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BIG BEAR at Firestone GC78


BIG BEAR A

GC78 Firestone by Scott Hinds

BIG BEAR’s birthday wish was to do this cache, it was published 10/02/2000 called Firestone.  It is located near Bodega Bay, North of San Francisco. So after biking the Golden Gate park earlier in the day, we jumped in the Jeep and headed north up Hwy 1 to the cache location.  The road into the cache was winding but it was a beautiful drive.

This was rated a 1/1 but we parked at the closest point and walked over, looked down and thought no way this is a 1 terrain.  We did see a trail though and later found out if you parked at the Trail Head (which we passed on the way up to the cache) that you could have an easy hike into this cache that was a terrain of 1.    Since we were at the closest point we through caution to the wind and started our way down to the cache, our terrain was about a 4.  It was very steep, but the views were extraordinary… it was beautiful.  There was no fog and we got there just about Sunset to witness one of the prettiest views of the ocean.

There aren’t too many of these old caches left and this one filled in a spot, or rather a date on our “Finds by Placed Month” calendar.  The caches with the older years for 2000 and 2001 are few and far between.  They were published when Geocaching was just beginning and now are very sought after caches.  On Firestone at the time there are only 260 finds for the cache.  For being published 11 years ago you would think there would be a lot more finds.  I hope this cache stays active, the owner has stated on his cache page that he has moved and it is difficult for him to maintain it, the Geocaching family is pretty good however at helping to maintain caches if they know that the owner can’t do it himself.  Trying to fill in the Jasmer Challenge Calendar: GC1GBC1 The Jasmer Challenge (Northern California Edition) by jasmerb

This cache for me will be remembered for not only the numbers it fills in for me but the memory of one of the most beautiful spots I have ever been to, and we ended the day by watching the sun go down. Perfect ending to a perfect caching day and it was a great way to honor my best friend’s birthday!

Happy Birthday BIG BEAR!

BIG BEAR’s Birthday Caching Weekend


BIG BEAR and Sean strategizing

It’s BIG BEAR’s Birthday and what does he want to do? You got it, Geocache!  We met up with our good friend Sean Stafford at San Francisco Golden Gate  Park to cache the park on our bikes.  We are off at 9:30 Sunday morning with what looked like a perfect day in front of us.  Starting cache: GC256C6 Crossroads by irwinSports and then heading East staying on the bike trails and walking our bikes in areas where bicycles were not allowed.

BIG BEAR and Sean

The caches are varied for the most part, some were just baggies with logs in not so great shape, and then some were lock n locks that have been replaced or are showing their age.  It seems to be very hard to maintain a cache in the park because of the homeless and just the non stop visitors with children and dogs.  Caches have to be hidden well to not be a target for a muggle.

Tru2Cntry and Sean

We found all but  a couple of the caches we set our GPS‘s on, and the different locations were all fun places to visit in the part.  Some of the caches offered up some history, while others were memorials to War Heroes or Aids victims, but all were great fun to track down.  It was a great place to take the bikes and ride to cache and also get to visit one of the most beautifil places in San Francisco.

I had never been to Golden Gate Park and while we rode most of the day, quitting at 2:30 only allowed us to ride and cache half of the park, we still have another half of the park left to see for a future Caching Adventure.   It was a great way to spend the day with BIG BEAR and Sean, caching and biking in a beautiful park to celebrate BIG BEAR’s birthday.

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English: Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gat...

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