Golly "G" Willikers!!

What's Black & White and Metal All Over?

Holden's Hide

Brian Myalgia

Bushwacking in the Mountains - Lost!

It's almost like a miracle when I can convince my two nonchalant teenage boys to do something I want to do. Such was the case this morning, when I talked them into finding a geocache with me. We set out after a cache that was supposed to be hidden by the G on the mountain behind our home.


The view from our house and the trail behind it, is fabulous. Even the boys exclaimed (in cool, undertones) how awesome it was. About this time, Dave was stung by a huge black bee. I'm sure it was not a pleasant experience, but he was extremely manly about it, and he persevered in our hunt.


Unfortunately, I attempted to take a road that I thought would intercept with the trail to the "G". Even more unfortunately, Dave took a deer trail that he though would intercept with it quicker. Before we knew it, we were bushwacking straight up the mountain.


We were all hot, thirsty and exhausted and lost. The boys and Dave managed to maintain an air of dignity and didn't complain much ... to my astonishment. The boys did express their desire to give up a few times, and did point out the futility of our walk a few times. I personally found it very exciting and Dave said later that he pictured himself as Indiana Jones.


Zero didn't complain aloud, but did pant and look confused a lot as if to say, "what is the point of wandering in circles over the mountain through this tall grass?"


There was no trail and the ground was rocky and covered with grasshoppers. Bees and flies buzzed around our heads, and we all seemed to sweat profusely. The two teenage boys forgot to wear deodorant and in spite of being in the great outdoors, I had no trouble know where they were from the wiff of teenage pit juice.


Lost or not, the view was inspiring. Dave and the boys pointed out landmarks from the valley below, while I endeavored to take photos with my iphone.

My plan with all this treasure hunting is to use my iphone for a GPS, camera, ipod and everything I need (except a water container). However, because I was a professional photographer for several years, it is a little humbling to be limited to an iPhone camera which is in a case that causes a dark circle vignette around my photos. Nevertheless, I WILL not give in and start lugging about my professional cameras! I shall stick to the plan.


After bushwacking for an hour or so, we finally gave up and trapesd down into the gully, intercepted with a horse trail, then followed it until we found a road.



We ended up next to a farm. There were large, beautiful mules to greet us. From the farm we found our way on backroads to our home. It was disappointing that we didn't reach the geocache, but the adventure was good for our souls... and for our lazy bodies which needed the exercise.

My assessment of this hunt: 3/4 stars for family adventure and getting lost

Sitting and Watching the Muggles Go By

Now that I've become a treasure-hunting detective I think I may be going a bit bananas over my hobby. My husband and I went out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, an Indian food place called The Bombay House, and afterward I convinced him to help me find a cache in the area.


We walked the streets past new and old buildings, some under construction. I could feel the heat rising up from the pavement, even though it was evening and should have been cooling down.


My husband was a real trooper, playing along with me and pretending he was enjoying the experience. The first geocache seemed to be missing, so he allowed me to drag him to the next spot.


A group of tourists stopped and asked us to recommend a restaurant. We were so full after eating at Bombay House, that we forgot to mention how much we love it and instead directed them to an Italian hole-in-the-wall place called Dolce da Vita.


The hunt led us to these green benches where we sat and watched the muggles walk by. We snooped around in the bushes and felt a little awkward as people saw us scrambling around in confusion.


Eventually we found the treasure hidden in a very clever place. I figured out where it was, but Dave rescued it with a long piece of scrap metal taken from a nearby construction site. We spent quite a bit of time trying to retrieve the little green bottle because it was stuck.



Unfortunately, there was no pen or pencil in the cache and I hadn't brought one on our date... so we were unable to sign the log.


Not many items were included in the cache. We left them, returned the container to it's hiding spot and went back to our romantic date.

My assessment of this hunt: 4/5 for cleverness of hiding spot

Pleasant Orchard

I started this hunt for treasure walking from my home, so I came from the North. The dirt road was hot, dry and dusty and I was listening to Amelia Peabody on my iPod (which doubles as my GPS, because they are both on my iPhone). The book series takes place in Egypt, and I pictured myself an archaeologist in a hot, dry and dusty murder mystery as I walked. It was easy to imagine myself in Egypt because I have visited Egypt twice in the past.


Oddly enough, summers in Egypt are no hotter than summers in Utah, and they are relatively more humid. Egypt is at sea level and is next to the Mediterranean, so compared to land-locked Utah which is 4,500 feet above sea level (and completely deprived of oxygen, I might add), Egypt has more humidity in the air than we do. I often wonder if the deprivation of oxygen and altitude sickness affects the brain cells over time. It would explain the many superstitious, paranoid and vacantly happy residents that live here. It would also explain my lack of concentration on many occasions.


All of these things went through my mind as I was gasping for breath and traversing the brimstone road above a magnificent view of the valley.


Zero seemed rather impatient with his bipedal companion, and kept urging me onward.


At long last, I came upon a magnificent pair of trees, the one on the left being directly where the coordinates seemed to carry me.


A water spill cooled the air and the oxygen from the trees fed my rapidly diminishing brain cells.


I found the box nestled snugly in the "crotch of a tree" as the clue indicated.


Several rubbery treasures awaited me.


I left the cache, signed my name "8 - 1 - 09 Miriam Latour" and re-hid the package in the tree.


The magnificent tree was not an orchard, but it was indeed very pleasant. I could have rested in it's shade for hours with an interesting book, but time being constrained as it all too often is, I went on my way.

My assessment of this hunt: 4/5 stars for water and trees