Howdy Austin! I recently got back into caching about three months ago after a nearly five year hiatus. In that time, I moved to Texas and now have a clean slate of caches to find. Since restarting my caching career I've picked up a few hundred finds in Texas, many of them around my new home in south Austin, Buda, and Kyle. I've found lots of creative caches, started working on some of the local series and Geoarts, and started to fill in my map with those coveted yellow smileys, all thanks to the local COs that maintain them so I can find them.
I love attending events and meeting the local cachers, but unfortunately the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a decision to hold off on attending for the time being as a precaution. As a way for me to say hello to the greater Austin caching community (and thanks for all the fun caches I've found thus far), I'm placing a good old-fashioned (plastic) ammo box with goodies and a short but scenic hike to reach it. I hope that you get as much enjoyment in finding it as I did in putting it together and hiding it.
The cache is located at Mary Moore Searight Park in beautiful south Austin. Park hours are from 5am-10pm, so please limit your searching to within these hours. Most of the hike will be on established trails except for the last 300 or so feet of the hike where you will take a narrow side trail through a small meadow (if you're approaching the cache from the posted parking coords). Be sure to stay on the trail; no need to trample through the grass. Follow the trail until you start to go back into the forest, then turn left to reach the cache. Your GPS will show that it seems shorter to go through the meadow grass but you'll do less bushwhacking using this approach. The trail will get you within 30 feet from the cache. Cache should be obvious to find, but if not, it's under cover up against a tree. The combo for the lock is the first three numbers of all Austin zip codes (787). TO OPEN LOCK: Set the code and then press the button on the side to open. To close, reinsert the cable into the lock until it clicks, then scramble the code. Please rehide with lots of cover so that it cannot be seen from the trail. Stealth shouldn't be an issue here as no one passed me as I hid the cache but if there are other hikers, please enter and exit the trail stealthily so that muggles aren't tipped off as to this cache's location.
I added several goodies to the cache that represent some of my interests and hopefully will be useful to the finders. Original contents of the cache include:
- Ready to hide small lock-n-lock cache for the FTF
- Trackable to move to another cache
- Rolled up edition of Backpacker Magazine
- Road map of Texas
- Two dollar bill and a dollar coin
- Mosquito repellant wipe
- Log book and pen
Feel free to add goodies to the cache if you wish! One other note; if you continue up the trail further into the woods, you'll come across what looks like might be an abandoned camp? There are several tepees, rope and tire swings, a fire ring, and stumps for sitting. Not sure why its there but maybe someone who has lived here longer might know? In any case it was interesting to explore. Just be mindful of spider webs, there were a lot.
I hope you enjoy finding this cache, and I look forward to meeting many of you in person when normal life starts to return!