Geocaching II - The Gravity Network

So I got my Garmin eTrex Venture HC GPS unit yesterday and found my first geocache today. I went out at lunch time, having barely learned how to download coordinates into the GPS unit, and drove to a nearby park to find my first cache.

The cache is called Peace Park, named for a small monument near the cache. It took me about 15 minutes to find it. If I had known more about how the GPS unit worked (no, I did not read the manual), I would have found it much quicker.

I felt pretty conspicuous while hunting. The cache is hidden on the edge of a grassy clearing, but I was quite visible from the main road walking back and forth by the tree line. The area is a former notorious hangout area for, um, men seeking the company of other men. That aspect of the park has been removed thanks to vigorous policing, but the stigma remains.

The cache was hidden in the split of a tree, about 4 feet off the ground. At the base of the split there there is a hollow that you cannot quite see from where you stand. Leaning in the crook of the split was a stick. I noticed a string on the end of the stick, dangling down into the hollow. I picked up the stick and Hola! there was a sealed container at the end of the string. It was barely larger than a pill bottle.

Inside was some sheets of note paper rolled around a pencil. I found the last entry in the notes, added the current date, my geocaching name "noresponse", and a note that it was sunny, quiet, and the swans were on the lake.

I replaced the notes, sealed the container, and put the stick back.

I then drove down the street to park in the lot of the larger (and less notorious) Tercentennial Park.

Right after I parked, I ran into my co-worker Nancy who is on vacation this week. She was walking the park and saw my distinctive purple car. I showed her my new mastery of the GPS. It indicated that there was another cache located across the street from where we were standing.

We both set off back to find the Farm Pond Trail cache. We found this one in about 10 minutes, after having to back-track around a swampy area.

This cache was the size of a quart Tupperware container. Also wedged into the crook of a spreading tree, it was located off the path, down in a depression with some standing water next to the tree. The container had the log book and pen sealed in a plastic baggie, along with LOTS of little tchatzkies. There were figurines, pens, laminated cards, and geo-coins. We signed the log book, carefully put the container back, and left.

When I got back to the office, I logged onto www.geocaching.com and recorded by first 2 finds!

I also noticed that the web site tracks the USGS markers - those round metal disks you find at the peak of mountains with the notation about the year of the survey and the exact altitude.

I looked up the location of the one closest to the office and found this interesting excerpt from the official USGS recording of the marker: "The modeled gravity was interpolated from observed gravity values. The observed gravity was obtained from relative gravimeter ties to the IGSN71 gravity network."

If you have not done so recently, don't forget to thank those good folks who keep our gravity network operating at peak efficiency.