When geocaching outside city limits, there
are number of additional challenges associated including wildlife,
flora, water crossings and many others. These can often be avoided
easily with proper planning and precautions. There is one danger in
particular that these preparations can also help out with:
travel.
On May 9, 2009, a lack of foresight nearly ended a beautiful day
of geocaching and could have cost my life.
I had just discovered the Marion Bridge cache along with a four
leaf clover. Marveling in my fortune (no DNFs yet!), I headed
southwest toward highway 50. The countryside breezed swiftly past
the window on this quite warm afternoon. Upon entering Centertown,
the GPS was turned on to indicate where the next cache lay. It
pointed to the west. Thinking I was at the intersection of highways
50, NN and U, I dashed westward down 50.
The first clue should have been the lack of traffic. It didn't
go without note, but a speed limit sign of 60 miles per hour
dismissed any thoughts of being in the wrong place. Little did I
know the highway had recently been moved about a mile south. So,
confident in the long stretch of road ahead and speeding along at
around that limit, my attention diverted to the GPS to find out
more about the next cache.
And then I looked up.
A barricade of wood and iron indicating that the road was closed
to all but local traffic appeared to be coming at the car very,
very fast. Brakes were heavily invoked with a loud screech. The car
spun backwards and leapt off the pavement. Mud and debris sprayed
along the passenger side as I gripped the wheel and rode the
momentum out to the top of the hill.
Coming to a stop, I reaffirmed the car and I were in one piece
and mostly undamaged. Driving the car back to the shoulder, it was
parked, and I went back to survey what had just occurred. When
returning to the car, I was approached by a local resident who
asked if I was okay. "Yeah," I sheepishly stuttered. "I just went
back for my stomach." A short conversation ensued during which I
gave her the four leaf clover, wishing it would give her as much
luck as I had just received.
And it is no joke that I was very, very fortunate. Given my
speed and lack of attention, things would have gone much worse had
I swerved into a nearby tree or telephone pole. Please learn from
this and prepare for the next caching destination before you jump
back into your vehicle. Read the description, look at where it lay
on the map, and use the GPS only to guide you there. Many have
automated beeps (or voices) to indicate when you are nearing a turn
or the cache's location.
With that in mind, here is the formula for the cache
location:
N 38° 36.ABC W 092° 29.DEF
A = number of leaves on the clover
BC = how fast I was driving plus A
D = number of roads at the Centertown intersection
E = number of DNFs for the day (so far)
F = last digit of the year of the event minus the day of the
event
"First to Find" goes to BikeDH!
Park along the shoulder - there's plenty of room. While this
cache is on fairly level terrain, someone in a wheelchair would
need assistance. And please put the cache back as you found it so
it won't get muggled - it's a fairly busy road and your activities
might garner notice.