Well I finally did it. I took the kids out night caching. I have done some caching before at dusk, but never at 9:30 p.m. It was really dark out there. This was a two part cache in Glenburn, PA called Bad Elves. We had found part 1 earlier in the day, but then I messed the cords up and we could not finish it at that time. So after picking the kids up from their jobs that evening we headed out once again.
We parked at the designated spot and then headed towards the cache. All the while I was telling the kids to be quite. At that time of the night sounds really seem to carry a lot farther. The kids were trying to figure out if they should have put their hoodies on backwards to confuse the Bad Elves, and they said I should have done the same with my backpack. Kids. We walked along a path until it was time to leave the path and venture into the deep and even darker WOODS. There were all sorts of things we had to crawl across and go under. We were running into big areas of thickets and brush, but we kept on going. The kids kept asking how we were going to get out and I kept telling them "we'll just follow our tracks on the GPS back out, no problem." Was that a Elf I heard laughing. Nah!
As we were following the GPS to GZ I realized maybe we should have worn rubber boots instead of sneakers. This place was kind of swampy. Don't worry kids, keep trudging along. Then it happened. We were at GZ. I called out "Everyone start looking around for the cache", and then the kids reminded me we only had one flashlight. "Oh, that's right." So I held the light and they looked where I shinned it. Then my youngest son, the cache master, found it. Wow was it nice. It was so full of SWAG it was bursting at the seams. They started pawing through it after handing me the log, as usual, to see what they wanted to trade for. They all chose some nice things and then we placed our new trade items in there. They each signed the log and then we put it back right where we found it. Now it's ready for the next cachers to find. This was all the easy part. Now the hard part begins. Getting out.
By now it was even darker than when we started, but remember, no problem we'll just follow our tracks back to the car. I then lead the way through the brush and vines. But then wait, the GPS turned around and now we were heading in the wrong direction. I looked a little confused and said we needed to turn around and head in the other direction. So we walked in the other direction. Then we came to a big ditch, which I do not remember coming through. Of course at that moment the GPS changed again. Now I was really getting frustrated. How could this be happening. All I have to do is follow the tracks back to the car, right? "Who said something about Elves?" I decided we needed to head in a different direction following a small path I could make out. Well that lead us to a huge wall of thorn apple like bushes with no where else to go. Who said to follow those deer paths anyways? Okay, stay calm. The kids are with me and I need to get them out without having to call 911. LOL. Then I did the smart thing to do and prayed. Okay God I need a little help here.
At that point I decided to get up on a little pile of brush and see if I could get a better signal. Not working. The GPS is still jumping all over. I came back down and my 12 year old son, the cache master, said there was a little path near him. We decided to try that next. It lead us through some more swampy areas and then all of a sudden the GPS jumped back to working correctly. We were now headed in the right direction. We followed the tracks and then we saw a power line and the original path we came in on. Thank you God. I never felt so good in my life. The kids then said if I would have put my backpack on backwards the Elves would not have known which way were going and they would not have lead us astray. Kids, you got to love them. We finally did make it back to the car. We went home and logged our finds. What fun. I think I'll keep it to daytime caching.
If you decide to go after this cache I suggest not going at night. If you do you should probably wear your hoody and backpack backwards. And watch out for those Bad Elves. LOL.
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Congrats on your first night cache! We've been on two this weekend and they were AWESOME! :D
ReplyDeleteI’m not much of a night cacher. During the day I stumble around, get scratched up, bang a knee or an elbow and manage to fumble around with my stuff dropping things and such. SOOOOO, at night, these uncoordinated tendencies multiply my misfortune by 10. I’m a wreck out there and it never fails the light starts to blink, the fog rolls in and then you hear that thing (what I presume is Sasquatch in my imagination). Na, I’ll stick to daylight caching, it provides me with plenty of challenges the way it is. And besides, I’m afraid of the dark, but don’t tell anyone, lol.
ReplyDeleteNight caching can increase the difficulty level by two full stars and the terrain by one and one half so be forewarned. Also, it is always best to cache with a friend at night and be sure to have a cell phone. Preferably one with a camera so you can finally get that picture of Big Foot that we’re all waiting to see and Rob, For some crazy reason I think if he’s out there, you’ll get the damn picture too! I still can’t get over those Eagle pictures you got, great stuff.
Cache Safe! Have fun!
Mark a waypoint for the car! Not just at night, but any time you're going to be far from the parking area and in unfamiliar territory. It's super easy to get turned around, and if you mark that waypoint you can always get back.
ReplyDelete