Geocaching

Geocache GCZJGD - Patrick's Notched Saguaro

Jan 152011

I had a bit of time today so thought I'd grab a cache that had me hiking a bit. This isn't a long hike, about 1/3 mile. But I did find out later that of you drive around to the south side of Q Mountain you can get a lot closer to it. I parked on the north side and had to hike up and then down the side. The only advantage of this hike is that you pass by an abandoned mine you won't see from the south side. There is another mine just southwest of the cache.

The cache area looks to be a bit of a party place as there are broken beer bottles and other trash in the area. But it is still an interesting hike with the mines to check out. The cache location can be seen in the photo to the left.

I took a Samboree patch and left quartz.

Geocache GC19AD0 - Give Me A Break

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Jan 132011

An easy grab located on the side of the road. This was the last one for the day so I did take a break on the bench nearby to enjoy the nice weather. There is a paved bike path that runs down the road so you could easily bike to this one. The cache container was a bit beat up but everything was intact. Took a Hanna Montana pin from the swag and left a magnet clip. The cache is located in the picture.

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Geocache GC19AD1 - Desert Fliers

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Jan 132011

I had heard there was an RC flying field in Quartzsite but never took the time to find it. It just so happens that the Desert Fliers geocache is located near the entrance to the airfield. It was an easy cache to find and by luck there was an event going on when I got there. I stayed around for a half hour so to watch. Some of the flyers can do some awesome aerobatics. The photo shows the entrance to the field and where the cache is. I took an Alberta coin from the swag and left a magnet clip. The photos below are of some of the action.

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Geocache GC1GKYX - Saguaro Henge

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Jan 132011

This was a fun one and at first had me fooled where it was hidden. Located just a short walk from the parking area near a Stonehengeque stand of Saguaro cactus. While here also check out the garden nearby that is an interesting desert display. Took a beads & bolo craft and left a magnet clamp. Location of the cache can be seen in this photo. The second photo is of the nearby desert garden.

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Geocache GC199D1 - Standing In The Limelight

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Jan 132011

Another easy grab but the location can make it a busy spot. Best to use your stealth skills on this one. It's a micro so all you need to do is sign and replace. Location of the cache is in this photo.

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Geocache GCKB7V - Freedom Fighters

Geocaching No Responses »

Jan 132011

Was a nice day today in Quartzsite so figured I'd go and see if I could grab a few easy caches. Freedom Fighters is located near a city park and a jet guards it's placement. Easy find that also gives you glimpse of an interesting city park.... how many do you know have a real jet on display? I took a french fry trinket from the swag and replaced it with a magnet clamp. The location of the cache can be seen in this photo.

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Desert Pet Memorial

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Jan 092011

It's Sunday and not much planned so I thought I would see if there were any easy geocaches to find. As I looked on-line for some in the area I found one that said it was placed close to a pet memorial. I hadn't heard of it before so figured it would be an interesting trip.

It is located in the LaPosa North Long Term Visitors Area about a mile back from the entrance and about 3/4 mile off the main road through the LTVA. It was easy to get to and was located just a few feet off of one of the drivable trails that gets back into the desert.

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Driving Coronado National Forest

Destinations, Geocaching No Responses »

Dec 272010

When I got up this morning the weather was pretty nice. Temps in the mid 40's, partly cloudy and not much wind. Figured it would be a good day for a drive through the Coronado National Forest. I had already gotten a map from the campground that showed a loop with a few interesting places to stop and that seemed like a good place to start.

Part of the 30 mile loop was paved but about 3/4 of it was dirt forest road. I was told the roads were OK for a truck but too rough for a car.... sounds like an adventure to me! I did check to see if the wee any Geocaches on the way and there were a number of them so I uploaded them to the GPS. I packed my backpack with a few energy bars, a couple bottles of water, my compass and GPS, then me and Spud hopped in the truck to see what we could see.

As we headed into the forest and still on the paved road there was a sign no vehicles over 41' allowed. Doesn't sound bad, most likely narrow roads with sharp turns. A few miles after I entered the forest there was suppose to be a geocache close to a campground. As I pulled up to the campground, it was closed for improvements but was open hiking. I parked the trucked and to see if I could find it. The campground had some really cool campsites and I quickly found where the cache was suppose to be but I couldn't find it. I checked the feedback left by others and it seems like the past 3 people couldn't find it. Figures! All was not lost, it was a nice hike with some really interestingly laid out campsites

My First Cache - GC170CA Smelly Crack

Geocaching 3 Responses »

Nov 102010

My GPS came in the mail the other day and of course I just couldn't let it sit on the shelf. It took a couple of hours to upgrade the firmware, load in the maps and configure the settings. After that I walked around the neighborhood for a bit to get familiar with it. Once I comfortable enough using it I figured it was time to give a trial run. It was time to find a cache.

Geocaching is a treasure hunt of sorts. People hide items (caches), record their location using GPS coordinates and upload the information to the Geocaching web site. Anyone can then search for caches, get the information and go out and find them. Once you find one you then mark it as found on the Geocaching web site and the web site keeps track of caches everyone have found. Of course you put the cache back where you found it so others can find it at a later date.

Currently there are over 1 million active caches hidden worldwide. Caches can range in size from micro caches the size of a film canister to large sizes bigger then an ammo can. While the smaller caches contain no more then a paper log where you can record your name and date you found it, the large ones can contain swag that you can take and replace with something of your own.

Activities, Geocaching 1 Response »

Nov 032010

One of the main questions I get asked when someone hears about the trip I have planned this winter is "what are you going to do?". While sitting out in the desert does sound boring, they have no idea of all the things to do in the Quartzsite area.

First of all is the huge RV swap meet, Rock/Gem show, Arts/Crafts show, Pow Wow, Classic Car show and who knows what else that goes on in January and February. The town's population of ~4000 people swells to, what some claim, over 1 million visitors during the winter. With 1000+ booths at the various swap meets, that should keep me busy for a while.