Imagine that you're out Geocaching, and while you're trying to find the cache you find something else instead. It's a lost wallet, hidden in the bushes or wherever.
Well, we don't have to imagine, because this has happened to us four times over our caching career. Apparently all you need to do if you lose your wallet is hire some Geocachers.
- GC5VGZ1 (Kilimanjaro) - We found the wallet sitting right on the fence next to the entrance to this tot lot. It's a spot where a parent was probably standing while watching their kid play. The playground was deserted when we arrived, but the address in the wallet was only about a minute away so off we went. Amusingly, the owner's door was wide open so I had to shout in and the woman inside was initially quite perplexed.
- GC27BVF (Cache Shrink: 41 Ecco Disillusionment Disorder) - This is the only one we found while not actively searching for the cache. We pulled into the nearby gravel lot, empty of cars, and saw it sitting on the ground nearby. After finding this cache, we drove a short distance to the neighbourhood where the owner lived. I knocked on the door and rang the bell but nobody answered. Just as I was giving up and walking back to the car, the owner drove up to their driveway (Which we were blocking, lol). Turns out they had just come back from cancelling all of his cards, but were happy to have the wallet back anyway.
- GC4ZWBB (Skunk Tales - Highpoint Treasure) - Found this one as part of a DNF for the cache. We were deep in the bushes, apparently not exactly where the missing cache was meant to be, and we found a very large wallet that I'm sure nobody but cachers and wild animals ever would have found considering how deep in the bushes it was. I don't remember where this owner lived, but it was nowhere near this cache. She agreed to meet up with Bob later to pick it up.
- GC51A5Z (Lost Streams of Kitsilano) - The end of a long day spent solving this puzzle, I was desperate to actually find the cache as well. Instead, initially, we found yet another wallet alongside a pile of discarded CD's. Okay, kind of weird. This was definitely the farthest lost wallet, though. We found it at this cache in Kitsilano, while the owner lived over in Surrey. With no contact info in the wallet besides the address and name, we had to resort to Facebook and luckily we found her. She had apparently lost it months ago, and we again agreed to meet up later to drop it off with her.
In addition, I'm fairly certain we found an empty or near-empty wallet at some point, where the owner (if there was one) couldn't be identified.
How many more lost wallets will we find while caching? We decided to highlight this quirky aspect of our adventures with a fitting cache. Can you find THIS lost wallet?
Please do not wade across the creek. That is private property.