Watery caches and Rats

This is part two of our return trip from Vancouver to Calgary and when we left off we were in Merritt for the night.
After a quick complimentary breakfast at the motel, we checked the GPS and determined that there were two nearby caches that we wanted to try to find before leaving Merritt. The second one hinted that water would be required to obtain the log book so we made sure to fill a bottle for that purpose before setting out.

But first a simple drive up cache that proved to be literally a drive-up for us! The name of the cache was Refuel and the GPS was taking us to the parking lot of a grocery chain store so I drove my truck in and parked without watching the GPS. It was quite surprising then when the littlest goat turned on the GPS and discovered we had parked directly beside the cache. She hopped out of the truck, lifted up the object she thought was covering the cache and pulled out a RAT! Thank goodness it was a rubber rat container for the cache!

We always enjoy caches that are a little out of the ordinary, ones that the cache owner has taken some time to plan either a cool container or an interesting place to visit. The next cache we looked for was just that sort of cache. The container itself was fairly easy to find. But to get the log book out you needed to pour around 500 mL of water into the outer container to make the log container float to the top so you could grab it. Nice work! And a physics lesson built in!

After two successful cache discoveries, it was time to start driving again, heading North toward Kamloops. Allen kept checking the GPS for caches near the highway and eventually we came across a cluster of three that were off a small side logging road and located near a lake.

Aptly named Helmer Lake cache, Helmer Lake 2 and Helmer Lake 3, the first one took us to the remains of an old log cabin. And when we got out of the truck we saw the lake. A beautiful calm lake surrounded by trees with a handful of people camping around this hidden gem.   

 The other two caches were not far from the first and were quick pick-ups for us. We sat here and ate some sandwiches and enjoyed the view before getting back on the highway.


More cache stories tomorrow. Some rock scrambling, a coffin, and a rare bird sighting. Stay tuned!!

What's in Your Swag Bag?

Whenever we head out for a day of geocaching we carry along a small bag that contains a few essentials. Besides our GPS receiver we carry

• extra batteries (in case our GPS is low or a cache requires batteries)
• a couple of small sharpened pencils (to sign logs or replace missing pencils in caches)
• a pen
• extra note paper (for full or missing log books or to solve puzzles or write down clues)
• a whistle (in case our daughter, who carries the bag, gets lost)
• swag to trade (more on that below)
• muggle cards (non-geocachers are called muggles, and these cards explain what we are doing)
• any travel bugs we need to move on (more on travel bugs in a later post)

The swag is usually a collection of things my daughter would like to find in a cache such as special pencils, erasers, bouncy balls, hacky sacks, key chains, Canadian souvenirs, cool fridge magnets, compact mirrors, and tattoos.

When we find a cache, my daughter (littlest goat) and husband (old goat) look through the trades in the cache while I sign our team name and date in the log book. If there is something the little goat would like to take from the cache, she then chooses something equally good or better to place in the cache. We have found some caches containing garbage, broken toys, spoiled stickers and unpolished rocks and these containers get cleaned out and a few pieces of our swag left inside. Food is never left in a cache as animals can smell it and will destroy a container trying to get at the food. All swag should be child-safe as much as possible as this is a family friendly game. After trading, we place the log book back in the cache and put the cache back exactly where we picked it up so the next person can find it. And make note of which cache we found so we can record it later.

As with any outdoor activity, dress for the weather, bring water and snacks, respect private property, and if you go alone, tell someone where you are going. And have fun!!

Names and Logging finds

When you join geocaching.com (either the free option or the premium membership) you need a name for yourself or your team. This name will not only be the one you use to log into the site but it will be the name you sign in the log books at each cache.
My family goes by the name 3billygoats which is a play on our last name. When I am logging our finds on geocaching.com, I refer to my husband as the 'old' goat and my daughter as the littlest goat. We also released three plastic model goats as travel bugs so if you see one of them in a cache, let me know! (more on travel bugs later)

Quick cache find

Yesterday my daughter and I went out to find a geocache in our own neighbourhood. I had seen the listing on geocaching.com but, knowing it wasn't a difficult one, I wanted to wait for a day when we could do it together. Alana took the lead with the GPS receiver with a reminder to let it orient itself after she was out of the truck. Then she led us to the right tree and I spotted the container. It was a winter friendly hide (not buried under snow) and a good size container holding lots of swag for trading. We signed the log book, replaced the treasure with swag of our own and replaced the container where we found it. Then I remembered I had planned to photograph the container for my blog so we took it back out, moved to a spot that would not offer spoilers and took the photographs. You must remember when caching, that you don't want to give away the location of the cache to the next cacher or anyone checking the logs on-line, so don't put the actual hiding place in your photographs and be careful what you say when you enter your comments on-line. These unwanted hints are called 'spoilers' for a reason! If you want to make a comment that may give away hints there is a feature on the website that will encript your log so that only someone who wants hints can read it.