Swamp King Found! Fuquay -Varina, NC

Cache Found! Can we say SWAMP? Oh what fun and not a bad photo either. I was out by Fuquay-Varina, NC this afternoon. After getting all my chores done this morning and before the heavy rains came in I had some caching time by myself. One of my first tries was a little cache called The Swamp King. Now last year I am sure people had no problem walking right up to the cache due to the conditions of the drought. This year the drought is nothing but a memory and the swamp king was in his glory. Glad I had my calf high waders cuz I was gunna need them.

With my GPS in one hand and my walking pole in my other I did my little jaunt in the swamp. Black mud, skeeters, green vegetation everywhere. Was actually surprised that I did not bump into more wild life and/or snakes and other reptiles. Tons of birds but not a snake to be seen. Not even the usual hitchhikers. Though it definitely smelled and felt swampish.

Made short work of the very nicely hid cache, signed the log and traded one of my signature first aid kits for some poison ivy patches. Then off I go back whence I came.

The photo really tells it all. Lush green and a very eerie glow with the sun shining through the canopy. That was a very enjoyable trek.

Flower Hill FlashMob, Zebulon, NC

My first FlashMob event! What a great time had by all. Even daughter GeoPants had a great time hiking in da woods.


In case you have never heard or attended a FlashMob event before. In the GeoCaching world a flash mob is when a group of cachers basically invade an area. In this case Horsegeeks set up an event at the Johnston County area called Flower Hill. It is a 10-acre nature preserve owned and managed by Triangle Land Conservancy.




Their website states "For many generations, Johnston County residents have known about this place they called a “freak of nature,” where rhododendron and galax and other mountainous plants grow far from their nearest relatives."


It is amazing and even if we hit it past the rhododendron peak the scenery was gorgeous. Trails are well marked, up kept and all 20 of just had a ball. There were four caches in the park in which the first three were warm ups for the fourth and most challenging at a difficulty of 3.5 out of 5. Called Moccasin Creek slip and slide you had to go down an extremely steep grade trail made mostly of wet clay topped with wet leaves and pine needles. Basically it really was an over sized slip and slide as a couple of us can contest to. Thank goodness for the nearby trees or this could have been a disaster. The sides of the trails went almost straight down and for what looked like several hundred feet.



The start of Moccasin had a warning sign of which we completely ignored. We are cachers don't ya know. Besides several of us came earlier and made sure it was safe for all who dared to venture down. It was quite fun and since we took our time and was very cautious only a couple of "slips" happened.



Once we made it down the trail we were treated to the nearby creek and some fantastic scenery. The cache was made quick work of and signed as FlashMob for all of us. Then the fun and realization came to yours truly. We had to climb back up the trail. Oh Goody!



In truth I and everyone made it up with hardly a heavy puff between us. Of course in my case I actually had to start breathing to get to puffing but hey I am getting back in shape.. Well round is a shape after all..

Spent a couple fantastic hours with some new friends and I cannot wait for our next invasion. Caching by yourself or with a buddy is a great way to invest in our hobby but when you get a bunch of us together. Look out. It brings out the best in all of us.

Again I want to thank Horsegeeks for taking us to such a wonderful place. I also encourage you to come out and explore this lush and rare oasis of mountain greenness. Also a thank you to daughter GeoPants for taking so many great photos of the journey.

Here is their website if interested.

http://www.tlc-nc.org/news/Preserve%20guides/Flower%20Hill%20guide.pdf

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.

North Carolina to Michigan Road Trip Summary

Wow! What a road trip and I know I had fun cuz I feel like a truck ran over me...

Here is a quick summary of what I encountered in three days:

Visited States: North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio and Michigan.

Number of miles: 1700 +

Caches Visited: 34

Caches Found: 29

New Caches I placed: 1 in Ohio and 2 in Virginia

New Travel Bugs Placed: 1 in Ohio and 1 in West Virginia


Photos of my sidekick TB Mantis taken: Lost count and it now has a rather big head about the whole thing.. See it's TB page here:
http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?guid=35fe742e-fb4b-4fcf-9fec-3634553b0045









Cache Environments:

Hiked at least 1/2 a mile into three different wooded areas (Virginia and West Virginia). No I did not see any bears, darn.

Hiked 1 1/2 miles into a swamp land for two caches. Granted the trails were way above par and wood chipped through 90% of them. The photos are breathtaking. (Ohio)

Must have hit every rest stop and service plaza through route.

Did a bunch of scouring in the St. Clair Shores area of Michigan and found the urban way of caching quite different to what I am used to. Introduced Geocaching to Brother Scott who now is completely hooked. He suffers from the same "shiny toys" syndrome that I do. I expect that a Garmin will be in his stocking any day now (why wait for Christmas?).

All in all a really great time though when you plan a trip like this you have to be very careful of how much caching you are going to do. I did not realize and the next thing I knew the 12 hour normal trip turned into an 18 hour very long trip (each way). So a note to the wise is to plan some overnight stops instead of plowing straight through.


Oh and if you want to see every blow by blow of my road trip. Please check out below from April 15th thru the 17th. All of those entries were sent in via my cell phone. Isn't modern technology great (when it works). Enjoy!

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.

Post From HeadHardhat's Phone

Cache Found! #3 today. This was found out by Kerr Lake, NC

Kerr Lake, NC is about 14 miles from the Virginia border just north of Oxford and Henderson. It is a beautiful little stomping ground just right for a day at the park, fishing, boating and just plain daydreaming. I found this particular cache about .5 miles in the woods next to a small beaver pond.

Beauty in the Woods

Whilst out yesterday placing my double secret cache - Getting the Lowe Down #3 - Secret Cache (GC1AQHH). I found this little guy on the ground trying to warm up.

The beauty found while GeoCaching is usually unexpected and sometimes breath-taking. Just another benefit to getting out from in front of a computer monitor..