One of the highlights of the NOVA event for JoeCthulhu’s 40th birthday was having to hide one of JoeC’s birthday presents from his wife. JoeC’s wife had packed him 4 birthday caches, each one of them filled with trinkets, log book and pencil, and one of his birthday presents.
She had ordered a “Member of USA Geocaching Team” hat:
The person who had the best hide of the four would win the hat. L33T_Hacksta, Dartboard Gang, another team I can’t remember, and I were the four lucky ones to hide a cache. Hacksta took off first with his typical devilish grin. I asked RATTRAP if he wanted to accompany me, and Grandpa waited in the pavilion where it was dry. RATTRAP and I disappeared for about a half hour and hid the cache in a pretty good spot. We then spent a few minutes making a decoy hide, piling sticks, bark, and leaves up against the Y of a fallen log.
Headed back to the pavilion and gave JoeC the coords. Waited for a little while before he headed out. Hacksta called in his coords to Grandpa since his GPS waypoint memory was full–don’t know why he didn’t just delete a waypoint to save it. Anyhow, apparently Hacksta was lost because he didn’t show up for quite some time (almost an hour)! JoeC was still gone when Hacksta returned and it was about 15 minutes later when Mrs JoeC handed me her cell phone, “Someone’s mad at you.”
“Hello?”
“I need a hint!”
“Hmm… you see a pair of ravines?”
“Yeah, right here near them, I’ve searched all over and can’t find it. You hid the cache in the archery range!”
“Archery Range?!?”
“Yup.”
Anyhow, I gave him a few clues and offered to go help him which he declined. Because of the rain, the sat signals were NOT very good and GPS coverage was mediocre at best. He then agreed that I could come and give him some help and everyone decided to come “help”, too.
When we got there, I saw JoeC standing maybe 10 feet from where the cache was! While he hadn’t found the cache, he DID find the decoy! “I saw all these sticks and thought I found it,” he confessed. I assured him he was in the right spot so he had just missed it. About 15 minutes passed before he found the cache while a few of the others had spotted the hide immediately. The key to that one was the angle at which we came in. Depending on your viewpoint, it was tough or it wasn’t. Where he was standing when we got there was the perfect spot to NOT see the cache. When he came from another direction, his face dropped as he realized he had been standing within a foot only minutes before. “That was awesome!” he said. Made me feel good about the hide. He opened the cache, signed the logbook and enjoyed the first of his four presents.
The second cache, hidden by TheDartboardGang was a bit of an easier find for him though not without trouble. He found the spot immediately but when he reached in, he pulled out a note stating: “Do you really think we would hide the cache here?” After some more searching, he called TheDartboardGang for a hint. It WAS in the first place he looked, only a bit farther back. Poor guy.
Only it gets worse. Thanks to Hacksta.
See, since Hacksta didn’t mark the coords and since the signal was so bad, he LOST JoeC’s birthday present. He just plain FORGOT where he put it. Even though he phoned in the coords, he was convinced that’s not where the cache was, since FOR SOME REASON he decided to walk around and try to find his way out BEFORE calling in the digits! He and Mr DartboardGang spent at least an hour looking for the cache, not to mention all the time Hacksta had spent trying to locate it earlier after he hid it in the first place! Imagine JoeC’s surprise… we bumped into him while coming back from one of the caches he placed. “Hacksta lost my birthday present.” He wasn’t happy, and I don’t blame him. After some more time had passed, the cache was found–ironically, right by the original set of coords that Hacksta had phoned in! He was redeemed.
Almost.
Earlier in the day we had gone in the downpour to do a multi-cache in the park. So RATTRAP, Grandpa, L33T_Hacksta and I set off for this multi. Found stage one after a very brief search and headed off in the rain down the muddy trails. I slipped and fell, at which buddy Hacksta cackled out loud Then he slipped but caught himself as did RATTRAP. Grandpa stayed true to form and slowly but sure-footedly made his way around the bend and across the bridge. We got to stage 2 and found the clue. Hacksta was sure he could project the waypoint so he did. We found a few spots where the cache could be. Only problem is it was on the other side of the “stream” (which was more like a raging river with all the rain!) We debated on how to get over to the other side. Hacksta looked for logs while I contemplated the long-jump over. Grandpa told me that was silly and that if I tried it, he’d beat me with his stick. RATTRAP suggested the pole vault method so Hacksta set a log down in the water like a bridge
Anyhow, Hacksta disappeared, and when the opportunity came, I saw Grandpa and RATTRAP looking for him and ignoring me. It was my chance to try the leap of faith so I went for it. I landed gracefully on the other side of the water just in time to hear Grandpa yell out “HE MADE IT!” Sure enough I did, but all it took was them looking away for me to try it. I searched fruitlessly for quite some time before the others found a way across farther down. I eventually made my way back to the other side where I had set my stuff down (didn’t need the extra weight for my “flight”) and started searching again. Talked to Grandpa about compass readings, etc. I figured I’d go back up to the clue and take another reading.
When I got up there, doggonnit if Hacksta hadn’t plugged in the wrong numbers! I got a different direction on the compass than we had just spent the last half hour looking. Made my way in that direction while the others kept searching. Had to cross the dang river again but this time found an “easier” way, using a large 7′ stick as a “crutch” to steady me across a large log. Almost ended up in the drink a few times but eventually made it across. Once on the other side, I went straight for where I had seen the pointer direct me from the clue and WWWWWHHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! I yelled.
I found it.
When everyone heard my yell they came in my direction. I pointed them to where and how I crossed and let them do the same so they could sign the log. Felt good putting my name down in the logbook on this one. Would have been easier had the original compass reading been correct but oh well, we all make mistakes, just not as many as the Slacksta made that day.
Oh, and I’m enjoying my new caching hat quite nicely, thank you. 
Thanks for the fun guys, especially you, Hacksta!
