Now this is what I call a micro park, this park is maybe twenty foot square but it’s got a nice bench in beautiful little neighborhood. This hide was a bit hard for me to find, I figured I knew where it would be but it just had to be in one of the last places that I looked.
This was a very fun cache as the final location contains a very cool surprise. The coords were a bit off for me but when you arrive on site it will become pretty obvious where the likely hiding spot is. This cache made me very happy that I have auto routing on my GPS because getting back here without it would be quite the challenge!
As I mentioned in my previous log I over ate during dinner and wanted to burn some of that food off. This cache I had read about but was avoiding because I knew it was going to be a monster hike. I set off shortly before sunset and started the long uphill hike up to the cache. I have lived in Berkeley for a number of years and since I have started geocaching I have found so many new and interesting areas and this is one of them. I had no idea there were all these hiking trails here and the views from up here are magnificent. It wasn’t an easy hike at all, all of the uphill trekking will get your calves burning. I had several people comment to me who were on their way down saying things like “don’t worry, the view is worth it” or “it’s a lot easier on the way down”. I finally did make it to the cache site and had very good timing as I got there just as the sun was setting and the view was beautiful.
The coords for this geocache were a bit off for me but with the help of the hint I was able to find it without too much trouble. The cache location has a pretty interesting history as well.
Pretty boring cache here. It is near a nice trail head but you need a permit to hike on it. Quick find though.
I made this cache much more difficult than I had to by parking at the wrong spot. Due to my parking choice I had a decent hike up to the geocache. It wasn’t bad though and I could use the exercise. Once I made it to the cache area it was a nice quick and easy find.
Another nice quick park and grab. The plaque near ground zero has some pretty interesting history on it as well.
After splitting up with my brother and grabbing a couple other geocaches in the area it was time to head home. What I didn’t know was that there was a Cal football game going on and traffic was absolutely horrendous. Because of this I decided to get creative and find a different way home, and what do you know, there was a cache along the way.
This is one of those cool caches which shows you something that chances are you had no idea existed. Up in the Oakland hills, where this cache is located, there was once a tunnel that went through the mountain. At this spot was where the tunnel started.
This cache is located across the same park as Reed Access. This one was a tough find for me. The posted coords were off by about 20 feet and there are a ton of different possible hiding places. I finally ended up walking away a bit until I had a clear view of the sky and then followed my GPS again. This time it took me to the right spot and I quickly had the cache in hand.
I had to run out to Concord to do a favor for my brother and sister in law. The favor was picking up my nephew from pre-school. As luck would have it, this virtual cache was visible from his school. I headed over and counted the stairs as required and was on my way. This tower is quite impressive, according to the cache owner it is in danger of being torn down.
I have driven by this park so many times but I had never actually walked through it. This was a pretty easy find, the GPS coordinates were spot on and the cache was right where I thought it would be.
This was another easy grab, unfortunately there was a muggle that was hanging around and not going anywhere. I tried to be sly as I could but he seemed to be watching me. Oh well, hopefully if he saw what I was doing and investigates he will be cool about it.
This was one of those caches that when we were about 200 feet away I said to myself I bet the cache is right there and when we got up to the spot I was right. I have driven by this area many times in my life but I had never noticed the art work that is here. If you can find this one after dark I would suggest it, the art work here makes some very cool shadows.
We continued our way down this outcrop o’ land an’ made our way t’ this Geocache. This cache faces a beautiful harbor an’ wi’ th’ lights an’ th’ water th’ area looked beautiful. We got th’ general area an’ started huntin’. Me buddy be th’ one who came up wi’ th’ find. After findin’ ‘t we then had t’ figure ou’ how t’ open th’ thin’. Thankfully we did.
From the name of this Geocache I was thinking maybe I would swing inside and grab myself a double-double but that wasn’t the case. This is a very bold hide, the cache itself is hidden almost in plain sight. It did take us a little bit to find it but once I did spot it I couldn’t believe that the cache has lasted as long as it has.
To date this is the oldest cache that I have found. This cache was placed on 3/10/2001 so it is over six years old. The cache is labeled as Difficulty 1/Terrain 1 and the terrain rating is definitely way off. A one star terrain should mean that it is wheelchair accessible and there is no possible way that someone in a chair could get to this cache. That being said, it was still pretty easy to get to, just had to navigate around some bushes and branches and stuff. Once I made my way to the cache location the cache itself was easy to spot.
I have a feeling that this cache will last for a very very long time. There really isn’t any reason for anyone other than cachers to go up here. The area it is hidden in is not on any real paths and it is right next to quite a bit of private property. I was actually not completely sure whether or not I was trespassing or not.
After struggling to find Grotto Rock Park it was nice to have this easy one to follow up with. Between the good given coords and the name of the cache this one was easy to find. I love that there are all these little trails scattered throughout Berkeley that I am sure many people don’t even have any idea exist.
I had gone out with my brother and grabbed a few caches earlier in the day. That night he sent me an email telling me to check this cache out. This cache is like no other that I have seen. The “hider” gives you coordinates and then you just have to tell him, via email, what man made item is placed at this location.
The item in question looks really cool. Hell, I’ll show you what it is, it’s not like it’s a hard puzzle to figure out. At the location is Eartha, The World’s Largest Revolving and Rotating Globe. Check it out
Taken from the link above here is what this Eartha is
Eartha is a 3-dimensional scale model of our earth with mountains and landforms in full 3D, that rotates and revolves, simulating the earth’s real movements. Eartha was given the title of “World’s Largest Revolving/Rotating Globe” by the editors of the Guinness Book of World Records in 1999, and still holds that record today. It measures 41.5 ft in diameter. Unveiled July 23, 1998 Eartha took two years to build and represents earth as it is seen from space. It rotates and revolves on a specially designed and built mechanized, cantilever arm.
I’d love the chance to check it out in person some day, it sounds really cool.
By the time we were done looking for A Quiet Corner it was pretty much time for me to get headed home. My brother told me about this one and told me that it was really easy and we would be driving right past it.
He was right, he pulled up to the spot and I had the cache in my hand in under 30 seconds. I quickly signed the log and we were headed off. This was a pretty boring cache, the area that the cache is hidden is definitely nothing to write home about but sometimes it’s nice to get a nice easy find.
My brother and I headed into Moraga to pickup a couple of more. I was expecting company at my house and had to be home before too long. We headed off to find this one, which is another of Charley’s. It’s located in a nice quiet little park in Moraga. When we got there they were setting up for a wedding but it was still early in the setup so we weren’t going to disturb anyone. We followed our GPS’s to the location and found what appeared to be a very likely spot for it to be hidden in. We searched the area thoroughly and we kept coming up empty handed. We checked the hint on the cache and decided that we were definitely in the right spot and double checked all the nooks and crannies.
In the end we decided that the cache must be gone. My brother talked to Charley later that evening and he confirmed that we were definitely in the right spot. Looks like another cache is no longer where it’s supposed to be. That was the second one of the day.
© 2008 Geocaching | Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS)
