HHH's GotD: Geocaching Rule #1 - Poke It With A Stick

There are several hard fast geocaching rules that you will hear from the ole HeadHardHat all the time:
1. Always mark where your vehicle is before venturing out.
2. Always check your batteries in your GPSr.
3. Don't eat spinach with a stranger.

Okay maybe not the third one so much but I do have one major rule when it comes to geocaching and that is "Poke It With A Stick!". Depending on where you go geocaching can put you in potential contact with an awful large amount of snakes, spiders and critters that will bite you if you stick your hands where they should not be. Unfortunately many times that is right around hidden geocaches. If you have seen some of my GeoSnippits videos you will see such critters like black widow spiders, venomous snakes and other things that will spoil your day if you are not careful.

Snakes in particular are always a major concern. In North Carolina for example there are seven venomous snakes. Even for the ones that are not dangerous will cause some pretty severe bites. Think it will never happen to you? Talk with other geocachers in your area. A good friend and experienced local geocacher by me was bit a year or two back by a copperhead. I also was told of two other geocachers in the state that were bit last year as well. It can happen to any of us if we are not careful. Also note that snakes love to stay around and under geocaches. Especially when they are made of metal like ammo boxes. The heat radiates longer from the metal so they keep close.

Spiders love LPC (Lamp Post Caches) hides. Not to mention guard rails, drainage grates and any other nook or cranny they can get into. Go ahead and feel around without looking, see what happens. Not a good thing to do.

My one big rule will always be Poke It With A Stick before reaching in any area you can not see clearly. It is important to stay safe out in our geocaching playground. You never know what might be sleeping nearby. Be careful out there.

Until tomorrows next geocaching adventure...

-HHH

GeoCache: I'm NOT Obsessed... Right?
http://headhardhat-geocache.blogspot.com/
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HHH's Lunchtime GotD - Ever Get That Creepy Feeling?

Yep today was the day that I really thought I was in for it. Have you ever wandered into a geocaching area and just get that creepy feeling of "uh-oh". Like the area just doesn't feel - right?

That was today's Lunchtime Geocache of the Day. It was flagged as a 2/2 so I thought okay, get in and get out. Err, no.

My first obstacle was having to cross a small stream. There were plenty of rocks to cross on but then again I noticed there were an awful lot of rocks in the area. So after a few moments of figuring out the correct path for me I was over the stream and walking straight into a very swampy area.

There were stumps, logs and just plain junk everywhere. The sun was warm today and the temps in the upper 80s. Perfect time and place for snakes. They just love to hide around such things to warm up after winter's cold.

"Perfect", I thought to myself. This is where I am going to get it. So let's just say I looked everywhere I could while getting to ground zero. After .10 of a mile I made it to the likely spot even though there were tons of places it could have been. Where was it? Why in a broken down stack of wooden slats. Oh goody.

Fortunately for me I took the basics on this hunt. I had my trusty pack and my walking pole. Believe you-me in this situation you need gloves and something to prod the ground while walking (remember swampy) and all the possible hidey holes for snakes.

The most interesting thing to me is through this entire adventure I did not see a single snake, not one. Not that I am complaining mind you but I figured if ever there was a place to see one this was it.. Ah well time for some grub.

GeoCache: I'm NOT Obsessed... Right?
http://headhardhat-geocache.blogspot.com/
-------------------------------------------------------
Twitter me at @headhardhat

Please don't forget to visit our GeoSnippits Geocaching Tutorial Videos Website at http://www.geosnippits.com