More Gold Country caches and Events!!!

 To Hope and Beyond!!!

Susan and I headed back towards Merritt, in search of a few more Gold Country caches at the beginning of July, after our 3 day adventure in the Gold Country a couple of weeks ago. We just did a quick day trip on a Sunday.

We only got 9 caches, 5 of which were Gold Country caches, plus 1 and 80% adventure labs(Will talk more about this next month in my blog)

Some fun in Hope. 

A cool structure in Brookmere. The tracks are long gone, but this coal chute, or water chute for the trains still remains.

PS: On the right hand side of this webpage is where you can find my YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram, links. Please feel free to check them out and follow or subscribe!!!

These are my lists from our last trip up to the Gold Country that I wrote about in last months Blog. (click the link to read)

NOTE: The highlighted or underlined words in my blog can be clicked on as they are links to other cool stuff!! Also if you click on any of the pictures they become bigger!!!

I am curious if anyone else does this. I make the lists so I know the order of the caches we will go to and I check them off as we get them, so I don't forget to log any. Also I highlight roads or exits that need to be turned at and other directions.

Event caches are Back!!!

So this month on July 15th, I went to my first of two event caches since over a year of no Events. It was a great event called "A geo-gathering of Friends Old and New"

It was hosted by KevMCD on behalf of the B.C.G.A. 

There was over 50 people at the event. I guess being the first Event cache to be published in the area after 16 plus months of no events being allowed because of restrictions in BC, lots of cachers wanted to be there. I arrived early and grabbed some nearby caches, with some other cachers who were doing the same thing. 

There was a cool TB at the event, It was a 1973 Ontario License Plate. Big Travel Bugs like this always end up at events as its hard to find large enough caches to put them into. 

Community Celebration Event

Went to my second Event of the month with Oliver, called "Community Celebration Event-Sunday Sundaes"

It was a well attended event with about 70 people and Ice cream for all. Thanx to Buggirl1975 for hosting such an awesome "Community Celebration"

Island caching

We got the second ferry(Tried for the first) to Vancouver Island on Friday July 23rd, and started caching as soon as we got of the ship. lol. We mainly went for high favorited and cool caches. We started in Nanaimo with a couple of cool pipe caches called "Pipeworks #1- Pinball Wizard" and "Pipeworks #3-Stay Positive"

In case you are unsure what these caches did by their names, you should go and find them. lol

We then started making our way upisland and grabbed a couple on a trail. One was called "10 Feet Up"

Yup, you guessed it, it was 10 feet up in the top of a sign. It gave a few options as to how to grab it:

-Bring a 7 ft. tall team mate
-Bring an agile, pole climber
-Bring a short ladder but have an explanation ready for the muggles’ queries
-Assess the problem then go home and get the solution
-Bring your own weapons
-Bring 2 rods or bolts 3/8 in. by 6 in. long.
-Find the above hidden behind a tree within 8 meters of the GZ

I brought an extendable pole with a hook on it, and we made quick work of the retrieval. 

As you can see in these pics, we had a list to follow so we did not miss any caches we wanted to get. 

We then headed towards Coombs, but grabbed a cache in Rathtrevor Provincial Park first, as I am working on a challenge cache(When am I not working on a challenge cache. lol) We stopped in Coombs to check out "Canadas Largest Ammo Can Cache"

This cache is owned by some caching friends of mine called "Coombs wooden shoe"

I was able to log this cache, even though I have in the past. Their store moved, and they were not allowed to move their cache that far, so they archived it, and made it a New Cache.

We then headed over to Qualicum Beach to a Magician friend of mine, for a visit. While there we chatted about caching and he signed up, thinking it would be something cool to do, and they went out and got 2 caches after we left. Lol. We then went into the woods to do a series of caches called "TOTT-HAG XIV"

There was 9 in the series, and then a final puzzle using clues from some of the nine caches. Some of them, you needed different types of "Tools Of The Trade"(TOTT) to find info to move along. One of the caches, we found needed a mirror to read the co-ords for the next stage. I had 2 mirrors with me, but both were 2 big and would not fit inside the cache. I modified one of them and made it work. We got the info needed and moved on. We DNF'd 2 of them, but luckily had enough info to find the Final, which also had a twist to it. 

On the way out we grabbed a cache with a hint that said Magnetic. Now being right near a large metal gate, you would think that it was somewhere on the gate. Nope........there was a steel plate screwed to the underside of an old dead log and the cache was magnetic. (I've seen one like this before, so knew to look elsewhere, than only the Gate)lol

We then headed to another trail to grab 2 last caches for the day. One was called "The Clever Cache" and upon arriving to the trail, I saw a hiking sign. 

I looked closer and saw the hiker on the sign was carrying something interesting. 

I also looked closer at the bottom of the sign and there was the GC number 

Spoiler Alert!!

Hmmmmm, could it be....YUP!!!

We then headed down the trail to find a cache called "Da Vinci's Cryptex" 

It was a cool Cryptex cache. (I have done cryptex caches before but this one was extremely well made)

It took us a bit to get into it, as I had the right answer, but it had to be lined up just perfectly. Susan had more patience than I did and she was able to open it. We then headed for Nanaimo, where we spent the night.

The next morning we headed out and grabbed an adventure lab, and a bonus cache for the AL also. We then made our way towards Ladysmith, where we grabbed a cache at N49 00.000, right on the 49th parallel.

We grabbed a couple other caches in Ladysmith including a Train cache called "T&W Locomotive 11 Replacement" that cachers said was real hard to find, and I spotted it within 30 seconds of looking. lol. We did a virtual nearby, and then headed down island to go on the Skywalk. Its a new structure that was built to walk up and look out onto the ocean. 

  

It even had a slide in the middle to get down. The wait was about an hour and a half for it, so we decided to walk back down. lol

We grabbed the nearby cache and then headed towards the ferry, where we got one more cache and then got the ferry back home. A fun quick trip with Sansue!!

So I have been awarded a 10 stage Adventure Lab to build in part with about 20 other cachers in B.C. and many more across Canada as we put together a series of AL's that travel across the Trans Canada Highway. Should be a fun project!!

I will write more about this in my next blog. Until then, Stay Safe, Get Vaccinated, Wear your Mask, and Wash your Hands!!

Well that's it for this month,

Keep on caching!!

Chris Yuill

Magicman65

Gold Country.....Finally!!!

 Jehovah's wetness

I was contacted by Bob of GBandBob, and he was setting up a group hike to get a cache called "Jehovah's Wetness"

It is a difficulty 3 cache, because you need 2 things...A TOTT(Ladder) and a Low Tide. As you can see in the pictures it is only reachable during a low tide, as it is in the top of a large pipe, that is normally half underwater.

                                                                                This is the location of the cache

We need someone to climb the TOTT (Ladder)

 Yup that's me up there taking a selfie of the group!!!

We found it!!!

We were fortunate to also have the CO (Cache Owner) at the cache site also,

and he(MrGigabyte) was celebrating his 20th year geocaching to the day!!!.

How awesome is that! Especially since Geocaching is only 21 years old.

 The group after the find. Almost like an unofficial event. A lot of people wanted to be there, as most would not have a way to get it without the Ladder and someone brave to climb it. It was a fun find!!!

GOLD Country Caching

So as you may have noticed, the last few blogs I have been talking about a trip up to Gold Country area with Susan (Sansue). The first time we planned this trip several months ago, the weather turned and we decided to postpone the trip. Then about 10 days before we were planning to go the second time, the Province ended up getting travel restrictions. So we set a new date for the 3rd time. And now we have gone....YAY!!!

I have been this way several times before and have gotten quite a few of the caches up here, but this was Susan's first trip up this way.

Day 1:

Historic Yale:

 After a quick Multi cache in Hope, we made our way north. First few caches led up to and thru Yale. We were able to get an Earthcache and a couple other local caches before moving on further North. Just before Alexandra Provincial Park, we grabbed a cache called "Her Majesty's Royal Engineer's" which was a Large Rock Cairn with a plaque. 

The plaque reads:

1859-1927
IN COMMEMORATION OF THE WORK OF
HER MAJESTY'S ROYAL ENGINERS
AND IN RESPECTFUL ADMIRATION OF THE
SKILL AND ENERGY DISPLAYED BY THEM
FROM 1859 TO 1863 IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
THE ORIGINAL CARIOO HIGHWAY
THROUGH THE FRASER CANYON

Alexandra Bridge (The Bridge to Nowhere) Virtual Cache

When arriving at Alexandra Bridge Provincial Park in the Fraser Canyon, take a short walk to the Alexandra Bridge perched over the spectacular Fraser River. Originally, constructed in 1863, the bridge was part of the Cariboo Wagon Road that connected Fort Yale and the south to the Cariboo Gold Fields. I had already got the 4 caches in this Park, but wanted Susan to see the Historic Bridge and river.

As we walked down the trail to the Bridge we noticed Wooden Orange Hearts had been placed thru the trail on the trees. They were placed here to remember the 215 unmarked graves found in Kamloops. So sad to think about it.

Most of them had something written on by other children.

One of the caches we stopped at in the Park was a BCGA Project Bluesky cache. I love the fact that this cache was placed in 2009 and is still the same container. Good quality caches were made by the BCGA. I am proud to have been the VP of the BCGA from 2011 to 2014

We then arrived at the bridge and headed across to grab the cache on the other side, as well as get the necessary picture of Susan on the Bridge to log the virtual. (I had already logged it in 2018)

The 8th Tunnel

Just before Hell's Gate Canyon a cache has been placed at a cool abandoned tunnel, called the 8th Tunnel. This is one of the reasons I love caching. Most people will never see this, but because someone placed a cache there, cachers will experience things like this!!

I did this one already also back in 2018!!

The Fraser Canyon Highway Tunnels were constructed in the late 1950s to about the mid 1960's as part of a Trans-Canada Highway project. There are 7 tunnels in total, the shortest being about 57 metres (190 ft); the longest, is about 610 metres (2,000 ft) and is one of North America's longest. They are situated between Yale and Boston Bar.
In order from south to north, they are:
Yale Tunnel,
Saddle Rock Tunnel,
Sailor Bar Tunnel,
Alexandra Tunnel,
Hell's Gate Tunnel,
Ferrabee Tunnel and,
China Bar Tunnel.
The 8th Tunnel was part of the old Trans-Canada highway that included the Alexandra bridge used in the 1950's before the new highway and tunnels were built.

  

Just before Kanaka Bar we stopped for a cache called "Welcome to Gold Country! South Side" 

There was a huge boulder balanced on another boulder at the cache site. Very Cool. I kept telling Susan to not touch it, as I thought it could fall over. lol

Lytton

Coming into Lytton, Susan got a taste of her first of several Gold Country Caches called :Gold Country-Lytton Chinese History Museum" which was just before town.

Susan finding her first Gold Country Cache. We ended up visiting 44 Gold Country caches during our 3 day trip. There is a total of 148 GC caches.

 We grabbed several Gold Country Caches in Lytton and also a puzzle cache called "Nlaka'pamux, which I had no Idea how to solve it, but had it on the list. Once we got to Town I was still unsure, until something caught my eye!! We then headed up the highway towards Lillooet, grabbing some caches along the road, and even replaced a cache for another cacher. I contacted him before we left for the trip.

 

Note: (5 days after passing through Lytton, they recorded the highest temperature ever recorded in Canada at 49.5 C. and a day later the town burnt to the ground due to a wildfire that ripped thru the town because of the high winds. Very Sad to hear that!!!)

Lillooet 

In Lillooet, we grabbed a couple of GC caches, including the "Old Bridge"

Known today as The Old Bridge, this span was built circa 1911. It is a suspension bridge of steel cables and wood with “dead-men” (cable ends) embedded in the rocky banks of the Fraser. The middle section of the bridge is held up by cables. The bridge replaced a truss bridge, which in turn replaced a winch ferry that was powered by the river’s current and was in use from the 1860s to 1888.

 

This was a very cool cache container. It looked like something you should definitely NOT Touch!! It had cables coming out of it, and it looked as if it was part of the antenna on the other side of the fence. I guess that's why it had 62 fave points.

We then headed up towards Clinton where we grabbed a few more GC caches before stopping for the night, and we got the last hotel room in town...Whew!!! 14 hours of caching and driving and only 41 caches found. But still lots of fun and adventure.

NOTE: The highlighted or underlined words in my blog can be clicked on as they are links to other cool stuff!! Also if you click on any of the pictures they become bigger!!!

Day 2:

Clinton

After a good rest in Clinton, we awoke and headed back southbound. We grabbed a few GC caches that we didn't get the night before on the way into town, and then we headed towards Cache Creek.

Not quite sure how it happened but there was another GC cache in town that was NOT on my list. DOHH! Guess we will have to plan on going there again.

Cache Creek

Grabbed several caches in town and even went to a small nearby community called Walhachin
to grab one. It was a nice drive and some awesome scenery.

Susan caching at the Cache Creek sign!! Yes there is one there!!!

"Howdy cachers, there's a cache behind me!!!"

Ashcroft

After lunch we made our way over to Ashcroft, where besides several caches, we also did 2 Adventure Labs and a bonus cache for each, before heading to Logan Lake.

Logan Lake

In Logan lake we grabbed 4 more GC caches and several cool gadget caches.

Critter Catcher

That Screwy cache

The series of the Logan Lake Gadget Caches (LLGC) were very nicely done, and you really had to think to get into them. One of them called "The Key to Success", the logbook was already in open, but we didn't notice and it wasn't until we had it open and realized it. LOL. We made sure to put it back together correctly for the next finder.

Susan in the Logan Lake Shovel

We then made our way to Merritt, and grabbed another GC cache and then headed out to the old Merritt-Princeton highway which is now called Hamilton Hill road, but should be called Gadget cache alley. There are 7 gadget caches along this road.

Heart of the Lion

The Labyrinth

We only did 4 of them, as we had already done the others on different trips. Some very cool gadget caches out there. One of them was also Susan's 900th cache.

Susan getting her 900th cache while "walking the dog"!!

After that, as it was getting darker, we went back into town, and we went to 9 different hotels until we found one with Vacancy. Yikes. Normally I book hotels in advance from home, but we were not sure how far we would end up each day. 

PS: On the right hand side of this webpage is where you can find my YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram, links. Please feel free to check them out and follow or subscribe!!!

Day 3:

Merritt

We awoke and got out into the early morning heat. It was in the mid 40's while we were there. Yikes. We got several more caches including 6 GC caches and a cool Multi puzzle type cache called "Unlock the Fox" and another puzzle cache before heading down the highway towards Hope. 

"I am Groot"

Hope

 We got into Hope on our way back home, and the first caches we wanted to do was the 4 other multi's to complete the "Bearly Hidden" series of caches. I needed a Multi cache on our first day as I am working on a challenge cache, that is why we only grabbed one on the way thru. We also got all the information at the first stages of them when we came thru town on Day 1 of our trip.

We figured out all the finals while we were in Clinton. The city of Hope has several wood carvings including the Bear carvings that were used for info on this series.      

Rambo and I hanging out!!! The Movie "Rambo-First Blood" was filmed in and around Hope and the Othello Tunnels.

Hard to believe this is all wood!!

Othello Tunnels

The tunnels are on an old rail line and part of the Kettle valley trail.

We only did 2 caches here, 1 traditional, and 1 Earthcache, but we went thru all 5 tunnels.

Our 3 day total was 97 caches, 44 which were Gold Country caches, 7 Multi's, 3 Earthcaches, 4 Puzzles, and 2 Adventure Labs. We traveled a total of 1180km. We didn't get all 150ish that were on the list, but we had lots of fun and adventure.

We are planning another trip to grab a few more GC caches, but it will just be a day trip just past Hope toward Merritt.

I will write more about this in my next blog. Until then, Stay Safe, Wear your Mask, and Wash your Hands!!

Well that's it for this month,

Keep on caching!!

Chris Yuill

Magicman65