Gone Geocatching Dash Card

Most cachers know to take a way point of the position that they parked a vehicle so they can find their way back to it from the cache spot. However, what do you do in the event of an injury while seeking your treasure?

I've created a Gone Geocaching Dash Card for use when you've left a vehicle in search of a cache. The card serves a couple purposes:

1. Notifies authorities that you've not abandoned the vehicle and as such, should prevent you from coming back to one of those nasty yellow stickers on your window - or worse: finding your vehicle has been towed.

2. In the unfortunate event that you've had an accident and have not returned to the vehicle in a reasonable time period, the dash card includes information about the coordinates of the cache you're seeking and emergency contact information.

You can download the form here.


You'll have to have the Adobe Acrobat Reader which can be downloaded from www.adobe.com.

PP01 One Year Cache Found!

Went out alone again today. I just had to get out of the house. This project I've been working on has fried my brain and I needed some time outdoors. So, I decided to do one of the many caches in the Emma Long park.

Trailhead into the thicket:


The resulting thicket:


There are some clearings:


Me with the find:


What I took and what I left:


Unsightly dump en route to the cache:

BeeVIEWtiful Approved and FOUND already!

Well, our first cache drop was approved yesterday and already three people have found it. Apparently, they are as fond of the view as I was.

I found another one today. Wasn't bad. But, I'll blog the photos later.

Our First Cache Drop!

Well, it didn't take us long. Today we placed our first cache (BeeVIEWtiful). It's placed along a ridge overlooking Bee Caves Road and the very scenic Austin hill country. There's lots of cool goodies in the cache, so check it out today! Be sure to sign the log.

This cache was placed by a member of the Texas Geocaching Association.

Wile E. Coyote Found!

Well, I set out to find one on my own this morning on the way to work. Unfortunately, all I had was the waypoint in my device, so it proved to be more difficult than it had to be. To top it off, I committed one of the caching deadly sins: I didn't take a waypoint of my parking spot before beginning my trek. Dumb, I know!

Anyhow, it began on Addie Roy Road...



(which turned out to be the wrong place to start out) and led me up a trailhead that peaked out over Bee Caves Road and an awesome view of Austin's hill country.



After a nice hike up and down the cliff, I found myself climbing a ravine behind an old green water tower. The ravine was filled with very loose rocks and became quite difficult to climb. Eventually, I reached the top (not before coming across the path of a REAL coyote) and found myself starring at a fence line with the following signage...



...OK, now I'm getting concerned, but hey! the GPSr says I'm only .11 miles away... so I continue walking around the fence line and discover that the US property is actually a military installation...



...So, as I'm walking in between TWO fenced off areas in a space about 10' wide, I finally see something more inviting...



...Yes, that's a Greek Orthodox church. Oh, what's this to my left? It looks like a cell tower...



...Indeed, it is. OK, so far we have a Bee Caves overlook, a wild coyote, a green water thingy, rocky ravine, a US military installation, Greek Orthodox church and a cell tower all on the same trek and before 8:30AM! What else can this cache possibly hold in store?!

As it turns out, the military installation is the 111th Area Support Group reservation....



Pretty cool, uh? That's not all though. Check out what they keep in the front yard:



Here's some other cool pics I was able to catch on the paved road out of the area...



UPDATE

This one was cool enough to take Amanda to see. So this afternoon, after work we headed back up... and get this... I had her take the same route! Cruel, I know - but I wanted to share my experience with her.

Here's our pictures (sorry for quality, I had to use my camera phone)

Back to Work

Well, after a fantastic holiday weekend with each other, it's back to the duldrum. This past weekend Amanda and I did our first Geocache with each other. I think I have her hooked now! We're going to try to fit one in together after work this afternoon - if possible.

Check Out Our Groundspeak User Profile

Our Groundspeak profile...

Geodashing - Getting There is All the Fun

Geodashing - Getting There is All the Fun: "Geodashing is a game in which players use GPS receivers on a playing field that covers the entire planet. The waypoints, or dashpoints, to be reached are randomly selected. The win goes to who can get to the most dashpoints; that is, if you can get to them at all! Each game has a new set of dashpoints making each game completely different and unpredictable. Join and play!"

Texas Geocaching Association - TXGA

Texas Geocaching Association - TXGA: "Its easy to join the Texas Geocaching Association. There are no dues and no forms to fill out. All you have to do is visit the TXGA web site frequently, start participating in the discussion forums, and if you can, attend the TXGA events."

Geocaching Listing Requirements/Guidelines

Geocaching Listing Requirements/Guidelines: "Cache Listing Requirements/Guidelines Guidelines last updated 11/05/03"

Austin Explorer

Austin Explorer - Get outside and explore Austin and her surroundings. Geocaching is a pastime in which caches of items are hidden in non-obvious places and their location posted for others to find. The longitude and latitude are published, sometimes with additional hints. Hunters with GPS receivers then venture to the site and try to find the container. Sign the log book in the cache and exchange an item.

Geocaching - The Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Site

Geocaching - The Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Site

Our First Post

OK, expect this to be uneventful... I'm just testing this out. But, soon, I hope it to be the home of Amanda and I's Geocaching blog. We'd like to have a blog dedicated to our Geocaching activities.