Makers and shakers

Groundspeak is celebrating Makers Madness this month. The idea is to highlight what it takes to make geocaches. After all, without people making geocaches, then there would be nothing to find. I've been geocaching for 3 years now, and I can say that I enjoy making geocaches almost as much as finding them. It's quite natural as you go out and find caches to think about how you'd hide a cache in such-and-such area, or where you think a really great cache location could be. But for me, it is much more common to simply start with an idea. A certain puzzle concept, or a desire to create a series which really shows off the Organ Mountains, such as my Organ Saint Series. and once you get started, the creativity follows. Most of the caches I've created I am quite proud of. They are fun experiences, and I've received a lot of good feedback. But part of good cache ownership is keeping tabs on your caches, and with our impending move to Tennessee, I am trying to figure out what I want to do with all these hides.

My gut reaction is to simply leave them alone. Most are not found frequently, and are not likely to have issues. I could adopt some out, and some locals have already expressed interest. That's probably the responsible thing to do, but as I mentioned, I am proud of these hides and kind of like to keep them in my name. I've been trying to visit as many of them as I can before we leave, to make sure they are in good shape. Friday, the kids had off school so we took a trip up to the Sacramento mountains to enjoy some woodlands and check on my cache, Bear Necessities. The mountains were cooler than I had thought they would be, but we had coats and the kids were game to for some exploring. We stopped along Westside rd for a few kid friendly caches, short hikes with big pay-offs. My cache out here is one I have fond memories of making. The whole family was out camping and I had brought along some heavy-duty fishing line (spider line) and a pill bottle to make this hide. I located a decent ponderosa pine near the camp site and climbed up a good ways, and then screwed in a series of small eyelets on my decent. By running the spider-line through the eyelets I could hand the pill bottle way up high. We then scavenged some bark from a fallen pine nearby and thoroughly camouflaged the container. A rusty can nearby served as a perfect reel to be left at the base of the tree. It took a few hours to get everything just right, but the whole family pitched in and had a good time making it. I remember thinking that it probably wouldn't survive the winter, but figured it would be fun while it lasted. Now, 2-1/2 years later it is in almost perfect shape, with only the tiniest bit of fraying of the spider-line near the top eyelet. And just about every cacher that visits it loves it. Just goes to show that a little careful thought in putting together a cache can go a long ways.

The next day was a Maker's Madness event in Alamogordo, and since we needed to get the kids and dog out of the house anyways, we made it our destination. I brought along a box full of old cache containers, logbooks and swag to give away. I was glad to see all of it get picked up by folks interested in hiding their own caches. I got to talk at length to some of the Alamogordo cacher's, but making goecahces didn't seem to be on many peoples minds. Mainly, it was the typical geocacher chatter, what caches have you found here, or there, which ones would you recommend. I can talk for hours about that sort of thing, and am not alone at one of these events. After the event broke up, the dog and I got to do some caching while the family visited the small Alameda Park Zoo. The cache I most wanted to find in Alamogordo was C3-C4, by Mycn18. It is the last of his cache's that I hadn't found, and all of his caches I've really enjoyed. He has to be one of the most meticulous cachers; his caches all have sturdy print-outs for each stage, complex instructions and warnings, difficult terrain and obstacles, and fortress-like hides constructed so that no animal will ever make off with a stage. They are involved, and require effort, and thus do not get found very often. But I find them even more rewarding for this. C3-C4 explores some canyons underneath Ortega Peak. I flew up the canyon, knowing the family would complete all the zoo attractions quickly. Canyons like this are common here, but I know I'll miss them once we move. I tried to soak as much in as I could, given a hasty ascent and descent. Finding this last Mycn18 cache was a good way to end the Maker's Madness weekend. I couldn't have asked for more.