It was another nice weekend here in Finland so we headed out for another of our cache hunts.
Close to when we first started GeoCaching we had found a Geo-Puzzle coin.
What is a Geo-Puzzle coin?
Well they are four coins that make up the GeoCaching logo, but in this case they also lead to a cache once you have all four, as each coin has part of the coordinates for the final cache location.
So this is a very sneaky cache as all four parts travel separately around the region, something around the area of a 100km radius, and hide in other caches.
Close to when we first started GeoCaching we had found a Geo-Puzzle coin.
What is a Geo-Puzzle coin?
Well they are four coins that make up the GeoCaching logo, but in this case they also lead to a cache once you have all four, as each coin has part of the coordinates for the final cache location.
So this is a very sneaky cache as all four parts travel separately around the region, something around the area of a 100km radius, and hide in other caches.
Our first piece of the puzzle.Well we kept an eye on the movements of the remaining coins, and when one would come within range we would go and retrieve it, it took some time but we managed to track down three of the coins and upon interrogation get the coordinates from them.
All that was left was the fourth and final coin, well we had noted that the fourth part was deep in the forest, and had not moved for a long time, maybe because of its location deep in the forest, or maybe because the location was some distance out of town.
So back to the main story, sorry but I had to lay the background to this story.
On this particular weekend we had noticed a new cache had been hidden, and it was fairly near to where the fourth puzzle coin was hiding, (see there was a point to the first part of this story), so we set off in search of a possible First to Find and the last piece of the puzzle.
Things started off well, as it did not take us that long to located and capture our first cache, that being the newly hidden, well sadly we were not the First to Find this cache, but we were able to log as Second to Find, although as a bonus we did find a travel ingot.
As it turns out this travel ingot is also part of a series where you have to track down others from its clan and capture the coordinates for the final hunt, although this time they travel in a much smaller radius, just 55km.
All that was left was the fourth and final coin, well we had noted that the fourth part was deep in the forest, and had not moved for a long time, maybe because of its location deep in the forest, or maybe because the location was some distance out of town.
So back to the main story, sorry but I had to lay the background to this story.
On this particular weekend we had noticed a new cache had been hidden, and it was fairly near to where the fourth puzzle coin was hiding, (see there was a point to the first part of this story), so we set off in search of a possible First to Find and the last piece of the puzzle.
Things started off well, as it did not take us that long to located and capture our first cache, that being the newly hidden, well sadly we were not the First to Find this cache, but we were able to log as Second to Find, although as a bonus we did find a travel ingot.
As it turns out this travel ingot is also part of a series where you have to track down others from its clan and capture the coordinates for the final hunt, although this time they travel in a much smaller radius, just 55km.
The Travel Ingot.So we entered the coordinates if the cache that the final puzzle coin was using as it's hideout.
We should have known this was not going to be as easy as first thought, when our navigator first sent us one way, and then another, but finally we found the road it wanted us to take.
I say road using the loosest term possible, at first it was not too bad, but soon the tarmac turned to a dirt road, then that turned into what I can only describe as small rocks compacted to make some kind of trail through the forest, clearly only meant for agricultural vehicles.
Well we found the parking location, a very small clearing next to the rocky road.
We were now about 1km from the cache location.
Leaving the car behind us we started to follow the trail, now of course we expected to find some kind of hiking trail, or a little path through the forest, boy were we ever wrong.
The path we were following soon ran out and we had to make our own path, being careful where we stepped, so as not to disappear into a bog or hidden stream.
Do not get me wrong, the forest was gorgeous, and there were mushrooms everywhere, these we were also careful not to step on.
There were a few bugs around, but nothing seemed to take much interest in us, little did we know that these were just the advance guard.
It took us awhile but we found the location, but we could not find the cache.
Then from out of nowhere came squadrons of Deer-Ked a type of Deer Fly, first attacking Mrs GeoCacher, and then Mr GeoCacher.
We bravely fought them off while trying to search, and just as we were about to give up we found our goal.
Logging as fast as we could, we retrieved the Puzzle coin, and made as fast an exit as we could.
We were surrounded, the cache had unleashed its protectors and they were not about to let us escape that easy.
We must have looked a sight as we stumbled and moved as quickly as we could over the poor terrain, all the while our arms waving frantically trying to beat off the attack, and keep the flies out of each other's hair, necks, and clothing.
Finally making it back to the safety of the car we climbed inside and took off as fast as we dare, still finding these flies in our hair, Mrs GeoCacher must have thrown about 12 out of the car window on our trip home.
Once home we dived for the shower, and even then we were still finding more of these flies, Mrs GeoCacher tried washing them down the sink, but the little buggers just climbed back up and were almost grinning at us in our attempts to get rid of them, although thankfully in the end we did.
We should have known this was not going to be as easy as first thought, when our navigator first sent us one way, and then another, but finally we found the road it wanted us to take.
I say road using the loosest term possible, at first it was not too bad, but soon the tarmac turned to a dirt road, then that turned into what I can only describe as small rocks compacted to make some kind of trail through the forest, clearly only meant for agricultural vehicles.
Well we found the parking location, a very small clearing next to the rocky road.
We were now about 1km from the cache location.
Leaving the car behind us we started to follow the trail, now of course we expected to find some kind of hiking trail, or a little path through the forest, boy were we ever wrong.
The path we were following soon ran out and we had to make our own path, being careful where we stepped, so as not to disappear into a bog or hidden stream.
Do not get me wrong, the forest was gorgeous, and there were mushrooms everywhere, these we were also careful not to step on.
There were a few bugs around, but nothing seemed to take much interest in us, little did we know that these were just the advance guard.
It took us awhile but we found the location, but we could not find the cache.
Then from out of nowhere came squadrons of Deer-Ked a type of Deer Fly, first attacking Mrs GeoCacher, and then Mr GeoCacher.
We bravely fought them off while trying to search, and just as we were about to give up we found our goal.
Logging as fast as we could, we retrieved the Puzzle coin, and made as fast an exit as we could.
We were surrounded, the cache had unleashed its protectors and they were not about to let us escape that easy.
We must have looked a sight as we stumbled and moved as quickly as we could over the poor terrain, all the while our arms waving frantically trying to beat off the attack, and keep the flies out of each other's hair, necks, and clothing.
Finally making it back to the safety of the car we climbed inside and took off as fast as we dare, still finding these flies in our hair, Mrs GeoCacher must have thrown about 12 out of the car window on our trip home.
Once home we dived for the shower, and even then we were still finding more of these flies, Mrs GeoCacher tried washing them down the sink, but the little buggers just climbed back up and were almost grinning at us in our attempts to get rid of them, although thankfully in the end we did.
So we now had all four Puzzle coins coordinates, and would soon be able to go on the hunt final cache.
Two more of the Geo-Puzzle coins, as you can see they even gave Mrs GeoCacher trouble when she was trying to photograph them.That's enough for this time, no seriously it is, do not worry I will return and let you know if we were able to hunt down the final cache.
