Caching on the Uwharrie Trail (North Carolina)

Our summer vacation to North Carolina whizzed by so fast. We were blessed to be able to participate in a family reunion near the South Carolina border. On our way back to High Point, NC we stopped off to find a few geocaches in the Uwharrie Forest, a national park. We were on the trail for about an hour and did not see a soul. We found four caches. They were all ammo boxes designed to be found by the geocacher but unlikely to be stumbled across by a muggle. I've always though the goal of geocaching, at least for me, is that the cacher find the cache but that an unsuspecting muggle not. These were of that category. Sumajhuarmi and I hiked the trail from the Highway 109 trail head to the north to find several caches. The last one required us to back track to the parking area at the trail head, cross the highway and continue south on the trail. What a cache! I've never seen an ammo can this big before. It was full of swag, mainly oriented towards kids. We should have had our grandchildren with us this afternoon. If you get the opportunity, check out Uwharrie Treasure (GC1N18T). Now these are the kinds of caches I like. Not just because they aren't 4-5 star difficulty but because they are out in the woods and require a good little hike. There is so much to see in the Uwharrie Forest. I can't wait for my next chance (next year maybe!) to hike and cache this area some more.

Dirty Santa

Dirty Santa (GC21WQP) was fun! I remember this cache from last Christmas. As our stateside assignment was wrapping up I got so busy that I didn't get around to looking for it. Now we are back in the Piedmont area of North Carolina to spend some time with our newborn grandson, Ryan. This morning I got out early to beat the heat and get some exercise. I walked the half mile or so from my daughter's house to the cache site. The description said it was behind the Community Bible Church so I walked into the parking lot and head to the back. It was early on a Saturday so I figured there wouldn't be anyone there. To my surprise it looked like some men had gathered to do some work. I ducked into the woods only about 200 feet from the cache. Immediately I lost signal and had to dead reckon to the cache. The first attempt went wide. I can't miss this one I thought. The clue said that if you can't find this one you might consider another sport altogether. The second time worked. Wow! This was probably the biggest cache container I've ever seen. And where was it? Right in the middle of a patch of poison ivy! I was ready with long pants. I worked my way to the cache through the smaller plants. Inside were wrapped Dirty Santa gifts, one per visitor. I made a trade, replaced the lid and didn't even try to hide this monster of a container. There was no use as it was pretty much out in the open. I made my way out of the woods at a different point so as to not be seen by the folks at the church. It was time to get back to the house to help out with the new baby. I think my job is to fix breakfast.

The High Point Greenway and High Point University

Today was a particularly hot day outside. I hit a number of caches in High Point, NC. My favorite ones were along the greenway starting at Armstrong Park. I started down the greenway and came to the ball field. Immediately I recognized it from the last time I was there back in 1966! This is the ball field where I played many of my little league games when I was in the sixth grade. I have fond memories of that place and those days. Being so young I didn't remember where the field was other than that it was in High Point. Our team was called the McDonald Cubs. We were sponsored by McDonald's back before the Big Mac. I recall that after each game we won the whole team got to go to McDonald's on Main Street for a coke, hamburger and fries. That was a big treat! Thanks to caching I was able to rediscover that piece of my past. I found Sitting by the Creek (GC1PRZT) and signed the log before heading further east along the greenway. After one more cache I was on the High Point University campus. What a beautiful campus with its red brick buildings, fountains and sculptures. I found two more caches placed by students who are obviously proud of their school. On the way back to the greenway Curtis, a campus security officer, stopped and offered me a ride. It was great getting a little A/C for half a mile to the green way. Check out HPU when you can. You might check in with the campus security first. I noted that they were particularly vigilant.

Bogue Inlet Pier geocaching

There are a number of nice caches along the coast and the sound side of Emerald Isle, NC. We took a six mile trip south from where we were staying and spent the sunset hours at the Bogue Inlet Pier, the Diary Queen and the Wing's store. You can't avoid the last two when you have the grandkids with you. I made a quick escape while there to find a cache .33 miles from the pier. Along the way I ran into some nice sand art done during the day and left for the waves. Before the waves could get them I snapped the following pictures. When you see that the clue for a geocache says "Pooper Scooper" you get a little worried about what you'll find. I was going for Cedar Point to Cedar Isle #3 (GC1AB4D). This one wasn't as bad as it could have been. Nothing spectacular about the find but the sand art on the beach was great. It was something I'd never have come across if it weren't for the cache.

Fort Macon and a Virtual

Our vacation on the coast was great! Everyday I went out caching. I hit several in Atlantic Beach and up to the end of the island. At the northern end of the island is historic Fort Macon. This old fort was built in the 1830's. It saw action during the Civil War when the Confederacy controlled it and the Union took it back. We visited the museum and watched the orientation film before going out into the fort. We toured the casements and the parade ground. There were park rangers guiding tours frequently during the day. We tagged along for some of the tour. My GPSr led me to the GZ for a virtual cache entitled Ol' Grandpappy (GCGEM0). From that location we had to count the number of gun emplacements in a certain part of the fort. These gun emplacements were actually the locations where the cache owner's great great grandfather had served during the Civil War. That genealogical touch was nice. The fort is well maintained and the park rangers seemed eager to serve and inform. There were lots of folks out today. Check it out if you come this way.

Cache #1300!

We lived it up at the beach! What beautiful weather and fun times with my family. I miss my youngest daughter who is working this summer in Ecuador. Other than that we have all our kids and grandkids with us on Emerald Isle. The 4th of July was a special day for playing on the beach and then some afternoon geocaching. I took off from the condo where we are staying to walk the one mile to the first cache. It was at a beach access picnic area. The area was well shaded and the clue said to stand on a picnic table. The GZ put me at the base of a tree but I couldn't see anything that looked like the described 35 mm film canister. The main problem is that the picnic tables were chained to a concrete pad and I couldn't move any of them to the tree. Just when it would be nice to have my grandson with me. He'd have climbed that tree for me. Maybe later. I walked the mile back along the beach to where my family was. From there I went to the car and began my search for more caches within the Emerald Isle city limits. I found two quick ones along a new bike trail. Then several eluded me. I really wanted one more cache. The rest were caches in high muggle areas in town. This being the 4th of July and everyone being out discouraged me from going there. There were two more possibilities on the way back to the condo. The first didn't look feasible from the road. It described a trail back to the sound side of the island but from the road every access looked like a private driveway. There was one more option before having to drive way south to Atlantic Beach for the next cache. After a streak of micros what a joy to find a regular size geocache on the beach. Bonsai Beach (GCY16C) was a fun find, large and full of swag. It was good to find number 1300! Now I could go home for supper. This is our first time at Emerald Isle. We highly recommend it.

Caching my way to Emerald Isle, NC

We had just watched the Argentina - Mexico World Cup game on Sunday when we began to plan what to do for the 4th of July. We aren't normally in the US on this special holiday so with being here on vacation primarily to greet our new grandson we had not given thought to the possibility of spending some time at the beach. We got on line and found the last affordable place on the coast for four nights. That set in motion some intense geocaching planning. I challenged my nine-year old grandson, MasterYoda1, to accompany me early on the date of our trip. We left well in advance of the others so we could cache our way from High Point, NC to Emerald Isle Beach, NC. It was a great day filled with all kinds of caches. There were large, medium and small ammo boxes, lock and lock tupperware containers, 35 mm film containers, decon containers, medicine bottles and nanos. A good number of the first ones we got were premium-only caches. I have mixed feelings about these caches. I guess some would tell me not to look for them if I feel this way but I found and logged them anyway. A friend gave me a premium membership last year and suddenly all these "hidden" caches popped up. I really appreciate the kind gift because it has allowed me to find more caches than I would have otherwise. Nonetheless, I believe that caching should be free to all. Having premium-only type cache seems akin to the nickle and diming that the airlines are doing for things like extra leg room or for the chance to board earlier than others. I guess Groundspeak is finding the means of making more money, just like the airlines. I kind of wish we didn't have premium-only caches. We had a great day traveling to the beach. Before the day was up our family members traveling separately passed us by and were at the beach house well ahead of us. Such is the joy of geocaching. Just before arriving at Emerald Isle I found Canope Cache (GC25PAP) and snapped this photo. It isn't the first time I've come across this type of cache. The cache was suspended from a limb about 20 feet up in the air by a line of twine that looked precarious. I'd left my swag bag on the ground next to the cache before raising it back. I kind of had second thoughts about retrieving my things wonder if the ammo can would stay up there long enough for me to grab my stuff and move on. It did. I always like an ammo can in the woods! I'm looking forward to caching on Emerald Isle this week. Crossing the bridge to the isle and knowing that there are a good number along the coast and the inlet promises for a great vacation!