The Beginning

The first GPS satellite was launched on February 14, 1989. Eventually, 24 satellites would make up the GPS constellation that allows GPS receivers to determine its position on earth.

Selective availability, or the introduction of errors of up to 100 meters, was turned off on May 1, 2000, allowing civilian users of GPS to be able to accurately pinpoint their position. On May 3, 2000, Dave Ulmer placed a black bucket near Beaver Creek, Oregon and posted the coordinates (N 45 17.460 W 122 24.800) online at sci.geo.satellite-nav. Within 3 days, 2 people found the cache and posted their find online. Geocaching was born.

Shirley and Jack

Jack and Shirley

I was out running a few errands Saturday when I got a call from Jack, aka garagedude. He and Shirley (aka shirconn) were at Xmas Grinched, the closest cache to my house. I helped them out, finished taking care of my errands, then met them at another cache. The three of us came up empty on it (Las Llajas Trail Head Cache), mainly because it isn’t there. The owner, Granpa7, keeps giving the non-finders credit for the “finds,” so everyone thinks that the cache is active when it really isn’t there.

After a short visit, we drove down the hill a bit and visited The Oak in Yosemite , my cache. That’s where I took their photo. I didn’t know where it was because the wind has blown it down several times since I placed it. After a quick search, Jack found the cache and I put it back in the original hiding spot.

After The Oak in Yosemite , Jack and Shirley when on to find quite a few other caches, including one that I DNFed earlier in the day. So I got out cached by my friends.

Nice to see you again, Shirley and Jack. Keep up the good work. I expect you to pass me in finds any day now.

Ojai #6–My Newest Cache, Almost

We were out for a nice drive between rain storms this afternoon when we drove past this historical marker. I quickly pulled over to see what it was about. After a quick read, I figured this spot was worthy of a geocache. Apparently, badfeet was out today for a drive also and also figured this would be a great place for a cache. We submitted our caches at the same time; however, badfeet beat me out–his cache was 6 caches ahead of mine. What are the chances that two caches, placed within 10 feet of each other, would be submitted within a few seconds of each other? I find the entire story very funny. Badfeet’s cache is No. 6–GC18XK0. Stop on by and visit a very popular cache location.

This is the inscription on the plaque:

Near here in May 1867, the California Petroleum Company brought in “Ojai No. 6″ at a depth of 550 feet. W. W. Orcutt decribed it as “the first well drill for oil in California that yielded extended commerical production.” It was the first producing well drill by mechnical power, and the first to flow by its own energy. It is reguarded has the forerunner of the state’s oil bonanza.

The well is located by Thomas R. Bard, of the California Petroleum Company. Mr. Bard, aged 26, came to California from Pennsylvania in 1865 representing T. A. Scott of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the California Petroleum Company. Mr. Bard conceived of the drilling away from existing oil springs on a protected oil structure. With indomitable energy he was the principal figure in the first major effort to develop the petroleum resources of the state.

When the California Petroleum Company suspended operations, No. 6 played a part in the formative years of the Union Oil Company, of which Mr. Bard was the first president. Mr. Bard became the United States Senator and holds a prominent place in California history.

This monument is dedicated to Ojai #6, Senator Bard, to the pioneers of the Union Oil Company, and of the petroleum industry.

Dedicated September 11, 1965,Union Oil Company of California, Petroleum Pioneers Inc.

Here are a couple of other pictures that I took on the drive today.

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An FTF Roll

I stopped trying to get FTFs quite a while ago.  The chase for an FTF was an added bonus to finding the cache.  It usually required much more luck than skill.  If a new cache was approved during the night and I was headed that way on my way to work, I would give it a shot.  The same was true for lunchtime caching.  If a nearby cache was approved and I would have time at lunch to go for it, getting an FTF was a bonus.  So without really working too hard to get FTFs, I have 130 of them.

I’m on an FTF roll.  The last 3 caches that I’ve found–1 on Saturday and 2 today–were FTFs.  After not getting an FTF in quite a while, it’s interesting that I would get 3 in a row.

Xmas Grinched was a 5 minute walk from my house.  There wasn’t much of a race for the FTF.  It’s been there since early Saturday morning and I’m still the only find.  Burbank P&G Del Taco and Burbank P&G Panda were only a couple of minutes of a detour on my way to work this morning.  I suspect both of them will see some visitors today.

How Far is Far Enough?

How far do you go from the apparent ground zero to look for a cache?  Is it different in an urban setting than out in the wild?

Yesterday, I zeroed out at a likely spot for a cache but didn’t find anything.  Put in a call to Elin and learned that it was 75 feet away.  When I posted the find, there was another log stating they were 70 feet away.

Typically in an urban setting, I’ll go out 40-50 feet, if it makes sense.  I would have easily found yesterday’s cache without help if I  just widened the area a few more feet or just used my geosenses. The cache was actually right where I thought to would be when I drove up, but 75 feet seems a long way to go.

Grabbed One, Placed One, Archived a Few

I wanted to get out of the office today at lunch, so I figured I would try You’re Still My Main Daly one more time. I’ve been there twice and was stumped both times. The third time was the charm and I walked right to it. It is an evil little cache, but sometimes those are the most fun. Richard (rammd) did well on this one.

This morning I archived several caches that I placed in Simi Valley parks about 2 years ago.  Since they were gone, I figured it was time to place a new cache. It is GC18MNR–Fort Moore. It’s one of those eraser-sized magnetic nanos. It shouldn’t be too hard to find–parking will probably be the biggest problem.

Stop on by, then go by  You’re Still My Main Daly and see if you can outsmart it.

A Big Caching Day

We went for a ride today, with the idea of maybe picking up a few caches. We headed toward Santa Barbara, but decided to first visit Ojai. Then we started caching. And more caching. I ended the day with a personal best for one day of caching—31 caches. Some were very creative and well done–especially the caches done by badfeet. That, and the nice scenery, made for a very nice adventure. The photo above was taken along Creek Road, south of Ojai.  Some other photos taken in the area can be found here.

Here is the list and a map of the caches found today:

Shell Road Sentinel

Win Pin

Rubber WHAT??

Aquaduck

302

Cow past yer eyes

Jimmy’s Junkers, Carrie’s Clunkers

Circling the Drain

Leave No Stone Unturned

Canada Oasis

Monkey bars in the middle of the road

Stinky Mountain 11 “Got Gas?”

Stinky Mountain 10 “Thou Shalt Not..”

Stinky Mountain Bug Hotel

Wino’s Heaven

Foster Child

Grape Heaven

BAM! CRASH! WHACK!

GSMX1000

Monrovia–Monrovia

Feel Better Candy Cane

No Place to Take a Dump

Aurora

San Antonio Creek

Nearly Stable

Purple People Eater

What’s yer angle Guy?

Creek Road Cruiser # 20

Woody’s Nest

Carpinteria Proper

Cookie Monster - Cache USA Cache #2

 

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Utah. We came to Utah to visit my daughter’s family for Christmas. We grabbed a few caches on the way up, including 3 near this old road in Nevada–Because I HAD To, Nevada 100 Mile Cache, and Parallel Roads.

The Utah caching will need to wait for another trip.  There is quite a bit of snow and I’m not prepared to wade through it just a grab a cache.  I did get one (Helen’s Favorite Place) because it was only a few feet off the sidewalk.

Merry Christmas!

Earthcaching

I checked out the Earthcache site sponsored by the Geological Society of America the other day. I learned they have a Earthcache Masters program. Here are the requirement for the Gold level:

Gold Earthcache Master
Visit and log twelve (12) or more Earthcaches in four (4) or more states/countries and have developed two (2) or more Earthcaches.

I have found the following Earthcaches:

11/11/2007 GCPTK9 Pillow Lava, Pillows Too Hard To Sleep O
11/05/2007 GC1772F Glendale Narrows
08/23/2007 GCPD2V Tufa Towers
07/07/2007 GC10YWK Virgin River Gorge Earthcache
07/05/2007 GCZ5HB Pygmy Mammoths of the Channel Islands NP
07/02/2007 GCZJMV Grimes Canyon Burnt Shale
06/01/2007 GC127EG Tar Pits Park
06/01/2007 GCZBY6 Morro Rock Earthcache
07/31/2006 GCQ7Z6 History in the Rocks Earthcache
06/30/2006 GCP80W San Onofre Breccia – Dana Point Earthcac
10/08/2005 GCPRZ0 Matilija Dam Removal
08/25/2005 GCPD3K La Conchita Landslides and also Wind Cave National Park and The Great Thistle Landslide.

I placed The La Brea Tar Pits in June 2005. It was one of the early Earthcaches. To qualify for the Gold Earthcache Master, I only need to place another Earthcache. I’m working on it now and hope to have it approved soon.

If you haven’t done any Earthcaches, there are great. Usually located in interested places, you will always learn a good geology lesson along the way.

Geocaching Ranking Tailspin

Today I noticed that my California geocaching rank is #100. Once upon a time, I was ranked #66 in California and in the mid-300’s in the world. It hasn’t been all downhill since then, but I have certainly been sliding downhill for the past several months.

I just haven’t been caching that much since August. July was one of my best months–121 finds. But my finds in September and October were only in the teens. I suppose there are several reasons for the slowdown—lack of new caches in my caching area, high cost of gas, busy doing other things. I still enjoy geocaching. I have just backed off a bit.