FTF in Geocaching

March 23 by pete2552 (131 found)Yahoo...FTF...well not quite more like a FTL (first to log). I was stuck at work less than 15 minutes away; I had 2 business meetings and could not get out earlier to get it. Finally at 3:55pm I left the North Side and hi-tailed up 279N to Mcknightmare Road. Of course I hit every red light along the way. Finally found a place to park and headed up. As I came in sight of ground zero I saw someone there....darn! Sherpes beat me to it by what 30 - 60 seconds. Congratulations Sherpes and it was nice to meet and talk to you. Come-on can't I share the FTF? I did get to hold the FTF coin, but it was Sherpes who deserved it. FYI - My GPS said I was still about 23 feet away. Kudo's once again to Sherpes who actually found it without A GPS. he definately deserves the FTF. Great cache! TFTC

March 23 by sherpes (152 found)well, I am not a premium member, so I don't get the immediate notifications when a cache is published. It so happened that the weekly notification was in my inbox at around lunchtime. I work off McKnight Rd, some 4 miles away, so was definitely interested, but didn't have my GPS with me. Plus, I was convinced that other folks more into geocaching than myself would have challenged the rain and mud to get to this one to FTF it. Looked it up on maps and topozone, and understood exactly where it was: about six months ago I took a group of Girl Scouts from nearby St. Sebastian on a topo map orienteering tutorial on the adjacent hill, so that they could earn their badge. At the time, even proposed that they should consider placing a geocache on that area, since there wasn't any nearby, and the absence of No Trespassing signs implied the area was generally accessible. But as winter set, that idea went forgotten. On the maps, noticed the cache is just above a saddle point, and in line with the north side wall of the Holiday Inn, so I decided it was worth a shot in finding it without the aid of space satellites, and just using old fashioned visuals. Combed the area for about ten minutes, then noticed the items mentioned in the hint. But it was still another 10 minutes before I finally found it. Was ready to give up, when actually returned to the site, and with a stick, raked some leaves, and peeked. It was definitely very well hidden, and the leaves seemed so rested, old, and unperturbed. Lots of still water on the top, given it rained all day, but the contents very dry. Impressive on how filled it is, with lots of geo pins of all sorts. Haven't even started writing on the log, when I see a person approaching. The mutual smile on our faces is a sign of reciprocal understanding: we're both geocachers, in the middle of the woods, on a similar quest that my wife still finds ridiculous, but, hey, these acts of randomness are actually a fun topic of conversation at the dinner table. Took the FTF coin, Pete explained to me what it was, and then we both walked back to our vehicles. Funny: he parked his right next to mine, on the lower level lot. Next time I'll make sure there is a geocache logo on my bumper, that will make it more obvious on where to park on a FTF day.

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