Dupont Geocaching

I was so pissed I couldn't go on my trip to Ecuador and Peru because of God Damn Covid so Ben and I headed into Dupont for some caching.  We haven't been there in a while and a lot of new ones published within the last year or so along a neighborhood nature trail.  I looked at the caching map and picked a chunk of them to write down on a list.  

After breakfast, we dressed warmly and headed out to Dupont.  The first one I had on the list was Nisqually Prairie (GC83JNC) but stopped for Stop Monkeying Around (in a tiny tin cache) (GC202Y7) so Ben could find it.  I found it back in 2011 when I was starting out.  I had him find it while I stood there watching him.  I really don't remember it being in that spot when he found it.  

We got back in the Escape and headed to Nisqually Prairie.  It was at the end of an unfinished road.  We parked and saw the sign that talked about Mount Rainier, the prairie and the City of Dupont.  The cache was a magnetic key holder on the back of the sign. We signed our names and put it back where we found it.

The next one was Brought To You From India (GC852G6) and it was one of the caches from Ohjoy's series.  I took some time a few months ago and solved them all.  This was located inside a small wooded area called Andre Park.  I remember coming here years ago with mom to grab a cache that used to be here.  The coords jumped around a lot but with the hint we finally made the grab.

We walked back to the Escape and drove it about a half a mile down the road to the next one, Polka Dot Rock 2 (GC5ENDF).  We parked nearby and walked across the street.  The rock wall ones are very deceiving because it could take you a few minutes or it could take you a long time.  Rock wall caches aren't my favorite hides but this one was fairly easy to pinpoint.  We signed our names, traded toys and hid it back exactly where we found it.

We drove the Escape back to where we came from and found a parking spot near the trail head.  There were six on this trail I had written down to grab.  I figured since it was a nice day we should enjoy it with a walk.

We started up the trail.  It was a well manicured dirt trail that meandered through the neighborhood and the best part was that it contained geocaches.  The first one along the trail was called  The Green Box (GC81Z85) and it was hidden next to a broken Cedar tree.  I let Ben find it.  He pulled it out, we opened it, signed the log and placed it back in its hiding spot.  We checked the phone to see what the next one was.  We trudged on.

We walked past a few people who were out walking their dogs on this dry, sunny spring day.  The Waterproof Box (GC82Q90) was our next target.  When we got to the cache site there were a lot of root balls to check.  I even saw a discarded dog kennel that has been out in the forest for a while.  We finally managed to find the root ball in question.  The coords were off a little.  We got our names on it and put it back.

A Nice Place to Sit (GC8CEYW) was a little further up the trail and the difficulty level was pretty high which meant that it was hard to find most likely.  I was hoping we found it quickly when we got there.  We saw the stump and started looking.  I found it immediately and have no idea why this is rated a 4.5/2.  We scribbled our names on it and put it back where we found it.

We walked down the short embankment and onto the main trail and headed to Xmas Tree Cache (GC8H69C) and without looking at the hint I assumed it was going to be hanging somehow off the tree.  When we got there I was proven wrong.  It was under the tree but the container was pretty cool.  We looked through the swag in the container, signed the log and placed it back under the tree.

The next one, which is one of the older ones in the area (published in 2011), I have no idea why I haven't found this one with all the trips I've taken over the years to Dupont.  I'm not sure why we didn't look for A Cistern or Not (GC30Z6M).  Maybe because we didn't have a lot of time to hike out here?  I don't know.  Anyway, we continued down the trail and saw the huge tower up a head.

We went down and small hill and I noticed the cement structures up a head.  We must be getting close.

I followed the instructions on the cache page because according to the logs there might be two containers here, a lock n lock and a metal container.  The coords were all over the place so I spent some time and read the logs.  Most cachers were having a hard time finding it.  

We looked and looked and looked.  I found a picture someone had posted years ago and oriented myself with it.  We were near the concrete drainage ditch and we could not find it.  I gave it another few minutes and as our luck would have it I finally found the darn thing.  Holy cow!  We had to have been there for at least a half hour looking for it.  I was so glad to find this thing because I didn't want to come back.  We put it back where we found it and maybe the next cacher will be able to find it?  We will see.  

We walked to the end of the trail where it crossed the road to another neighborhood because there was one up here called Mr. Rogers Neighborhood (GC1VRW6) and Ben didn't have it yet.  I grabbed this one back in 2011 on a Dupont run.  I'm still not sure why we didn't grab the other one when we were here then.  I had Ben find the cache since I've already found it.  I don't remember it being where he found it though.  It may have been moved over the years.

We walked the trail back to the Escape and passed some people walking, jogging and walking more dogs.  We were getting cold as it was getting later on in the afternoon.  We drove home and did a couple chores, made dinner, logged our caches and I worked on my blog as we watched some TV.  Ben had to go to work the next day and I had the entire week off because I was suppose to be in Peru but because of God Damn Covid, I had to stay home.

Next Adventures:  My Forced Staycation