13 months... the chupacabra lives!First I have to say that hunting the four caches in the High Ridge natural area was the most fun I've had geocaching in a single park in Florida ever. This place is awesome and the hides are all top quality. A special thanks to footTRAX and nastim for placing these caches and keeping good caching alive and well.
I arrived at the scene at 9:10am. I circled the lair once looking for a safe way to approach. Dozens of real nasty spiders guarded all the entrances. I made several attempts at crawling around, but wasn't coming up with anything. No chupacabra, no bones, no cache. I starting to rethink the possibilities. I then heard the brush rustle up on the ridge and ran up to inspect. Nothing there. I surveyed the scene from above, but couldn't find any evidence of the beast. I circled a few more times. Then I sat and read all the previous logs looking for some hints. All the info I could glean was pointing to where I had already searched. Maybe the chupacabra has moved on? Maybe it really was defeated as some previous finders have claimed? I over-analyzed the hint and performed some monkey acrobatics to no avail. When I jumped down from my perch, my heart stopped... I was suddenly face to face with the ugliest beast I had ever seen! It had been waiting silently watching my every move all this time. I slowly backed away and when I made some distance, I turned. Big mistake! I felt a tug at the back of my shirt and I bolted out to the clearing only to find that I was alone again. Well I wasn't going to be defeated. On the advice of previous hunters, I grabbed a big stick and cautiously entered the lair once more. But I was out of ideas, I was out of water, and I was losing a pint a minute in sweat. It was almost 10am now and I was going to have to retreat to the safety of civilization soon, but I couldn't bear to go without the prize! The beast had apparently retreated into hiding again, all was quiet. I crouched down to rest and recheck my GPS one more time. 5 ft... but where could it be? Then I looked up and there it was, right before my eyes!!! I presume that I passed the chupacabra's test and it had finally presented me with the reward! I was dizzy with elation, but managed to open the container and sign the logsheet (even took a picture to prove to myself later that I hadn't become delusional). I walked back to my car with a big smile, proud to have survived this hunt.
You've done real good footTRAX! The terrain/difficulty is accurate, and the coords are right on. The beast and the heat can make a cacher do crazy things, but it's all for the fun of the hunt. It's what'll make this one of the most memorable caches I've ever found. Thanks for showing me yet another great place to geocache in Florida.
