Monterey Bay

[compass_bearing_north]

The tread from last summer has dissapeared again. Let's get the ideas flowing in.

[compass_bearing_north]

How about a climbing cache

[+NJT916]

Greetings All!

 

What a coincidence that this was the first post on the site. I live in the Monterey Bay area, and ran into someone on a "hunt" the other day. I saw this guy digging through the plants in a park, and wonder what the heck he was doing. He and I began a conversation, and he turned me onto this site.

 

Well, I think I will get of a GPS and start the adventures. This looks like so much fun!

 

Happy Turkey Day,

Nick

[+Touchstone]

How about a climbing cache

That's a good one CBN. Although I'm a bit pressed to think of a place that doesn't have one of the following problems:

 

1. Pinnacles NM is off limits being under the NP/NM ban on caches.

2. Granite Creek would be a possibility,except for the copious poison oak (not that PO seems to deter some people ).

3. Sanctuary Rock Gym would be pretty cool, but would be hard to justify to the approvers that it's not a commercial site.

4. I can think of several places in the Sierra, but I'm not sure that the 3 hr drive would put that in the realm of a "vacation cache" in the eyes of the approvers.

 

What were you thinking about?

 

p.s. sorry about DDB cache. I'll go check out the first stage this weekend to see if it's still there. I'll post a note after I verify it.

[+sea_dragon]

I'm thinking that the Monterey area need a hydrocache (or a dozen ). Something that's SCUBA/freedive-able. I've been trying to come up with some ideas on how to pull this off, pretty much I've only gotten as far as a dive slate for the log, and everything else is waterproof. Any other ideas?

[+Touchstone]

I'm thinking that the Monterey area need a hydrocache (or a dozen ). Something that's SCUBA/freedive-able. I've been trying to come up with some ideas on how to pull this off, pretty much I've only gotten as far as a dive slate for the log, and everything else is waterproof. Any other ideas?

You might want to read this thread first:

 

NWR Ban

 

I'm not sure where Monterey Bay falls into the wildlife preservation system, but there might be a conflict. Sounds like the penalties can be nasty

[compass_bearing_north]

How about a climbing cache

That's a good one CBN. Although I'm a bit pressed to think of a place that doesn't have one of the following problems:

 

1. Pinnacles NM is off limits being under the NP/NM ban on caches.

2. Granite Creek would be a possibility,except for the copious poison oak (not that PO seems to deter some people ).

3. Sanctuary Rock Gym would be pretty cool, but would be hard to justify to the approvers that it's not a commercial site.

4. I can think of several places in the Sierra, but I'm not sure that the 3 hr drive would put that in the realm of a "vacation cache" in the eyes of the approvers.

 

What were you thinking about?

 

p.s. sorry about DDB cache. I'll go check out the first stage this weekend to see if it's still there. I'll post a note after I verify it.

 

Well, I actually found a highly poison oak free area in Granite Creek. I climb there a lot and am highly allergic to P.O. I've got a cache ready for me to place. Also, virtual caches would be nice in Pinnicles.

 

P.S. Try out Box Office and Frog Bottom!

Edited November 28, 2003 by compass_bearing_north

[+Touchstone]

[quote name=compass_bearing_north' date='Nov 26 2003, 08:49

P.S. Try out Box Office and Frog Bottom! [/quote]

Ya, I saw your two pop up this morning. I have to work today, but if I have time after work I'll swing by. I was glad to see something go in the vicinity of Frogmentation. That was one of my early caches, and I must have been one of the first to report it missing. Nice area and on my way home.

[+GeoSharks]

I'm thinking that the Monterey area need a hydrocache (or a dozen ). Something that's SCUBA/freedive-able.

Do it!

If you put one out there, I'll go for it.

 

I've thought about placing one out off the San Carlos beach area, but I'm not close enough to properly maintain it.

 

The King Kahekili cache in Maui is a great underwater cache.

Edited November 28, 2003 by GeoSharks

[+NJT916]

I'm thinking that the Monterey area need a hydrocache (or a dozen ). Something that's SCUBA/freedive-able.  I've been trying to come up with some ideas on how to pull this off, pretty much I've only gotten as far as a dive slate for the log, and everything else is waterproof. Any other ideas?

Just thinking about jumping in that water makes me cold.

 

I'm gonna toss another log on the fire.........

[+sea_dragon]

Touchstone:

Thanks for the link. I had read that post a while ago, and found it quite interesting. I don't think Monterey Bay falls under this as it's a National Marine Sanctuary. I don't think that the sanctuary status will be too much of a problem. I know that altering the seafloor is a no-no, but I can't think of any real probelms off the top of my head. I guess it's time to re-read the sanctuary policies. What I can see as the big problem in the city of Pacific Grove and their rules and regs, which often go against CDFG and Sanctuary. More reading to do.

 

Do I take it to mean from some of the other posts that if I plant it, they will dive? Rock on! Now to think of a hiding place that falls within compliance of all governing bodies and won't be found by every beginners dive class. Hmmm.... that will take some work.

[+Touchstone]

I'll have to do the hydrocache by proxy I'm afraid. I don't know how to scuba, but I have friends that can. Can I have them put a signature item in the cache container for me The thought of diving off the coast here gives me the shivers

 

Frogbottom and Box Office were no goes for me. I'll have to go back and try later. They were a drive-and-dash type of thing since I had to pick up Jr. T and SH on the way home (late as it was).

 

Romance at the Marina Beach is well worth the trip. We did that one today; kind of cold, but still a nice walk on the dunes.

[compass_bearing_north]

Admin is Biased!

The cache, ET by Kaveh of Team Bench http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...A-691F61469833}, which was placed after the no traveling caches rule was put into effect, but a cache I placed a few days ago, World Class http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...2-BC2A21394847} gets archived.

Iget this message from Hemlock:

November 28 by Hemlock (0 found)

I have reviewed your cache and I'm sorry to state that I am unable to approve it, because moving caches are no longer allowed.

Please refer to the Geocache Listing Guidelines, which can be viewed at the following link: http://www.geocaching.com/about/guidelines.aspx#perm

 

This guideline was established in March 2003, so you may find older caches that do move. These are grandfathered, but no new caches of this type will be approved.

 

If you wish to change this to a stationary cache, feel free to update the description. Then email me and I will be happy to review the cache again.

 

If you have any questions, email me at hemlock@geocachingadmin.com or go to your cache page and email me via the link to my profile on the archive log. Please be sure to include the cache name and GC# or better yet, the URL of the cache page.

 

NOTE: If you reply directly to this email, you MUST change the To email address to hemlock@geocachingadmin.com otherwise the communication will not be received.

 

Thank you for your understanding.

Hemlock

Volunteer Cache Reviewer

 

Hmph, look who's talking. He hasn't even found one! I don't understand.

Here is his dissapointing profile http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=66...e7-f169489d9f44

Edited November 30, 2003 by compass_bearing_north

[+Touchstone]

Hmph, look who's talking. He hasn't even found one! I don't understand.

Here is his dissapointing profile http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=66...e7-f169489d9f44

Most of the Approvers maintain "sock puppet" accounts to avoid hate mail, etc. I've found Hemlock, for the most part, pretty helpful. Hemlock is just toting the party line that Approvers have to follow. If Hemlock didn't archive it someone else would have to come later and do the archiving anyway. Rules, rules, rules! Can't we just go caching I could care less whether it's moving or not

[+NJT916]

New Topic:

 

Do many people have trouble obtaining satellites while in the Monterey area? We searched for about 6 caches today, and I'd say on about 2 of them we had good readings. Obviously, the dense forest has something to do with the poor readings, but today was frustrating.

 

I can only imagine how difficult some of the finds will be as I progress through the lists.

 

Could anyone shed some light on how they deal with these hardships in the Monterey Area?

[+ventura_kids]

I've done a hundred or so up there. I keep WAAS enabled, and the beach ones are no problem. I don't do the deep forest ones. If I can't get a good fix, I find an open area to get a fix and estimate the cache spot. Use the hints and read what the past finders say too. Sometimes they give good clues or difficulties they had.

[+Touchstone]

It looks like you were caching along the coast today and IMHO some of those caches on that route are kind of difficult to find (not counting the two virtuals). It took me two tries to get Here It Is Deer, and it looks like you got that on your first trip. Pretty good I'd say.

 

If you want a leg up on some of these caches I'd say take the decoded hint with you, or better yet download to a PDA (have to be a premium member to do that though). Review some of the logs to get an idea how hard it is, and sometimes you can catch some helpful hints. And by all means, pay attention to the size of the container (a couple along that route are micros and fairly difficult to find).

 

If you want to start off with easy ones, I'd suggest Ft Ord caches. East Garrison has some fun ones, as well as the ones around Toro Park/Portola Drive. A little more footwork is involved, but most are well worth the trip.

 

Hang in there, and Happy Caching.

[+Marky]

When you first start out, you tend to rely on the technology too much. After you have found a few, you realize that on any given day, you could be 30ft off even if the posted coords are good. So you learn to think like a cache hider and try to determine the cache location by doing a survey of the area looking for nearby likely spots. After a while you learn to appreciate the deviousness of the hider, even if it takes you multiple tries to find the cache.

 

Good luck in your future searches.

 

--Marky

[compass_bearing_north]

Cool hiking/ Camping spot:

Henry W. Coe State Park

see

Coepark.org

See if they alow caches.

[+Marky]

Cool hiking/ Camping spot:

Henry W. Coe State Park

see

Coepark.org

See if they alow caches.

There are only like 19+ caches in Henry Coe... I hope they allow caching.

 

Some of the caches are 15+ miles in, so require mad biking skills or an over night stay.

 

--Marky

[compass_bearing_north]

There are? Never knew that. I can't wait to tackle 'em being the backpacker I am. Thanks Marky!

[+Touchstone]

Some of the caches are 15+ miles in, so require mad biking skills or an over night stay.

 

--Marky

I've eyed some of those caches and wonder what it would take to get to them. We've been biking in there a couple of times, and neither time was undiluted pleasure. The hills are steep and some of the single tracks are pretty scary. I think I'll have to hone my skills a bit more in Ft Ord []

[+NJT916]

--Marky

I think I'll have to hone my skills a bit more in Ft Ord []

 

Tried that, and got poison oak...go figure.

[+Dagwood&Blondie]

I just wanted to drop a note and say thank you to the few that have recently added some new, original caches to the peninsula. Touchstone and The Rat have recently placed a few caches that were great fun to find.

[+Touchstone]

I just wanted to drop a note and say thank you to the few that have recently added some new, original caches to the peninsula. Touchstone and The Rat have recently placed a few caches that were great fun to find.

Thanks D&B. Your King of the Mountain has been one of my favorites in the Ft Ord area.

 

I think a hats off to Ford's, Plunketts, Sirius and Red, and Signorelli are due to.

 

But as far as the "godfather's" of central coast caching goes, credit has to go to Just A Short Walk and AltdotAir. There's a couple of prolific cache placers!

[M15a4spr]

Cool hiking/ Camping spot:

Henry W. Coe State Park

see

Coepark.org

See if they alow caches.

There are only like 19+ caches in Henry Coe... I hope they allow caching.

 

Some of the caches are 15+ miles in, so require mad biking skills or an over night stay.

 

--Marky

I've done a bunch there, longest hike about 12 miles. What I don't get is why with a park that huge people hide micros!

 

You could hide an M1 Abrahams in that park!

[compass_bearing_north]

Okay Monterey!

It's time for the 2003 best cache award.

 

E-mail your vote to me, don't post it here.

 

The winner will be announced soon.

 

Let's go!

[+sea_dragon]

What's the deal with the cache award? What's the criteria, and all that jazz? I'm sorry if all of the others are already in the know about this, but I'm still fairly new (about 6 months caching), so I have not seen any award type procedings. I'm sure that the other newbies and lurkers may appriciate the info as well. Thanks!

[+Marky]

There are only like 19+ caches in Henry Coe... I hope they allow caching. 

 

Some of the caches are 15+ miles in, so require mad biking skills or an over night stay.

I've done a bunch there, longest hike about 12 miles. What I don't get is why with a park that huge people hide micros!

 

You could hide an M1 Abrahams in that park!

Yeah, I agree. And if you look at the hider, it's someone who complains constantly about micros.

[compass_bearing_north]

Cool hiking/ Camping spot:

Henry W. Coe State Park

see

Coepark.org

See if they alow caches.

There are only like 19+ caches in Henry Coe... I hope they allow caching.

 

Some of the caches are 15+ miles in, so require mad biking skills or an over night stay.

 

--Marky

I've done a bunch there, longest hike about 12 miles. What I don't get is why with a park that huge people hide micros!

 

You could hide an M1 Abrahams in that park!

Hey, good news. I am going there this Monday for a backpack trip. I'll take along a regular cache. If you want any travel bugs or other items to go in this cache, put them in a bag labeled HENRY COE and put it in Unit Cache by 3:30 PM Sunday, December 21, 2003.

 

P.S. Happy Winter Sulstice

Edited December 21, 2003 by compass_bearing_north

[compass_bearing_north]

See this link:

Monterey Bay - The Other Bay Area

 

This was the original Monterey thread.

[+Touchstone]

See this link:

Monterey Bay - The Other Bay Area

 

This was the original Monterey thread.

Thanks CBN. That was a fun read

[compass_bearing_north]

The winner of the 2003 Best Cache in Monterey Bay is...

 

Drumroll................................................................................

 

Touchstone who's world class cache is........................................

 

Fishing for Nemo

 

Check out the cache!

[+Touchstone]

Thanks CBN, and any and all who voted for the cache.

 

Omigosh, are you going to make me search for the certificate (referring to the private message) You may not realize how inept a cacher I am I wonder if this has ever happened to Travis (a Washington cacher with a reputation for prolific and prosaic DNF's).

 

It's been quite a week for the Touchstone team. We solved Fizzymagics puzzle, then Jr. T helped me find our first Mark and Joani cache (Secret Trailhead), and we got the FTF on the Beys new cache in Carmel. This tops it off. Thanks!

[compass_bearing_north]

2nd Anual CITO Day (April 17, 2004):

Let's Plan an event. I'm available till noon on that day.

[+Touchstone]

Sounds like a great plan CBN What's going to be convenient for you? Marina State Beach is one of the closest to us. Or another possibility is out by the Dunes condo's (out by Ford's Little Footprints cache). That one sees alot of fisherman, and nothing against fishing, but it gets a bunch of trash on that beach.

 

I've got some Sculpy tokens that could be handed out as souveniers. Could also put together a cache if people want to contribute during the CITO.

 

What are some more ideas?

Edited January 17, 2004 by Touchstone

[+Touchstone]

OK, here's bright idea #1 (LOL )

 

At first I thought, maybe having a series of individual CITO's along the coast, but then I could see Hemlock looking at all these submissions and going, "Hmmm...why are they making my life miserable?", and hitting the Archive button. So how about one CITO event, but make it a Multi. Have three or four beaches that people have to drive to. Maybe Salinas River Beach, say down as far as Monastary Beach, or Garipata. Have a log book set up at each stop, and individuals have to log each stop in order to log the cache.

 

OK, somebody stop me before I have another bright idea

[compass_bearing_north]

Places that are good for me:

Rip Van Winkle Open Space Area (PG)

Monterey State Beach (Monterey)

Frog Pond (Del Rey Oaks)

Marina State Beach (Marina)

Robert's Lake (Seaside)

Anywhere in Pebble Beach

Carmel River State Beach (Carmel)

Toro County Park (Monterey/Salinas)

Veteran's Park

 

Most Convinient:

Garland Ranch Reigonal Park (Carmel Valley) because I need to be at CVV at 2PM

 

Be sure to say the placer of this CITO event is Central Coast Geocachers of California

[+Touchstone]

Garland sounds like a good choice. Although when I was caching there last summer I don't remember seeing much trash It does have the advantage of having three caches in the park for people to run out and snag.

 

I'll withdraw that suggestion of having to log all the locations on the listing in order to log a find. That sounds too annoying to me now. Let's say if people can log any of the locations they can log a find.

 

Let's see if anyone else wants to step up to the plate here. If it's just you and me CBN, I'd say log them as seperate events. If we get a bunch of people interested in setting up throughout the county, then we could do it under the umbrella of the CCG. If you do the Garland location in the morning, and I do something up my way (either Marina SB, or Salinas River SB) in the afternoon, it would give people an opportunity to log a couple of events for the day

[compass_bearing_north]

Then again, my schedule changed and I don't have to go to CVV. I'd say something on the penninsula. I'm in the midst of planning it. It will be posted as a cache soon.

 

Probably Robert's Lake in Seaside

Edited January 17, 2004 by compass_bearing_north

[+biggeeks]

Hey CBN,

Is Robert's Lake in Seaside, the one near Hwy 1? Where the Feathered Friends cache is located? I don't know if I'll be able to help with the planning, but if I don't have any other obligations, I'm in (with as many Biggeeks as I can muster!)

 

PS, Touchstone- We found M&J's Secret Trailhead! That thang was SMALL!

[compass_bearing_north]

Yep. By the way, I have all day free now!

Edited January 18, 2004 by compass_bearing_north

[The Lazy A]

We vote for Laguna Grande Lake, the lake that has Touchstones Tommy cache.

Edited January 19, 2004 by The Lazy A

[+Kealia]

All,

 

I'm heading to Salinas from Scotts Valley on Saturday and was thinking about taking the family for a few caches on the way home.

Any suggestions for a few short, traditionals in the area from Salinas to Scotts Valley (or maybe into Monterey) would be appreciated.

 

Thanks.

[+Touchstone]

I'm assuming you're coming in on Hwy 1. 101 is kind of a desert for caches for quite a stretch there.

 

First off, I'd recommend dinner at Phil's Fish Market in Moss Landing on your way back. I guarentee you won't be disappointed You can pick up the following caches right in Moss Landing:

 

ML: Pretty easy puzzle cache. Closest to Phil's. Nice big cache box.

Bottom Blue: Right on Hwy 1. Clever hide. Small container (smallish regular), but usually has neat stuff.

Charlie Moss: Nice big cache, with great views looking out over the ocean if you climb to the top of the hill above the cache.

 

Just South of Moss Landing:

 

Ghost Tracks: The cache page says it all. One of my all time favorites. You only end up going a short distance out, but great fun. Have to keep an eye on the little ones though (or leave them back on land). Right off Hwy 1.

 

At Marina State Beach there are a couple (both recquire a bit of walking so it depends on how much time you have).

 

Ransom: Very cool multi to a nice size cache.

Sandlots: The second cache I ever did and man was it hard. Probably would seem much easier now after a few Kealia hides under my belt

 

After that you start to get into the Ft. Ord caches. Most recquire a bit of walking to get to so I'm not sure of your time frame. Three of mine are right off the Hwy just beyond Marina, but they do take some time to walk out to. Depending if you go into Salinas by 156 (not recommended) or Reservation Road (recommended) you could catch a couple at the East Garrison entrance to Ft Ord:

 

Funny Tree: One of the more unusual hides I've seen.

Ghost Town: Short walk up the hill. Some PO, but easy to avoid.

Cooters Cache: Finishes off a nice loop for these three caches.

 

In Salinas itself, I think it's mostly micros with the exception of Training Corner, but that may be kind of out of your way (North Salinas).

 

Hope that helps.

[Parsa]

If locationless caches are your cup of tea, you may want to look for my cache "The Bells of El Camino Real." There is a list of finds to date in the images for the cache.

 

The Bells of El Camino Real

 

Parsa

[compass_bearing_north]

There's a new travel bug around here.

Koala

[compass_bearing_north]

Just wondering what's become of Terra•Indaga He hasn't found any more caches. I asked Hemlock if I could adopt two of his archived ones.

Please tell me if you know something.

[compass_bearing_north]

Check out our logo

[compass_bearing_north]

New Topic:

 

Do many people have trouble obtaining satellites while in the Monterey area? We searched for about 6 caches today, and I'd say on about 2 of them we had good readings. Obviously, the dense forest has something to do with the poor readings, but today was frustrating.

 

I can only imagine how difficult some of the finds will be as I progress through the lists.

 

Could anyone shed some light on how they deal with these hardships in the Monterey Area?

I haven't experienced many problems. And if I do, I'll be patient.