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!

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?

Cache #2 Found Half Way To Japan.

This was fun. Another grab and go with an unexpected twist.. I pulled up to this cache and saw the obvious spot where it was going to be. Was more concerned about the creepy crawlies in a place like that but that is why I wear gloves.

What I found shocked the heck out of me. The opening you see in the photo above is deceiving. The space is about two feet tall and when you look inside and down, you can't see the bottom! I dropped a stone down there and I swear I never heard it hit..

The cache itself was suspended about six or seven feet down on fishing line tied to the bottom of the plate... Wow that was something.

Click below and watch the quick video to see my reaction..

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 no. 4.

Cache Found! Can you believe this? That's a bison tube attached to a fake cable (left side is the log hanging out of the top of the bison). Very clever cache.

Caches #2 and #3 today.. They just sort of happened..

Okay actually #1 and #3 where completely by being at the right place at the right time. Went to the Expo Center at the NC State Fairgrounds this morning and there is one legendary cache known as RBC.. Really Big Cache (and by the RBC Center). Anyways, since I was literally one mile down the road I thought I would give it a shot. Long story short, found it and it has been logged and is in history. That was cache #2 today...

Redneck series in the Raleigh, NC area is a real blast. Hooked this one up on my way to the local CVS store. Woot!

Cache Found! No. 1

Found this on way to a technology expo. You never know when an unexpected cache will pop up. I have about 50 of them on my Garmin that I want to eventually get to so when they show up on the radar I snag'm.

Cache Found!

Post From HeadHardhat's Phone #4 Cache Found! Creepy Camp Butler, NC

The photo above is part of the original Camp Butler circa 1945. The area wreaks of history and other creepy things. This particular area just feels creepy but that is part of the fun when it comes to geocaching. NCTreker goes out of his way to make sure you learn your history.

NCTreker is absolutely amazing when it comes to inventive cache hiding. This one was down right amazing. He has put caches in areas I sure can't get to, how he hasn't been eaten by something I will never know. All I do know is I want to find all of his and if he comes up with more I want to know about it.

Thanks NC!

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.

Cache Found! #2 Today.

Cache Found! Nice little Micro out by Kerr Lake, NC

Letting me wife know where I am today

Caching near n 36 26.258 w 078 20.563 (Kerr Lake, NC) Which is about 14 miles from the Virginia border...

First To Find!

First To Find! That makes two for two - woot. Ringer2410 put out a couple of nice new caches in the Granville County, NC area and I just had to get atleast one FTF. If I'm lucky I can get the other one tonight on my way home from work :)

Nice Job Ringer!!!

Mantis TB sighting!

Mantis the TB about to take a swim in Falls Lake, NC.

If you are unfamiliar with GeoCaching you may not know about Travel Bugs. TBs as they are known are special tagged items that travel from one cache to the next. For example, Mantis's tag is TB1CZ9Z.

All have a mission of one sort or another. Like one I recently created called "Pete the Parrot". Pete's mission is to get himself photographed in as many bars as possible (he's a real party animal) via his trek to somewhere in the tropics. Other TBs can bring awareness about our troops, cancer or other causes. Most are just plane fun to find and there are tons of people who love to help transport them on their journey. Did I mention that many TB's travel thousands of miles and have been recorded going around the world?

Mantis here has been hanging from my car visor for a while now. Mostly a TB stays in your possession for a week or two but some are special. I have photographed Mantis in five states (North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio and Michigan). I will be letting the little guy go soon so he can make his way to places unknown but for now he is quite comfortable swinging from his vantage point in my car.

If you want to see where Mantis has been go to http://www.geocache.com/ and click on Trackable Items, put in code TB1CZ9Z and you will see his journey so far.

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..

Another FTF - Woo Hoo!

There is nothing like the thrill of caching at night. Depending on the situation you obviously have to be careful but on the other hand - woot - what a rush! It is even sweeter when you are on the look out for FTFs.

Today was no exception as I just had to attempt a quick grab and go of a cache that just published. The plan was simple, try to be as stealthy as you can, find the cache, sign the log and boogey on out of there.

Slightly "Off Your Rocker" in Garner, NC was just that kind of cache. So in the dark and holding my handy dandy flashlight I went a search'n. After several agonizing minutes I was able to find the cache and make a hasty retreat to my car to sign the log. Interesting thing was I had trouble finding where the darn thing originally was but did manage to get everything placed as found. During that time though I kept thinking how embarrising it was holding half the cache and not finding the top!?! My heart did eventually stop beating and all is well - phew.

Chatting with Hippopotamama

One of the cool things about GeoCachers is that there are so many of us. In fact, I can hazard a guess you probably know several. Last Friday I happened to bump into one of the greats.

Hippopotamamma and her husband Rampantbear are well known for hiding hundreds of caches from micros to huge lockers all over Wake County, NC. Her "Welcome to Wake" series alone is legendary. I have personally found many of their caches from South Garner all the way to practically Oxford.

I had a great time learning some tricks of the trade and also a couple of hidden secrets about caches in the area. What a wonderful person and an amazing contribution to the sport of GeoCaching. Thanks For The Hunts Hippopotamamma!




If you want to find out more about these fantastic Geocachers go to geocache.com and look at their profiles! Here's a link: http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=ccb19555-e6a5-4cbc-bd40-36031feb0828&wid=0c4f4561-0911-4129-ae5d-f2302307c628&ds=2

HeadHardHat hit find #50 !!!

HeadHardHat hits the 50 mark by doing cache Redneck Series # 52: Mane Attraction ( GC13B4C ). Had to fit in four scores on the way to and from getting my daughters new shoes!

#50 !

TB Animal Kingdom Just Got A Bit More... Wild..

Well the HeadHardHat and wife Char have taken the plunge and started our first set of Travel Bugs.

Those lovable little guys you just cannot help but take with you everywhere you go and photograph them every chance you get. Ours is called Gabriel the Baby Bengal and Pete the Parrot. They each have their own ambitions as to where they want to go but both are excited about their new adventures.

You can track them by going here:

http://www.geocaching.com/track/

and put in their respective codes:

Pete's is: TB21K5T

and

Gabriel is: TB21K66

Big Brother is Looking For You!

Took a little ride out to Franklinton, NC. Was visiting a cache known as Big Brother Ministry of Truth Cache and it clearly states right in the description that "you will be monitored" they are not kidding.



What y0u are looking at is the cache mounted to the tree with two monitor cameras and a rain shield.

Opened up the cache but decided to just leave some safety glasses and sign the log. There was a rumor to some "Thought Police" in the area but did not see any. Must have caught them during lunch...

A very interesting cache and a nice ride getting there.

BarnYard Fun Series Open For Business

One of the things that I could not help but notice about Hwy 96 between Hwy 1 and I-85 was the lack of caches. Shy of one which was a tad off the beat'n path there was nothing.. So I had to do something about that. I hope that I came up with a cute and fun series to try.

It has a story background. You see the barnyard gate was left open and several cows and some chickens got loose. It is your job to find Farmer Bob, the cows Betsy, Buttercup and Little Bo and of course the chickens. The interesting part with these park and grab micros is I only give four of the coords. If you choose to do so you can look for Little Bo and email the HHH her coords so we can get her back to the barn..

Look up Barnyard Fun via my user name (HeadHardHat) and have some good clean geocaching fun.

Note a micro 35mm and a FTF certificate with the log book.

Cache of the day

I decided to try a different area and headed over to Leesville, NC and how sweet it is!

Only one cache today but it was a Bug Hotel.

Which means trading Travel Bugs and GeoCoins.. This cache was really stocked nice! Kudos to the owners and traders of treasure. I especially liked the Heritage Pen.. Sweet!

This is how I am stocking my caches. Nice goodies that can be one-up'd by the finders.

Oh and I helped by adding a first aid kit, 10 pc screwdriver set, bungee cord and odometer..

Cache name is: Snooze You Lose

Good Morning Officer(s)

Ahh, the sweet time of the morning drive to work. The sun is starting to rise, a cool wind blows across your face as you cascade down a winding road, the smell of honeysuckle thick in the air, the sight in your rear view mirror of two squad cars with their lights on behind you??

Well goodie...

Okay maybe it didn't happen quite that way. I was actually working on my next GeoCache series of which I have put a great deal of thought into. It will be called (when published) Barnyard Fun. Anyways, I was at #3 of four stops for this series and was parked quite legally on the side of the road. So there I sit writing down the coords when to my wondering eyes do appear not one but two squad cars pulling up with their lights on. I can't remember if I actually said anything out loud but in my mind came the thought, "Here we go...". The very nice Sheriff pulled up along side and was just asking if I needed any help. "Nope", I replied, "just pulling some coordinates for these signs here". He smiled, waved and told me to have a good day.. Then I silently exhaled as they both drove off and thought to myself how cool it was that they are out there patrolling the roads. I have read many times in the logs of other caches how the police are constantly stopping by when we are out looking for our treasures. I hope we are not too much of an annoyance but I can imagine they will all eventually know what GeoCaching is as they check on our legally parked cars.

Caches of the Day...

Not bad, was able to do four today.. Noticing that the pickings on my to and from work routes are getting thin.. Going to start having to branch out or plan more weekend outings to keep up.

Here is the list for today:

No Burgers Here…MOO

Fox Pond

Hole in One

Welcome to Wake - 23

The Road To The Cache May Be Flooded....

Lunch Hour Time... and that means a quick round of grab and goes.. Did two so far today, first was rather easy. I had seen a similar cache a couple of days before so I knew what to look for.. Cha-ching! Found, signed log and moved on to cache two. This one was not necessarily a fast grab and go but it appeared to not be a mile long hike in the woods either. It was a short hike (about .3 miles) from where I parked but there were a few signs of trouble along the way.

First was the road in Fox Park itself. Just as I was coming up to the parking area I found the once small stream that went under the road was now gorged and flowing OVER the road. Not like it was half a foot deep or anything but it was moving quite well and just enough to say, should I take the chance? On further examination it was only about an inch or two deep and I could see several other normal cars that just went through without difficulty so I went for it. Shy of some sloshing as I waded through, it was no big deal.. After that obstacle I found that there is a nice parking area just before you head for the pond.

Once parked I grabbed my handy backpack and headed towards the pond. The trails were remarkably dry given by how high the water was. Walked about .2 of a mile and hit an interesting dilemma. My GPS was bouncing around a tad and I noticed that my destination was showing right smack in the middle of some nasty briers. "Oh sure", I think. "Just evil enough to put it in there." But I was determined to find my prize so with the help of some gloves and a couple of good sticks I bushwhacked my way through. Made if about 2/3rd of the way through the sharp toothed buggers only to notice that the cache was actually just on the other side of this nasty place. Needless to say I backtracked and did a quick end around to reach the coords. After a few more moments of "where da heck is it?" I found it in a really creepy spot but there it was and I was never so relieved...

The rest as they say is logged and in history.

TNLNSL

Great fun!

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