Lunch Time GeoCaching

What a sweet hide. This one actually took me a couple of minutes to figure out the geocache hidey spot. There are severa areas of possiblity and you know me. Even when I read the heeds of the owner I still have to find the most difficult way of finding the cache. This was no exception and I have the bleeding pokes to prove it.

Once I figured out the spot and had cache in hand I had not a single DOH but a Double DOH moment. The first moment was when I reached down to my pocket to pull out my writing utencil and realized I left it in the car which was about .15 of a mile away. DOH! Then I actually was desperate enough to think I could use a stick to at least mark HHH on the log sheet. Then I realized I had already taken my geocaching carrying pouch which of course had several pens. DOH - DOH !

Needless to say we are glad to see a new hider in the area and look forward to more geocache finds.
Signed log and took nothing but the 20 sided die was very tempting.

That Will Be Two FTFs This Morning Thank You

Well lessee here, we start off with a beautiful crisp fall day in Oxford, North Carolina. I am about four miles from work and currently have a huge smile on my face. How come? Clean Sheets!

No I am not talking about the kind you pull over your head when the alarm goes off. Though that is always nice, no, I am talking about geocache log sheets. When no one has found the cache and you are the First To Find it. We call them FTFs and for some it is better than a cup of coffee from the excitement they generate.

For me it is the anticipation of the hunt and the possible reward that gets me going. When a new cache is published it is common knowledge and everyone knows it. The early bird really gets the worm in this case. It all depends on who is closest and has the most ambition. For many FTFs are a badge of honor which allows bragging rights. I am definitely one of those cachers. Some try to pooh-pooh FTFs and say they do not mean anything but for me it is all part of the game and I like winning! I have talked to many a cacher who has driven 50-60 miles for a FTF. Of course that was before the gasoline prices went through the roof, but that is another post.

Anyhoo, I was not only able to get one FTF today but two. This double burst of geocaching goodness were nice finds in semi wooded areas. Both were relatively close to the road and did not require too much bushwacking which was great. I did have to go to work afterwards. Both were small sized and nicely placed. I don't want to give too many details because there are readers that will be finding these caches soon enough. I don't want to spoil their fun. Good Luck all and it is so nice to see even more caches being placed in the Oxford area. I know they keep me hopping.

Impersonation is the Greatest Form of Complement

I have read that impersonation is the greatest form of complement. I never really had a good point of reference to that statement until I found a newly hid cache up near Oxford, North Carolina.

The owner of the cache is Ringer2410 who is a notorious "hide in plain site" kind of geocacher. For example his EU457 drove me nuts for several weeks and more attempts than I wish to acknowledge. Over the Labor Day Weekend he unleashed Tar River Migraine (GC1FM3M). The description pulls a very interesting collage of other caches that can be found in the Oxford, NC area. Including a couple by yours truly.

Here is a snippit from the description:

"This ain’t no D.N. Hix Micro in an Oxford Park. If you are 85 and over you might not want to Play on these Tracks because of What’s That Speeding By and you might be able to Reach out and Touch Someone in a car. If the Farmer Watches over me/you or the Taxman Cometh then you might want to head down to the Redneck Yacht Club (Tar River), take a seat, and Read a Book and Enjoy the scenery. On this one I’d have to say your odds are a little worse then a 50 – 50 Chance, but if you start to get the Folsom Prison Blues you might want to get Ol Red or seek a Hallowed Ground to pray for help. Geocaching is all Location, Location, Location. Have yourself some Barnyard Fun while thinking Where Art Thou? "...

Creative caches like this just shows how tight knit the geocaching community can be. Many times we get so involved in our own creative outlets we can forget the obvious around us. Once again it takes someone like Ringer2410 to show us something new in plain sight; ourselves.

I went out today and actually was able to claim the FTF! This cache is designated a Difficulty 3 and Terrain of 2.5. I found it to be a really great challenge and a completely satisfying find.

Thanks Ringer2410.

A Note by HeadHardHat: I wanted to show you an actual Travel Bug I ran into whilst looking for this cache. Near a large crack in a concrete wall I thought I found a large rubber wolf spider with a sinker holding it in place. It looked like one of those spiders you would find at the Natural Science Museum in Raleigh. So before picking up my prize I decided to take a photo of it showing how creepy it was and that it was also about five inches in diameter. I put my camera away and was just about to pick it up when I saw it slowly move back into it's hiding spot... It was real! This by far was the largest wolf spider I have ever seen. The sinker must have been the egg sack seen in the blurry photo to the left. All I can say is wow!

TimMcGrawlookalike and HeadHardHat Meet Face To Face, Finally!

Okay all you conspiracy theory people out there. Better sharpen your pencils because I finally was able to meet up with TimMcGrawlookalike today.

Conspiracy you say? Yes we've heard the stifled whispers in the hallways, the finger pointing from the other side of the room and those off hour phone calls when fellow cachers ask, "What gives?". Okay maybe not the finger pointing so much but I was recently asked if TimMcGrawlookalike and I had an ongoing plan to gain the most FTFs by feeding off each other's new caches. I can say with great certainty that we do not and it just seems that way. You see up in the Oxford, NC area there are not a whole lot of regulars. Much to TMGL's and my amazement once either one of us put out a cache it tends to just sit there for a day or three. When we finally go to work we will pick them up but for the most part they are not picked up as quickly as other areas. The pattern is usually the same, he would put a cache and I would go find it. Then I would put out a cache then he would be the FTF.
This has happened so often that people apparently noticed. That’s okay I love FTFs and will gladly race for whoever places caches along my way to work and back.

What gets me pumped though is when someone else puts out a new cache, then it really gets interesting. There are four regulars in the Oxford area when it comes to Geocaching. There is TMGL and I who get up really early for work so that seems to give us a slight advantage. Then comes Ringer2410 an Oxford native and a creative hider in his own right. Last but not even close to least is mobettamerf. Now I am pretty sure that mobettamerf sleeps with an early warning system under her pillow when a new cache gets published. Because there are times she will go out in the middle of the night to get a FTF. TimMcGrawlookalike is in law enforcement so he has all sorts of cool gadgets like night vision goggles and stuff. I would swear he has a bat cave nearby but I am still looking into that. On that rare occasion the planets are all in a line a real race happens.

There have been times we all have missed each other by minutes. Not hours mind you but minutes. There is nothing like a look on a FTF hunter when they see you waving goodbye in the rear view mirror and they just missed the prize. Muhahahaha, sorry I digress. This happened today as a matter of fact, I put out a new cache yesterday called Lunch Bucket #1: Butner Snacker. It published and both TMGL and mobettamerf went for it first thing. I won’t say who beat who but she must have been book’n from home. Apparently the other unfortunate cacher missed it by 45 minutes! Man I love this sport, hobby, obsession… That’s how it goes in the world of caching.

Well that was a long way to go for the main reason I wrote this article today. After emailing for such a long time I really wanted to meet up with TMCL since we never actually met face to face before. Unfortunately we did not have a lot of lunch time to spare so we decided to meet at one of my favorite Oxford hides, Playing on the Train Tracks #6. There we took a little stroll to see if it was still in good shape or not. While trying to avoid the tall weeds and falling off of a railroad bridge we were able to talk about a host of other caching adventures and ideas. We confirmed POTT #6 was ok and it was put back in its happy hiding spot. After completing our hike there was just enough time to trade some of our geocoins. TMCL liked one of my pathtag Sherpa coins and I went for a Horsegeeks personal coin and a Coinfest Event Coin from last year. Very cool.

Pressed for time we had to end our conversation but I don’t think it will be too long before we see each other again on the caching trail. TimMcGrawlookalike really gives the impression of being a top notch guy and I hope we can do some caching together sometime soon instead of going for that elusive FTF. Not that there is any fun it that!

George Carlin Said It Best... The Glass is Not Half Full...

Woke up extra early this morning because I really, really - REALLY wanted to get not one but two FTFs today. Greedy, sure but in GeoCaching for me finding a First To Find is better than a cup of coffee. I get pumped just anticipating those clean, untouched sheets waiting for me to start writing on them. Of course it does not always happen that way and another early bird simply found the worm before I did but it is always fun going for them.

Anyways I arrived at my destination which was about half way to work and about 35 minutes out. Read the description, verified the coords on my Etrex and boogied into the woods. What should have been a five minute bushwack quickly turned into thirty minutes of frustration and me late for work. Long story short I had to walk away from a FTF and I was not a happy camper. There could be a million reasons why this 1.5 / 1.5 find eluded me. Not enough coffee, sunspots, wrong coords, aliens playing with my head - again, basically tons of reasons. Ultimately I just couldn't get my act together. It happens so the title to today's blog entry was going to be "Missed it by that much" and it was a long 75 feet walk back to the car.

Then I remembered that there was another FTF out there and hopefully with my name on it. So I scrambled out towards Oxford with hopes of better results. When I arrived I followed the same game plan. Coords - check, Description - check, extra swig of coffee before it gets cold - check. Walked to ground zero, saw the hiding place and BINGO! a cach found. I personally thought the geo-angels harking in the background was a bit too much overkill but it was a nice effect and well appreciated. Soon after I had my prize in hand and opened the container. There in the spectral glow of the the rising sun was the virgin log sheets. Gleefully I signed the logbook and put everything back in place and hustled off to that other hobby I like to call work. Though now the title of today's blog was going to be "One out of Two Ain't Bad". I felt better and the bad aftertaste of my first hunt quickly vanished.

Just as I was pulling into the parking lot of my work place I heard a mention of George Carlin. God bless him he has always been one of my absolute favorite comedians. With that I pondered over all the footage and books I have witnessed and one tributing comment that he had made came to mind. I use it as a defining guideline that describes me on many occasions including when I go geocaching.

It simply states:

"The glass is NOT half full. The glass is NOT half empty. The glass is TOO DAMN BIG!"

Perspective in life was what George showed us so often. We can be optimists, pecimists or sometimes just step back and see things from a totally different angle. I will attempt to follow this next time I go out caching for FTFs. Thanks George for the reminder.

Missed FTF's, Night Vision Goggles, Mutants and Fellow Cachers

Missed FTF's - Well that's it then.. I am selling the house for a new pair of night vision goggles!

My phone went off last night around 11 p.m. telling me a new cache was posted. Jumped online and saw the cache named "The Lion Sleeps Tonight 3" was right on my way to work.

"Perfect", I thought. First thing in the morning I will drop off my daughter at the bus stop and boogie right over for a quick First To Find.

All the way over to the cache site I was really hoping to beat TimMcGrawlookalike to the punch, especially since the post came out so late last night. Would I make it in time? Would nice clean log sheets be waiting for me? My hopes were high as I opened the cache to see my prize, but nooooooooo. Not only did Mr. TMLookalike hit it last night but another relentless cacher mobettamerf who I do not think actually sleeps beat me too . Heavy sigh, better luck next time. Congrats to all and I will be out there next time.. Me and my night vision goggles .

MUTANTS! - If you have been reading my blogs you will see every once in a while a Mantis Sighting. Photos of this interesting TB have been taken by me in five states from North Carolina to Michigan and back (twice). With the permission of the owner I have been hanging onto the little guy for several months now and even though he seems to enjoy hanging from my rear view mirror very much I think it is time to let him go back into the wild.

There is a problem though. I too enjoy having a travel bug hanging from my rear view mirror but what could possibly replace my well travelled friend? Meet my new little friend - Mutant Mantis!

This guy reminds me so much of the old great B movie mantis monsters. Seen at left teasing my daughter Brianna. Mutant Mantis is going to be travelling where ever I go and will be photographed doing what movie monsters do, wreaking havoc upon the world! So look often to see what MM has been up to. Last I heard he was heading for down town Raleigh, NC. This should be fun!

Fellow Cachers- You just never know who you are going to bump into in the morning whilst caching. Was pulling up to my Taxman Cometh cache to verify it's coords and who do I see with a GPS in his hand but my friend Ringer2410. I scooted by not wanting to disturb his hunt but he must have seen my car and pulled up next to me after he was done. He apparently must have liked the hunt cuz he used cool descriptions like "very clever and devious". Just love making geocaching fun. We gabbed a good ten minutes or so before having to head off for work. This brought a smile to my face because it is always a treat getting some time to actually talk face to face with fellow cachers.

Special Note - Received a really nice email from Team P and USAFSP. They came by the Oxford, NC area this last weekend and hit everything. Since I have about twenty caches there myself including two series (Barnyard Fun and Playing On The Train Tracks). They had me on standby incase needed. No need necessary because they hit 43 for the day! So congrats to team P for doing a fine job of caching and in 100+ degree heat ta boot!

Upcoming HeadHardHat Caches Coming Your Way!

(Left - Note the all seeing eye of this cache gaurdian. What is it's secret? Click photo for a better look)

Sometimes it is a real flip of the coin whether I enjoy more the finding of caches or placing them. This week was the latter and it opens up some new territory for me.


First is a real zinger in the Oxford, NC area. It's called "HHH's The Taxman Cometh" (GC1CXX1). Fun for the whole family to find and a fairly quick grab for some and maybe not so much for others. Either way have fun, I know I did putting it there.





The second in the Clayton, NC area is what I would refer to as a newbie to intermediate level series entitled:


"Little Green Cache: Decoder Series Challenge" (GC1CVWY). It's a decryption puzzle cache series where you start with a quick grab and go smiley which leads you through a series of other decryption caches and then ultimately to a rather bizarrely hidden final cache. Should be a rather scenic and down right fun afternoon for all.





These should all be active by this weekend. It is supposed to be a real scorcher but the unactivated FTF coin which lies in wait should be a really good incentive.





Have fun folks!





-HHH

Lov'n Freshly Painted Ammo Boxes

Nothing says love'n like freshly painted cache ammo boxes. Note the subtle cami backgrounds, the textured stone finish, heavy sigh. Click the photo to really see the work done. Go ahead, I'll wait. You wouldn't believe what they looked like yesterday.

Shown here are two small caches (right and top right), one large night vision goggle box (center - thought I wasn't going to get them huh?), one larger but not quite trunk sized ammo box (left with two sided top) and a micro sized eclipse cache (bottom right).

Oh the plans that I have for these just makes me giddy. Can't give you all the specifics, hush-hush you know, but I can tell you one is going to be a mega Pocket Decoder mystery cache in the Garner/Clayton, NC area, one will be a nice sized cache for my BarnYard Fun series and another is upgrading one of my current TB hotels to include a deluxe suite (not the eclipse box).

Whew so much to do and the weekend fast approaching. I have to get busy...

L8tr, HHH

First Mystery Cache Found. Oxford, NC.

My First Mystery Cache Found. Oxford, NC.

And you thought my other photos were blurry? Well this happened by accident but it is a good one. I didn't want to give away too much about this particular mystery cache even though the owner tells what you are looking for right in the description. I did however wanted to prove that I actually did it and of course there is always the log I signed. Either way I had a ball figuring this one out and this shows I found it.

How many unknown cache types have you found recently and where?

Barnyard Fun #5: Baby Bo Busts a Moof

Well if you have tried the Barnyard Fun Series you know the story about how Farmer Bob's animals got out of the farm and all over Highway 96 between Raleigh and Oxford, NC. Helpful cachers found cows, chickens and even Farmer Bob but no one has found little Baby Bo.

How things have changed. Apparently Baby Bo was responsible for letting the other barnyard animals loose and has created her own geocoin sized cache.

In fact the rumor mill has suggest that a rather large cache is being put together by the bitty bovine as we speak. More news to come. Stay tuned or look up the Barnyard Fun series yourself.

The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men

You can't escape the reality of caching. You start out making plans to do some specific cache hunts and sometimes stuff just happens.

Wanted to do some caching on my home from work today. You see I go one way to work in the morning and another way at night, mainly due to the volume of traffic at those times. So that means there are bunches of caches available on my going to work route that I never have much time to find. So yesterday I thought I would put up with the extra traffic and have some fun caching in the mean time. Well.....

My route takes me from Oxford, NC down Hwy 96 to Hwy 1 (Capital Blvd.). This normally takes me about 30 minutes or so and the only caches available are the Barnyard Fun Series I set up a month or so ago. So not much joy in the caching department there. Eventually though I come down to Hwy 1 and the joy, or so I thought, begins. Started out okay finding the one cache in the area with TBs available. Traded up the last of my current stash and started what I thought would be a fruitful adventure.

That was when my phone rang.. Spent 20 minutes talking some family chit-chat. Normally would not mind at all but when I have the caching bug going I have a one track mind. C'mon, taking too long, (fuzzy static, sorry losing you, fuzzy static, will call you later, bye.) okay I know the blow in the phone/talk partial words trick is stale but hey I'm burning sunlight here.

Found a cache, quick micro bison tube in a tree, two for today but want more.


Phone rings again, it's the wife. First thought that flows through my mind is, "What did I do now?", turns out everyone wants to go out to eat and they are all are hungry. Hint - Hint. My eyes roll up and I know that I have another 45 minute drive ahead of me. Sigh. Okay I may stop for one more as a chaser and then drudge home.


I watch the sun on it's march for the horizon and know that my caching day is done. Heavy sigh. Three for the day. Hardly the effort for putting up with the extra traffic. I now remember why I go home the other route. I can feel myself get a little angry. You can't cache if you are playing beat the clock. You end up frustrated and give up on caches you don't find instantly. I decide enough is enough and that there will be another day. Doesn't make it any easier though when you make plans and they get blown apart. I know this makes me look selfish. I know I have responsibilities. I also know I have X amount of time in a day and when I designate it as my caching day there better be smoke, blood and lots of it to be interrupted. Not always the case though. Sigh. I'm Not obsessed... Right?

POTTT Series Gets Added On To.

Just published Playing On The Train Tracks # 7, #9 and #10.

# 7 has my first micro logbook geocoin. Very Cool and out there for you to find. Enjoy!

Oxford, NC - Rail Road Track Series Coming Your Way

It all started out so innocent.

Found some interesting rail road signals out in the middle of no where near Oxford, NC. Liked it so I much I put a pretty hard to find cache right on the tracks. Then I did a little more research and found an entire railway system that was sitting there doing nothing. People drive by it or over it everyday and do not realize it was there. Well we gotta do something about this.

So I created a series called "Playing on the Train Tracks", which currently has a total of six caches but I have a feeling I may have a boat load more soon.

Some have as pictured here, no tracks on the streets but they are nearby. Others have tracks that are in secluded places where there are no other signs of the rail road anywhere and some of the tracks are completely gone but the maps still show them as being there. Usually there is just pieces of existence like old electrical boxes or part of a signal station.


Still going through the series shows you things of a time gone by. If anything else you can enjoy some nice scenery in North Carolina and a fun road trip. I plan on doing this series from Henderson all the way south of Raleigh. Will take a while but I will get there.

In any case I hope you enjoy this series as much as I enjoy finding more spots to put caches.

First To Find!

First To Find! Oxford, NC

I hit the wrong browser selection which just happened to bring up the Oxford, NC area in google maps. Normally I see nothing but a bunch of smiley faces looking back at me except this time one wasn't smiling - it was green! A new one I think to myself, a real new one just listed! WooHoo - I burst out the door and head up the road two miles... Where, where, where? Ahhh, there it is..

Another First to Find to add to my collection. Just love them clean sheets. Signed the log and put cache back in it's happy host.

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.

Two New HeadHardHat Caches in Oxford, NC

Come and get it! Now have two new caches in the Oxford, NC area.. Enjoy! FTF's abound...

HeadHardHat's GeoCoin Hotel - Oxford, NC

and

Playing On The Train Tracks

Enjoy!

Oxford, NC: Love The Smell of FTFs in Da Morning

I love FTFs and this morning is no exception. Was on my way to work and noticed that a cache in Oxford, NC was not touched this weekend.. Shot over, did the grab, signed the log and headed back towards work... Just love clean log sheets!

Cache Found! Beautiful Lake Devin, NC.

Post From HeadHardhat's Phone No. 1, Cache Found! This is Lake Devin near Oxford, NC.

You sure can tell it's spring in North Carolina. Note all the pine pollen at the shore of the lake. Looks like someone was finger painting. Cache here is another of the Redneck Series.

I must have walked by the spot a couple of dozen times. Knew what I was looking for because I have done so many of the Redneck Series. Still sometimes ya just can't tell the forest from the trees. Beautiful day though with highs around 82. Ahhh, spring.

Caches Come From The Strangest of Things...

If you go back a couple of days and check out the post EU457 How You Taunght Me So... you will read about how a rather interesting and down right frustrating cache it turned out to be. I found the container so odd that I asked Ringer what it was made of and here is what he told me...

"The container is a bit strange and I know that. Caching is one of mymany hobbies and because I already had the GPS, because of hunting, a relatively inexpensive hobby at that. One of my more costly activitiesis hunting. The cache is actually a broken hand held powder horn of sorts. When loading a flintlock rifle the powder, patch, and ball rejammed down the barrel and the pan on the side needs to be filled with gunpowder as well. The cache is that powder filler for the pan… TimMcGrawlookalike also wondered about the cache shape. I guess I take some things for granted because I see them so often and don’t think that others may not."

How cool is that?


HHH