Greetings! You are about to embark on a nocturnal adventure! To help ensure an enjoyable, safe, and memorable experience, please read and follow all of the helpful tips listed below…
1. Make sure you have a reliable light that is easy to use and clearly illuminates the area in front of you. Candles, flamethrowers, and/or a jar of lightning bugs may add ambiance to the event, but are not recommended.
2. Though it may seem hilarious at the time, refrain from asking headlamp equipped fellow cachers if they are feeling “light headed”… more than once or twice.
3. Stay on the trails and avoid any shortcuts through private property, swamps, or people’s living rooms. If you find yourself bushwhacking, cliff climbing, free falling, or crossing an International border, you’ve probably gone the wrong way.
4. Never attempt a night cache by yourself. You’ll want to ensure there is at least one other person with you in case of emergency or to tell you the other trail would have been a better choice.
5. Wear appropriate footwear. While a definite source of entertainment, avoid travel along dark forest trails wearing flip flops, roller blades, or stiletto pumps.
6. Watch for obstacles such as low branches, mud puddles, deadfall, or mis-shod fellow cachers who suddenly crouch down replace a missing flip flop.
7. Let others know where you are going and what you are up to. Ideally, they will understand what geocaching is all about and not mock your lifestyle choices.
8. Have an exit strategy. Mark you vehicle as a waypoint and be aware of your surroundings and key landmarks as you move through the forest. Try stopping and turning around every so often to see what things will look like on your way back, even though there is a 98.9% chance you’ll find a much easier path on the way out.
9. Take some time to enjoy your surroundings, even if you have an FTF Type-A personality. Move slowly and thoughtfully and know that the massive sasquatch off to your right is probably just a large, uniquely-shaped mossy stump that does not have a taste for human flesh.
10. Be sure you concentrate and put the cache back exactly where you found it. This can be tricky in the dark or when you suddenly notice that the large, uniquely-shaped mossy stump is no longer where it used to be.
Welcome to Pender Island in the dark J As this is a night cache, you will be following a series of Fire Tacks located on trees between 2 and 3.5 meters above the ground. You’ll know that you are within a few meters of the cache site when you find two Fire Tacks in the same tree, one above the other.
There should be plenty of room for your vehicle at the parking coordinates listed for the Gulf Islands Disc Park. Local disc golfers often play “Night Golf” in this park, so be aware that there could be others in the area throwing plastic at treesJ
Once parked, follow the entrance trail to the map of the disc golf course. Use the map to familiarize yourself with the park. Note the location of tee box #15 as that will be where you start the Night Cache Trail. Between the map and the given coordinates, you should be able to find the starting location despite some tree cover and bouncy signal at times. There is a large flat rock and a few small stones with #15 on them, so you’ll be able to confirm that you are in the right spot.
Make your way to Tee Box #15 and have a seat on the handy bench. Shine your light ahead of you and scan back and forth until you spot the first Fire Tack. Walk to the base of the tree it is in and then scan for the next Fire Tack. All tacks are located in trees. Once you get to tack #2 you should discover the main trail. Tacks are placed between 5 and 10 meters apart depending on how twisty the trail is.
Your end destination is on the left side of the main trail near a large cedar tree about 2 meters off the main path, so keep an eye out for that tree. It will have two Fire Tacks, one above the other. That is where you should begin looking for the cache. It will be found in a quite obvious spot within 1 meters of the base of the tree. Please replace with care and cover.
** Please note: the trails can be very mucky and wet in the winter season, so waterproof footwear is recommended.