Alien Artillery

Yep, I put out a couple of new geocaches today in the Richardson Taylor Preserve, out there along the Bigfoot Trail (a.k.a. the Bill Craft Trail, for them what don't know any better, as I've mentioned on other occasions). Space for geocaches out there is just about used up, but I did find a few slivers of land that looked good for a couple of new hides. These, like most of mine, are themed (see images above). As with Threnody (GC8P8P4), which I placed a couple of weeks ago, the science-fiction/horror theme draws from a plethora of sources — my own fiction, movies, television series, books, short stories, etc.

So, I did fall out of a tree today. But only once, and I landed on my feet. Sure enough, one of the hides involves a pretty hairy tree climb. In this tree (that's the bloody bastard there to the left; if you enlarge the pic and look closely, you can actually see the cache), there's precious little to grab onto, and on my first attempt up, I managed to miss my only handhold. Fortunately, it wasn't a long way down, and the ground was soft from the recent rainfall. I hope prospective finders will be careful for their own sakes as well the cache's, since I don't want to have to truck out there to do maintenance because someone's reach (and grasp) fell short.

Anyhoo, the day proved beautiful for hiking, and since I was pretty far into the outback there, I barely saw a living soul today — only a couple of folks near the parking area when I was coming and going. That's my idea of a day in the woods anyhow.

Here's the write up for "Alien Artillery #2," the one in the tree. Try not to fall out of anything while you're reading.

Special Agents: Following the discovery of the nearby anomaly, code named THRENODY (Ref: GC8P8P4), an entirely new and unexpected situation has arisen. Possibly IN RESPONSE to that anomaly, an unknown party (likely the same one involved in prior incident report code named TRIPODS (Ref: GC690XE) appears to have launched and successfully made two precision strikes at coordinates very close to Anomaly THRENODY. We call the first of these ALIEN ARTILLERY #1: PROBE (GC8PVCC), the second one ALIEN ARTILLERY #2: TRANSMITTER BEACON.

On 4/14/20, Listening Post Beta detected a pair of projectile launches from the Planet Mars. LPB tracked the projectiles to their points of impact, which occurred on 4/26/20 — two sets of coordinates, both in close proximity to ANOMALY TH. (These are NOT thought to be warheads, but data-gathering pods; the purpose for data gathering is as yet unknown.)

This is case file ALIEN ARTILLERY #2: TRANSMITTER BEACON. Your task is to discover the exact location of the beacon and inscribe the requisite agent code on the mission log we believe you will find at the site (this will require you to detour some distance off the Bill Craft Trail). We predict our investigations will prove that we are on the brink of something — in the words of Special Agent Dale Cooper — “both wonderful and strange.” Please be aware that this particular case involves an element of danger. Depending on your height, agility, and overall physical ability, retrieving object at the site may require a partner or specific “tool of the trade.” You are certainly encouraged to avoid undertaking this task alone. If you are unable to retrieve and then return the object to its exact original state and location, please do not attempt its retrieval.

Good luck on your mission of discovery!
Federal Bureau of Investigation Project Director Gordon Cole

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Here's a few shots of the woods in the area of the new hides. Very pretty out there now, it is. It's been a gorgeous spring, pandemics be damned.