Las Trampas

We decided to take a hike today, but we chose a route in Las Trampas where Dan and Janet could find a few caches. Karen and I had found most of those caches some time ago. The day started out crystal clear, but in the later afternoon began to become hazy with some high clouds.

We were able to finish the Superman multi-cache, and I got one more for the day. But the big accomplishment was doing about 5.5 miles with some pretty significant elevation changes. We hit Las Trampas Peak, Vail Peak, and Eagle Peak. I’d already found the cache on Eagle Peak, but had forgotten where, and it was really hard to find. I finally gave up, but Dan persisted and found it.

Stockton

Since Mom was arriving by train in Stockton this afternoon, Dan and I went earlier in the morning for some caching. We started with a couple of Tracy Triangle caches. I didn’t care for the one at the fueling station--it’s just too easy to be mistaken for someone wishing to do harm.

Next we did 4 in the park at the corner of I-5 and Eight Mile Road. We hit a few other stops before doing the EBMUD series, which was a fairly pleasant walk.

Afterwards we did a few on the east side of 99 before needing to pick up Mom. I finished with 19 finds.

Red Hills

Dan and I spent the day at Red Hills (between Oakdale and Jamestown) and Knight’s Ferry. We had a great time. Didn’t get a large number, but did see some interesting country, drove some 4x4 roads (the Ridgeline did well), and hiked some interesting trails.

Oakley and Antioch, again

Dan called after lunch and asked about going to Antioch for a cache run this afternoon. It didn’t seem like much time, but I did want to get out for some hunting.

They were mostly unremarkable caches in unremarkable locations. For a couple of them we did walk a half mile or so. One cache was on a paved EBRP trail along a canal that I should explore some more. We picked it up near Brentwood.

We only found 7 and had several DNFs.

New Melones

We needed to pick up Mom B in Sonora this afternoon, so we drove through Angels Camp to the Glory Hole area of New Melones Lake. We hiked to a couple of caches, mostly off trail. It was a nice day right after the rain, and the lake was very quiet.

Also found a few well crafted caches by Isolino. A couple also used a new (to me) nano container. It looks to be a small plastic vial that holds only a couple of drops of liquid.

Ended the day with 7 finds.

Antioch

Dan, Janet, and I spent the afternoon in Brentwood and Antioch. It’s mostly country roads with huge shopping centers and new houses. Easy drive-ups, lamp posts, etc. Team Alamo’s DHMO was probably the most creative, but once you figure out what DiHydrogen Monoxide is, it’s a no brainer. Ended up with a dozen finds.

The View

After staying with Audree this morning, I headed up Altamont to get The View, a cache that was missing (I think) when I hunted it last week. Can’t say I like the location.

Round Valley

Dan and I spent the day caching in Round Valley Regional Park. Many of the caches were off trail, up hill. We took a route that I think minimized the elevation change, but did require a lot of off trail hiking. Luckily, there isn’t much brush in the park to push through. We managed about 6 miles. We had a disappointing DNF at Devil’s Curve, a cache that starts with a micro and it’s way the heck out there.

Morgan Territory, solo

I picked up 5 caches in 6 miles in Morgan Territory today. Even after the little rain we had it wasn’t too muddy and I managed the descent down the Coyote Trail just fine.

Castro Valley with the pros

This afternoon I met up with Worker of Wood, MotorBug, and Shadow101 to look for some caches in the Castro Valley/Hayward area. It was an interesting time getting to know these guys.

This was definitely urban caching, with many of them in very public places. I’m sure I would not have done some of them had I been alone.

Of particular note, we knocked off Portuguese Time Capsule. Very hard. I’m sure glad I had help.