While in Eustace, Big Bro E was introduced to geocaching by his friend we were staying with. He was hooked and the more I learned about their adventure, the more interested I was in trying it for myself.
The next day we traveled to Amarillo for a weekend stay. Big Bro and I tried our hands at it. I wrote the coordinates of three caches in the Amarillo area. My Nokia E71 phone has a GPS, so I figured that would help us find one. Well, it seems my phone's GPS is inaccurate. The margin of error was so great that we didn't find a single cache in Amarillo. If only we had a real handheld GPS. On a lark, I decided to look on the Amarillo Craigslist for device. Low and behold, I found a Garmin eTrex monochrome model for $45. This model didn't have a lot of the wonderful features that higher priced models had, but I figured it would be good enough to use for starters. I decided to buy it on Tuesday morning. It had only been used once. If we would enjoy geocaching as much as I anticipated, we could purchase a better model and keep this as a back up device. If we didn't enjoy our experience, I knew we could sell it on Craigslist for $45, thus trying it out rent free!
After purchasing the GPS, we traveled to Palo Duro Canyon State Park which is 10 miles east of Canyon, Texas. The GPS did the trick. The accuracy of this unit is usually within 14 feet, close enough with a little searching. Now the whole family was hooked!
 |
| Lil Bro. E in beautiful Palo Duro Canyon |
 |
| Lil Bro E spots a bird's nest in the juniper bush |
 |
| The view from Juniper Trail (Cliffside) in Palo Duro |
 |
| Our first Cache find!!!! |
 |
| Typical ammo container (large cache) |
 |
| Swag for trade |
 |
| Our first log book entry! |
 |
| Big Bro presents Lil bro with 1st swag find! |
 |
| Beware of falling rocks! |
 |
| On the trail |
 |
| View from top of cliff I climbed. One thing I have learned is that geocaching will take you to places you would not ordinarily go and makes you push yourself beyond your perceived limits. It's difficult to tell from this photo, but I was WAY up. If you look closely, you can see Big Bro is perched halfway down the cliff. Mama K is not even visible from way up there! |
 |
| Papa E and Big Bro E point to cliff. I was very close to the summit only minutes before Mama K snapped this pic! |
 |
| Almost to the van! |
 |
| Lil Bro snoozed first... |
 |
| Then Big Bro! |
 |
| Wednesday morning as we were leaving the canyon. The trees with the yellow fall foliage only grow in the valley of the canyon. On Tuesday, it was 95 degrees. Wednesday morning it was 45 degrees at noon. Typical of West Texas weather, snow accumulated that night after we left for Caprock Canyons State Park in Quitaque (Pronounced "Kitty Kway"). |
 |
| Mama K Actually found the first cache. Papa E was nervously on the lookout for Western Diamondback Rattlesnakes. Park rangers captured one at the ranger's house before we arrived that was over 5 feet long. Yikes! |
 |
| The natural bridge |
 |
| Caprock Canyons has a free range bison herd. These two youngsters were competing for dominance right in front of our vehicle as we were driving out of the park! It was now time for a 5 hour drive to Pilot Point in North Central Texas. Did I mention that the motor that controls the driver's seat was broken and I was forced to drive in a very cramped position? Did I mention that Texas is a very large state? |
 |
| Mama K snapped this photo from the driver's side window as I was driving 70 MPH. This was somewhere between Quitaque and Wichita Falls. Texas sunsets are absolutely stunning! |
 |
| Isle Du Bois State Park |
 |
| We found our first geocoins. These items have a code number imprinted on them. The object is to log it online, then place it in another cache. One can track them on a map as it circumnavigates the globe. |
 |
| Never and mean NEVER look for a cache called "The Lost Cache"!!! This one was WAY off the beaten trail. Also, ALWAYS check the weather before a hunt. With temperatures in the lower forties, a gail force rainstorm howled in. We learned that it is doubly difficult to hike when you are rain soaked and on the verge of hypothermia! |
 |
| Safe in the van. "Crank up the heater!" Mama K called in a pizza order. I was so soaked, chilled and sore, that I think the cashier at the Pizza joint thought I was drunk. |
 |
| The next morning, we decided to do our first "urban" geotracking on the way out of town. |
 |
| We found our first micro here. It was a scroll-like log book placed in the bottom of a hollowed out stone. |
 |
| Big Bro finds another micro (film canister) in the hole of this tree. From here it was off for a 3 1/2 hour trip to Texarkana. |
At the end of our vacation, we visited with family in Texarkana, Texas. We lived in this town for years. What I discovered on this geocaching adventure is that we had not explored the area in which we lived very well. I had been to Wright Patman Lake countless times and had never hiked into the woods where my GPS device led us.
 |
| Big Bro. E in Woods at Lake Wright Patman |
 |
| Daddy E's first magnetic micro cache |
 |
| Momma K's Dad found this before we did. Don't you love the grin? |
 |
| Big Bro. E poses like the Slush Puppie |
 |
| We learned the Welcome to Wake Village sign was an Eagle Scout Project |
 |
| Same great park, new activity (Spring Lake Park) |
 |
| We deposited these two at the Arkansas Welcome Center. |
One is a Challenge Geocoin and the other is
an honor coin with tracker from the Shreveport,
Louisiana Police Department. The goal is to move
the coin to Washington, D.C. It's quite a story.
If you'd like to read about it, click here. We were
12 for 12 for the day!
For more information about geocaching, click here.
an honor coin with tracker from the Shreveport,
Louisiana Police Department. The goal is to move
the coin to Washington, D.C. It's quite a story.
If you'd like to read about it, click here. We were
12 for 12 for the day!
For more information about geocaching, click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment