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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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THE TRAIL. The “Eastside Hide” geocache is one of five (5) cache locations on the “Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” Geocache Trail at the Gem of the Hills Community Center in Blanco, Texas. You can do the Trail in any order you want.
The “Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” Geocache Trail was created so people can enjoy the 26 acres of community parkland that is part of the Gem of the Hills. The Trail is designed to engage geocachers at all levels of experience and expertise. The Trail is open 24 hours a day and there is no charge to enter. The geocaches have been approved by the owners of the facility and they are aware that people will come looking for the caches unannounced.
There are five geocache locations on the Trail and, therefore, only five logbooks to sign. But there are actually 15 hidden objects to find. That is because at each location there is a “Good” hidden object (the actual geocache), a “Bad” hidden object, and an “Ugly” hidden object to be found.
GOOD CACHE. The “Good” object is the actual geocache. It is a camouflaged ammo box chained to a solid object. It should be pretty easy to find and is suitable for novice geocachers and children. Each ammo box contains a log book to sign and various items of “swag,” which are items that are free for the taking. The rule is – if you take something, you have to put something back in for the next person. Honor System!
BAD OBJECT. The “Bad” object is always hidden within 25 feet of the “Good” cache. It may look like a geocache, but it isn’t in that it doesn’t have a logbook. It is more difficult to find and can be a challenge even for experienced geocachers. Each “Bad” hidden object has a letter of the alphabet associated with it. Write the letter down if you find it.
UGLY OBJECT. The “Ugly” objects are just plain evil. They are extremely difficult to find and may be a challenge even for the most experienced geocacher. All “Ugly” objects are also hidden within 25 feet of the “Good” geocaches, the ammo boxes. One note of relief – there are no “nano in the woods” items on the Trail (though some of the “Ugly” objects to be found may have pretty small tubes). Each “Ugly” hidden object also has a letter of the alphabet associated with it. If you find it, write the letter down.
LETTERS AND PAPERCLIPS. When the caches were originally placed in April 2019 each “Good” cache ammo box contained a log book, a pencil, paperclips…and swag. Some of the “Bad” and “Ugly” hidden objects have very small tubes, some with a letter of the alphabet rolled up and put inside; others, with the letter taped onto the outside of the tube or container. For some of these, you may need a paperclip to extract the letter. Every “Good” geocache has a paperclip or two in the plastic bag containing the log book. If you use a paperclip, please put it back in the “Good” ammo box for the next person to use.
TRAIL BOSS? Now IF, against all odds, you manage to find all five geocaches AND the 10 hidden objects (a “Bad” and an “Ugly” object within 25’ of each ammo box, each with a unique letter of the alphabet), you will be designated “TRAIL BOSS EXTRAORDINAIRE “and your name (s) and selfie (you can manage that, yes?) will be displayed in an honored location within the GEM of the Hills Community Center until such time, eons from now, that it is not. Simply send a private message to “Blanco Cactus Jack” on the geocaching website claiming your TRAIL BOSS EXTRAORDINAIRE accomplishment and giving the 10 letters you wrote down (five “Bad” ones and five “Ugly” ones in any order). We’ll verify the letters and, if correct, send you an email address to which you can send your selfie for inclusion in the GEM of the Hills’ perpetual COMMEMORATION OF “THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY GEOCACHING TRAIL” TRAIL BOSSES.”(Please don’t post the letters in the Gallery or in your cache comments as that would spoil it for others).
HINT. The “Hint” for each cache location is divided into three parts, separated by a double slash (//). The first part is for the “Good” geocache (the ammo box); the second part is for the “Bad” hidden object; and the last part is for the “Ugly” hidden object. FTF. Also, in each of the five “Good” geocache ammo boxes on the Trail, there was a wooden “First to Find” token. It’s on the Honor System but we’d like to reserve that token for the first person to find each “Good” geocache (ammo box) and BOTH the “Bad” and “Ugly” hidden objects that are somewhere within 25’ of the ammo box.
CAUTION. There are sticker bushes, brambles, and poison ivy at various places on the property, so it is a good idea to wear long pants. We’ve never seen a rattlesnake there but this IS Texas so you should always keep an eye peeled.
TOOLS. None of the geocaches or hidden objects require any digging or the use of a screwdriver or any other tool to find the cache or object. RED HERRINGS. Some of the caches have one or more “red herrings” in the area. If you find one, just smile and know that you’re getting close to the real cache. (If you don’t know what a red herring is, Google it.) Please don’t take any of the red herrings. Just gently put them back for others to find. We’ve noted that critters sometimes actually eat the red herrings. So, if you find one missing (you’ll know it) just note it in your comments on geocaching.com and we’ll replace it.
RATINGS. We’ve rated all the caches as a “2 “terrain and a “2” level of difficulty, both appropriate for the “Good” ammo box geocaches. While the terrain rating also applies to the “Bad” and “Ugly” hidden objects, the difficulty rating most certainly does not!
ACCURACY. We used a Garmin 60CSx GPS to set the caches. It had an indicated accuracy of plus/minus 15-17’.
TRASH OUT. It would be a great thing indeed if you would take a plastic bag with you and pick up the odd piece of litter that you may find. For this, we thank you in advance!
FINALLY. As always, please return the cache, the hidden objects, and the red herrings to the location and condition you found them so the next person can enjoy the experience as much as we hope you do. Please log your find on geocaching.com and let us know if anything is amiss and we’ll get right out there to fix it.
Happy Caching!
Blanco Cactus Jack & Wander Woman
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Rhebcrna abovyvgl cersre srapvat gb wbhfgvat//ohg gurl ernyyl fubhyq tb svfuvat//nf abg nyy vf nf vg frrzf.