ETNAC, the Second Run

Had a little time this afternoon, so I thought I’d drive out and get a few more (ok, 23) of the ETNAC caches.

No scary cache containers this time, but a lot more contact with Border Patrol. Those guys seemed to be waiting for me at or near each cache site. Sometimes, two or three at a time. It was kind of sweet, actually – that they would devote that much energy to insuring that I could cache safely.

Anyway, on to the pics.

For those of you who’ve never seen The Fence before, here it is (click for bigger).

That’s Mexico there , on the other side.

And while I did say there were no scary cache containers, this hide made me a little nervous.

The cache is in that bag. That bag is behind a bunch of poison oak.

I think I was successful in retrieving it without touching the poison oak. If not, be looking for another post in a few days.

Only a couple of dozen more caches to go in the ETNAC Series. Stay tuned.

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Star Wars – The Sequel

A few months ago, I blogged about a caching trip to Dagobah and Naboo, two of the caches in the “In A Galaxy Far, Far, Away” series.

Today, we found the remaining caches in the series.

We visited the desert planet, Tatooine,

Endor, the forest home of the Ewoks,

and, finally, the cloud city of Bespin.

All that remains now is to use the clues we found in each cache to figure out the coordinates of the final cache in the series.

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Clue – Mrs. White

You may have seen my previous post, “The Search for Professor Plum,” wherein I described the beginning of our search for a series of caches based on the board game “Clue.” Today, we got the rest of the series, including the above-mentioned Mrs. White.

When we arrived at Señora Blanca’s casita, we were greeted by an arresting contrast between the work of Man and the work of Nature.

All that’s left are some cerebral calisthenics, and we’ll have the coordinates for the final cache in the series.

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ETNAC

ETNAC stands for Every Turnout Needs A Cache, and it’s the title of a series of caches placed by a couple whose caching name is “Jahoadi and John” (silly name, great people).

From the cache descriptions:
“Why is it every time we pass a nice cache hiding spot we say “That spot needs a cache?” So today we decided to hide our own ET series and hide a cache at every safe turnout along SR-94 and Old Highway 80 from Jamul to Jacumba.”

There are around 120 caches in the series, and I wanted to see how many I could get. I also took a few pictures along the way.

As a warning, there are a few pictures that some of you might find…disturbing. I’ll put those pictures at the end of this post, and I’ll warn you again before we get there.

One of the caches was called “ETNAC – Bell-ieve It”. As I was searching through the brush, I heard a tinkling noise and followed the sound to this:

I think more caches should have a bell attached.

Along the route, I came across this sign:

Other than the sandwich shops, I wasn’t aware that we had subways anywhere in San Diego county, let alone near Jacumba. Turns out, the sign is a warning for tall vehicles.

The "Subway"

See where it says, Vertical Clearance 14′-3″? It’s hard to see in this picture, but right below that is the original (now obliterated) warning that says, Vertical Clearance 14′-5″. Makes me wonder if the change was inspired by a 14′-4″ tall vehicle.

I’d never heard of the San Diego Short Line, but I found some information about it here.

Speaking of bridges, one of the caches was hidden under a pretty cool walking bridge.

It was a pretty warm day. In fact, at around ten o’clock, I had to put the top up to keep from melting in the sun.

Eugene and I took advantage of the shade whenever we could.

Jahoadi and John used some unusual cache containers in this series. And, as promised, here’s your warning. There are seven images coming up. The last two (or three) are the ones that some of you might not appreciate. You have been warned.

Searching for one of the caches under a huge oak tree, I came upon this.

I figured these fake leaves had come loose from the cache container, which was probably hanging in the tree nearby. Sure enough, I found it and reassembled things as best I could.

Some of the containers were just silly. This one was called ETNAC – Like a Hole in the Head:

I don’t remember the name of this cache, but the container was sure cute.

I’m sure some cachers were startled by this next one. Not me, though.

This one, on the other hand, made me jump and set my heart to racing.

It was in an oak tree up a rise, and as I made the climb, all of a sudden I was eye-to-eye with this little feller.

Actually, not that little.

Stats for the day? Nine hours, about 100 miles round trip, and 71 finds. A good day.

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Ponto Beach

I was asked to help chaperone a beach camp for the young women of our church. In addition to providing general support, I was asked to give a little class on how to use a map and compass, as well as a session on Geocaching. Do they know me, or what?

So I set up a little mini-orienteering course, based on the one they had at the last Roughneck Rendezvous. We had teams of two or three with a competition to see which team could finish first.

Then we set off on a three-mile hike, with a couple of cache hunts thrown in for spice.

The first was the Ponto Beach cache, which was located right in front of a lifeguard tower. As we approached (all 18 of us) and started looking, the lifeguard came out and asked if we were geocaching. One of the girls said that we were, and asked if he knew where the cache was. He said that he didn’t, so we were on our own.

Not to worry, though, as it wasn’t long before one of the girls asked, “Is this it?” And, indeed, it was.

(click to enlarge image)

Before we left, we got the lifeguard to come out and join us. Those of you who enjoy finding mistakes in movies and TV shows might want to look carefully at this image.

(click for bigger)

We found another cache after this one, and I wish I had a picture to share. The sight of twelve girls looking for a micro cache in a 8′ x 10′ laundry room is one that I will never forget.

Near our campsite, a previous group had left the fruits of their labors for us to enjoy.

The work of a higher power was evident as well.

The girls (and adults) seemed to really enjoy the experience, and we may have inducted a few new members into the geocaching community.

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