Early last month, I ventured up to
Smith Mountain Lake
to hunt a mean little geocache called "Ghost Ship" GCATXK3 —
unsuccessfully, alas. (You may read my sad chronicle
here.) Last night, Varunner7, a local geocacher whom friend
Diefenbaker (a.k.a. Scott) and I had met briefly a few months
ago, messaged me to inquire whether I might like to join her, her husband
(known as baylorbearpaul), and their three youngsters today at the
Ghost Ship for a hunt. Well, how could I resist?
Fortunately, this morning's temperature promised to start out appreciably cooler than on my last attempt, when I damn near roasted in the cramped innards of that craft (which is a military mobile bridge ferry, used to construct bridges for combat vehicles). So, I set out armed with my best flashlight, my raggediest clothes, and a small bucket of coffee, hoping to avenge my prior failure. Strength in numbers, and all that. I was the first to arrive at the site, so I made my way aboard the ghost ship and set about searching. Only a couple of minutes later, the rest of the crew showed up, so we soon had a half dozen pairs of eyes scouring every surface of the old bridge ferry. Then, unexpectedly, another pair of geocachers arrived on the scene — Puzzle Detective and GeoTeetah — which I figured might at least give us enough numbers to put the cache at a tactical disadvantage.
After about 20 minutes on the hunt, my flashlight beam fell on a spot I had given a cursory look during my previous visit, but apparently not from the optimum angle. This time, I was able to see what I needed to see: the distinctive geocaching logo on a well-hidden container. Success at last! And a nice, shared first-to-find, which made us all quite happy, I think.
I was so focused on the find that I didn't take a single photo. Happily, Paul took a number of shots and was kind enough to let me post them here. A helluva satisfying morning, even if I did get behind every slow putz on the Virginia backroads both coming and going (it's about a 90-minute drive each way, so putzes irk me). On the way home, I rewarded myself with a very unhealthy smoky pepper cheese steak sub at our local Jersey Mike's. I probably should have gone for something less lethal, since Brugger and I had a couple of magnificent smoked brisket sandwiches with fries last night at Martinsville's classic car and food truck rodeo, but sometimes you just gotta go for the flavor.
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Puzzle Detective popping up from below while Ms. Varunner7 prepares to delve into the dark depths |
Fortunately, this morning's temperature promised to start out appreciably cooler than on my last attempt, when I damn near roasted in the cramped innards of that craft (which is a military mobile bridge ferry, used to construct bridges for combat vehicles). So, I set out armed with my best flashlight, my raggediest clothes, and a small bucket of coffee, hoping to avenge my prior failure. Strength in numbers, and all that. I was the first to arrive at the site, so I made my way aboard the ghost ship and set about searching. Only a couple of minutes later, the rest of the crew showed up, so we soon had a half dozen pairs of eyes scouring every surface of the old bridge ferry. Then, unexpectedly, another pair of geocachers arrived on the scene — Puzzle Detective and GeoTeetah — which I figured might at least give us enough numbers to put the cache at a tactical disadvantage.
After about 20 minutes on the hunt, my flashlight beam fell on a spot I had given a cursory look during my previous visit, but apparently not from the optimum angle. This time, I was able to see what I needed to see: the distinctive geocaching logo on a well-hidden container. Success at last! And a nice, shared first-to-find, which made us all quite happy, I think.
I was so focused on the find that I didn't take a single photo. Happily, Paul took a number of shots and was kind enough to let me post them here. A helluva satisfying morning, even if I did get behind every slow putz on the Virginia backroads both coming and going (it's about a 90-minute drive each way, so putzes irk me). On the way home, I rewarded myself with a very unhealthy smoky pepper cheese steak sub at our local Jersey Mike's. I probably should have gone for something less lethal, since Brugger and I had a couple of magnificent smoked brisket sandwiches with fries last night at Martinsville's classic car and food truck rodeo, but sometimes you just gotta go for the flavor.
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| At the controls |
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"Dammit, I got an owie on me arm!" |
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The boat people |
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