Geocaching October 2022

October was a busy month for geocaching!

The remnants of Hurricane Ian (mostly rain) hit our area on October 1. They did not stop me from finding Eastern Most which is in the eastern most part of Montgomery County, Maryland. The field I had to cross was wet but not swampy and the cache container was dry inside, though the hiding spot was covered by fallen tree leaves and what seemed like dead Spanish moss. 

Easternmost field

I found a multi-cache (a multi-stage search that starts at one location where there's information that leads to another location which might be the final cache or lead to another location...) called Y are the zeebas scared? A LOB. The first location has a sign with a name that would scare zebras. Inputting the name on certitude gives the final coordinates where the actual cache is hidden. With those coordinates (which can be uploaded to one's geocaching account, so no data entry necessary!), I found the container in a nearby parking lot, though not in the spot I thought it would be. The find wasn't too difficult and I was done before the rain picked up again.

The corner of the parking lot

Continuing the in-rain caching, I found Troop 75. The cache was created by a Scouting BSA troop and was on the land of what I assume is the troop's sponsoring unit, a church. The cache was a nice hide on a rope down a hole. As we opened the cache, the rope broke. After signing, we tried retying the rope with a square knot (learned from scouting!) but it broke again. The rope had several extra knots in it so I do not think I was the first to have this problem. Securing the cache near the proper hiding spot, I left a message in the on-line log that the cache needs maintenance. 

Weather improving

After donating platelets at a Red Cross donation center, I found Below Deck. The cache is in a newly-built area that has a bridge over a run-off stream. I guessed the cache was hidden beneath the bridge span. Such a spot was discouraged back in the day when geocachers worried about looking like terrorists--planting suspicious packages at the bases of bridges! This was very unsuspicious and a quick find.

Blue skies!

Manor Walk Cache... is near an old manor house. The area around the house has been turned into single family homes and a small park. A path runs from the housing, past the manor, and into the park. The cache is hidden along the path. I parked by the manor though it seemed like it was private property. Some workman was just outside the house and seemed confused by my presence (the feeling was mutual). I made the find and headed out.

Path toward the manor

Path away from the manor

I found another earth cache, an area of geological interest. Bog Iron Boulders is right by a dinosaur park in Montgomery County, Maryland. The area was mined for iron from the 1600s to the 1900s. Plenty of large rocks still show their ferrous nature. They even leave a rusty color on your hand if you touch them! The area also has lots of dinosaur fossils. A couple of Saturdays a month people can come and help search for bones and such.

Boulders all over

Blue Ball in a Tree is exactly what it says it is. I took a picture as proof, since it's clearly not a spoiler.

Truth in advertising!

My next find was The Purloined Ruby, a cache inspired by an Edgar Allan Poe tale. The inspiration is mostly the unique container, much like the cache above. I made my best mystery face for the cache, though I probably need to work on that.

Maybe more of a horror face

I visited another county park to find Samuel Snowden Home. The cache is hidden by one of the historic mansions in the area. The Snowden family owned most of Montgomery and Anne Arundel Counties before they were counties. They built various homes in the area, including Samuel's Snow Hill Manor. The area was quiet on a Friday morning except for the chirping of the birds. After walking around, I discovered why the area is so popular with the aviary set.

Front of the house

Back of the house

Bird house

As you might guess from the name, Old Masonic Hall is at the old Masonic hall in Odenton, Maryland. The building is now home to the local historical society.

Old Masonic Hall

Zebras, I was Promised Zebras! A LOB. is a companion cache to an earlier find. The puzzle was fun and the find right near the answer to the puzzle.

Zebra graffiti?

Later I found a cache-and-dash called Bread Basket. Across the street from the chain bakery referenced in the title is a cute-looking house. I took the photo from inside my car, which was clearly a mistake. The light post is in the way and either the house can be centered or the post can be center, or possibly neither.

Tough framing job

My final cache of the month was on Halloween. I found Make the Signal for a Truck to Honk (MW#3). It is part of a series of caches along the cache owner's morning walks (thus the "MW"). The cache hangs out over I-95, making it an exciting location to find and to photograph.

View from the cache

The month ends with four days still blank, which I am happy with. The year has a total of 157 finds. November has sixteen blanks and December has eighteen, so I will probably get close to 200 for the year. If I do some multi-find days, I may surpass 200.