2015-10-18: Out for a Sunday Drive and Geocaching Along the Way

Today was a day for a Sunday drive down the backroads of Florida to see what we can find while Geocaching along the way. Took the Turnpike north to Clermont where we stopped for breakfast at the Cracker Barrel. From there we headed out west on SR-50 all the way to Tarrytown. I think the last time out here we turned north on Hwy 471, so today we turned south.

We picked up a quick geocache at a guardrail crossing the Little Withlacoochee River. Then turning into the Richloam Wildlife Management Area to get a few more geocaches. The next cache we came was called JayJay's Swamp where our recent purchase of rubber boots came in handy!

A couple of more caches in the woods and a little bit of bushwhacking. When we started out this morning we didn't have any intention of doing ANY hiking today. But when you're so close, it's hard to resist! And then there was this one... We drove as close as we could get, we put the rubber boots back on and began the short hike along the trail. Even with the boots though, the water was starting to get too deep. It was heading towards the river. So we passed and backed out.

 

Continuing down 471 southbound, we found a few more roadside caches before picking up US-98 into Lakeland and heading back home.

2015-10-17: Geocaching and Hiking at the Golden Aster Scrub Nature Preserve

Today we decided to try someplace new. We drove west down to Golden Aster Scrub Nature Preserve. It's a Hillsborough County Park just off of I-75 near Gibsonton, FL. The day started out bright, sunny and cool around 9:30. But it didn't stay cool very long and there wasn't much for shade either!

After 4 hours and hiking 5.5 miles of scrub later, we called it quits. We did find 20 Geocaches with only 1 DNF. We'll definitely have to come back another day to finish Geocaching when it cools off more!

2015-10-11: The Quest for the Apocalypse in the Ocala National Forest

Today's Geocaching adventure was planned shortly after the last hike and we couldn't have asked for better weather! The BAG+/- Group consisted of TeamFelixG, clark boys, Daykinator, saylorboys+mom and the two of us. We met up along CR-19 at Morman Branch Creek with a goal of conquering the Apocalypse caches.

But first following east, Barking Moonbat was the warm-up cache. After putting on the gear, we all headed down the short trail leading into the cool water. There were 3 of us who decided to wear knee high rubber boots based upon previous photos. Standing at the roadside looking down into the shallow waters, we thought a good choice on the rubber boots! However, it didn't take but a few steps disappearing into the woods to realize they proved worthless as recent rains made for high tide further down! It seems as the floor of the creek varies from shallow to deep and back again. And as one of the 3, I can say it didn't make any easier on the dry sections with a gallon of water in each boot. A quick find at GZ and we reversed direction back towards the Apocalypse...

Having made our way back to the cars, we continued following the creek towards the west, spending most of our time in the cool waters. We found it easier to move forward instead of bushwhacking through the brush. Which we occasionally did as the creek would twist to the right and left too far off course only to pick it back up again. Also upon crossing the dry spots, those of us with the boots would pause briefly for a yoga pose (see photos), draining the water from the boots. We arrived at Soulbait Springs for another quick cache find and getting ever closer to the Apocalypse.

The next cache along the Morman Branch Creek was called "I get by with a little help from...", Geocaching is a great example of "getting by with a little help from." Because if on days like this if we were to trek out here as individuals, where would the fun be? It's having such adventurous friends to share in the experience that's makes it all worth while. I think we are the newest members of the B.A.G. and have enjoyed each trip with our newest friends.

WE MADE IT! Our quest to conquer the "Apocalypse, When?," "Apocalypse-End," and "Paint Fiction's Apocalypse" caches was completed! We sloshed through the water, we squished through the mud almost loosing one member, we bushwhacked through the brush, we came, we found, and we conquered! Then we celebrated!

But was it really the end? Of course not! We could have backtracked along the coolness of the creek towards the cars. But been there, done that. We've seen that already. The adventure is always to press forward, to see things previously unseen. Plus there were two more caches to get. The plan was to hike all the way down to SR-40 where a rendezvous vehicle was left to take us back to Morman Creek on CR-19. However, due to time constraints of one member of the group, we were only able to grab one of the remaining two caches because they were in two different directions.

We continued bushwhacking south towards SR-40 and towards the next cache called "Outta the Boat." This cache hadn't been found in THREE YEARS! Upon arriving at ground zero, the search began. Most of the time finding an ammo can in the woods is fairly easy. However this one had three years worth of growth and decay to cover it. 

Another good reason to go Geocaching with a group of friends. Not only for the camaraderie, but for having more eyes to look! As we moved about searching and re-searching, saylorboys+mom was practically standing on top of it. Then as she moved away to search another location, I moved into where she was just looking and began poking my hiking stick into the ground when I heard a THUMP! Removing all the debris, I found the three year lonely cache!

From there is was non-stop bushwhacking through the thick palmettos, brush, and occasional briers. There was supposed to be a trail somewhere along the way to make it a little easier, but we didn't come across it until nearly reaching SR-40 and TeamFelixG's pickup truck.

Standing on a fallen tree to see if there's a trail to be found.

We made it back to the transport truck and back to civilization! After driving back around to the Morman Creek parking area, two of us had to depart and head back to Tampa. As if what we just went through the past several hours wasn't enough punishment for one day, the remaining four of us decided to drive further north to find Pat's Island Sinkhole. There was a digital souvenir available for finding an earthcache, and we each still needed one.

So we hopped into our GeoMobiles and drove a few miles north up to Forrest Road 51, then west over to the Florida Trail. There you'll find Pat's Island Trailhead. Another mile long hike through the woods and we found the sinkhole. Three of us climbed down to the bottom and got the required info needed to achieve a find, while Candy stayed up top to take our photo.

Looking down.

It was another GREAT adventure! We found and conquered the Apocalypse, experienced the great outdoors in old natural Florida, and enjoyed the fellowship of friends. I glad you stopped by to read about our adventure. Feel free to leave your comments. I look forward to hearing from you.

2015-10-03: Geocaching in the Ocala National Forest

Today was a day for Geocaching in the Ocala National Forest. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of caches in the ONF. As I said before, it seems never ending because the often get archived and new one are placed because of the events that are held throughout the year.

We we cached along the SW edge of the ONF. We started out at a huge tree. It looks like there used to be a structure here by the tree that has since been removed. The challenge was finding a micro cache underneath all the leaves that had fallen on the ground.

From here it was a short hike to a virtual cache through the woods. Not a whole lot to see along this trail except this bright orange fungus growing on the trunk of a tree.

The rest of the caches for the day were park & grab power run caches. We ended up with 63 finds for the day and several DNF's. Overall it was a sunny cool day to be outside.

2015-09-19: Geocaching In North Florida With Friends Finding Turtle GeoArt

So for today's adventure, we drove up to North Florida and the Osceola National Forest to attend the GeoArt Turtle Kick-Off event. Held at HorseshoeChamps compound and hosted by Geoturtlelover, we all gathered for some socializing before given the go-ahead to get started. We teamed up with YankaBucs, MsYB, and CoalCracker7 to go out on the hunt to find all the Turtle Puzzle caches and a couple more.

A few hours later, we were all back at the ranch, sharing stories, and having lunch. It was a great day ending with a total of 66 caches, our second GeoArt, and hanging out with friends. We even stopped to have dinner in St. Augustine with Candy's family.

One of the non-turtle caches we found. A nano the size
of a pencil eraser was hidden somewhere on this bridge.