I had a free Sunday and decided that since I was at 463 geocaches, I would spend the day in the desert geocaching trying to get my 500th cache. A few photos are posted below to give everyone a bit of an idea as what to look for when geocaching.
**While there are no descriptions of the specific caches in these photos, some may reveal clues for cache locations. Did my best to keep them as generic as possible, but also wanted to provide everyone with a little photo evidence/inspiration.
Yes, there was a "magnetic" geocache on this horse near Borrego Springs:
Ocotillo Wells SVRA Geocache Trip - Photos **Spoiler Alert**
This geocache was hidden in a wash area of Ocotillo Wells SVRA. You can see the "camoed" (camoflauged) tea leaf tin, as well as the log sheet, and my GPS unit. The most expensive part of geocaching is the purchase of the actual receiver...but that's the best part. Finding geocaches is a very thrifty pursuit...they're free, and they're everywhere!!
Ocotillo Wells SVRA Geocache Trip - Photos **Spoiler Alert**
Also, if you have a smart phone, you can download the geocaching.com application and use the internal GPS on your phone to geocache anywhere. Usually costs $9.99, so maybe start there and get a receiver after that trial effort.
Xterra's are the perfect vehicle platform for geocaching:
Ocotillo Wells SVRA Geocache Trip - Photos **Spoiler Alert**
This was a really cool cache. I favor the ammo box find, as they are usually filled with cool stuff, and sometimes a little easier to find. In the pictures below you can see the cache container is actually buried in the sand. This cache had not been found since March of 2012, so it had literally "weathered" the storm, so to speak.
Ocotillo Wells SVRA Geocache Trip - Photos **Spoiler Alert**
Ocotillo Wells SVRA Geocache Trip - Photos **Spoiler Alert**
The cool part with the ammo box caches are they have a weather strip seal, so the contents of the cache were nice and dry.
Next, my GPS receiver pointed me to this clump of dead desert bushes:
Ocotillo Wells SVRA Geocache Trip - Photos **Spoiler Alert**
Is there a geocache in there??? Really??? Yes!!! Look closely...there it is, in the green painted vitamin bottle:
Ocotillo Wells SVRA Geocache Trip - Photos **Spoiler Alert**
The ammo box on my bumper revealed a familiar "hidden treasure":
Ocotillo Wells SVRA Geocache Trip - Photos **Spoiler Alert**
That clay coin would be referred to as S.W.A.G...an acronym for Stuff We All Get. Now I had to "trade" something out of my "Geo-Bag" for Max's coin. I left a Ninja Turtle in trade...pretty fair, a Ninja for Max???
This next photo shows an actual geocache location, or a "spoiler"...so beware if you don't want to check it out. If you have traveled in the Fault Wash area of Ocotillo Wells you may recognize this location. Yes, there was a geocache hidden in there:
Ocotillo Wells SVRA Geocache Trip - Photos **Spoiler Alert**
Finally, on to my favorite cache find of the day. This little guy flew in from Area 51, and now calls Ocotillo Wells SVRA his home. Much more suitable climate. If you look closely, the actual cache container is zip tyed to his back, and there is a hook incorporated into this "cache." The "hint" for this cache was "hanging."
Ocotillo Wells SVRA Geocache Trip - Photos **Spoiler Alert**
Yes, some would describe geocaching as "out of this world", and I find it to be a fun and intriguing pursuit. I think this guy would agree:
Ocotillo Wells SVRA Geocache Trip - Photos **Spoiler Alert**
So there is a brief photo essay on geocaching containers. As you can see, the sky is the limit for cache containers. When you geocache and start to log a few finds, your mind develops what cachers call a finely tuned "geosense." Which means you develop a sense of how to think like a geocacher hiding their cache...the more your see and find the better your geosense is honed.
Oh and yes, later that evening (was actually night caching) I did discover cache #500! A great find near Devil's Slide, appropriately named "Team Extreme #1"
So a great day and accomplishment for the GeoGhostX.
