Saturday In Gulches Of Tierra Santa

I posted this on Facebook, so you have already seen it!

How many jars of nutmeg does one need?  And what shall I do with it all?

Today's geocaching adventure takes place in (some of) the canyon/gulches of Tierra Santa. Here is a view of the caches in the area and the paths I took to get to them.  You will notice I parked in two places, hence the un-joiningness. Parking can be difficult in the TS. They do not find is always necessary to put any parking spaces near canyon trailheads.

The first three pictures are in the area on the right, at the cache on right.

Looking down the valley. The steepness of the hillside is not quite apparent. I am on a narrow ridge, it would be very difficult to go anyway but back up the ridge behind me.

This is a very steep hill back up the narrow ridge.  It is two hundred feet back up to the trail at the top.

This panorama is taken at the top, after I've made my way that two hundred feet back up.  Nifty view on an overcast day!

The trail back down is forward and sort of to the left-ish.

For best results, print out image in colour, cut it out, and wrap it in a circle around your head, taping the ends together.

You will notice that the going up the hill in the distance on the far right is the same road seen below in this picture I posted on January 10th. In the pic below, the ridge on the left is where I took the panorama above.

Next, I move the truck to a new parking spot and visit the two caches in the shorter canyon.

The first one was this very cute little birdhouse.

I had a LOT of trouble with this next one. A LOT of trouble.  How about you?

Really, I spent over thirty minutes looking for it.  Unbelievable!


I was getting a lot of sass from a hummingbird, and after finding the cache I looked a bit and saw the reason for the bird's distress.

I could have, but didn't, move the truck closer to the next canyon, I just walked. It wasn't all that far.  This was an attack from the south on the caches here, as the trails are closed for habitat renewal at the north end. Something I learned last time I was here.  At the north end...

It's about a mile from start to end (one way distance).  In that mile there is one trash can. I have no idea how they empty it, there is only a narrow trail about a foot or two wide.  Here I have noted the coordinates for you, and made a link to Google Maps for your convenience.

Link to Google Maps showing location of trash can.


When I took the lid off this cache these spiders popped out.  I said a bad word...

I climbed out of the canyon to get this cache, then went back down again to head back to the vehicle.  If there was a "cutest cache of the day" award this one would surely get it!

That is about it for the day, I can't think of anything else!

Thursday, Such As It Was

Today my lower back started hurting a bit around mid-morning, for no particular reason.  It hurt all day, but is a bit less since I got home.  It is nowhere near incapacitating, though.  I did work (such as I do) all the day, and washed the clothes and put together the antenna.  Saved a "hard" Sudoku while reposed in the "little room", a term that this article implies I should not use.

Here's is the antenna, a 2 meter (band) 4 element (number of, uh, elements) quad (shape).  I made it out of PVC pipe according to an article in a book about T-hunting, the art of hidden for hidden radio transmitters.   I need to get the book out, I don't think the feedline is supposed to just hang down like that.  Also, it needs a base to hold it up.  Can I make one out of PVC pipe?

I am too pooped after wrestling with this thing for an hour to test it. Did I mention I had to  put it together?  It was disassembled for storage.

Yesterday I finally found a cache I've looked for before.  I was fortunate in that some of the paint had come off to reveal a tiny shiny patch.  Can you see it?

That is all I got for today,   Happy Friday!

Monday Already

It rained this morning a bit, but this giant bird bath is left over from last week.

Hiking umbrellas?  Did anyone mention hiking umbrellas?  I ordered two, this is the shiny one.  It certainly blocks the sun!

It IS super light, being made out of fiberglass, I guess, and I could feel the very light breeze trying to lift it, not unlike a kite.

LINK: Ten reason to go hiking with an umbrella.

Sunday Time Change

I haven't changed ANY of the clocks myself, but thank goodness the phone, at least, changes itself.

I actually got up and went geocaching around five thirty AM, this morning, which was really six-thirty AM, I guess.  It was dark, anyway!  I felt pretty off, but I did it anyway.  It's easier once you get going.

I drove up to Serra Mesa (after putting gas in the vehicle!) to make the find on a Challenge Cache there that someone had finally replaced.  The challenge required that I find ten caches that had not been found in a year. Or one that had not been found in three years.  I found several that had been lonely for two years, and the rest were barely a year.  The biggest challenge was waiting for the Challenge Cache itself to be replaced so I could post the find!

Then I drove downtown to the bayside to look for some caches.  I found one, then I found out the marathon, or half-marathon or SOMETHING was going to take place there, so I skedaddled before traffic became offal.

I saw a cache near the zoo I hadn't found before, so I got that one.  Here's a couple of pics of the area.

Here's the car barn for the Balboa Park railroad.  I don't recall ever seeing this before.  So there you go, another benefit of geocaching, taking you to unusual and possibly interesting places!

From nearly the same spot (you can see my backpack sitting over there), this interesting green thing is observed.  Is it antique and ancient?  Or is it artistic since this is the very edge of the Spanish Village artist area?  

Next I headed over to Golden Hill Park to visit a new cache by the stairs and fountain that I am so enamored of.  I found the cache, just beyond a sleeping urban camper.  I highly recommend visiting the grotto and stairs (during the day!!), it's a cool little-known spot.  It's funny, I thought the fountain was a fireplace until I read an article about it!

Next I headed over to nearby 32nd Street Canyon, where I didn't find two caches.

As depressing as that was, I almost headed home, but then I instead drove on down to the Otay River valley and headed east on a dirt road. That one I cycled down earlier in the year.  The first cache I found. With beeeesssss!!  Fortunately the bees, seen here, were not active in the cold.  I guess maybe it was a swarm that had landed for the night.  The couple of bees that WERE active did not sound happy to see me!

The next two caches I did not find, and I had not found them before, either.  I DID find one at the river crossing.  While looking for it I heard a loudspeaker announcing "This is the San Diego Police Department", and a siren and a helicopter.  Oh no, thought I, the off-roaders are getting busted!  I better get out of here (even thought I'm not off-roading)!!

I drove back out the sometimes muddy, sometimes rutted, and sometimes slippery dirt road, dirtying up the vehicle nicely around its bottom.

I drove up to La Media Road to park.  At the end is a favorite spot for dog walkers, hikers, motorcyclists, and apparently powered paragliders.  I talked to a couple of them putting away their equipment and found out it was THEM that the SDPD were loud-speaking to.  They said the police did not ticket them, but told them to leave.  The guys were not mad or anything, and said the police treated them fine.  They said the police helicopter would be taking off in a few minutes from behind the hill.  I bid them good day and headed on my way.  I heard the helicopter taking off and quickly grabbed the selfie-phone and made the shot, but I don't see the helicopter.

This whole mini-expedition was to look for one cache, which had been replaced, I heard.  I've been here several times before.  This time I spotted it.  I didn't see any snakes, bees, or accursed weed-seeds, and it wasn't too warm, so it was a nice little stroll.

Next I drove up to a nearby park.  I KNOW where the cache is, but a mom with a stroller came into the park and just was NOT moving on, so I left as it impossible to make the grab.  Skirt-lifting is tricky in the best of circumstances!

So I headed up to REI (south), 'cause there's a cache there I keep trying to find.  Nope, didn't find it this time, either!

Next, over to Home Depot.  Found one there, and put a new log book in as the log sheets seemed full.  'Cause that's the kind of guy I am.

I'm listening to this song right now, and I'm weeping.

There was another cache at Home Depot, but I didn't find it.  Is that four DNFs, or five?

Did you know there is a Torrey Pines Road in East Lake?  What is up with that?

Nextly, I went to an industrial park to look for a cache there that I've had difficulties with since 2012.  There was another cache nearby, a skirt-lifter, that was easily done, then I head over to the prime target.  I spotted it easily, made the grabbed, and signed the log.  I noted that the cache was ten feet lower than it was in 2012, now within arm's reach, for which I was thankful.

And I guess that was the end, and now I am home.  I found ten caches today, and had five DNFs. I think.  And spent about ten bucks on gas, and maybe walked about a mile or so.  Maybe two.  Maybe 1.5??

Saturday Afterrain

It rained yesterday, but not today.  Yet again I have not been outside all day.  It's in the 70s in the abode and yet I'm freezing.  I have accomplished very little today, managing to feed myself, barely.  I also washed the sink out with scouring powder, and someone will be glad to know I heated some beans and ate them!

Some of these pictures have been posted on Facebook, so they may look familiar. Possibly in a different format.  For example, the panorama below has been reduced in size.

This panorama was taken last Sunday, the 6th of March, at Mt. Laguna.  This was a fairly glorious hike, what with all the wind and such!

M. has some great pics of the hike on his picture pages!

I don't know why I have water shoes next to the bed, but I guess you never know.

It did hail at work last week, and I did promise not to post the boring picture, but here it is, anyway.

So many irritating posts on Facebook.  I hesitate to cast the first stone, but this is just ridiculous!  I'm sure the errors and irritating style are part of a marketing plan to gather clicks and views.

Naturally I succumbed and posted a version with my corrections!


Do not disturb me while I am gluing!!  I may growl or even bite!

I even posted a sign to that effect!

I put up a little display of the story teller.  Several people have actually noticed it and read the informative card!

Well, that is about it for this week.  Stay warm!

New Shoes

I got a pair of new shoes at Target yesterday.  They cost $39.95.  Let us see how long they last!

I also went to Sports Authority to get another pair of hiking books, but they did not have any in my size.  Since they have massive sales going on the place is a bit of a mess, and stocks are severely diminished.

I ordered a new pair of hiking boots today from REI Outlet Store, at a SUBSTANTIAL discount.  As soon as I hit "send" I realized I ordered the wrong size.  And of course my size is not available for that shoe, either.

I guess  that when they eventually arrive I'll have to see if I can return them to the store and just something in my size, at a SUBSTANTIALLY increased price.

I FINALLY got the weather app working on the phone.  I FINALLY followed  the directions in the company's "problems" forum, in which a customer complained he had to restart the app many many times before it would stop crashing.  I did the same, and after twenty or so tries it stopped crashing, and now runs OK.

Thanks for reading!

Cloudy Skies

The forecast was for intermittent depressions, so I went geocaching after work.  I looked for and found eight, count  'em, eight, caches today.

So this was the view at the half-way point, just about starting to head back down. Probably Cowles Mt. area to the right on the horizon, and the rusty cloudy water tower (I kid!) on the center horizon.

By the way, these are mostly all full-size images linked to the thumbnails.  Click the thumbnails to see the full-size image.

They like to paint their rocks on this hill.  The other ridge that I came up first has been called "Skittles Hill" for all the coloured rocks.

The sun is almost setting, I need to be down THERE before it does, I have no flashlight with me!

I made it down, but I looked for the last cache, near my parking spot, with the flashlight on the phone.  I didn't FIND the cache until after I turned the light off (it wasn't QUITE dark yet).  I discovered today that the key to finding geocaches is to look in the right spot.


Driving home on Prospect, the sun is making a glorious sunset.

That is all for today, what about..yesterday?

 I was going to email this picture of dusty shelves (Do your shelves scream wash me please? (Firesign Theatre reference) but it just never came out very good.

My version of a silly joke on Facebook that I didn't "get", even though I've seen it before.

For the German version of the show:

Another version I made. What if they got a new actress?.

And yet another, although I noted that "If you haven't got a penny, a ha'penny will do".

And now that is TRULY all I've got.

Thanks for reading!

Name This Weed!

A big weed at work.  Lacking a banana, my foot for scale.

View of El Cajon and especially El Cajon Mountain.from 2/3s of the way up Mt. Helix.

I am learning how to utilize various websites to draw circles of various sites around various plotted points, i.e., geocache, on maps.  I need  a drink.

No Stress Wednesday

Well, less stress, anyway.


Mrs. Kim left her hat in the library yesterday, I couldn't just let it SIT there!

Looked for and found this happy couple yesterday after work.

My response yesterday to someone who asked that I stay on another year so they could pass the test for my job.  I am such a wit sometimes!

That is all for today!

Sunday

I felt kinda cruddy in the early morning, and a bit scared to drive anywhere "iffy", but in the late morning I made up my mind to hit those mystery caches I had solved east-north of Alpine.  And my tummy did still feel a bit unsettled, but I nothing untoward happened.

I found fourteen caches today, and only one DNF (Did Not Find).

One cache, an 80on80 cache, was at Viejas Outlets mall.  Which is a rather pleasant place to spend some time, surprisingly, even  if you are not shopping.  The nice lady working in the California Welcome Center gave me a hint, "It's outside..."   I find there are sixteen of these 80on80 caches, and I seem to  have found eight of them now. They are located along olde Highway 80, all in San Diego County, I think.

At one cache I found all this electronic oddness on the ground, fastened to this rotting board.  I have no idea... Not the cache, though.

On the phone camera view I THOUGHT I could see a cache in there, but it turned out to be somewhere else.  Do they make a phone with a twelve-inch screen?

Coming back down the Anderson Truck Trail.  Somewhat steeper than it looks, and probably at the limit of what my vehicle can handle.

The view must be great for the very few houses out here.

The road is marked quite unequivocally "Private Road", but the big red gate is locked open, it's a "truck trail" on the maps, and there were tons of people driving around and recreating.  I don't know what to think.

My only DNF.  I think, in Streetview, I can see where the cache was...

On East Victoria Drive in Alpine. Yup, it's up there.  Only not QUITE as far up as I climbed.  And it looks a bit scarier from up there, than down here, let me tell you.  And decomposing granite can be slippery!

I took a couple of shots of me in the yard with Giant Selfie Stick!

I wish I had this at Yosemite, at Glacier Point!  That would have shown those tourists a thing or two!

To bad I didn't get the bird bath in either of the shots, it being oddly clean for a change.

Well, that's enough for now, have a great week!

Yet Again

This is the collapsible pole I made out of PVC pipe for retrieving geocaches in high places, but I added the phone holder I got for the bicycle handlebars and it works much better here.  Now it's a giantly-long selfie stick!

I went geocaching in the Big Bay area this morning. I titled this image "Tuna Feet", possibly poor pun on "tuna fleet".

I saw a sea lion (I guess) over by the commercial fishing boat docks. I guess he found something good to eat because the birds were giving him quite a hassle!

Here comes the birds!

They were diving and squawking it up, it was quite a show!

This house has been called the Piano House (among other things...), it sort of looks like one, and may have been originally built for a pianist. Or maybe not.

More information 1      More information 2       More information 3

I parked at old NTC to find one cache, but the vehicle wouldn't start afterwards.  So I went for a walk around the area, a geocaching walk, so the engine could "dry out", as I figured I flooded it.  There seemed to be fewer geocaches in the phone app than I thought there were, it was odd.  I walked to five or so, found two of them.  Stopped by Downwind Marine and bought me a little inexpensive folding rigging knife.  It has a small marlinspike that should be handy for fooling with knots. It developed that the knife is manufactured by Davis Instruments, the same company that make the weather station I have!  They have a bunch of interesting products!

After I got back to the vehicle it STILL wouldn't start, so I called Matthew in sort of a panicked-frump.  While making arrangements for him to rescue me I gave the accursed Ford Fuel Pump Shut Off Switch another determined poke, and THIS time the vehicle started right up.  So I drove home, and I've been here ever since.

While checking in with Matt upon my return I discovered while looking up a geocache mentioned on the San Diego Geocachers group on Facebook that my Premium membership at Geocaching.com had lapsed and THAT was why I was not seeing as many caches as I thought I were there.  So there were actually a number that I just walked right past today!  Another time, I guess!

Remind me to tell you those two cute little stories about my sainted mother and geocaching.

Thanks for reading!