Apollo56 was one of the first geocachers in the Sacramento area. He was a very quiet, competitive guy that loved a little banter and rivalry with other players. He placed some challenging caches. You knew that if Apollo put out a cache it was going to be a tough one.
He did manage to find a lot of caches first. His log entries would either read, "Apollo was here" or "picked this one up on the way to work". He lived in Rio Linda and worked in Stockton but his commute to work was far from straight based on the location of some of the caches he found “on the way to work”. It seemed like he'd get up in the middle of the night to find a cache before he'd go to work.
He gave our Geo-community its first 5/5. PAYBACKS R A ROCK. You needed a boat with a ladder to find it. It was hidden in a (note to hider - fill in these facts)
Partial log entry from My Bad Apollo “I bought my special equipment at Marshall's for $9.95 and headed out…” This cache was hidden in a (note to hider - fill in these facts).
Partial log entry from Smiley Face “As I was approaching the cache from one side of a lagoon, I saw a fresh brush fire starting on the other side…” And the reply from Apollo, “… I am certain it did not melt.” This is because the cache was hidden in a (note to hider - fill in these facts).
Partial log entry from The Joker “At first glance it's hard to believe anyone could (or would!) place a cache in this location.” This is because the cache was hidden in a cave/fissure along the edge of the American River (note to hider - fill in these facts).
Partial log entry from Stashed at 1379 “…but found the itty bitty teeny weeny cache..” This cache was 1.5”x2”x4”. Hardly small by today’s standards. Who knows what kind of havoc Apollo would have caused with micro-caches. This cache was hidden under the 'bridge' near the underground parking area near Chevy’s on the Sacramento River above some overhead pipes.
He also held the first poker game in the area. Apollo would deal eight cards into a little green, plastic pencil box and then hide the box. The first eight geocachers (MikieP, TracyMc, Kimbo, Putt, Snow Rider, SandB, Doc, and Jeo) to find the first hand were ‘in the game’ and would go nuts trying to find the cache every time Apollo dealt a new card. He wouldn't deal again until all eight had found the box and had a card. Each round got a little harder. One of the last ones was hidden in some old tree roots, hanging off the riverbank, out over the water, behind Cal Expo. He placed it with his boat but most finders had to crawl out onto the roots and dangle over the water to get it. His interests turned to other activities before the game was over so no one ever won. Apollo was a lot of fun and his contributions are missed. Poker1 Poker2 Poker3 Poker4
At the first stage you will find a business card sized object with the coordinates to the final stage. At the final stage is an ammo box. You will need the following info to decode the coordinates for the final stage.
Decoder Ring
| A=4 |
B=1 |
C=9 |
D=0 |
E=0 |
F=7 |
| G=7 |
H=6 |
I=8 |
J=2 |
K=4 |
L=4 |
| M=5 |
N=9 |
O=0 |
P=6 |
Q=7 |
R=1 |
| S=9 |
T=3 |
U=9 |
V=4 |
W=1 |
X=0 |
| Y=6 |
Z=8 |
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The second stage is also within the Mississippi Bar area. I parked in the same spot when I hid both stages.
Please take picture of your hunt and email them to me. I would appreciate your photos and stories. Be careful what you post on the webpage, it would be a shame to deprieve a future hunter from the same enjoyment the first searchers get to appreciate. I saw this snake near the cache.
The trinkets are minor. Everyone geocaches for different reasons. If you get a lot of enjoyment out of the trinket exchange aspect, this cache will be a disappointment.
