scramblEd - Exploration

Our family loves stopping in at libraries whenever we travel, so it's a lot of fun to combine hobbies. And as you can see from the photo, I got to chat a little bit with some of the residents!

Log's getting full. There are a couple of loose scraps of paper being used right now.

This time, however, we were prepared cachers. Water? Check! Flashlights? Check! Full battery on phone? Check! Leaving the baby home? Check! Starting in EARLY afternoon instead of late? Super-check!

We took the route from the campgrounds (H, actually, since F & G were blocked off). The trail wasn't nearly as horrible as we expected - pretty average for "steep" Gov Dodge hikes, and it levels out once you reach the north bend, so it's not the whole way.

Finally found the cache after looking at the picture and spotting ANOTHER similar landmark (the one near where the coordinates took us is almost identical!). The distance tips from previous logs helped, too (and if you want extra help, take the distance and go the direction represented by the last letter in my first paragraph). At least, that's what I got with my 2015 phone, and it lined up precisely with the OpenMaps trail line.

For our way back, we decided to bushwhack directly downhill WNW to our car. Only a few pricklers slowed us down; a dedicated hiker could make it up this way much more quickly than taking the trail...if they don't mind a few scratches.

Thanks for a well-placed cache (still stuffed to the gills with swag) and great experience!

PDC seems to have many great caches, and it starts with older caches like this with great stories and fun destinations. Thanks for maintaining this and making a memorable #200 for us!

The weather was a bit chilly on this late March day, and caching out at nearby Nobel's Island left our noses almost frozen from the wind.

Thankfully, this trail was protected from the wind, so it was much more bearable. Today's light snow dusting had left things a little slippery, but the find was made and the log inked. I think this is the first log I wrote more than just the date on, too.

Hope more people find this. It needs more than 2 finds/year. Maybe a FP will help...

Thanks much for keeping this old one up and running!

Thanks for bringing us off the road a bit as we drove through. Garnavillo is a beautiful little town, too. Great park for a family to stop at on a road trip.

Today started out with a little bit of snow and a LOT of wind. But caching in the woods cut down on the wind, and by the time we found this, it was calm with nice blue skies. After a bunch of hiking, reading the old paper logbook was very relaxing. Thanks for a good hide, and thanks to the years of cachers who left their mark.

The hike from the trail to GZ is nice and easy, along an interesting rock path. I wonder what that is all about? I thought several stones seemed loose, but future cachers can rest assured that no landscaping skills are needed to find this cache.

I hope more cachers find these great caches. Rural SW Wisconsin needs as many good ones as possible!

Originally I was going to recommend that Upland Trail cachers save this one for last, lest they deal with the smells the rest of the trip (especially if your group includes inquisitive young ones!), but on second thought, it was a lot better to let this dissipate throughout the woods rather than taking it in the car with us!

Thanks for a neat, themed cache.

Of course, they loved playing on the playgrounds and having a picnic lunch, too. This was a very enjoyable Sunday afternoon for us all. Thanks for bringing us here.

Lots of hiding opportunities in line with the theme once I reached the location; I almost gave up to leave this for another day. Then I checked one more time at the right angle and...aha! Nicely done!

I'm going to have to put these on my list of To Do's. It's a neat tech-related seeking task; too bad there are fewer than 20 in the state right now. Thanks for this one!

Finally made the find and dropped off a bug I brought up from the States. He'd like to get back to France, so I figured Montreal was a good stop for him!

Then I found the final and actually read the story. Wow. Very nice! And with foliage on the tree, GZ was a surprise out of the blue! This is a very nice tribute and honor to your wife. Thanks so much for sharing!

This gets not only a favorite, but a special spot on my benchmarks at #300. I may not have thousands, but I enjoy and actually remember every single one!

The blacksmith's shop was great, too. We heard a lot about the history of the place and learned a bit about 'smithing, too. Yes, more chance for muggles (I generally abhor having to be "stealthy") when the place is open, but way worth it if you have a few minutes (or more, in our case) to stop in.

Here's a FP to break you into 3 digits on this one!

As I was replacing the cache, I about jumped out of my skin as a trolley appeared out of nowhere behind me! There were no pedestrians around as I replaced it, but there was a whole busload of muggles! Fortunately my back was to the road hiding the cache, so I'm sure they thought I was just VERY interested in the flowers.

Thanks for making Galena caching awesome!

As for urban hides, I was quite nervous looking for this, but was set at ease when I found the secluded area in which to look. Fortunately it was a rainy day, so there weren't too many people walking by...but I froze every time one did. At least there was no one sleeping in here! I almost gave up on this when I finally spotted something out of place. With all the wet wood around, it *really* blended in. It also helped that I'm not a short person; I still ended up hugging a wet tree to retrieve/replace this one.

It's always a great caching experience when you get a little dirty!

It almost wasn't a success! We got off to a late start and weren't sure if we could get close enough to the final GZ (at one point, I was afraid I was driving on a bike trail!) and have enough time to search before some of the younger family members went ballistic at the late lunchtime. The final search sure was a challenge, but eventually we came up with the container and inked the book! Thanks for the fun experience!

Did a lot of searching way too low for this cache before I read some previous logs to figure out what I was doing wrong. Once I changed my approach, this one was quickly discovered, logged, and re-hidden. I had a ton of fun jumping over rocks on the way to and from this hide - at one point, I raced the waves around a large boulder near GZ. Caused a few mini rockslides, too. As I said, lots of fun was had.

The wife and I thoroughly enjoyed being pushed around on the black-sand beach until a big wave knocked her over, taking her sunglasses out to sea. Fortunately her seeing spectacles survived. Lots of black sand hiding in various crevices when we got back to shower, but that's par for the course.

The best part about this one, however, was the drive down and then through the horribly rough and bumpy road. Went through a couple huge mud puddles too...think the rental company will notice? We also rescued two French visitors from the strenuous hike back up. No difficulties there. I can definitely say this whole experience was the highlight of our trip out to Hawaii. Thanks for adding a great caching bonus to top off a great day!

Cache is still pretty water-logged, but still super fun to retrieve!

I solved this in the Spring (actually had never heard of 'Numb Blocks', so that was a fun exercise!), but then couldn't for the life of me come up with the find. (It also felt awkward poking around in a mini-forest when a couple of teenagers or middle-school kids would walk by from time to time; at least in the spring I was somewhat concealed! No such cover on Dec. 1, but fortunately no one wants to wander through here in the cold!) I almost gave up on this a 2nd time (prepared to PAF for some tips...) when I tried another approach, this time from the North. At last, I hit pay dirt. My advice for others (and myself for future situations) is to figure out your latitude and longitude outside of the trees and then stop looking at your device during the search. It does NO GOOD!

Thanks for a fun puzzle, and an even better hide.

I did feel a bit like Captain Picard when answering the question about the lights, but fortunately you can try again easily.

On top of a beautiful tour and a fun new type of cache, it ends with my favorite find: a well-done field puzzle (plus a great, secure container). This cache was all kinds of awesome! Too bad I can only give one FP.

A few months later, I had a nice, portable, climbing TOTT, so thought I'd give this another shot. I climbed up several locations (which in retrospect probably would've been T5's since there was no way up them without the TOTT!), but again struck out.

Today on a whim, I was walking by, not planning to get this unless I actually spotted the container. Taking some knowledge of past mini-forest caching success, I ended up looking a lot closer to the road. Actually, I didn't even have to spend any time looking...the thing practically leapt out at me. How had I not seen this before?! I retrieved, signed the quite-damp log, and replaced it with ease.

Sometimes third time IS the charm.

I'm not a mechanic by any means...and certainly not a diesel mechanic, which just led me down some really strange YouTube rabbit holes... But I DO have the mechanical experience needed to solve this one.

We're 2/2 at loving caches of yours we find; you're definitely going on our "watch out for" list, which is great because we have family in Cascade that we regularly visit.

Thanks so much for adding some awesomeness to Geocaching!

This one, though, was targeted and saved. And I came at just the right time! First I was greeted with a 3 o'clock chime, then a full performance! Geocaching saves the day in Madrid!

Except... Oops! I had lost the final coordinates! Well, we knew the area and just hunted around until eventually we came up with the find. Thanks so much for the all around great experience! Favorite point for redeeming my faith in the Cedar Valley!

Thanks for a fun adventure and the tools needed to complete it!

As a bonus, I got to learn that my speedometer DOES work in reverse, as I backed down this cool dead-end road.

I was telling someone about this cache a few hours after finding it, and only after saying it out loud did I finally get it... Today I don't SAG, but I do seem a little slow on the uptake. Anyway, thanks for a great laugh!

Actually, I was thrilled to find this. I'm just buzzing through counties on my way home today and grabbed this because it was right on my path. But I LOVE WI rustic roads, so it was fun to see this historic plaque and visit the very first rustic road. Thanks for this!

It was a little awkward, though, when the owner came up and said we were on his property. It looked like a community-owned place, but apparently it's private land. He didn't seem to mind horribly, though, as long as we stayed out of the buildings, which of course we had been doing anyway. I didn't bring up geocaching because I'm still too chicken (read: uber-introverted) to start up that conversation...

The log on this one was a little damp, but not crumbly or unsignable. The o-ring seemed fine, but I made sure to give a little extra twist when I closed it. There's definitely no more foliage protection!

Really lots of fun and thanks for the dedication of keeping this one stocked!

Loved the puzzle on this one. Always enjoy spatial number puzzles like this type. The first time I encountered one was on a mystery cache in WI, where several newer cachers were confused why the (fake) coordinates were in the middle of a lake. That one even included solving instructions! :shakes head:

Alas, I'm not always one to take wise advice, even from myself. Since the first time I climbed without actually spotting the target from the ground, I told myself I'd go back up only if I could actually spot the prize. (Un)fortunately, I DID spot it, so back up I went. This time balance prevailed, and the log was inked. Enough motivation to keep on slogging for a few more, even with wet clothes. Favorite point NOT because I enjoyed the experience, but for the sheer memory of it that will linger on forever. That's why we geocache anyway, isn't it?

As others have said, final was thankfully a lot easier than the puzzle! Though I did try to garrote my ankle on barbed wire. I'll say that earns the T3 rating!

Thanks for the great history lesson. It was a beautiful day, so I didn't mind that I couldn't quite read everything from the car. I had a seat in front of the monument and enjoyed the outdoors. I even had a little chipmunk scamper by in the field as I was calculating.

We were in the park BECAUSE of the bluebells, and although there weren't many around GZ, there were certainly tons all along the hike. What a beautiful area and the perfect time of year to come here!

The only TOTT's you really need are the ones attached to your arms. It took a couple of tries, but we finally had the prize container in hand. It was also awesome to see the oversized logbook with plenty of room to write an actual field log. We read through a few and then added our own.

Of course, replacing the container proved to be trickier than the original find. We were a little afraid we'd be leaving this thing inaccessible to the next cacher, but after a few prods with another TOTT found on the ground, we had the log container back where it belonged, ready for the next cacher to retrieve.

Thanks so much for the fun experience and for creating a cache that stands the test of time!

Loved the puzzle. Reminded me a bit of one of my favorite scenes in Short Circuit 2. Though not REALLY possible with the limited options, I used to always try to make my phone into a musical instrument the same way...

Spotted the cache right away, but picked it up (and an honestly real geo-coin!) after our burgers. Had our waiter say he heard a story that the license plate stood for "baseball" as said by someone with a lisp. Interesting take on the sometimes hard-to-read license plate abbreviations.

Thanks for the fun destination, our first cache in South Carolina!

Kind of odd to add a favorite point to an archived cache, but this was one of our favorite spots in our brief one-day stay in NC, and finding an unfindable cache just adds to the enjoyment!

I swear I'll get some of my own out, soon. And since there are some active puzzlers nearby, perhaps I'll have to concoct some quizzlers myself.

Anyway, thanks for all the fun puzzles in the area and for keeping the game going! A random FP for my 900th find going to someone I've actually met in person!

I'm embarrassed to say I had never noticed the books on the outside of the building! Let alone how far around they went. Thanks for pointing this out to the blind geocachers of the world like myself!!

Of course, my Mini-Digi's got their turn at being blind INSIDE the library. They successfully navigated to the right shelf, but then proceeded to check everywhere but the right place for the cache. One even put her hand on it once. What can I say? I guess we're all getting a little rusty!

Oh, nuts! That reminds me of another one that I didn't realize wasn't even on my favorite list! [GCG5AM Devil's Throat](http://coord.info/GCG5AM) - it's the prime example I use of Geocaching taking me places I never would've known existed otherwise.

So there, a 2-for-one. And just for the trip down memory lane, a favorite point for this one as well!

At first I though I might have to go digging among some rocks, but then realized I was way over thinking it. Map is accurate, and cache is in great shape. Thanks!

As an introverted geocacher's worst fear, though, I did have a run in with an LEO here. As I pulled to a stop under the highway, I saw a car approaching. "Please don't be a cop" I begged. But sure enough a county sheriff rolled up. Hooray for outfitting my cachemobile, though! He saw my "US Survey" signs and asked, "Just surveyin'?" I said yep! And he said "Have a nice day!" Maaaaybe he knew about the cache, but I'm just thrilled I didn't have to explain anything. Fav point more for the experience than the great D/T combo (but also for the combo, too!).

I'd also say I've done a few gadget caches already on this trip, but this is one where the gadget part is figuring out how to replace the cache properly! I finally figured it out...after dropping and almost losing the pieces several times.

Thanks much for this!!

Then I realized how close to 1000 I was and thought... "no way". I promise I did no cache manipulation over the last two days (except grabbing the 3 other nearby caches first), and am proud for this to be my 1000th find!

Some caches bring you to a great location. Some have awesome containers. And some, like this, are just full of history. I love how the actual GZ here is almost a shrine to caching. Who knows. Maybe we'll be back for the 20th anniversary next year...though it is quite a long ways from home.

Thanks to everyone who has helped keep this one alive (as well as all the favorited caches nearby, without which, I might not have found this).

Thanks for bringing me to this beautiful spot (and for the awesome adventure on this partially-washed-out road!!).

Definitely keep the old virtuals alive. Thanks so much!!

I wish I could say I was intelligent enough to solve the field puzzle quickly.... I knew exactly what I was looking for, but completely missed it the first time around. Ah, well. Made it in, and explored the contents. And then signed on the wrong month!! Oh, well. Was still a blast; a very enjoyable experience. Thanks much!!

Dropped a TB I found a little farther south. Yes! One that I DIDN'T lose!

Loved this idea and location. Beautiful views! No snake spotting today, though.

Very fun here. Finally made the retrieval here, thinking it would take as long to replace. I love that it basically just fell back together!

Thanks for a fun experience!

The smell of the freshly fertilized field accompanied me as I jogged (okay realistically...mostly walked) to GZ. Finding a likely area, I realized that midsummer maybe wasn't the best time to attempt this, though at least I have long pants! But I'm only passing through the area right now, so this is my only chance. I found a few objects that could potentially meet the clue, but just about gave up hope. Then I spotted it! A small camo-covered container! Though it was damaged (alas, I don't have a replacement) there were still trinkets inside (along with a moldy log). Success!

So this is definetly still here (though in need of some TLC from the owner or future cachers), and well worth the brief hike to discover. Thanks so much!

The farmer here must be slightly annoyed at having to navigate around this section, but super-glad it's here (plus their corn is definitely knee-high, so at least it's turning out to be a good year!).

Thanks for the great destination and experience!

Decided to go for the cache before climbing the tower which was a good idea as it was a bit more of a ways uphill. Plenty more great views up here as well.

Crazy to think that this tower was dedicated half a year AFTER the cache was in place! Geocache have been bringing people to the best locations since the very beginning. I'm honored to have found Wisconsin's oldest cache. Thanks so much to everyone for keeping this in play!

Definitely a big thanks for the experience and of course another favorite point!

Then I thought to myself, "Self, maybe this 100+ degree heat is getting to you, take a step back." And so I did, and just like that, the solution presented itself, and I knew just where to go to find stage 2! Luckily the search there was made more quickly that the time I spent puzzling over the mystery of the clue.

So while I challenge you on the "easiest" aspect, I do applaud you for a great experience!