Still Alive

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Just letting everybody out there in blog land that I am still alive and kicking.  I have been super busy lately in the wood shop making gifts and other projects.  Its too bad, because this is my favorite time of year for caching.  I am hoping to be able to do some caching after this deer season is over.  I already have my two deer, but I still like to go out and help my group fill their tags as well.  Keep stopping back!

10-10-10 Caching Run.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

We decided at about 1:30 this afternoon that we should probably make a quick run to put our name on the list of cachers that logged at least one find on 10-10-10.  I am so glad that we did, because it was a perfect weather day, we found an awesome cache, and we picked up our first souvenir icon in the process.

We threw together a quick 5 cache run in Brandon, which is only about 10 miles from home.  There were some new caches that we figured would be great for a fast run.

One cache called "When Hemp Was King" was particularly great for many reasons.  First off, it involved a scenic hike on well defined trails.  Second, it was a fun offset cache.  Third, it was well hidden and a challenge to find.  And finally, it was in one of the coolest ruined building sites we have ever seen.  

 This cache was placed at the site of a former hemp mill.  Hemp was king of this area, and this mill started it all.

Check out some of the pictures below.

 Geo Beacon Ahead!

 The long and winding trail...beautiful hike.

 The base of the stack

 The cache in hand.

 Not sure..water retention area?

 The view up the smokestack.

 Roller for the hemp rope?

It was so fun to explore.  No matter where you looked, there was more to explore.  This cache has been added to our top-5 list.

Another Milestone Today!!

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Today I went caching with my parents who were only a few finds away from reaching #200.  I recommended a cache for them which we had found over a year ago.  I offered absolutely no help, as I feel they needed to find the milestone on their own.  I walked behind them the whole way, and they did a great job.  "Fox Proposal Point" is an excellent cache that still remains on our top 5 list of all time caches.  It is a somewhat strenuous hike, and a little of a "which way do we go" type of cache.  The views are great, and it fit the bill for their milestone perfectly.

It was an absolutely perfect day for caching, sunny, cool and just enough breeze to make it comfy.

 Here they are with #200 in hand.  Well done team "OldyWeds"

 The view from the cache.  They main river heads to the right where there used to be a dam.  The dam was removed in 2003 as it was no longer needed, and blocked any fish from moving up-river.  The channel to the left was where the locks were.  No dam, no need for a lock system. 


With the milestone cache, which obviously was not logged by us, we ended the day with 7 finds which is good considering a few of them were longer hikes.  What a great day, I love caching in the fall.

Skeet and Caching Saturday.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Saturday was a perfect day, for a few reasons...one, the weather was beautiful, two, I shot some skeet, and three, we did some caching.

We started the morning off with some breakfast at our favorite local cafe, we go to Kristinas every weekend.  It is the place where everybody knows your name, and the cooks come out to say hi to us every time.  We love living in a small town.

After breakfast we headed to Oshkosh to shoot a few rounds of skeet at the gun club we are members at.  I am pretty new to skeet shooting, I shot my first round in June.  I have not shot a 25 yet, but I do have a 24, and shot 17,19 & a 23 on Saturday.  I absolutely love skeet shooting, it is such a challenge, and every shot poses a different challenge.

Here I am about to shoot the high house bird on station two.  The bird in the picture is moving away, and requires about a 2 foot lead.

In this picture I just shot high house station 8.  This bird literally passes right past the barrel, and you shoot it from about 10 feet away.  You have to be super super fast, and lead the bird by only a few inches.  I dusted this one pretty good, you can see the dust cloud, and most of the right side of the picture is filled with chips.  I love station 8.  If you have never shot skeet, or any clay target, do yourself a favor and give it a try.


After the skeet range we headed out to do some caching.  Our first few caches were DNF's, we are sure the caches were missing.  They were caches along a "rails to trails" abandoned railroad bed.  It seems the DNR did some major tree trimming because GZ for the first two caches was completely leveled, and the took down some pretty substantially large trees.

After the two missed caches we were able to find 7 caches.  A few nice walks, and few cemeteries, and a couple nice multi caches.

Here Ruth is looking for stage three on "Flat Jack Goes For a Nature Walk".

 Here is a view from the same cache.  It was a great walk.

 

The leaves are sure changing color, and actually starting to fall from the underbrush and smaller trees.  What a great day!

This is what a freshly trimmed ground zero looks like.  Not a friendly sight when looking for a cache!

We are hoping to get out again this weekend, and hopefully I will have more to post about, and more pictures of the changing fall scenery. 

#600 and The Tunnel Of Terror

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Yesterday we finally made the drive southwest to grab our 600th cache.  It was an absolutely perfect day for caching...low 60's, and sunny.  We started the day with 583 finds, which meant we had to find 16 caches to reach 599 and set ourselves up for #600.   It was a fun trip with a great mixture of cemetery hides, park hides, a few guardrails, and a few hikes.  We usually aren't big fans of these park and grabs, but when we have a milestone in sight, and shorter days, we do what we have to, and a numbers run is always fun. 

We finally got ourselves to 599 and headed our way to New Glarus for #600.   Finally after watching the cache for a long time, waiting for the time we could make the trip we pulled up to the parking coordinates for "The Tunnel of Terror".  We love the hikes on the old railroad bed trails, and this one happens to run through a tunnel built in the 1860's.  This will go down as one of our favorite caches, and will be added to our top 5 list here on the blog!  We spent over an hour exploring the tunnel, and the area around and above it.  What a perfect setting for a cache! 

Enjoy some pictures taken throughout our day of caching!

 

 Just after we started the hike, a sign lets us know we are not far!

 

 We are just about to hit the entrance as a few bikers make their way out.

 

Throughout the tunnel there is allot of brickwork and repair jobs that have been performed through the years.

#600

 

 This picture was taken in the very center of the tunnel.  There was just a shade of light from behind us.  We put the camera on the tripod, and set the shutter speed very slow.  Just enough light got through to make a pretty sweet picture.  You can actually see our shadows while standing behind the camera.  We could see absolutely nothing, it was pitch black, but obviously enough light made it through...good stuff!

 

The view from the top of the tunnel.

Here is a plague at a site of an earth cache we did later in the day.  If you can't read it, this spot was washed away during a flood.  The breach allowed Lake Delton to completely empty into the Wisconsin River.  Homes were destroyed, a highway washed away, and a lake was emptied to just a muddy hole.  It was interesting to watch this unfold on the news.  A great earthcache!

The grassy area where the deer are standing is the new fill added when the breech was filled.  In the background is the Wisconsin River Lower Dells area where the lake emptied into.  The water carved a 300 foot wide, 700 foot long, and 30 food deep gorge.  The lake took only hours to empty its over 600 million gallons of water.  This is one of the most beautiful areas of the state.

Adult Novelties and Bakery??? Really??? Only in Wisconsin!

Finally a little caching.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Right now I am sitting in a hotel in Marshfield WI, we attended a birthday party today, and Ruth's grandparents are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary tomorrow.  Today after the party and after checking in we were able to go out and grab 3 quick caches.  It is not much, I know, but we have not gotten any caches in the last two months, well besides the one across the street from my buddies house.  It felt great to sign a log again. 

Both of us really hate hot weather, so, I am sure we will get much more caching done from now until next summer.  It was a busy summer, that is for sure, but every time we had a little free time, walking in the woods with the bugs and the heat did not sound like a good idea.

We were already talking today about finally, after flirting with the idea all summer, of getting out next weekend to knock out our 600th cache.  We really want to work our way down to New Glarus to find the Tunnel Of Terror.  With the nice weather, and some free time next weekend, I think it is finally going to happen.

Stay tuned, as we are sure to grab some great pictures in the next month of caching...the colors are really going to start to pop soon.

Still Slow

Friday, August 27, 2010

Still not much going on in our world when it comes to caching.  We are hoping to get out on Sunday, but if it is too hot we will stay home.  We are still so close to 600, and really want to get there. 

Hopefully we can post some finds were made, and maybe snap a few pictures on Sunday.  Stay tuned. 

Slow Going in MuddyBottoms Land.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

It has been pretty slow around here when it comes to caching.  We have just plain been too busy to get out like we want to.  We did go last weekend and grab a few, but no pictures were taken.  It was nice, we were able to grab 17 caches without going to far from home.  That shows for sure that it has been a while since we have been out.  New cachers are placing caches in the area quicker than we are able to find them

I also have some long overdue maintenance to complete.  I have a cache that I adopted a few months ago and has not been found since because I made it unavailable since it is missing.  I still have yet to get that one going.  I really need to, not good!

We do not have too much planned for this weekend, maybe we can plan a run to get our 600th knocked out.  We really want to head south to the New Glarus area to grab a cache on our watch list.  It would make a perfect cache for a milestone.  Check this one out. Tunnel of Terror!!!  Hopefully we can make this happen soon.

New Poll Question.....also, we are actually going caching!!!

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Check back tomorrow night, as we are actually going caching tomorrow.  Ruth and I will be going on a small 22 cache run with my parents.  It has been so long since we have been out, that there are actually quite a few new caches in the area.  There have been some new cachers that have popped up in the area, and it has introduced some great new caches, and great new cache ideas. 

So, hopefully we will have some stories to tell, and some pictures to share!

Don't forget to vote on the poll question for July.

Where has the time gone.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

I would like to apologize to everyone for not making any posts recently!!  I have been so busy with work, working in the woodshop, and our new membership at the local gun-gun club, that we have not had any time to go caching lately.  We plan on going out a little of the fourth of July weekend.  Please don't give up on us!!! LOL.  I will have a new poll question up and hopefully a post with some usefull content soon!

Keep on Caching!!!

Happy Memorial Day!!

Monday, May 31, 2010

I would like to wish all of you out in BlogLand a happy Memorial Day.  Do not forget the reason for the day, and be sure to think of the ones that have given us our freedom.  Without the sacrifices made by our veterans we would not be able to enjoy the life we live every day. 

Thank you to all who have given so much! 

To everyone, have a safe, and enjoyable day!!

Caching weekend up nort

Sunday, May 16, 2010

We had an excellent time caching on our trip to the Hazelhurst/Minocqua area this weekend.  We managed to find 18 caches during the day on Saturday, and a few on the way home today.  Not only did we find a few great caches, we also dropped of 3 travel bugs, and one geocoin. 

The main goal of the weekend was not really to find a bunch of caches, but mostly just to get away and relax a little bit.  We stayed at a resort we have stayed at many times in the past.  Blacks Cliff Resort is a perfect resort for rest and relaxation.  As always we enjoyed the cabin, the lake and the general relaxing atmosphere that only northern Wisconsin can offer.  Thanks to the owners Jenny and Troy...who are also cachers(The Gibbers).  They may not know it, but they are responsible for getting us started in geocaching.  Since our first trip to the resort, I have been following their Birch Bark Blog.  In the blog about a year ago they posted about one of their caching excursions and it prompted me to check out caching.  The rest is history!

Check out some of the pictures captured throughout the weekend.

This was the first picture taken of the weekend.  Ruth and I decided to get up early Saturday a.m. to go have a cup of coffee down by the lake.  The loons were talking(insert sound) and the fog was slowly moving to the center of the lake.  My favorite time of the day...god I love it up here.

Our favorite cache of the weekend was called "Arthur Stevenson's Homestead".  The history of the old house is so neat, and the area was a blast to explore.  If you are in the Boulder Junction area, do yourself a favor and find this cache(premium member cache).  

When we were exploring the homestead cache we also happened upon our very first Letterbox...we were looking for the cache.  We thought we found the cache, but quickly learned that we in fact had our first letterbox in hand.  We obviously did not have a stamp made, or with us, so we just made our mark in the log book, and put it back.  SWEET!

Here is the whole crew at another cache located on Lost Canoe Lake.  The water up north is so low, that this root system would normally be underwater.  

Team MuddyBottoms...such posers.

Here we are this morning before we left for home.  We are holding the two travel bugs we picked up during our journeys.  Thanks to Jenny at the resort for taking this picture and posting it on her blog as well.  Our mansion for the weekend was behind us...it was so hard to leave.  We will most likely make our fall caching trip back up to the cliff.  We better dedicate that trip to finding the rest of the Gibbers caches!!

T.F.T.C.(cabin)

Stay Tuned

Friday, May 14, 2010

I will not be posting again until Sunday night.  Ruth, my parents, and I are heading up to Minocqua, WI for an all weekend caching excursion.  We are heading up after I am done with work tonight.  We have a nice cozy cabin in the woods, and we are going up just to cache.  The truck is full of gas, the Lowrance, Nuvi, and I-pod are packed full of caches, and we are packed full of enthusiasm.  Stay tuned, as I most likely will have a few stories, and pictures to share!

Have a great weekend!

Weekend Caching...and Cache-Bag Additions

Monday, May 10, 2010

 Weekend Caching

We were able to do a small amount of geocaching this weekend, not much, but it was kind of nice to take it easy.  Its not always about doing as many as possible.

A new series was just published in our area before the weekend, and we decided to give that one a go.  It sure was nice to find some caches close to home once again, as a few new cachers have popped up, and are placing some nice new caches.  SWEET!!!  The name of the Series is "Town of Nepeuskun Series".  Nepeuskun is a local township just a few miles to the north of our town of Ripon.  This series was made to highlight a few of the historical areas around the area.  The series was very well done, and the cache pages include a great amount of history for each area.  If anyone is in the area make sure to hit this series...right after you hit our Mascoutin Valley Trail series of course.   Well done Skunk & Tarz!!!

 We ended up running into another group of cachers while finding one of the caches for the series.  Pictured here is: Sweech(Lower Left) Blondie BloodHound(Lower Right), and your authors standing behind them.  Not pictured is the talented photographer- Sparse Grey Hackle.  Thanks for taking the picture, it was nice running into you guys!

Here I am right after breaking the brand new cache!!  We were the second to find the series final, and I already broke it.....oh wait, you cant really break an ammo box.  See what I mean about the non-photogenic comment made earlier! 

Wee-ner mobile travel bug taken, and ready to move up-north this coming weekend.

Above the series we were able to throw another 6 caches in the mix while we were between the series caches.

Cache-Bag Additions

Ruth and I have always enjoyed trying to identify different plants, trees, and birds while out caching and hiking.  We will always make bets on what we think a particular plant or animal might be, but would have to wait to get home to settle the score.  We finally found a great set of small, color pictured books to take along with us.  Now when we have a bet placed we can settle the score immediately.  These books are great to have along, and we have pulled them out a few times already.  I would recommend anybody get a set like this for their local area, and you would be surprised how much you open them up.

The color pictures are great for quick identification.   Also the way they are listed-Trees By leaf type & Birds and flowers by color makes it very easy to find exactly what you are looking for. 

Here are the three books we have purchased so far, next we will be getting..Mammals, Insects, and Mushrooms.

I know a little about most trees from my woodworking experience, but there is so much more to know.

The birds I know the least about, this one gets allot of use!

Just a little piece of info I thought you fellow cachers would like! 

Please, please post a comment if you have any tips like this to make the caching experience even richer than it already is!!   Or, you could even post to the blog directly if you would like, I am always open to more authors than just myself!

Happy Mothers Day!!

Sunday, May 9, 2010

We would like to extend a HAPPY MOTHERS DAY shout out to all of you caching moms out there!  We hope you have a wonderful day, filled with family, and the things you love the most.  We will be spending the day with Kevin's parents, hanging out and cooking Mom(team OldyWeds) a great dinner.

Enjoy your special day, you have earned it!

Here is a picture of me with my Mom...this was taken while caching on our Mother/Son weekend.  Every year, my brother and I each dedicate a seperate weekend to just hang out with Mom.  Last year we went on an all caching weekend to up-north Wisconsin.  The year before that we went to the Lakewood/Mountain area with the ATV's to ride the trails all weekend!

Love ya Mom!!!

One Cache

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Last night we did go out and snag one cache to celebrate our one year caching anniversary.  Nice and close to home, and an easy walk, thankfully because there was a big storm on the horizon.  The storm happened to drop a few small tornadoes near the fox valley, nothing that hit the ground though.

 Here I am with the goods, right before dark, sky even darker because of the storm.

Barrel O' Monkeys Travel bug was picked up to be moved along.

The happy couple, she always has a great smile, and I...well don't.  I am not photogenic.  

We look forward to our next year of caching fun.

One Year Anniversary

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Today marks our one year anniversary of finding our first geocache.  It all started because one of our favorite up-north resorts mentioned geocaching in its photo blog, The BirchBark Blog.  We had read this blog for years, and always had seen their occasional posts about caching, so finally one night I decided to create an account, and the very next day we were on our first hunts.  The account was under the name "Stobber", we only had 7 finds under that name until we realized we needed a more plural name to represent us as a team.   That was when MuddyBottoms was born. 

I am hoping to go out and get an anniversary cache when Ruth gets home from work.

Here are a few pictures from our first cache, and some memorable ones we found along the way.

Our very first cache was a lengthy multi-cache called Rush Lake View.  Here I am plugging in the coordinates for the final at WP1.

Here is our first cache...a lock-n-lock hiding in its place!  Success! We were hooked.

Here we are after finding Fox Proposal Point.  This was our last cache as Stobber, and the one that inspired the name MuddyBottoms.  As we stood up from taking this exact picture the name popped into our heads, well because we had muddy bottoms.  This cache still resides on our top 5 list, an awesome cache that helped fuel our addiction.

Here I am standing next to our 100th milestone cache!  Kind of a spoiler, so I will not list the cache name.  But it was concealed underground, about 300' into a culvert, directly above us is home plate for the local little league field.  As we stood there wondering where a large container could be hidden on a baseball field, I instantly knew it was below us, and the adventure began.  Thank god we had the mag-lite along...the camera flash makes it seem comfy, but you literally could see nothing.  Awesome!

Here we are with our 200th cache, called Old School | Playin Hooky in a HOLE!

Here Ruth is signing our 300th log, this one was called Seldom Entered|Often Seen

Here we stand with our 400th cache.  This was called Walk On The Wild Side #4.  This was part of a series with 6 Walk on the wild side caches.  The final happens to be our next milestone.

As mentioned above this cache was a final location for a series, this was called Ryan's Rebus, and it happened to be our 500th cache.

So, there you have it, one year down, and hopefully many more to come.  We have really enjoyed caching, and have gotten so much more out of it than just signing logs and counting our caches.  We cannot say enough how appreciative we are to our fellow cachers for placing caches in such wonderful places we would have never seen if it were not for caching!