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!

Kids and Caching in Chacas, Peru

Chacas is unique! In all of my Peru travels I've never seen this type of Italian woodwork. Of course that may be because of all the Italians that have settled here to enlist, train and employ (albeit at low pay) the Quechua people of the town. The place is beautiful, looking like a small alpine town somewhere in northern Italy. The snow cap mountains to the west and the construction of the houses make this a postcard perfect place. The one problem is that Chacas had no geocaches. Along with a family from our organization that lives and ministers there we remedied that problem. We headed out of town on a dirt road to the northwest to where my friend knew of a locaton that would be a good place to hide a cache. We pulled off the road near a set of stone steps going up into the woods. All along the right side of the dirt road was a deep valley running up to the snow melt. I just had to get a few pictures of the area. We climbed about 100 steps and arrived at a stone niche with flowers and artifacts of Roman Catholic worship. We started our search for a place to hide the cache. I'm used to paying several dollars to buy a decent tupperware type cache containers but while I was in nearby San Luis I found some containers in a street vendors stand. They only cost me .33 cents each. Amazing! San Luis is a small rather primitive town about 9 miles from Chacas as the crow flies but a good hour by the dirt roads. So, with containers in hand I was ready for the hide. With my friend and his two children we searched out a place to hide the cache. We know that a few tourist come this way. Caching has caught on in Italy too so between the Italians that come to work in the wood carving programs and tourist who might come through to see this community, there might just be a geocacher. At any rate, Chacas has it's very own geocache. Who'll go look for it?

Chavin, Pre-Inca Culture - Peru

Last week we were at the tunnel crossing the White Mountains into the Southern Conchucos area of Peru. As we continued our journey we came down from 14,000 feet above sea level to about 10,000 feet into the valley formed by the Mosna River. The small Quechua towns around the valley were beautiful. Before long we arrived at the town of Chavin. The town is built up to the south of the famous Chavin ruins. These are pre-Inca ruins from the time of Christ. At that time in South American history the Chavin culture dominated a large part of Peru. Little is known about the culture. They did believe that they were the center of the earth. It is amusing to be so far from modern civilization in Chavin today and think of it as the center of world. We toured the ruins. It was my second time seeing them but it was the first time for my wife. We toured the cancha, or ball field, the temple mound and then we descended into the small halls and walkways inside the temple underground. From there we could see the monolith left by the Chavin culture. It was apparently some type of object of worship for these people. Hiding a cache on the archeological site wouldn't work nor would it be smart. Just look near the site and use the name of the cache as a big clue to its location. With all the muggle traffic in the area I don't know how long this one will last. With the frequent tourist visits it is my hope that someone soon finds Chavin, a bridge to the past (GC2871A).

Tunnel Vision - White Mountains of Peru

About an hour and a half up the road from last week's site, Lake Conococha and the statue of St. Francis of Asisi, we came to a beautiful lake called Querococha. There we switched cars as our friend from Chiquian dropped us off with some friends from Chavin who had driven across the mountains to pick us up. Querococha was a nice rest stop for photos and a chance to buy something to drink. It would be nice if someone hides a cache here in the future. From here we climbed up to over 14,000 feet above sea level to the Cahuisi tunnel. Things are beautiful at this altitude. There are very few trees above the tree line at around 13,000 feet. The country isn't farmed either. Sometimes we would see a Quechua shepherd women tending her flock of sheep but nothing else. Once we came out of the tunnel we were on the east side of the Cordillera Blanca (White Mountain Range) and in the area known as the Callejon of Southern Conchucos. This is where the Southern Conchucos Quechua people live. Just as you come out of the tunnel you see a beautiful view of the valley and a very large statue of Christ. This area was the perfect place for my next geocache. Jordan, my helper, assisted me in the placement of the cache. He even provided a hint in the attached picture, also included in the cache page. Check out Tunnel Vision (GC281ZP). For those traveling in Ancash Department to visit the archeological site at Chavin, this is right along the way. See if you can get the bus driver to stop and take a minute at most and find this cache! It isn't uncommon for caches in these parts to go months waiting to be found for the first time.