Lime Ridge 6

After Karen’s visit to the Cancer Center, we grabbed an early lunch at Bul Go Gi and then went to look for Don Salvio Pacheco Adobe. Since it’s right in front of drive up teller windows we passed on searching.

So, then it was back to Lime Ridge with another attempt on Welcome to Paradise (Valley). The cache had been replaced in a new location with revised coordinates. I found the coordinates to be in the middle of a grassy area. I searched a neaby tree, with plenty of hiding holes, but found nothing. Sent a PM to the owner expressing concern over the coordinates, and have heard nothing back.

Drove to a different area--Arbolado Park and found nearby ZC at 1:24 PM. We headed directly to a trailhead into Lime Ridge as shown on the map, only to be frustrated by the park fence. We finally got to where we needed to be, and hiked up the hill to Playground Madness #3. This is an ammo can that has gone through a fire. Brushy hiding spots are gone. A lot of stuff in the cache melted, but the log survived. Found it at 1:53 PM.

The Wedding was next. The hill the cache was on was more than Karen could handle, so I hurried up a game trail, found the cache, and hurried back down. Whew--was out of breath.

Dublin and Hayward with Dan

Spent some time this afternoon hunting some caches with Dan and Janet. First, we headed into the hills of west Dublin. First up for me was Sibley GTB, a puzzle cache that Dan and Janet had already found. I had solved the puzzle with a hint from Dan. The cache was easy to find (found it at 1:44 PM), but more difficult to retrieve, so I’m glad Dan was along to help out.

We found The Ranch not too far away, and I happened to spot it quickly. Got this one at 1:55 PM.

We drove in towards Castro Valley, got off at Eden Canyon, and drove up Sunnyslope (which I’d never been on) to Sunnyslope Friends. Again, I walked up and grabbed it, although I do believe it was a clever hide. Got this one at 2:17 PM.

Our next destination was Water Fall - NO PARKING. Now this is a cache that I had not been able to find last year--looked for it at least twice. Maybe I have the newer GPSr now. Anyway, I did seem to zero in on the general location correctly this time, and after a bit of looking I spotted just a bit of it. Found it at 2:36 PM.

On the way to LogSplitter, Dan and Janet hunted RIDCA, but no luck, I couldn’t find it either, and I’m sure I looked in the same place I found it last year. LogSplitter was another cache I had looked for several times last year. Same as before, we hunted in vain for a long time. Dan finally found it (thanks goodness). Got this one off our list at 3:14 PM.

Another one that had given me problems (and others too) is The 2 Lit’l Ps: Homer’s Major League Adventure. Janet found this one, and it drives home the point that one must not only use 2 dimensional thinking. It was 3:44 PM when she found it.

We looked for Labyrinth G.P. which I didn’t like because it was a small hillside that was someone’s front yard. Yes, I know they invite visitors into the labyrinth, but still... Janet found this one too at 3:57 PM.

Just before heading home, we drove on Crow Canyon into Castro Valley and searched for The Trail to Nowhere. First we had to find a parking space, then we had to find the trail head, then we had to head up a hill. Once at the cache location, Janet made the find again at 4:33 PM.

On the way back into Livermore we stopped so I could find Maitland Henry. Dan had found this one (was FTF) but when Hemlock found it, it broke the rules. It had just been redone, so Dan hadn’t seen the new hide either. He found it first at 5:03 PM.

Concord on the 17th

While Karen was at her appointment, I walked over to get For the Health of It. Spotted it quickly today, although I looked for quite a while yesterday. I thought I spotted from one direction yesterday, but then couldn’t find it when I moved to where I thought I could access it. Today it was pretty easy.

After her appointment, we drove to a little nature park and looked for a well hidden (apparently) ammo can under a bridge. I didn’t find it--trying not to fall in the creek didn’t help. Walked a short ways to hunt Lucky You!. Had to use the hint. Turns out our GPSr put us in the wrong area.

Lime Ridge 5

After Karen’s treatment at Mt. Diablo Cancer Center (which took extra long because of a computer glitch), we once again headed to Lime Ridge. First, we stopped for the virtual, Tallest Thing in the Neighborhood. We had to count the ladder rungs going up this stack, and it wasn’t easy because near the top things got pretty fuzzy. I used binoculars to clear things up.

Then we drove to the Ygnacio Valley trailhead and quickly hiked out to Lime Ridge II.

Lime Ridge 4

Karen’s second treatment was today. While she was at the appointment, I found M-A-S-H Hotlips on the other side of the hospital. Then I hotfooted it downtown to get Up in Downtown--a quick find.

After Karen was done, we returned to Lime Ridge, this time choosing a trailhead on Fairweather Circle. First, we found the final stage of SnoWake & Dingo’s Excellent Cachin’ Adventure. It’s pretty impossible to miss--there wasn’t any place big enough to hide that big old ammo can.

From there we headed over to The Lime Mine--an abandoned limestone quarry. I put my GPSr down at zero point and started looking in various hiding spots. Finally realized I had put the GPS within 6" of the cache.

Lastly, we found the final for A State of Mind -- Multiple Personalities. Karen found this one first.

On the hike back to the car we flushed a pair of coyotes. They waited until we were really close until they spooked. Then, just a bit later we came over a ridge and scared up a golden eagle that was either resting or having a squirrel meal.

Lime Ridge 3

Today was the real deal for Karen at the Cancer Center. She received her first radiation treatment. Afterwards we went back to Treat Blvd Lime Ridge trail head to work on A State of Mind -- Multiple Personalities.

We found the first stage easily enough without having to intrude into the homeless person’s campsite. The second stage required us to cross Treat Blvd, so we jay walked (kind of unsafe). We found this stage without too much difficulty either.

SnoWake & Dingo’s Excellent Cachin’ Adventure was close by so we hunted for it, only to discover that it too was a multi-cache. The finals for both caches seemed to be too far away, so we headed back to the car. After all, there’s always tomorrow.

Lime Ridge 2

Today we were back in Concord at the Mt. Diablo Cancer Center for Karen’s dry run for her radiation treatment. After the appointment, we ate lunch at a Korean barbecue place downtown, and then headed back to Lime Ridge. This time we parked at a trail head parking area on Treat Blvd.

A State of Mind -- Insanity was our first find.

Lime Pie in the Sky was cleverly hidden.

On the way up to Concord Overlook we scared up a Coyote that stood for quite a while watching us, outlined against the sky on the ridge line. The cache attachment had failed, but it was still a functional cache.

Post CT scan hike in Lime Ridge

After Karen’s CT scan we grabbed a bagel sandwich in downtown Concord and then drove on Ygnacio Valley to Lime Ridge OSP. It was sunny, but a little windy. Still, it was nice to get out and hike.

We found Fisherwoman’s travel bug cache easily at 12:40 PM and then followed single track up-hill to get A State of Mind - From Chaos comes Order at 1:05 PM. We went on to look for Welcome to Paradise Valley (a lovely location now that the grass has turned green) but we could not find it. Used the flashlight and a screwdriver to probe and pick, but no luck. Hasn’t been found for a while so maybe it’s gone.