The Night the Cop Rolled Up

Instead of starting with the basics of geocaching, I decided to talk about what to do if law enforcement approached you. This will be something that happens at least once if you do a lot of caching. It is usually because we look suspicious poking around in one area for too long, or in my case on the side of the road in the middle of the night with a bright flashlight.

Most of us know to stay away from areas marked “Private Property” or “No Trespassing”, but sometimes we find ourselves in a situation that just makes us stick out. In cases like if an officer is nearby, then he will be coming to see you. Always remember be polite and courteous and it goes a long ways.

My story begins December 31, 2010. I was on a FTF kick and had received a notification of a new cache at about 7:30 p.m. I had company coming soon and could not leave. I thought what if I could get there just after midnight, would it still be a FTF? So my company left at 11:30 and I told my wife “I’m Going”. So I grab my needed devices, thicker clothes, and a bigger flashlight and headed out the door.

Knowing the time of night and what would be going on, on this particular night I was prepared to run into some form of law. It would have to come with the territory on this one. The cache GC2KW0B was beside a busy road and would have a lot of traffic. I got there just after midnight and hopped out with my big light and started looking. Started in what seemed like obvious places and kept coming up short. Where my GPSr was taking me didn’t seem like a cache would be there. I would not leave before I found it, even if I had to get back in the truck and warm up. After only about five minutes a K-9 cruiser pulled up. He parked where my truck could not be moved, so I kept looking until he got out of the SUV. He walked over and asked me what I was doing there at that time night. So I gave him a quick explanation and used my phone to show him. I also pulled up the geocaching.com website. He also took my license and ran it. He returned, said good night, gave me my license back and left me. It was just a minute or two more and I found the cache. If he hadn’t left so quickly, I could have shown him the container.

Just remember, be polite to our law officers. They will check on anything they think suspicious. Just tell them what you are doing and they will let you go about your merry way. If you are lucky you might even find one who is a fellow cacher.

Country1919

Fresh Air

A hidden gem just north of Colorado Springs offers serenity and an endorphin induced tranquility where your senses are heightened so that you become part of your surroundings.  Fox Run Regional Park provides a vast expanse of lush green grass, well maintained "facilities", and acres of peace and quiet.  There's something for everyone as Stacie, Shelby, and I found out as we roamed almost every inch of the managed space.  There were people throwing Frisbees,  playing fetch with their retrievers, teaching their kids to hit a baseball, napping on a blanket in the shade, and at least 2 people and a certain fuzzy dog Geocaching.  Our trek began with a cache hidden within 200 feet of where we parked our Caliber.  We then decided to start circling the park in a methodical scouring technique known as ATCF.  My philosophy about caching is "You don't know for a fact that the trail will take you to the next hidden container".  Luckily GPS receivers are designed for people like me.  They show the point A to point B route.  We found 15 of the 17 traditional hides in the park and also 1 puzzle cache.  If you like to do Multi-caches there are 6 of them. All the caches we found were not micros hanging in a tree and most could house travelers. After we completed the loop, we had a picnic lunch at one of the many tables provided in the park.  It was great getting out in the Colorado summer weather with the wind blowing through the leaves and the sound of squirrels chasing each other around a tree trunk.  If you want your kids to get some exercise and find some treasure, then this is the place for you.  The park is very pet friendly and admission is free.