We suspect that we're not the only fans of geocaching who
appreciate the Mythbusters series, since they combine the similar
themes of technology, fun, and occasional safe mayhem. For those of
us in the Bay Area, the series has the additonal element of being
produced on our home turf, and certainly cachers are better
equipped than most to recognize the various shooting locations.
In our case, we easily recognized the venue for many of Adam and
Jamie's firearms experiments as being our own regular range. The
cry of 'break out the guns' is often followed by a scene from range
number 4, which has been the scene for experiments such as ice
bullets, exploding gas tank, shooting underwater, and firing at
locks and padlocks.
This cache is placed to mark one of the Mythbusters' Bay Area
filming spots, and hopefully encourage others to do likewise with
other sites. The cache is located along the approach road to the
shooting range, but is not near any of the live fire areas. During
regular range hours Friday through Monday, shoulder parking is
available nearby at the waypoint listed. During other daylight
hours, the approach road may be gated off, but you can park at the
alternate parking listed and walk to the cache in a few hundred
yards. The difficulty and terrain are for difficult signal
conditions under eucs, and a short scramble across dried
leaves.
Now a couple of cautions that shouldn't be necessary, but we're
going to include them anyway:
- The cache is near a road, and can be easily reached by car or
foot along that route. Do not attempt to approach this cache
by bushwhacking. It is well away from the firing range, which has
fenced and well marked boundaries. If for any reason you encounter
fences or warning signs, you are going the wrong way, turn around
and check your waypoint.
- In spite of the nature of this location, it is never
appropriate to put live ammo or weapons into a cache.
With the serious stuff out of the way, we do suggest a visit to the
range if you come during its open hours, just drive to the end of
the road to find it. The location for the Mythbusters' mayhem is
listed as Range 4 under the extra waypoints. Depending on the day,
it may be unoccupied, or you may find anything from police practice
to a tactical rifle match to a bunch of cowboy re-enactors with
real six-shooters
The natives are friendly and happy to explain what's going on,
and you might even bump into us. If you plan on lingering to watch
the action, we suggest bringing foamies or other ear protection:
Mythbusters and other TV shows and movies don't give you a good
idea how loud real gunfire can be!
Oh, the cache! It's an ammo can - what else would be appropriate!