casitagua (GC1G9RD) is going on 23 months in its lonely mountain top hiding place; Ilaniza, La Virgencita (GC1N83W) reaching for 18 months at the base of that volcano without a finder and Xtreme Training (GC26FFZ) relatively new on the block with four months along a major road going through the Ecuadorian rain forest and no takers.

My First Earthcache

2010-09-12T02:18:00.001-05:00

I've been looking at this place for 13 years. I was amazed by it even before I ever heard of geocaching. Recently I got the idea to create an earthcache at this location. I finally did it! We took our daughter to visit one of her favorite places. We went to the Indian Market in Otavalo. While there she got to barter for the things she bought. She loves doing this and is very good at it. We also ate at her favorite place, The Pie Shop. This is a shop that has every flavor of pie you can think of. For $1 you can have a huge slice. Add 50 cents to get a scoop of ice cream. It is good. On our way back from a visit to the Indian market in Otavalo we pulled off on an overlook viewing a dry gulley that divides the eastern side from the western side of the central valley near Tabacundo. From this overlook one can see the earthcache location.

For those that aren't familiar with earthcaches, these are locations that are of geological significance. One must arrive at the prescribed coordinates, see the geological feature, from the cache page and sometimes from the location learn about the particular geological feature and prove that you were there by performing some calculation or analysis related to the earthcache.

As we approached the overlook from the north we had to use caution getting off the road and into the overlook parking. The overlook is in a curve in the highway and Ecuadorian drivers fly around the curve, some even passing others while in the curve around the mountain. Once we parked we gazed out into the dry valley before us. The valley leads to the east and points towards the Cayambe volcano. This particular day we couldn't see more than a little bit of snow for the clouds that covered her. At the coordinates the geocacher is standing next to a cross placed in memory of Freddy Sadvedra, a victim of an automobile accident at this spot. I don't know for sure but in all likelihood this man may have run off the road and over the cliff. The date on the cross was April 25, 2009. From this location we could look to the south and see the geological fold in the earth's sedimentary strata. I admit that this will be something of a spoiler. That's alright. To get credit for the cache find the geocacher has to locate and see the fold, identify what type of fold this is, identify the major terrain feature at a bearing of 90 degrees from there and then, if willing, post a photograph of himself and his GPSr but not with the fold in the background. Cochasqui Fold (GC2DHJA) is sure to be a fun cache.

Earthcache.org seems to be pretty strict on only allowing caches where there is proof that the hider has the permission of the land manager. They were requiring a copy of the written permission. In this case it is a public overlook parking so I don't think it will be a problem. At any rate I submitted the cache and a week later it was approved and is up. Happy Earthcaching!

Congratulations to FreeCuba for the FTF. Love the family picture!

Caching with Volcanoes

2010-09-05T00:14:00.000-05:00

This was one of those rare crystal clear days with hardly a hint of clouds in the sky. I had planned to go find and hide a cache so I was pleased at the great vistas of all three volcanoes that you can see from certain vantage points in Quito. I parked my car and tracked to the intended FTF cache find but after 30 minutes of searching I decided that this level-one difficulty hide had been muggled or was much harder than indicated. I plugged in an alternate cache and set out on the .5 mile hike. The trails were beautiful. Just as I crested one ridge I caught a view of Cayambe Volcano. I was glad I had my camera. What a view. A little further down the trail I came to an overlook viewing east into the valley and there in all its majesty was the Antisana Volcano. A little further down the trail as I descended gradually towards the cache I caught a view of the Cotopaxi Volcano. Antisana, unlike the cone shapes of Cayambe and Cotopaxi, is a crater volcano where the top blew off many many years ago. Whereas Cayambe and Cotopaxi are visible once every week or so, Antisana rarely comes out of the clouds. What a view. Soon my GPSr was telling me I was at the location. Just as the cache description said, I had to watch over my left shoulder for muggles that could be taking pictures on a wooden balcony built out over the cliff some 300 feet above me. No one was there when I started the search. I had to climb back into the bushes near the edge of the incline that became the cliff. Suddenly I heard voices from above. Someone was at the overlook. Down in the bushes like I was I knew they couldn't see me so I continued the search. Suddenly something red came into view as I probed the grass. There it was. Vaca Frita (GC24HP6) is part of a series lauding Cuban cuisine. Within the was a recipe for this tangy Cuban dish. I signed the log and crept out of the bushes so as not to attract attention from muggles above. The hike took about 20 minutes on a beautiful trail. I was in search of a place to put in a new cache. Soon I found the right spot, marked the coordinates and dropped a geocoin that I'd brought back from the US. Time to get home. What a beautiful morning in Quito!

Hiking in the Eco Reserve above Papallacta, Ecuador

2010-08-29T01:11:00.001-05:00

There is a group of us who plan camping and hiking outing every two months or so. We recently went to the ecological reserve above the thermal baths at Papallacta, on the east side of the continental divide about two hours out of Quito. We arrived around 11 a.m. just as the rain started to fall. We ate a quick lunch in the car, got into our rain gear and backpacks and off we went. The guard allowed us to park and camp near the control point at 12,200 feet above sea level so our hike from our campsite took us up a number of switchbacks as we ascended to the first series of high mountain lakes. The trail grew increasingly slippery with the rain but the scenery was beautiful nonetheless. We climbed past waterfalls until finally arriving at a large unnamed laguna. There my two companions fished for a time while I prepared coffee on my light weight propane stove. The rain continued. This particular lake was at about 13,000 feet above sea level and my friends caught nothing. As we worked our way back towards our campsite we stopped at Laguna de Banos where they tried their fortune again. We all were hoping for a trout supper. I head ahead on the one hour journey back to the camp. I wanted my tent up and ready before sunset. As I descended from the lake region the rain stopped and I caught the first view of the day of the Antisana Volcano. Since I was ahead of my friends I was able to hide a cache near where we were pitching our tents. It is Campsite (GC2CKNX) hidden at 12,200 feet above sea level. We were all wet and with the setting sun came the cold. After preparing supper on my Coleman camp stove, eating and cleaning up and then using my propane stove to dry out my socks and boots, we were ready to get in our sleeping bags as the temperature dropped to freezing. Freezing in July close to the equator! Not uncommon at these altitudes. I snuggled into two sleeping bags to defend against the cold. Sometime during the night I woke and thought that someone was shinning a bright light on my tent. At first I thought my friend in the next tent was playing a trick on me. When I got out of my sleeping bag to check it out I found it was a bright full moon shining in a cloudless sky. As I stepped out into the crisp, cold air I was struck with the beauty of the Antisana Volcano. Antisana was shy during the day, hardly doing more than peaking out from the clouds. Her she was in all her splendor in the moonlight. What a sight! The next morning after breakfast we headed up a different trail. After several grueling hours of climbing we were again at 13,000 feet above sea level. Realizing that we would have to go off the gravel road and into the paramo we decided to head back. The paramo grass is thick and the ground after all the rain was marshy. We hadn't seen a vehicle all morning. Just as we turned to head back a pickup truck came along heading our way and we thumbed a ride. When back at our camp we decided to head up another trail to find another lake. All totaled we hiked about 12 kilometers, climbing all but three of them. Hopefully someone, a tourist most likely, will find the new cache, the only cache in this area.

Ryan's Arrival Travel Bug

2010-08-22T00:07:00.001-05:00

I recently celebrated a birthday. One of my gifts was travel bug tags. I'm new to this TB stuff so I decided to hold the tag until getting to the US to launch it. With the birth of my third grandson I decided to release one in his honor. I found a photo keychain and placed a photo of Ryan in it. This cache is my way of giving thanks to the Lord for the birth of Ryan Ethan Abbott on 21 June 2010 at the High Point Regional Hospital. Ryan's Arrival (TB33FDM) was released in cache RDU Travel Bug Hotel (GCB649) near the Raleigh-Durham airport in North Carolina with instructions that it should travel to Quito, Ecuador. We are spending a month in North Carolina and then we will return to Quito where I'll be waiting the arrival of the travel bug. I wonder how long it will take for this to get there?

Caching on the Uwharrie Trail (North Carolina)

2010-08-15T02:39:00.001-05:00

Our summer vacation to North Carolina whizzed by so fast. We were blessed to be able to participate in a family reunion near the South Carolina border. On our way back to High Point, NC we stopped off to find a few geocaches in the Uwharrie Forest, a national park. We were on the trail for about an hour and did not see a soul. We found four caches. They were all ammo boxes designed to be found by the geocacher but unlikely to be stumbled across by a muggle. I've always though the goal of geocaching, at least for me, is that the cacher find the cache but that an unsuspecting muggle not. These were of that category. Sumajhuarmi and I hiked the trail from the Highway 109 trail head to the north to find several caches. The last one required us to back track to the parking area at the trail head, cross the highway and continue south on the trail. What a cache! I've never seen an ammo can this big before. It was full of swag, mainly oriented towards kids. We should have had our grandchildren with us this afternoon. If you get the opportunity, check out Uwharrie Treasure (GC1N18T). Now these are the kinds of caches I like. Not just because they aren't 4-5 star difficulty but because they are out in the woods and require a good little hike. There is so much to see in the Uwharrie Forest. I can't wait for my next chance (next year maybe!) to hike and cache this area some more.

Dirty Santa

2010-08-08T02:25:00.000-05:00

Dirty Santa (GC21WQP) was fun! I remember this cache from last Christmas. As our stateside assignment was wrapping up I got so busy that I didn't get around to looking for it. Now we are back in the Piedmont area of North Carolina to spend some time with our newborn grandson, Ryan. This morning I got out early to beat the heat and get some exercise. I walked the half mile or so from my daughter's house to the cache site. The description said it was behind the Community Bible Church so I walked into the parking lot and head to the back. It was early on a Saturday so I figured there wouldn't be anyone there. To my surprise it looked like some men had gathered to do some work. I ducked into the woods only about 200 feet from the cache. Immediately I lost signal and had to dead reckon to the cache. The first attempt went wide. I can't miss this one I thought. The clue said that if you can't find this one you might consider another sport altogether. The second time worked. Wow! This was probably the biggest cache container I've ever seen. And where was it? Right in the middle of a patch of poison ivy! I was ready with long pants. I worked my way to the cache through the smaller plants. Inside were wrapped Dirty Santa gifts, one per visitor. I made a trade, replaced the lid and didn't even try to hide this monster of a container. There was no use as it was pretty much out in the open. I made my way out of the woods at a different point so as to not be seen by the folks at the church. It was time to get back to the house to help out with the new baby. I think my job is to fix breakfast.

The High Point Greenway and High Point University

2010-08-01T01:38:00.000-05:00

Today was a particularly hot day outside. I hit a number of caches in High Point, NC. My favorite ones were along the greenway starting at Armstrong Park. I started down the greenway and came to the ball field. Immediately I recognized it from the last time I was there back in 1966! This is the ball field where I played many of my little league games when I was in the sixth grade. I have fond memories of that place and those days. Being so young I didn't remember where the field was other than that it was in High Point. Our team was called the McDonald Cubs. We were sponsored by McDonald's back before the Big Mac. I recall that after each game we won the whole team got to go to McDonald's on Main Street for a coke, hamburger and fries. That was a big treat! Thanks to caching I was able to rediscover that piece of my past. I found Sitting by the Creek (GC1PRZT) and signed the log before heading further east along the greenway. After one more cache I was on the High Point University campus. What a beautiful campus with its red brick buildings, fountains and sculptures. I found two more caches placed by students who are obviously proud of their school. On the way back to the greenway Curtis, a campus security officer, stopped and offered me a ride. It was great getting a little A/C for half a mile to the green way. Check out HPU when you can. You might check in with the campus security first. I noted that they were particularly vigilant.

Bogue Inlet Pier geocaching

2010-07-25T02:21:00.001-05:00

There are a number of nice caches along the coast and the sound side of Emerald Isle, NC. We took a six mile trip south from where we were staying and spent the sunset hours at the Bogue Inlet Pier, the Diary Queen and the Wing's store. You can't avoid the last two when you have the grandkids with you. I made a quick escape while there to find a cache .33 miles from the pier. Along the way I ran into some nice sand art done during the day and left for the waves. Before the waves could get them I snapped the following pictures. When you see that the clue for a geocache says "Pooper Scooper" you get a little worried about what you'll find. I was going for Cedar Point to Cedar Isle #3 (GC1AB4D). This one wasn't as bad as it could have been. Nothing spectacular about the find but the sand art on the beach was great. It was something I'd never have come across if it weren't for the cache.

Fort Macon and a Virtual

2010-07-18T02:48:00.001-05:00

Our vacation on the coast was great! Everyday I went out caching. I hit several in Atlantic Beach and up to the end of the island. At the northern end of the island is historic Fort Macon. This old fort was built in the 1830's. It saw action during the Civil War when the Confederacy controlled it and the Union took it back. We visited the museum and watched the orientation film before going out into the fort. We toured the casements and the parade ground. There were park rangers guiding tours frequently during the day. We tagged along for some of the tour. My GPSr led me to the GZ for a virtual cache entitled Ol' Grandpappy (GCGEM0). From that location we had to count the number of gun emplacements in a certain part of the fort. These gun emplacements were actually the locations where the cache owner's great great grandfather had served during the Civil War. That genealogical touch was nice. The fort is well maintained and the park rangers seemed eager to serve and inform. There were lots of folks out today. Check it out if you come this way.

Cache #1300!

2010-07-11T02:56:00.004-05:00

We lived it up at the beach! What beautiful weather and fun times with my family. I miss my youngest daughter who is working this summer in Ecuador. Other than that we have all our kids and grandkids with us on Emerald Isle. The 4th of July was a special day for playing on the beach and then some afternoon geocaching. I took off from the condo where we are staying to walk the one mile to the first cache. It was at a beach access picnic area. The area was well shaded and the clue said to stand on a picnic table. The GZ put me at the base of a tree but I couldn't see anything that looked like the described 35 mm film canister. The main problem is that the picnic tables were chained to a concrete pad and I couldn't move any of them to the tree. Just when it would be nice to have my grandson with me. He'd have climbed that tree for me. Maybe later. I walked the mile back along the beach to where my family was. From there I went to the car and began my search for more caches within the Emerald Isle city limits. I found two quick ones along a new bike trail. Then several eluded me. I really wanted one more cache. The rest were caches in high muggle areas in town. This being the 4th of July and everyone being out discouraged me from going there. There were two more possibilities on the way back to the condo. The first didn't look feasible from the road. It described a trail back to the sound side of the island but from the road every access looked like a private driveway. There was one more option before having to drive way south to Atlantic Beach for the next cache. After a streak of micros what a joy to find a regular size geocache on the beach. Bonsai Beach (GCY16C) was a fun find, large and full of swag. It was good to find number 1300! Now I could go home for supper. This is our first time at Emerald Isle. We highly recommend it.

Caching my way to Emerald Isle, NC

2010-07-04T02:14:00.001-05:00

We had just watched the Argentina - Mexico World Cup game on Sunday when we began to plan what to do for the 4th of July. We aren't normally in the US on this special holiday so with being here on vacation primarily to greet our new grandson we had not given thought to the possibility of spending some time at the beach. We got on line and found the last affordable place on the coast for four nights. That set in motion some intense geocaching planning. I challenged my nine-year old grandson, MasterYoda1, to accompany me early on the date of our trip. We left well in advance of the others so we could cache our way from High Point, NC to Emerald Isle Beach, NC. It was a great day filled with all kinds of caches. There were large, medium and small ammo boxes, lock and lock tupperware containers, 35 mm film containers, decon containers, medicine bottles and nanos. A good number of the first ones we got were premium-only caches. I have mixed feelings about these caches. I guess some would tell me not to look for them if I feel this way but I found and logged them anyway. A friend gave me a premium membership last year and suddenly all these "hidden" caches popped up. I really appreciate the kind gift because it has allowed me to find more caches than I would have otherwise. Nonetheless, I believe that caching should be free to all. Having premium-only type cache seems akin to the nickle and diming that the airlines are doing for things like extra leg room or for the chance to board earlier than others. I guess Groundspeak is finding the means of making more money, just like the airlines. I kind of wish we didn't have premium-only caches. We had a great day traveling to the beach. Before the day was up our family members traveling separately passed us by and were at the beach house well ahead of us. Such is the joy of geocaching. Just before arriving at Emerald Isle I found Canope Cache (GC25PAP) and snapped this photo. It isn't the first time I've come across this type of cache. The cache was suspended from a limb about 20 feet up in the air by a line of twine that looked precarious. I'd left my swag bag on the ground next to the cache before raising it back. I kind of had second thoughts about retrieving my things wonder if the ammo can would stay up there long enough for me to grab my stuff and move on. It did. I always like an ammo can in the woods! I'm looking forward to caching on Emerald Isle this week. Crossing the bridge to the isle and knowing that there are a good number along the coast and the inlet promises for a great vacation!

Kids and Caching in Chacas, Peru

2010-06-27T02:58:00.000-05:00

Chacas is unique! In all of my Peru travels I've never seen this type of Italian woodwork. Of course that may be because of all the Italians that have settled here to enlist, train and employ (albeit at low pay) the Quechua people of the town. The place is beautiful, looking like a small alpine town somewhere in northern Italy. The snow cap mountains to the west and the construction of the houses make this a postcard perfect place. The one problem is that Chacas had no geocaches. Along with a family from our organization that lives and ministers there we remedied that problem. We headed out of town on a dirt road to the northwest to where my friend knew of a locaton that would be a good place to hide a cache. We pulled off the road near a set of stone steps going up into the woods. All along the right side of the dirt road was a deep valley running up to the snow melt. I just had to get a few pictures of the area. We climbed about 100 steps and arrived at a stone niche with flowers and artifacts of Roman Catholic worship. We started our search for a place to hide the cache. I'm used to paying several dollars to buy a decent tupperware type cache containers but while I was in nearby San Luis I found some containers in a street vendors stand. They only cost me .33 cents each. Amazing! San Luis is a small rather primitive town about 9 miles from Chacas as the crow flies but a good hour by the dirt roads. So, with containers in hand I was ready for the hide. With my friend and his two children we searched out a place to hide the cache. We know that a few tourist come this way. Caching has caught on in Italy too so between the Italians that come to work in the wood carving programs and tourist who might come through to see this community, there might just be a geocacher. At any rate, Chacas has it's very own geocache. Who'll go look for it?

Chavin, Pre-Inca Culture - Peru

2010-06-20T02:09:00.000-05:00

Last week we were at the tunnel crossing the White Mountains into the Southern Conchucos area of Peru. As we continued our journey we came down from 14,000 feet above sea level to about 10,000 feet into the valley formed by the Mosna River. The small Quechua towns around the valley were beautiful. Before long we arrived at the town of Chavin. The town is built up to the south of the famous Chavin ruins. These are pre-Inca ruins from the time of Christ. At that time in South American history the Chavin culture dominated a large part of Peru. Little is known about the culture. They did believe that they were the center of the earth. It is amusing to be so far from modern civilization in Chavin today and think of it as the center of world. We toured the ruins. It was my second time seeing them but it was the first time for my wife. We toured the cancha, or ball field, the temple mound and then we descended into the small halls and walkways inside the temple underground. From there we could see the monolith left by the Chavin culture. It was apparently some type of object of worship for these people. Hiding a cache on the archeological site wouldn't work nor would it be smart. Just look near the site and use the name of the cache as a big clue to its location. With all the muggle traffic in the area I don't know how long this one will last. With the frequent tourist visits it is my hope that someone soon finds Chavin, a bridge to the past (GC2871A).

Tunnel Vision - White Mountains of Peru

2010-06-13T02:08:00.004-05:00

About an hour and a half up the road from last week's site, Lake Conococha and the statue of St. Francis of Asisi, we came to a beautiful lake called Querococha. There we switched cars as our friend from Chiquian dropped us off with some friends from Chavin who had driven across the mountains to pick us up. Querococha was a nice rest stop for photos and a chance to buy something to drink. It would be nice if someone hides a cache here in the future. From here we climbed up to over 14,000 feet above sea level to the Cahuisi tunnel. Things are beautiful at this altitude. There are very few trees above the tree line at around 13,000 feet. The country isn't farmed either. Sometimes we would see a Quechua shepherd women tending her flock of sheep but nothing else. Once we came out of the tunnel we were on the east side of the Cordillera Blanca (White Mountain Range) and in the area known as the Callejon of Southern Conchucos. This is where the Southern Conchucos Quechua people live. Just as you come out of the tunnel you see a beautiful view of the valley and a very large statue of Christ. This area was the perfect place for my next geocache. Jordan, my helper, assisted me in the placement of the cache. He even provided a hint in the attached picture, also included in the cache page. Check out Tunnel Vision (GC281ZP). For those traveling in Ancash Department to visit the archeological site at Chavin, this is right along the way. See if you can get the bus driver to stop and take a minute at most and find this cache! It isn't uncommon for caches in these parts to go months waiting to be found for the first time.

Cache maintenance from one country to another

2010-06-06T02:45:00.001-05:00

Last year the area reviewer let me place a cache in the Andes Mountains of Peru. I live in Ecuador but because I travel through the area periodically, it was approved. I placed several in some really scenic places like the Conacocha Lake near the pass leading over the Black Mountains and upwards of 13,000 feet above sea level, at Lake Llaganuco along the road from Yungay that goes through a pass through the White Mountains. It appears that the one at Conacocha Lake has gone missing. Sumajhuarmi and I traveled to the Department of Ancash on our way from Huaraz, where we'd spent a week in meetings, to the town of Chiquian to visit some friends for a day. Along the way we stopped off to check on the cache. It's a beautiful location as the photos reveal. The statue of Saint Francis of Asisi with the lake in the background and the White Mountain range behind it is always a great place to stop to stretch your legs and take in some of God's beauty. Did we find the cache alive and well or did we have to replace it? You got it. It had been muggled so we came prepared to replace it with a new cache. We traveled on to Chiquian and had a great visit with our friends. The next day we came back by the cache site with our friend, who had alerted us that the cache must have gone missing. It was gratifying to watch as he made quick business of finding the cache. This cache is located at about 13,000 feet above sea level. On a clear day like we had you can see the White Mountain Range all the way south to Peru's tallest mountain, Huascaran.

Media Noche Sandwich Geocache

2010-05-30T02:10:00.000-05:00

Is it true that Cubans really like to eat? I know they like a strong tiny cup of coffee. I have a Cuban American friend and geocacher who recently hid several food-related caches in the Metropolitano Park overlooking Quito. I really liked Media Noche (GC24HP0) because it was well hidden and the prize was a recipe for a Cuban sandwich of the same name. I brought it home and that very day, twelve hours off the mark, my wife prepared the sandwich. It was great. I recommend you find the cache and that you fix up a Media Noche for yourself. If you can't travel to Ecuador, google it for the recipe and make your own. Imagine: cheese, pork, ham and a special mustard sauce. Good eating!

The Sacred Valley Tour

2010-05-23T02:46:00.000-05:00

When I came to Cusco several years ago I thought there were some geocaches out in the Sacred Valley. I guess they've been muggled and removed. I was disappointed. We traveled from the high plains (altiplano) town of Juliaca by bus one evening, arriving in the rainy city of Cuzco. We spent the next day visiting with friends. On Monday we had a day to ourselves. We hired a tour and went out to the Sacred Valley. What an experience. Our first stop was Chinchero village, a small town with many Inca ruins and artisan shops. It was fun but the real fun for me were the ruins we'd see later. We saw the Inca ruins at Ollantaytambo with the many terraces climbing up the side of a mountain. We had a good meal at noon in one of the towns. Upon leaving town we got word that there had been a landslide that killed some people in Pisac. We had hoped to see the ruins there but could not get through. Recent floods had washed out one of the bridges as well. We back tracked to Moray, where the guide said the Inca had established an agricultural experimental center. There we found the amphitheater-like location. We climbed down into it and were amazed at the construction. We had a great day. I wish there had been some caches in the area!

Earthcache: Lago San Pablo - Ecuador

2010-05-16T03:56:00.000-05:00

We recently returned to Ecuador from a time in the US. It was nice to find that there are a few new earthcaches here now. One is San Pablo + Imbabura (GC20FQZ), located along the scenic Panamerican Highway 1.5 hours north of Quito just after you enter into the province of Imbabura. The site of the earthcache is a large lake formed thousands of years ago at the base of the Imbabura volcano. Be sure to visit the shops at the location. Fresh cheese and all kinds of items are on sale here. Get you photo made with the lake behind you too! This fine couple did. Further down the road you come to the Indian market city of Otavalo. There you can purchase all types of Indian artisan items. You are in the heart of the Otavalo Quichua people, one of the most productive and progressive Quichua peoples in the country. All around you are places to see and things to do. There are waterfalls, volcanos to climb, volcano lakes, hiking trails, woodworking and sales, leather works and more.