Night Caching, Roddy style!

The air is damp, the stars are sparkling, the only sounds you hear are the sounds of the steps you take as you wind your way along the many grassy trails leading you along to the next stage, night caching is a fun and adventurous switch from the normal everyday caching experience! Your flashlight lights up a reflector, you are on the right track!! Without warning, something scurries across the trail in front of you, you light up some eyes as a raccoon races for the safety of the overgrowth lining the trail, you jump reflexively, then continue on, chuckling at how very different the night makes the hike!

When we placed our first night cache, we were hoping to come up with something everyone would enjoy while making it a longer experience due to the lack of other night-time adventures in the area!  What we finally came up with is probably one of our best and most creative hides to date, the logs speak for themselves! Goodnight Ramsdell...a NIGHT CACHE!! While not having a LOT of visitors as of yet (it was placed in late fall, so not a lot of winter traffic), those who have braved the night have made us very happy we took the time and effort!

We found our first night cache a few years ago, Tod, Kaboom and I joined up with a group of newly found friends and tackled what I consider one of my favorite finds The Night Beckons You, we then searched for the right spot to place one of our own! If you’ve never found a true night cache (one which you must use both flashlight and GPS to find), do a search or ask around, it’s an experience I highly recommend! Just remember, the woods are a LOT spookier in the dark! J

After getting our night cache published, we couldn’t wait to share it with others, so we hosted an event the night after Halloween last year (2008) and were happy to have sooo many brave souls come out to tackle it with us! After a few hours of sitting around a cozy fire visiting with everyone and eating pizza (THANKS Geopigs), Kaboom and his friend David led the way while I stayed behind with a few who didn’t have time to make the roughly 2+ hour hike! The flashlights dancing along the trails and bouncing off the trees really was an enticing view, I was glad to get out and join up with the group after seeing our homebound friends off…I had a plan to sneak up on the searchers with my scary mask!

Taking a shortcut down a side trail, I quickly found myself just ahead of the group and had to wait for them to pass the trail intersecting the one I was on, the light from their flashlights shot in my direction a few times as they tried to find the next reflector showing the direction to go and I was forced to duck for cover! Luckily, they lit up the right direction and I was free to walk on past behind them, they had no clue I was even there! The night was crisp since it was now Nov 1^st, the stars and moon brightly illuminated the night skies so I had little trouble seeing my way along the familiar trail without flashlight! Knowing how to get back up in front of them, I hustled on and on, soon finding myself in position!

Donning my mask, a large “bat-like” face with huge furry ears and scary fangs jutting from its gaping jaw,  waited for my prey to pass before jumping out and giving the leaders a scare…what fun!! I then joined in and we had a great time talking and walking along in the darkness, what could be better? The group made their way along the long winding trails until finally finding their target and signing the logbook, I think everyone had fun with the surprises we had put in place! Then, on back to the pavilion for some more chatting and sampling of the munchies and beverages (spiced cider…YUM) before everyone parted way for home, one of my favorite events to date!

Interested in placing a night cache? Let me share some tips and ideas with you all! First, make sure you are allowed to use the property after dark, you don’t want to invite people to a park and then have them hassled by the law! Asking for specific permission for a night cache is best all around so the owners (or managers) of the land know what is going on! Second, make sure to find a location which is night friendly…trails clear of debris and trippers (roots or undergrowth which, while easily spotted during the day, could be hidden from view at night), we don’t want anyone getting hurt, do we?? Then, figure out what layout best works for the location and get to it!

Make the searchers use both the flashlight AND the GPS, some say it’s not an actual cache unless the GPS is integral in finding the container (and no,  marking the trailhead isn’t considered integral lol). We did this by starting out with reflectors along the trail leading to a set of coords which then led to another trail marked by reflectors…rinse and repeat until the final which is an ammo box (for us) hidden in a surprising way! Now, using the reflectors sparingly as we did means the searchers will need to work a bit to make the find of the next trail direction, we spread them out so they were just out of view from the light’s beam! When coming to a spot where the searchers need to take notice (such as where the next coords are or where the final is), you need to make it obvious…customarily done with a grouping of three reflectors or even a different colored reflector, make sure to mention how this is done in your write-up!

Remember, the night is a whole different beast, with a little tweaking and some testing, you should be able to come up with something everyone enjoys and you’ll soon see logs like this:

April 22 by coxaaron (330 found)
I love when I get phone calls that ask "Are you feeling adventurous?" Well I had already spent the day hiking Heritage Park and the Kiwanis Trail about 8 miles in all, but said sure what do you have in mind. "Ramsdell Night cache" was the response, how could I turn that down? So myself, Mrs. Coxaaron, Jsin00, and djshoppingcart piled into the geo vehicle and drove off. We had a great time searching out this cache. This is one of my all time favorite caches. From start to finish we had fun. It was a chilly night and the trails were mucky but it was totally worth the effort. and the payout at the end was AWESOME!!! Thanks Team Rod and Tod and KaBoom this was a great adventure!!!! We traded swag snapped some pics and had a great time!!

 March 22 by Jimmy System (1556 found)
Out caching with bosom chum Fusion Chamberlain, NW Ohio ex-pat Elwood Forrest, and her beau Monkeyeyes. This was my first true night cache and it was awesome!
After trying to figure out where to park, we were there and ready to go. Even though the daytime temperatures have been pleasant, it still gets kind of cold at night. So we started off a little bit cold, but after a while of hiking we warmed up a little bit. When we got to the starting coordinates, we realized that I had forgotten the paperwork at home. No problem, we'll just head down this path. And after awhile we saw the first reflectors. Quickly realized that we needed to keep going and before long we found stage one and got the hang of it.
The spring peepers were out in force and very loud. They drowned out pretty much everything else, but I think I heard and owl when we were in a wooded area.
The final was very creatively hidden. We got to the end point and thought we might be lost until someone figured it out. After signing the log, it went back to it's hiding place and off we went.
All in all it took us about 2 hours or so, but they were 2 hours very well spent. This has been one of my favorite caches so far! Thanks for placing it!

Have fun out there, but please do so safely! Who will read these tales if you aren’t around?? 

Rod

Team Rod & Tod w/KAboom
The Cachestalkers