Last Hunt of the Year--Reaching 150

Well, I had brief hopes of reaching 200 finds by the end of the year, but the disaster in Bakersfield (0 finds) and weather and family responsibilities made that not possible. However, 150 presented itself as a possibility. I hunted a few in Danville, since I was there anyway to find the Computer Art puzzle cache.

El Cerro was closest to Computer Art, and I accessed both from the same parking space. The general hiding place was fairly obvious, but it took a couple of minutes (or more) to spot it.

Wolves is on the Iron Horse Trail behind the San Ramon Valley High School athletic field. The trail was quite busy today, but I timed the grab and return well. I did get some funny looks while I was just standing and signing the log. "Why is that guy writing on that small piece of paper out here on the trail?"

Another cache on the Iron Horse Trail is Iron Horse Trail--Part 9. I searched for a while, then stepped away from the trees to get a new GPS reading. Then I saw something that turned out to be the cache hiding place.

Leaving the Iron Horse Trail, I headed for a Las Trampas trailhead and the Camille goes to Trampas cache. After a short, up-hill hike I got to the location and searched for a little bit. Details in the description helped me find it.

Then I was back into Danville for 5000 Found, so named in honor of Team Alamo on August 6, 2004. Today, Team Alamo has over 6100 finds, a prodigious amount. The ammo can cache in a cemetary was an easy find.

On my way home, I stopped in San Ramon to look for Dog’s Revenge. Had I read the log’s and seen the high number of DNF’s, I probably would have skipped it. Nevertheless, after scouting the area for less than 10 minutes, I found it.

The final cache of the day (number 150) was Garden Variety in the park at San Ramon Community Gardens. There is a lower part of the park down by the creek under such heavy tree cover that the GPS doesn’t work. So I had to find this one using just the description and a couple of provided photos. There are tons of hiding places. Finally I stepped back and aha, look there... and there it was.

Last Hunt of the Year, Puzzle Caches

Having worked out solutions to a few puzzle caches during the Christmas holidays, today I set out to find them.

I started with Black Bart in Pleasanton. The coordinates seemed to put me in a logical place. I searched for a while, then used the clue which just indicated it was where I was already searching. Finally found it--the smallest cache I’ve ever found. The log was so wet it was impossible to unfold it. I put my signature on a small strip of paper and stuck that in. Don’t know how this one will survive the winter, but I think the cache has to be what it is in order to work in this location.

Next I tried Pick a Card, also in Pleasanton. This puzzle is based on a card trick, and it’s a simple matter to follow the directions and come up with the coordinates. I did the trick twice to confirm the answer. This park has a neat play structure which I think Cortnie would enjoy.

After this, I looked for Beneath, Between, and Behind. While it was a difficult puzzle, I’m certain I was searching in the right place. I believe I know where the cache is (and perhaps can see it), but the retrieval method makes me want to have a buddy around. It’s strange how isolated this place seems, even though there were lots of people very close by. Anyway, it will have to wait for another day.

Moving on to Dublin, I searched for Petroglyphs. Actually, this is a pretty straightforward puzzle. I know I was in the right area of the outback, but was being frustrated by a thorny bush and lots of trash. Then I was completely surprised by an employee(?) who drove up without my knowledge, and sat in the car. I left.

My final puzzle cache of the day was Computer Art in Danville. The puzzle was easy and quick for an old EE like me. Finding it was a little harder. I tried for a bit, then went off and found another close-by cache: El Cerro. After thinking about the hint, I went back and with just a bit of mehtodical searching, I found it.

Wait Until Dark (Alamo, CA)

Dan (Geodanimal) called tonight and wanted to go find Wait Until Dark, a unique cache in Las Trampas that requires you to follow reflector markers. Hence, it must be done after dark. The cache coordinates only get you to the trailhead.

It had been raining, but there was a break around 8pm, and the full moon actually appeared for a bit. The trails were sopping wet, and in some of the steep places very slippery. In fact, we fell a couple of times.

At the final part of the hunt, we began to struggle to find markers. "I see it--quite a ways off." So I headed out towards it, but then the markers blinked! "Oh, no... there it is." And I set off in a new direction, but then so did the markers. It turns out a deer’s eyes are incredibly efficient reflectors.

Since the markers did not, apparently, lead us directly to the cache, we started hunting around, and before too long I found the cache.

On the way home, we stopped for a quick grab of Secret Menu. I had scoped this one out a while back, and tonight went right to it.

Bakersfield

Hunted in Bakersfield for some I did not find last time, and some new ones. Absolutely zero luck. In fact, I got escorted out of an area by a security guard (she was very nice about it). I just don’t like this area. Next time I try hunting in Bakersfield, I’ll give a shot at East Bakersfield, and see if its any better.

Tracy/Manteca Area

Well, I had great expectations of finding quite a few in the Central Valley this afternoon, but it didn’t turn out that way.

First, I went out by the Tracy Airport and grabbed Keep Your Head Down. Quick find.

Tracy Trip wasn’t very hard to find, although it is in the junky fringe of an old city park. One of the logs indicates the eucalyptus trees will be removed, and if that happens, this cache is history.

I tried to get Fast Food III, but I was there right at lunch time and I just couldn’t manage it without someone seeing exactly what I was doing.

Master Of Disguise is in the back of a restaurant parking lot. I spotted it immediately, although it is a clever disguise and may cause people problems.

I tried to find a way to access a couple out on 280 and I5, and just couldn’t make sense of it, or there were too many construction workers around.

So, I moved on in to Manteca, but had poor luck there. Tried Center of Attention, but there were folks right there. I tried a visual inspection from normal locations, but I suspect a close up search is required. Tried Blue and Green Park, but there were tons of kids.

Grabbed Firetrucks and Pool. A quick find.

Looked for Tidewater Bikeway Cache, but when I found it’s geocaching label discarded on the ground, I gave up. I suspect the ammo can has been ripped off.

Looked for Manteca Bike Trail, but couldn’t find it. Did find something that makes me wonder if its still there.

After all this disappointment, I went out to Lathrop. Steeeeerike Three! is in a fairly large park. The only place any people (kids) were was right at the cache. I even left for a while and then came back, but some kids were still there.

Then I looked for Pet Rock. I don’t know; too many rocks I guess.

Finally, I just settled for the virtual at Don’t Panic, an interesting mini mart.

Hill Climbing Hunts (Pleasanton, CA)

This afternoon, I decided to go for a few up on the ridges to the west.

First, I went after Bishop’s Gambit which I should have gotten when I went after Chutzpah. This one is actually in San Ramon. I used the trailhead low down on Morgan Drive, but I suspect there is another one higher up the road that would involve a much shorter (and easier) hike. This was a 2.86 mile round trip and took me about 1 hour and 10 minutes total.

The next four caches are in Pleasanton sort of west of StoneRidge. There are no parks in this area, but there are city maintained hiking trails. Black Acorn is just down the trail from the parking lot/trail head. I found it quickly.

Another Raffle Cache is farther up this same trail. In fact, it’s a 1.4 mile round trip and it is a climb up the hill, but an easy find.

To get Dumbo, I had to move one subdivision south. It’s right on a paved path (actually an old road). Once found, you understand the title. An easy find.

The trail to Upper Moller is actually an access road to a water tank up the hill. I went to the water tank and then climbed up the hill. There may have been a side trail lower down that I missed, but would have gone right by the cache. Great views from up on top of the hill

Christmas All Year Long (Livermore, CA)

Today, I noticed a new cache (Christmas All Year Long) appeared in Sycamore Grove recently. It was in a familiar place; at least, I’ve been very close before. It was a 3.4 mile round trip which took me about 1 hour and 5 minutes of quick walking and about 5 minutes to find.

Close to Home (Shafter, CA)

I had the morning available--the wedding we needed to go to was in the late afternoon. A Bridge Too Far (N 35° 30.860 W 119° 14.462) is the cache closest to my boyhood home, where my Mom still lives. It was foggy and there was hardly anyone on the roads early in the morning. However, some guy was parked in his pickup right at the cache site.

So, I drove out to the Shafter Airport for Human Powered Flight (N 35° 30.007 W 119° 10.898)--a virtual commemorating the first human powered aircraft flight over a closed course. This airport was chosen because of the consistent early morning stillness in August.

I drove back to A Bridge Too Far, but the pickup was still there, so I headed out to Buttonwillow. After finding a few caches there, I came back and got it. While I was searching under the bridge, I notice that some of the pilings were completely rotted out, and just then a vehicle drove over the bridge. Scary feeling.

Buttonwillow Breeze (Buttonwillow, CA)

I just had the morning available before having to go to the wedding, and I decided to head out west to Buttonwillow. I didn’t particularly care for any of these caches.

The first one I came to was This Old House (N 35° 23.950 W 119° 21.544), an abandoned house that has been completely vandalized. I didn’t pay attention to the description which clearly said you don’t need to go into the house. I did and, after using the hint, actually recovered the cache from inside, but it’s really a dump, and I probably could have fallen through the floor. I don’t think it would have been a hard find if accessed from outside.

Are we there yet? (N 35° 24.192 W 119° 24.588) is not too far off of I5. The challenge is to find the right roads.

Next I found a virtual, This Is My Town (N 35° 24.409 W 119° 28.455) which is at a plaque which describes how Buttonwillow got its name. Even though I grew up not far away, this was not a piece of information that I knew.

The final one for the day was Dude, I Think I Found Your Car (N 35° 24.005 W 119° 31.937). It’s a wrecked car in a very junky place.

Bakersfield Bumble (Bakersfield, CA)

Having driven down this morning to Wasco in order to go to a niece’s wedding tomorrow, I took the afternoon to hunt for some caches in Bakersfield. I had a list of about a dozen.

Simulate This! (N 35° 26.789 W 119° 16.499) is just south of Shafter. The most difficult part is finding the access point to the cache location.

Then I had designs on a few caches in the Rosedale area. I DNF’d on Liberty Park Cache: it was pretty busy. I’m pretty sure I found the right location, but was feeling too conspicuous to do a thorough search. Then I spent far too long looking for Pin Oak Park Cache. I couldn’t find it and neither could most searchers before me. It may or may not still be there. Kern River Bed was another one I DNF’d. Couldn’t find an access point to the river. Drove within 400 feet, but came up against a No Trespassing fence. Probably have to walk in a ways from the east. Finally, I looked for A Cache for Travelin’ Sam, but traffic was so heavy that I missed the appropriate parking spot and didn’t want to try to come back for it. I was pretty discouraged, so I decided to go get a couple of virtuals in downtown Bakersfield.

Outlaw Jim’s Last Stand (N 35° 22.713 W 119° 00.982) is a virtual cache at the site of the Joss House (destroyed by the Bakersfield earthquake) where bad guy Jim McKinney had a shootout with the law in 1903.

Bakersfield Station (N 35° 22.328 W 119° 00.490) is a virtual cache at the Bakersfield Train Depot. The cache is pretty eye catching.

Follow the Arrow (N 35° 23.237 W 119° 02.335) is a regular size cache in a non-descript part of Bakersfield (unless Buck Owens Drive is significant).

Sycamore’s N’ Logs (Pleasanton, CA)

Returning from Antzzz towards Life Should be a Picnic, I noticed that Sycamore’s N’ Logs (N 37° 37.483 W 121° 53.652) was only about 0.25 miles away (as the crow flies) and there was a convenient break in the fence. So I made the fateful decision to head down the steep, east facing hill, mostly following deer trails. Bad decision! The east side of the hills have the most brush, which means lots of poison oak. I got down quite a ways, and then got boxed in. Since I was running out of daylight, and it was going to be incredibly difficult to backtrack (the hillside was very steep), I just bit the bullet and went through the lightest areas of poison oak. I think I pretty well avoided touching it with my hands or getting it drug across my neck and face, but my clothes sure got it.

I finally broke out of the brush just about 400 feet from the cache. While logs indicate that this has been a hard cache to find, it was not for me at this time of year. Thistles and nettles just weren’t a problem.

A DNF by Choice (Pleasanton, CA)

From Life Should be a Picnic..., Antzz was just a quarter mile north. I started the process of recovering this one, and then decided, in the interests of safety, to stop and try again when someone was with me. The Difficulty and Terrain ratings were both 3.5.

Life Should be a Picnic... (Pleasanton, CA)

I suppose I was at about the 6 mile mark in my hiking, so the picnic tables at Life Should be a Picnic... (N 37° 37.449 W 121° 53.971) were welcome, but I didn’t sit for very long. It was windy and cool being right on the top of the ridge. I searched the obvious hiding spots, but didn’t find it until about the third round of looking.

The Big Valley (Pleasanton, CA)

The title of this cache made me think I’d find a great view to the east and be able to see the Central Valley. Not so--can’t see much to the east at all. But The Big Valley (N 37° 37.315 W 121° 54.111) is right on the edge of a steep drop into Kilkare Canyon. This is a micro cache in a big pile of rocks. Ugh! I finally deciphered the hint.

SuperGenius #15--Why Not? (Pleasanton, CA)

SuperGenius #15--Why Not? (N 37° 37.119 W 121° 53.851) is an ammo can cache in Pleasanton Ridge. It was an easy find.

Alien Godparents (Pleasanton, CA)

Alien Godparents (N 37° 36.455 W 121° 53.218) is an anagram of Pleasanton Ridge. I think this cache is the farthest south in the park, and it looks down over Sunol. The cache is an ammo can and I found it almost immediately.

Like An Extra Virgin (Pleasanton, CA)

I tried this one before, but the coordinates changed the day before, and I didn’t notice. Like An Extra Virgin (N 37° 36.679 W 121° 53.388) is near an old olive grove in Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park. This time it was pretty quick to find the ammo can.

Chutzpah (San Ramon, CA)

West of Bishop Ranch business park is a small regional park. Chutzpah (N 37° 44.887 W 121° 57.974) is up a steep hill from the trailhead in this park. The trail was a little muddy, and my boots were getting heavy with caked on mud, making the climb even more of a challenge. The cache is very cleverly disguised, but on this cache I used a more methodical search technique, and it worked.

4wheeler@2K (San Ramon, CA)

It took me a while to figure out how to get to the trailhead for 4wheeler@2K (N 37° 44.141 W 121° 57.401). It’s just a short little trail that crosses a small creek at a steel bridge. That’s where the cache is hidden. The coordinates were dead on, so it didn’t take too long to find.

Change is Good (Dublin, CA)

Change is Good (N 37° 42.496 W 121° 57.666) is at the end of a creek trail in West Dublin (somewhere up by Valley Christian Center). There is lots of tree cover at the end, and the GPSr lost reception and wouldn’t reacquire without me backtracking to a clear area. On the second try, it maintained reception, although I’m sure the accuracy was lousy. It did point the right direction off the trail at the right location. Found it without too much problem.

Park 7295 (Pleasanton, CA)

I thought Park 7295 (N 37° 41.437 W 121° 54.920) was going to also be in Val Vista Park. Actually, it’s across Stoneridge in a Park and Ride lot. Even though there was lots of traffic on Stoneridge, and commuters in the lot, none seemed to pay attention to me wandering over toward the cache location with the GPSr to my ear like a cell phone. Didn’t take too long to spot it.

Dynamite Park (Pleasanton, CA)

Dynamite Park (N 37° 41.261 W 121° 54.803) refers to Val Vista Community Park. The entrance right off of Stoneridge is shared with the waste water treatment plant, so it doesn’t start off too attractive. But, there are a lot of activities available. The soccer fields are kept locked during the week, and the cache is at one of the locked field gates.

I was unsuccessful on Nov. 18. Today, with a little more experience, I was able to find it.

Emerald Glen Washout (Dublin, CA)

I walked to Emerald Glen Washout (N 37° 42.598 W 121° 52.781) from Emerald Glen Xmas Bush. Not too hard to find--it’s a big ammo can.

Emerald Glen Xmas Bush (Dublin, CA)

This is a relatively new cache, and I didn’t have it loaded in my GPSr when I was in this park last week. Actually, Emerald Glen is fairly large and this one is at the other end from where I was last week. There is a particular bush that at this season has bright red berries and it seems to be the only one of its kind around, thus the name Emerald Glen Xmas Bush (N 37° 42.672 W 121° 52.718).

Foliage hunts can be tough, and this one was. I must learn to be systematic, because I found myself doing sort of a random search, and always going back over the same areas.

For the Birds (Dublin, CA)

For the Birds (N 37° 43.134 W 121° 51.900) is in a new park in east Dublin. It takes its title from a tiled retaining wall that has a number hand-painted bird tiles. It’s quite an attractive wall. The cache is nearby, and was located fairly quickly.

Home Desperate (Pleasanton, CA)

On the back side of a Home Depot, Home Desperate (N 37° 42.028 W 121° 54.683) had frustrated me a couple of weeks ago. Even today it took me awhile. I think the GPSr was misleading me just a bit.

Libraries Rule #2 (Dublin, CA)

I’ve never been to the Dublin Library before, but Libraries Rule #2 (N 37° 42.166 W 121° 55.110) is inside it. After I looked up the access numbers for the books listed in the cache description, I went to the proper shelves, only to be confronted with a large, unordered pile of books on the floor right where I needed to look. A lady was browsing farther down the aisle. I moved my body between her and where I wanted to search, and in short order found the cache. Luckily, she left before I had to replace it after signing the log.

O’Pioneers (Dublin, CA)

In the old Dublin Cemetery is where O’Pioneers (N 37° 41.950 W 121° 56.347) is locaated. It’s also almost in the I580 freeway. Talk about a wet cache. The container was floating in water, but the log was only damp. Didn’t take too long to find, and the hint pinpoints it.

bthomas@4K (Dublin, CA)

I tried to find bthomas@4k (N 37° 42.568 W 121° 56.258) on Dec. 3, but failed, likely because the final stage of the multi-cache had gone missing. Today, it was much easier to find (and perhaps the replacement cache was placed in an easier to find spot).

Troglodytes aedon (Dublin, CA)

From CJ & Maggie’s Delight, Troglodytes aedon (N 37° 43.257 W 121° 54.890) is less than 400 feet away. The problem is, it’s over a chain-link fence and straight up a hill. Nevertheless, since I found a gate that was chained shut but allowed me to tightly squeeze through, I took the direct route.

After I got there, I thought it would be a quick find--there were obvious hiding places. Well, it wasn’t in the obvious place, so it took me a while.

There are great views from up on top of the hill, as these pictures attest.

CJ & Maggie’s Delight (Dublin, CA)

From Black Pool you can walk down Alamo Creek trail to CJ & Maggie’s Delight (N 37° 43.278 W 121° 54.810). Now these weren’t the coordinates I had downloaded, but they are where I found the cache. The original coords caused me to rock-hop across the creek, twice. I finally broke out the hint, but found nothing promising on the side where the GPSr indicated, but did see a promising location back on the trail side. I didn’t fall in the creek and found it pretty quickly after that.

Black Pool (Dublin, CA)

Black Pool (N 37° 43.460 W 121° 54.640) is in Alamo Creek Park, which was new to me. The coordinates take you to the Black Pool. Then you have to count stones and ripples in the monument in order to know how many paces to step off in the SW direction to find the cache. It’s a pretty straightforwaard find.

241@TC (Dublin, CA)

241@TC (N 37° 43.423 W 121° 52.345) is in Tassajara Creek Park and after looking at it and walking in it, I can’t figure out the park’s redeeming value. It was an easy find and is the largest cache I’ve yet found.

Pleasanton History (Pleasanton, CA)

Pleasanton History (N 37° 39.718 W 121° 52.622) is a multi-cache that starts at a memorial in Veteran’s Plaza. I had looked a couple of times before, and couldn’t even find stage 1. So I asked Dan and Janet to add their eyes to the search.

That worked. Janet found stage 1 fairly quickly (and I felt dumb--I should have spotted it). So we went to the second stage, which stymied us for a while. Finally, Dan found it.

A Long View Up (Pleasanton, CA)

I should have tried to get this one back when I found Bailey 8999, but I thought it was up a trail and well into the park. It is on the trail, but right at the entrance to Augustin Bernal park. Interestingly, there is no convenient parking for this trailhead, so we had to park down low on Long View and walk Up the steep hill--guess that’s why the title is A Long View Up (N 37° 38.823 W 121° 54.591).

We (Dan, Janet, and I) looked for a long time, but didn’t find it. Unfortunately, I didn’t bring the hint with me. We walked back down to the car, read the hint, and it was obvious what we had overlooked. Rather than walk back up, we drove up, parked in the cul-de-sac for the minute it took to find the cache and sign the log.

Erector Set (Pleasanton, CA)

Erector Set (N 37° 39.319 W 121° 54.308) is another bridge, but this one is very busy. I had looked a couple of times previously, but couldn’t spot it. Today, we looked in quite a few places (and just sort of ignored the traffice buzzing by) but didn’t see it. I finally found it.

Jolly Roger (Pleasanton, CA)

Jolly Roger (N 37° 37.599 W 121° 52.980) is at an old bridge that is closed to traffic. I had made a search earlier, but came up empty handed., as did many other searchers. With Dan along this time, he could look in places that I would be uncomfortable, and we found it after a while. I wonder if the the cache was moved to a slightly easier place to reach (see fizzymagic’s log entry).

It’s a Graveyard Cache (Pleasanton, CA)

I thought maybe I’d get away early for a few finds before taking Christmas Card pictures for Mark and Annmarie, but there were too many little details to take care of. After we got the pictures taken, Dan and Janet (geodanimal) and I headed off to Pleasanton.

It’s a Graveyard Cache (N 37° 38.879 W 121° 52.855) was our first stop. I had looked for this one before and failed. Today I walked right up and spotted it. Maybe I’m learning the hiding techniques a bit better. I let Dan and Janet find it too.

Emerald Oasis (Dublin, CA)

I tried to retrieve Emerald Oasis (N 37° 42.629 W 121° 52.446) last week, but there were too many kids and parents around in this popular park. Tonight, it was dead quiet and the find was easy.

Libraries Rule! (Pleasanton, CA)

Karen was staying with Cortnie and Audree this evening, so I took a little bit of time before dinner to look for a couple of caches. Libraries Rule! (N 37° 39.469 W 121° 52.827) is inside the Pleasanton Library. You have to look up where a few books are shelved and then around that area. Took me 15 minutes or so.

Oh, Grate! (Tracy, CA)

I’ve looked for Oh, Grate (N 37° 41.846 W 121° 35.355) before, at least twice. I finally developed a new interpretation of the hints, and found it almost immediately.

I guess the cache owner, Bill of Green Achers, took notice and sent me an email today welcoming me into the addiction of geocaching.

Car vs. Train (Tracy, CA)

I’ve searched Car vs. Train (N 37° 42.848 W 121° 28.604) twice before. Today I was more inclusive in my search and found it rather quickly.

More Mountain House (Mountain House, CA)

Since I was in North East Livermore, I headed over the hill to Mountain House to look for 3 caches. I flamed out on Mountain House - Wickland (did not find) and Revenge of Mountain House (gardeners were working in the area), but I did find More Mountain House (N 37° 46.257 W 121° 32.309).

Beginner’s Health Nut Cache (Pleasanton, CA)

I grabbed Beginner’s Health Nut Cache (N 37° 36.768 W 121° 52.857) while Karen was taking off her boots in the parking lot. Didn’t take long, but I did know the hint.

Don’t Be A Drip (Pleasanton, CA)

Don’t Be A Drip! (N 37° 36.933 W 121° 53.497) is in the vicinity of a drinking fountain up on top of Pleasanton Ridge. The container is small, just large enough for a couple of log sheets wrapped tightly around a pencil stub. Still, it was a pretty quick find.

Log In (Pleasanton, CA)

It’s hard to not find the lime green container of Log In (N 37° 36.792 W 121° 53.357). This was an easy find.

SuperGenius #7 - Speckles (Pleasanton, CA)

Karen found SuperGenius #7 -- Speckles (N 37° 36.729 W 121° 53.113) rather quickly. I think I was still taking my pack off.

Coprolite (Pleasanton, CA)

Karen and I took time today to hike at Pleasanton Ridge and look for a few caches. Well, I know what Coprolite (N 37° 36.817 W 121° 53.173) is, but finding this cache still took a little while. Tree cover kept my GPS from good accuracy, but did put me in the general area. My problem was my pre-conceived ideas kept me from seeing things.

Auto Swap (Dublin, CA)

To find Auto Swap (N 37° 42.460 W 121° 55.025) you need to access the Alamo Creek Trail. It was mid-day, and there was no other foot traffic and just some disembodied voices coming from the Auto Auction on the other side of the fence (a serious electrified fence, by the way). Took me a while to find it. I think either the cache has migrated or the original coords were off. I recorded it at N 37° 42.456 W 121° 55.026.

Shady Rest (Dublin, CA)

Shady Rest (N 37° 43.211 W 121° 55.153) is in a little park on Stage Coach Road. I’ve never been by there except on the bicycle. I found it along the edge of the park.

There’s gold in that creek (Pleasanton, CA)

There’s gold in that creek! (N 37° 41.110 W 121° 55.760) is real close to Stoneridge, in a little park I’ve never noticed before. There is a small creek running through it, which actually had some water in it this time of year. I looked for quite a while and finally had to decode the hint.

Fuzzy Friends #3 (Pleasanton, CA)

Muirwood Community Park, where Fuzzy Friends #3 (N 37° 40.993 W 121° 54.972) is hidden, is so close to the 680 freeway that it’s not particularly enjoyable. However, if you want to run your dog off leash, there is a nice fenced in dog run. I found this micro-cache fairly quickly.

For The Rest Of Us (Pleasanton, CA)

For The Rest Of Us is a relatively simple puzzle cache. I had it figured out some time ago, but couldn’t do an effective search because there were too many people around when I was in the area. Tonight worked well, and after quite a bit of searching I discovered it.

Secret Treehouse #1 (Pleasanton, CA)

I had tried to find Secret Treehouse #1 (N 37° 38.254 W 121° 52.999) on Nov 20. It turns out it was missing, and the owner replaced it. I finally got back at 7:30 PM and found it by flashlight.

Highland Creek (Livermore, CA)

I still call this one in Livermore, even though it’s over 6 miles out of town. Appropriately enough, Highland Creek (N 37° 46.539 W 121° 49.711 ) is on Highland Road, a previously favorite bike riding road for me. The coordinates given here are the ones I used, slightly different from those posted on the geocaching website (the given coordinates were in a log report). It was a relatively straightforward find. I have my doubts about finding it after a heavy rain, or in the spring when all the poison oak is leafed out.

Counterparts (Livermore, CA)

I finished the last leg, which I had been hung up on for a couple of days. It wasn’t the puzzle, just finding the last hiding place of this puzzling multi-cache. Counterparts is a multi-step puzzle cache.

1. First, you must figure out the passwords to 3 password protected files that you download.
2. Solve a true puzzle.
3. Get audio clues from the internet and decrypt.
4. Find intermediate stages and decrypt more stuff