It's all catsnfish's fault. If you are sure of nothing else, be sure of that. It is directly attributable to catsnfish.

 

And also Edgar Allen Poe.

 

With that being established, here is the tale of how a lowly little traditional-seeking cacher advanced in find and hide counts, miles on the odometer, amount of mud on the boots, and many other advances that I won't go into... to become an EarthCache PLATINUM MASTER (dum dum dum!)

 

WARNING: LONG!

 

"Once upon a December dreary, while I cached, weak and weary,

For many a quaint and curious 'tainer on Missouri shore"

 

My first EarthCache, admittedly, was rather a throwaway at Schramm State Rec Area, back in 2006. I was less than a year into this thing called caching, I was lucky enough to be caching with a friend who had a digital camera, and the requirements simply called for a photo to be taken at the site. Barring my usual reluctance to have my photo taken, there was nothing to it. I don't have any other photos... and I was destined to return to this spot again, anyway. So.

 

"Ah,", thought I happily, "an easy smiley. Only this and nothing more."

 

"While I focused, quickly snapping, suddenly there came a tapping,

As of some oversight insistently rapping, rapping, impossible to ignore--

"'Tis some oversight," I muttered, "tapping and impossible to ignore--"

 

My second EarthCache was a catsnfish EarthCache - and so I came to their attention. This was L&C Allom Stone Clift, in Ponca State Park, Nebraska. From this park, one can look into South Dakota, Iowa, and Nebraska, depending which way you look. I was camping and caching up in that area in March, '09, and had a conventional film camera with me - so I figured why not! I happily went to the coordinates to view the signs, but alas... no signs. As I stood there, scratching my head, it gradually sank in that hey, I was on a cliff. So I looked down, down, and sure enough - signs! Spent a bit of time kicking myself, and proceeded down - I was too far away to read the signs, from above. Or to search the cliff for fossils, which was the assigned task!

 

"Ah," thought I self-defensively. "an easy mistake to make. Only this and nothing more."

 

 

 

Ah, distinctly I remember it was on the D-Day of June;

And each separate fossil layer stared out from the height of the dune.

 

Then it was back to where I began! The original Schramm EarthCache having been archived, another had been set up in that area (by catsnfish... what are the odds?) And so I resolved, with my non-digital camera, henceforth known as the NDC, to return, get another picture, and answer some crucial questions about fossil layers.

 

I actually had to return there twice - there was a busload of children at the site the first time I went back, and they were very curious! When I came back again, I was alone, so a self-portrait was the only answer... and I'm not going to post that here! (It wasn't a very good answer.) That made 3 EarthCaches - but only in one state. I needed one in another state...

 

"Ah", thought I dubiously, "an EarthCache in Iowa is needed. Only this and nothing more?"

 

Eagerly I wished the excuse;--vainly I had sought why the use

Of the sign's message of welcome-use for those who come--

For the head-scratching puzzled use for those who come--

 

It was at this point catsnfish took me on as apprentice... or something like that! The next EarthCache I went after, I was with Joe of catsnfish, and he took the pic - the NDC was not needed. This would be the cache I needed to get the bronze earthcache ranking. This cache played off the oxbow-creating nature of the Missouri - and it's unpredictability; the questions to answer all related to river research, and I learned a fair bit.

 

Most people assume that the Missouri River is the border between Nebraska and Iowa... and normally, it is. Except for Carter Lake, IA, which found itself on the wrong side of the river, due to an ice jam and a shift in the course of the river 1.25 miles SE in 1877. Given that Carter Lake partly surrounds the Omaha airport, it has caused endless confusion to travelers not aware of this oddity, and endless amusement to people who are, when they pass the "Welcome to Iowa" signs! It took them well over a decade to straighten out all the legalese afterward. It's also spawned a pair of caches along "Iowa's Shortest Highway", which is completely surrounded by Nebraska.

 

"Ah", thought I cheerfully, "THAT'S why! A mischievous river! Only this and nothing more."

 

And the silken, hurried, undirected rushing of each bubbling cascade

Thrilled me--filled me with fantastic desires to get in and wade;

 

Later on that June, my father (in the pre-Untrackable Geodad days) came from Arkansas for a visit, and we went up to Huron, SD where my mother is buried. On the way back, we passed through Sioux Falls, SD - you know what is coming, next, don't you? There are two EarthCaches in that city, coincidentally enough centered on... the Big Sioux River Falls! He was perfectly willing to wander the park with me, collecting information and measurements, and I even bought him ice cream after!

 

The falls have wore down to the pink quartzite bedrock underlying the region, which was highly prized for buildings all throughout the area. That was the focus of many of the signs, and one of the requirements was to get a photo taken next to an old mill. It's in the background of the photo below.

 

"Ah," thought I wistfully, "if only I had my bathing suit - only this and nothing more!"

 

So that now, to stop the biting of my skin, I ran swiftly,

"'Tis some mosquitoes seeking a snack buzzing in my ear--

Some blasted mosquitoes seeking a snack buzzing in my ear;--

 

Well, I'd studied fall and cliff and river... what was next? I needed more! I needed to get that silver EarthCache pin! What was next?

 

What indeed! How about this?

 

 

Well, okay, technically that wasn't the site of any of the three EarthCaches I nabbed in Florida, on the way from Miami to Key West - but who could resist that scene? I went to Florida in July of last year - the story of THAT trip is in another Chronicle, so I won't repeat myself too much. But by the time I was done, I'd studied the effect of tides, the geological composition of the Florida Keys, and beaches and reefs! Not to mention learning firsthand about the ferocious Florida Mosquito...

 

"Ah", thought I frantically, "What can save me? A can of OFF? Only this and nothing more??"

 

Presently my surprise grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,

"Sir," said I, "and Madam, truly in your debt I am forever more;

 

Having little money for travel, oddly enough, for the next few months, I bumped around eastern/central Nebraska, collecting smileys and educating myself on alluvial fill terraces (thanks, catsnfish!); the nature and origin of natural springs; aquifers, water tables and river velocities (thanks, catsnfish!); and the nature of saline wetlands. Yes, all of the above can be found in Nebraska - it's not /just/ prairie, y'know. EarthCaches #10 - 14. The numbers were climbing... at EarthCache #12, Borrow Pits, I earned my gold pin. Of course, I had to also place 2 caches for that - but we'll get to those.

 

 

 

 

Somewhere during those months, I was given a shiny, pink digital camera (thanks, catsnfish!), to replace the NDC; this would make things a lot easier and save a ton of money on developing film.

 

"Ah," thought I gratefully, "Now I only need to supply batteries. Only this and nothing more!"

 

But the waypoint I was recalling, and so gently water came falling,

And so faintly water came falling, falling from the white ore,

That I scarce was sure I heard it"--here I studied the type of ore;----

 

And then it was Thanksgiving... Texas, anyone?

 

When I'd started out with a Garmin Geko 101, back in January '06, I was living in Las Vegas. My first caches were desert caches. But I had no desert-themed EarthCaches - yet. Though the Sandhills of Nebraska are full of cacti (ouch!) and rattlesnakes (eek!), and sand (naturally), so is part of Texas, around Killeen. And I was visiting family, so... naturally I dragged them with me to observe an ephemeral desert stream and waterfall, and categorize layers of rock. Again, another Chronicle has a more complete accounting. I'll just post this picture and move on. Space's filling up!

 

"Ah," thought I observantly, "So little rain lately, the fall is a trickle. Only this and nothing more."

 

 

 

 

Deep into that stone field clearing, long I stood there wondering, peering,

Theorizing, studying rocks no mortal ever dared to study before;

 

Well, what do you know... on the way back from Texas, our plane landed in Kansas City, MO - and a detour into Kansas STATE won't take too long, will it?

 

"Dad, let's swing through Topeka. And, oh, yes, while we're at it, let's get these two EarthCaches nearby."

 

I was closing in... I could taste that platinum pin! (It tasted metallic, in case you are wondering.) And so we journeyed into Kansas, to claim yet another state, and learn more about glacial erratics (boulders picked up and dumped somewhere else) and river channel deposits / cliff erosion. Oddly enough, the boulders we studied were pink quartzite. I wonder now if they came from Sioux Falls - same type of rock! They plainly didn't belong - the rest of the rock around was a boring grey.

 

 

"Ah," thought I curiously, "Why the hole in the rock? Was it from ice? Only this and nothing more?"

 

But the quest was marked as won, and nothing remained undone,

And it certainly had been fun, of earthcaches full score

These I placed, and reflection proudly glinted back the pins I wore--

 

2009 inevitably rolled on into 2010, and just as inevitably, clouds rolled in and dumped a lot of snow... Omaha set a record for most days with snow on the ground, this past winter. My caching suffered as a result. (I could hear it crying at night.) But that brings us to March, and familiar territory for the last three EarthCaches to complete a set of 20. When in doubt, look to your own backyard - particularly if a river runs through it!

 

One cache took me out on a walking bridge over the mighty Mo, to study how man's efforts to control the river have changed it; one took me up a tall tower (with catsnfish, male, practically pushing me up the stairs - did I mention my fear of heights?) to study what used to be the Missouri River valley; and the final cache had me studying samples of dirt from both sides of a road - on one side loess soil; on the other, plain river mud. Astonishing what difference 100 feet can make!

 

 

 

And that made 20... but just finding them isn't enough - you have to develop 3 or more to complete the quest for platinum. How I came to do that is a tale for another time, but here's some sneak peeks for the three caches:

 

Mission Possible: The Smith Falls Adventure (picture taken from Wikipedia, alas)

Mission Possible: Mammoth Springs

Mission Possible: Boyer Chute

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Ah", thought I finally, "There is nothing more to say. Only this, and nothing more..."

 

...UNTIL NEXT CHRONICLE - CHEERS!

                                        

By Sioneva

 

 

 

 A strangelet is a hypothetical object consisting of a bound state of roughly equal numbers of up, down, and strange quarks. An equivalent description is that a strangelet is a small fragment of strange matter. The term "strangelet" originates with E. Farhi and R. Jaffe. Strangelets have been suggested as a dark matter candidate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Comments(1):

1. Accomplishment Pins for Earthcaches?

   mething I must check this out...evermore! :)

   Thursday, April 29, 2010 Terry