Today began with the simple idea of placing additional caches in and around what I like to call Squishypets Playground.
GPS a Cellphone aContainers a Water a Food a Full gas tank a
OFF WE GO!!!
All caches have been placed using a 4wd, high clearance vehicle. I would not recommend taking the family sedan out on these roads. You will need High Clearance in several areas and 4WD Low for caches 17 through 23.
(“Over the Edge” through “1 Dead GPS”)
The weather was warm, in the high 70’s as I headed out Williamson Valley Road. After 20 some miles it turns to dirt and the fun begins. Around mile 26, I noticed a large Gopher snake laying across the opposite side of the road. I stopped, in an attempt to get a photo. As I rolled my window down, a truck flew by and ran the snake over, I was devastated!! However, the snake was apparently not injured as he quickly slithered under my truck. I walked around to the passenger side to make sure he had gotten out of the road. Much to my surprise, he was enjoying the shade provided by the back end of my truck. I tried to shoo him off the road, but he had other plans.
Little did I know he was looking for a ride.
In a matter of seconds, he had climbed into the undercarriage of the truck. I asked him nicely to come out but got no response. After several minutes of, yes, talking to a snake, I decided to proceed with my plans, hoping that he might get off at one of the many stops I had planned for the day.
As I placed each cache, I hoped that he would come down and find his new home. I managed to get the first six caches placed without a sign of my friend. At the seventh stop, there was a beautiful, very large tree. As I scoped out places to hide the cache, I had a funny feeling that I was being watched. After making the cache placement, I turned to head back to the truck. Two steps and I was startled by my friend, the 5+ foot long Gopher snake. Apparently, I had arrived at a location that satisfied his wanderlust.
After several more cache placements I arrived at a spot in the road that made me pause. (Over the edge) It was a small shelf that dropped 10-12 inches. I got out of my vehicle and surveyed the situation, rationalizing to myself that I could and should continue forward alone. I would come to find shortly that I might have needed to take a little more time before making that decision.
It was at the next placement location that I realized that I may have made the wrong decision. Up ahead was a scary looking piece of road, however, at this point there was no way to turn around. Again, I surveyed the situation and put the truck in 4 Low and slowly started my ascent toward the top of what I hoped would be a short trip through a boulder field.
Boy was I wrong!!!
As crazy as it might sound, while taking these risks, alone, I stopped and placed 6 caches as I navigated the gauntlet. So, from “Over the Edge” through “1 Dead GPS” will have terrain ratings of 5.
I was so excited to have cleared the gauntlet, that as I was placing the cache at the top I tripped, fell, and threw my GPS at a rock. It is now DEAD!! Fortunately, I have a second for back-up. The last twelve caches were placed using that one. There are still a lot more caches to be placed in the area, but for today, 6 hours, placing 34 caches, seemed like enough.
As always, please use caution when driving on Forest Service Roads, sometimes they don’t even seem like roads. Remember to bring food and water if you are planning to be out here all day. Cattle, Snakes, Jackrabbits and maybe even Sasquatch can be found out here. Cache SAFELY and have a great time out here.