CO-FTF on an Early Morning Night Time Cache Hunt

When you know that there are several very competitive FTF hounds in your area the urge to be first can be very compelling. For me, depending on where I am during the day and where the newly published geocache actually is will tell me who I am up against and how drastic of measures I need to take to achieve "clean sheetz".

For example, the posting to a particular geocache went live at 9:30 last night. It was about ten miles away and so I actually debated whether I just go out and get it or wait until morning after I drop my daughter off for school. After contemplating the effort that would need to be taken to tell my wife I was going out geocaching - again - or getting a good nights sleep in an actual bed. I decided morning would be best.

After booting my child out of the car and speeding into the night..., err, after waiting for the school bus to arrive and pick up my child from the bus stop I carefully and safely merged into traffic on my way to the geocache site.

Upon arrival I realized that it was still pitch black out and this would be a night hunt. Fortunately the area did not have anyone around so I was free to search undisturbed, or at least that was what I thought at the time. After taking my flashlight and blackberry with me I stumbled in the dark hoping for a quick grab and go. Unfortunately this was not the case and the geocache was well hidden in an area of multiple hiding spots. About ten minutes of searching and I see a car pull up and park behind mine. I was pretty sure it was not the police and I suspected a high probability that it would be my FTF nemesis Ikraynak.

"Ian, is that you", I called into the darkness. The return snickering told me that my suspicions were correct.

We combined forces and began searching the rather large, target rich geocache site. Another five or so minutes go by and I spot the geocache.

"Found it", says I.

Ian retrieved the small geocache and we looked to see if our efforts were in vain or not. We were not disappointed this time and the FTF was ours.

After a short chit-chat it was time for both of us to head off for work. Funny how we both get so much enjoyment trying to beat each other out in being first. That I personally had even more fun looking together with a common goal. Well okay I technically DID find it first anyways but that is not the point... TeeHEE... Until the next time.

Java and a Nightime FTF

Morning. Add another FTF to my ever growing list.

I saw this one pop on the radar just before midnight last night. Came really close to just going out and getting it but I decided to take the chance and wait until after I dropped off my daughter at the school bus stop before heading out into the darkness to find this beastie.

This nighttime find had me freezing my fingers looking under all sorts of rocks. Luckily the area was pretty muggle free with only a few cars driving by.
After about ten minutes of scouting via flashlight in hand I soon was signing the clean log sheetz.

Tried out a new coffee brand this morning and a FTF ta boot - I'm lov'n it!

News Flash!!!! Thought that I had lost my good flashlight on this little adventure. I was so into getting the log signed and on my way to work that I did not notice the lack of my illumination tools.

It sat there all day and I gave it about one chance in ten that it would still be there by the time I made it there.

Bingo, sitting right out into the open and in perfect condition.. Bad Flashlight, Bad.

Cache Found! Cupcake cache in Raleigh,

Cache Found! Cupcake cache in Raleigh, NC.

I just had to find me a cache this morning and this one was fun. The past couple of weeks it has been hot down here. Like real hot, upper 90s / low 100s hot. I'm sorry, I love caching but when it is so hot your travel bug melts off of your rear view mirror.... it's hot out!

So today we are actually NOT going to be in the 90s but a comfortable mid 80s which is normal for this time of year. So the bug got to me and I hit a quick grab and go on the way to work. As seen in the photo it was a cute cache container and I really enjoyed the gold doubloon I found within. Great fun in da morning.

Fortunately the past weeks were not completely fruitless. I managed to put out a seven part multi-cache called Six Little Green Stages: Multi Decoder Challenge, put out a rather clever cache in Oxford called Frankly, I Think You're Screwed and am working on something new that I think everyone will enjoy called HHH's Puzzle Tubes. More information to come in the next day or two.

Until then...

Congrats to Mobettamerf for FTF Finish of Entire GTLD Series

Getting The Lowe Down Mystery Series

Congratulations to our FTF cacher Mobettamerf for finding GTLD#5!!! Not an easy task by any means. Read below how this series came to be and what you have to do to complete it.

It started out as a simple TB Hotel and then transformed into a double secret decoder encrypted series. My 'Getting The Lowe Down' series was originally designed to have a nice place for people to trade trading bugs and geocoins in the 40/42 area of Garner, NC. The TB Hotel did so well I thought it would be a good starting point to a secret cache. So GTLD #2 and #3 were born.

Number three is a real treasure trove of which I check regularly and will most likely be changing into a huge ammo box. It currently is stuffed with one ups and other goodies that people have traded. The last log stated it was actually so packed with swag the cacher couldn't put the extra goodies they brought. Did I mention how much I love well stocked caches? Anyways I was getting so many nice comments on this series I decided to expand it but what would make it even more interesting? The answer was a decoder encrypted double secret cache hunt!

Recently a new geocoin was introduced which actually is a Pocket Decoder. This decoder allows the creation and decryption of incredibly secure messages. Now I actually bought one but the nice thing is there is a paper version anyone can print off for free. So you do not actually have to buy it to find these types of caches. Note- they are sweet though so you might want to consider getting one.

GTLD #4 and GTLD #5 were created for this new challenge. In GTLD #4 is a symbol used to decipher the secret message with instructions of where #5 is, what type of cache it is and a well rounded hint. The plan is simple. Find the symbol, decipher the message, get to the hidden mystery cache. Read below what you have to do to complete this series.

- Find GTLD #1 - Retrieve first half of coords to GTLD#3
- Find GTLD #2 - Retrieve second half of coords to GTLD#3
- Find GTLD #3 - Retrieve encrypted message to GTLD#5
- Find GTLD #4 - Retrieve decoder symbol and decrypt message
- Find GTLD #5 - Mission Accomplished

Do you have the right stuff to find Getting The Lowe Down #5? Time will tell who has the fortitude.



Again Way To Go Mobettamerf!!!

Quick Snapshot in Front of the Garner Police Department

Always looking for a photo opportunity while caching. Cache Found in Garner!

Yep that's daughter Geopants and I taking a quick snapshot in front of the Garner Police Department. The sun was going down so the shot is a bit blurry but hey ya have to have some fun while caching.

We picked up a quick five caches tonight including two beautiful areas by Lake Wheeler.

Just having too much fun and still keeping legal.

Post From HeadHardHat's Phone

Doing my Tuesday night cache runs after work. Took daughter Amanda who now wants to be called GeoPants. Not to say she is getting hooked on caching but I find less time of me holding the GPS then before I started taking her along for the fun. We were going for a quick grab and in a parking lot. She asked if she could try using the GPS and I said sure just follow the arrow and watch the distance. Next thing you know she walks up to the cache site and has it in hand. They grow so fast - sigh. So I guess we are going to be Team Hard Hat Brotherhood from now on..

Picked up an additional six caches for our efforts and on our very last cache bumped into Farb and Teenykins. Funny to me was GeoPants and I were wrapping up with the sun already down and Farb was just starting. Have to get me a pair of night vision goggles on my next trip to the ammo box store.

Post From HeadHardHat's Phone

Good day, Found 8 caches today with the majority in White Deer Park.

Walked all over today and I know it cuz me dogs are barking. Had a great afternoon with me daughter and found out that there are tons of little parks all around the Garner, North Carolina area that have some really nice trails. Did see and hear some nearby wildlive and Amanda even swatted off a couple of hitch hikers that decided to come along for the ride. This was amazing to me cuz me daughter can't stand bugs.

I highly recommend stopping by the Garner area and spend a few hours taking in the spring/summer air. Good Times!

Check out the quick video to see a sample of White Deer Park.

Caching with Amanda.

Caching with Amanda. My daughter is getting over a pretty big fear of buggies. So I was very proud of her when she said she wanted to go with me into the woods GeoCaching. Seen here she found one of her first caches by having to stick her hands in an a tree to get the prize. She was hesitant at first but over came it and found the cache.

Way to go Amanda!

Cache Found!

Cache Found! White Deer Park,NC

Having a great afternoon with my daughter walking the trails of White Deer Park near Garner, NC. Found six caches in this area and logged about four miles of hiking.

Post From HeadHardHat's Phone

Cache Found! Seven for 90 minutes play.

Daughter Headhardhat and I was able to hit the Garner / Clayton, NC area for about an hour and a half this evening. Had a great time together and met some nice people along the way.

Cache Found! With Amanda

Cache Found! With Amanda and her first find by herself. I of course dressed to conceal my true nature and blend in with the environment.

So What's In Your Backpack?

A couple of days ago and right smack in the middle of a fast food burger, fries and diet libation a young lad noticed the back of my caching sack. "Hey Mister", he said in between bites of a kid meal. "What is that hanging out of your pack"?

"That's a grabber", says I. " I use it for picking up stuff".

"What kind of stuff?", questions the little tike.

"Hidden treasure", says I. His eyes grow wide and in a high pitched voice he squeaks, "Really?"

"Yup, wanna see some", says I.

"Oh yeah", he says.

Then I pulled out some geocoins and put one in his hand. His eyes grew even bigger as he looked at one of my FTF coins. The series of ooohs and ahhhhs went on for several minutes as I pulled out my swag bag and let him choose a goodie or two.

The father noticed the geocache patch on the back and had heard of geocaching before but never tried it himself. Spent about another 10 minutes or so going over the places I've been and the type of caches I have found. Then the discussion turned again to my backpack and the different things that I have needed to have out of necessity.

So far I have accumulated some absolute have too haves.

Grabber - an absolute must for getting at things out of reach or in places I don't want to reach in.

Flashlight(s).
Magnetic reach pole for getting 35 mm out of signs or high up out of reach.
Needle nose fish lure extractor - also good for getting 35mm out of signs when stuck or stubborn.

Tweezers - micro logs and ticks...
Bug / Tick spray
Umbrella (not used yet)
Baseball Hat and Gloves
Poncho
6 different sizes of plastic bags
Geocoin bag
Travel Bug bag
Swag bag (trading stuff)
Bigger trading stuff (first aid kits, maglights, bungee cords, etc.)
GPS Garmin Etrex
Handy Dandy Logbook and pens

Palm TX

Garbage Bags

Not quite up to dynamite and pick axe yet but getting there. The night vision goggles have been ordered.

This of course does not include the storage container of assorted caches from bison tubes to large ammo boxes, plus a bunch of lock boxes and those Rubbermaid soup holders. Hey ya never know when you have to put a cache somewhere. Wouldn't be the first time I have repaired someone else's cache, just love telling someone that, my motto always has been "be prepared and stuff".

Anyway as I was going through the discussion of my backpack contents and it occurred to me that if I have this much just after a couple of months I wonder what I will have in another year?

So as the young tike asked me, I now ask you..... What's in your backpack?

HeadHardHat Has No Excuse

Well it's finally happened, I have finally gotten a Round Tuit.. Yes, yes, I know it's hard to believe. Me being the ever loving Mr. Procrastinator has now been able to get a "Round Tuit", sigh.

Actually as geocoins go this one is sweet. It is black enamel with glow in the dark green enamel mixed in. The front of the coin has the word "Tuit" with promises of logging caches, going caching, going back to missed sites, uploading pictures, etc. and on the back is the secret decoder for deciphering hints found on geocache.com.

This is one of about 9 different types of geocoins I had recently purchased. Several of those types including a Round Tuit will be going out into the system in the next week or so. The Round Tuit actually went into a Cache in Garner, NC this morning. Keep an eye out, you just might find it.

So I now officially have a GeoCoin collection started and I couldn't be happier. The weight of the coins just feels great and the whole pirates treasure thing is cool in itself. Oh and by the way, I have several FTF coins that have not been activated yet. Some rather cool series troves are in the works and these coins will be in them. Keep posted for more details...

HHH

Revenge is a Dish Best Served Cold.... or not.

Greetings GeoCache Fans,

You may or may not have read one of my past posts called EU457. This little gem was about a particularly troublesome cache hidden by Oxford, NC's own Ringer2410. Long story short, I had to eat some crow and get a hint to find the darn thing.

Yesterday I get an email from Ringer asking if the coords were correct for that cache and if so could I give him a hint. Well look who's glove is on the other foot now? Recently, I put out a new cache called, "Playing on the Railroad Tracks" and ole Mr. Ringer is having some difficulty finding my homemade cache. Well, nanners....

Err or not, I wish I could be the vindictive type but the truth in the matter is Ringer is a really nice guy and since we seem to be the only ones putting new caches in the Oxford area I better be nice, cuz he's a clever dude and I will most likely be the next one to need the hint...

Sooooo, needless to say, when I was going back to the cache site this morning to revalidate the coords guess who I see scouring the tracks? Yup, Ringer. I stayed a goodly distance away and watched the man work. He only took a couple of minutes and it appeared he had found my cache. Shortly after putting everything back in place he started to drive away. That was when he noticed where I was parked and came over to say hi. After a brief talk and just before we parted he handed me a GeoCoin and said for me to put it in a good spot. I didn't think too much about it until did a little research about out it. Then I realized it was a coin Ringer had just taken from a 5 /5 cache site. The hardest you can find and/or get to. That was really cool in my eyes so I am going to take it down to a particular cache of mine in Garner where people will appreciate the find.

Ringer2410 is a class act and I look forward to caching with him at some up coming event.

Sunday Cache Fest...

Had a great time caching today with several hours worth under my belt. Here is the overall list and it would appear that I walked over 8 miles. No wonder me dogs are barking.
Found - Rock Pile, North Carolina

This was a beautiful walk. The cache itself was quickly found but again with all the green of North Carolina, why rush?









Found - 'Cause You Love Me For It, North Carolina

Ever have one of those caches where you know where the cache is, you can hear it breathing, there is even a clue telling you it's there.... yet you can't find the dang thing.. Looked for 10 minutes on this one until finally success. Phew!


By the way saw this at the cache site... What is it? Benchmark maybe?

Found - Watta View, North Carolina

This was fun. My parking coords did not put me near the cache and I did not take the time to Google Earth the area.. Big mistake. Tried to find an entry point to what is actually a well used park. Ended up going up a road that I thought was part of the park. Instead it turned out being an area next to the park but the owner said if I parked down the entrance way I could enter the park there. Cool! Found the cache after some frustrating tries and then enjoyed walking several miles from beginning to end. Not because I had to mind you but because I wanted to. The view was fantastic and I wanted to see more.


Found - Parking Aside, North Carolina

A rather quick cache that include a bit of a hike to actually get to the site. This was the first of three separate places today where I spotted deer walking around.






Found - Crowder Cache, North Carolina
Had to laugh at this particular cache. Apparently the other caches in this area have been muggled. The owner of this cache took extra steps to make sure it didn't happen again.






Found - The Fairview Roundabout, North Carolina

When I stopped near this area I confused what I thought was a roundabout and the actual roundabout itself. Turns out this roundabout is in a church parking lot. Had an added challenge of a squad car parked about 50 yards away with two fine officers doing paper work. So I do what I always do and put on my backpack and head off into the woods. I guess I didn't look suspicious and they never stopped me. With my caching done I waved as I drove off. Received another woodlen scare when I found several deer in this area too. That do make the heart start a pump'n.


Found - Mack's Micro IV, North Carolina

I really wanted to do this particular cache for several months now. Though the thought of a briar patch and some serious bushwacking did not appeal to me. Determined even with the possibility of some good scrapes I grabbing my favorite bushwacking stick and swiped through.
Note, I don't have a problem showing the cache here because the owner tells you straight out what you are looking for. Finding it is entirely another matter. After several minutes of searching I found my prize and not a scratch on me.







DNF :( - Keys to the Cache-l Part 2, North Carolina

This one makes me want to wallow in my own beer. Spent over 90 minutes looking for an ammo box high in the hills of South West Raleigh. The walk included some very deep woods trails to the point where I was thinking to myself - dang this is some deep stuff. Cell phone had five bars so on I went. Then there was a rather steep climb to the upper levels. This 300 pound cacher made it up with a little wheezing but felt great doing it. Then after scouring the country side came up with nada, zip, nothing, etc. Long story short, a whole lot of exercise but that is about it.
Will have to take another whack at this when I get a chance. Saw all sorts of swamp areas, ponds, streams and other wildlife like more deer.
All in all a great day of fun and lots of walking. Going to lose this weight one way or another. Might as well enjoy how I do it!

Headhardhat's Big #100th Cache!

Well the benchmark is finally here. I am now in triple digits - WooHoo!

That may not be such a big deal to some but hey I just started this hobby.. I'm absolutely tickled pink and can't wait to make it to four digits. So let us take things one interesting cache at a time.. Next up.. 101 and counting...

Three New Caches in Two States Open For Business

Woo Hoo! HeadHardHat now has caches in three states. Just opened for business today..
Check it out:

Take A Load Off - Virginia
HeadHardHat's GeoCoin Hotel - Ohio
Do You Want A Cache With That? - Virginia

Several More Coming Soon to Oxford, NC.. Should be ready by noon Monday.

Post From HeadHardhat's Phone

Cache Found! GARNER, NC

Had a grand time trying to find the best access point to this cache.. Did spend some good quiet time on the trails. What a cool place..

As I was wrapping up the cache I heard someone walking up the trail. Knew instantly it was a cacher. The tell tale signs were there. Eyes focused on a Garmin, head down and walking on 25% of the actual trail (just kidding).

Bumped into WillGoodHunting who just became a member. We talked for quite a while and discussed what travel bugs and geocoins were. Gave some basic tips and helpful hints to help him survive. What a great guy, hope to meet up at an event sometime.

Whirlwind Weekend and Not in a Good Way...

Ahh Fooey, I guess you can't win them all. Was really hoping to do some decent caching this weekend and just too many other things going on right now. Throw in some rain and other factors caused this to be a bit of a bust.

I did though get about two hours in late Sunday where I was able to get in about six caches. Some in some pretty scary places as you can see by the photos.

(Left - HeadHardHat with cache at an abandoned store in Wake County, NC.)









I was able to stomp around Garner, NC and Benson Park. Was a bit disappointed in the number of inaccuracies of Travel Bugs. Tried three separate caches all reporting TBs and all came up blank. Humph...





(Another view of the old store)





As a side note, there is a real possibility that I may have to drive up to Michigan this week (again)! Normally that would be a pain but I would be able to cache on the way. Unfortunately da wife needs me Garmin to do some driving herself so it looks like the whole trip is going to be a cacheless one.. Things just keep looking better and better...



Had one "Couldn't Find". It was at White Deer Park in Garner and the sun was already down. Took me about a third of a mile on a deer trail and by the time I made it to the cache site I only had time for a quick fly by. Again another creepy place and the Lone Star tick on my pants didn't help.. Boogied on out and will try again under more sunny circumstances...


Welp, that's all for this weekend. Hope yours was a cache rich one. I ended up with 6 and 1. How about you?