They are commonly called PINE trees, but really, some are
spruces, some firs, and some pines. They are all cone baring
evergreens, making them conifers. I've always loved conifers, until
I started geocaching! I realized my dislike for conifers one night
when I was searching for
Shaker-SLC's "Shake a Leg Willowcreek Cache" After digging
through the tree in the dark for awhile, I finally found the cache,
but also found myself all scratched up and covered in sap. At that
moment I began to wonder "Is it really worth it?" That night I
decided that burning down all the conifers in the Valley might be
the only way to prevent people from sticking caches in them, and I
seriously contemplated the reprecussions of such actions as I
treated my battle scars. To this day, when I drive up to a cache
site, if the GPSr needle points in the direction of a conifer, I
immediately tell myself it isn't worth it, and get back in the
truck and drive to another cache. Over time I've come to realize
that it's not the conifers' fault; it's the crazy cachers that
insist on dangling tiny objects from their limbs so that other
cachers will come rifling through their irritating needles in a
desperate attempt to sign a tiny piece of paper. Since burning down
trees is beyond the realms of my moral code, I decided "If you
can't beat 'em, join 'em." So that's what I did. (Drum roll
please.) Introducing the first (and probably last) REDWING_DAVE
conifer cache.
Your first question is probably "Who is this idiot that thinks
he can give an urban pine tree cache a 5/5 rating." If that's what
you're thinking, let me explain. I've had a lot of time to think
about this cache, and plan out every evil detail. As I describe the
cache placement, I think you'll begin to get the picture (after a
few hours of digging through a conifer, the picture might become
more clear). First off, I felt like going retro on this one, so I
left my Garmin 60Csx at home, opting for the old yellow eTrex I
picked up second-hand. It still kind of works, but doesn't have
WAAS or any of those fancy features. I didn't stop and average,
cause I thought that would take some of the fun out of the cache,
so the reading may be 40 ft or so off. If you end up in the middle
of the road, you're in the wrong place. You should be in the
vicinity of two rather large conifers (30+ feet tall). Just in case
you misinterpret the objective of this cache because of the name,
there is a Fire Station across the street. Anyway the cache happens
to be somewhere in one of those two trees. I had the following
tools and equipment with me when I placed the cache: 30 ft
extension ladder, conversion ladder (can be used as an 8 ft step
ladder, 16 ft extension ladder, or 4 ft scaffold), 100 ft of
climbing rope and harness, 6 ft pole, 12 ft extension clippers
fashioned with rubberized tips so they could be used as super-long
pliers, fishing pole with 150 yards of 8 lb test + a lead weight
and snap swivel, 3 ft step stool, superglue, epoxy, piano wire,
long-pants, a long-sleeved shirt, face mask, safety glasses,
leather gloves, headlamp, maglight, and duct tape. You may or may
not need a particular item from my list, but I wanted to make sure
to get this placed in one attempt, so I took everything I could
possibly need. Some special equipment will be necessary! Don't
attempt this without special equipment. It's up to you to figure
out what equipment you will need to retrieve the cache. I
personally wanted to rent a cherry picker to place the cache, but
my wife said it wasn't in the budget. Oh, also, did I mention that
this is a pretty busy street during the daytime? This cache was
placed in the middle of the night, and I highly recommend a
nightime retrieval, unless you have a great story for why you're
groping a 30+ foot tall conifer. Parking will also be a lot easier
at night, which will mean you won't have to hall your equipment
quite as far. Please, and I can't stress this enough, if you are
balance impaired or you don't feel safe ascending into a tall
conifer in the dark, DO NOT GO AFTER THIS CACHE! (Actually I guess
you'd probably have to be insane to feel safe while you're going
for this cache, come to think of it.) I don't want anyone getting
hurt. It may be helpful to have a spotter on the ground to help
with this one. Also, don't hurt the trees; it's not their fault!!
If/when you find the cache, please make sure to replace it exactly
as you found it. In other words, if you think you've found the
cache and you're going to retrieve it, make sure you are going to
be able to reach to put it back; I certainly don't want to go back
there and put it back for you.
What's in it for you? Well, besides the glory of finding a 5/5,
the FTF will be awarded an unactivated Designer's Edition set of my
"da Vinci Coin Challenge Geocoins." There are only 10 Designer
edition sets out there, so you'll either have a coin set that only
9 other people in the world have, or you can sell it for mega-bucks
online. To claim the FTF prize, you will need to email me with
either an exact description of the cache container or preferably a
picture of the cache container. I don't want to have to go after
this cache again myself until it needs maintenance, so your
description/picture is imperative; I will not go to the cache to
verify your FTF log, so the burden of proof lies with you! Speaking
of the log, it is very, very small, so please only leave your
initials, so that I won't have to replace it too frequently.
That's about it, so get out there and have fun all you conifer
cache lovers. I hope you thoroughly enjoy this one 
!
