Cache #9 - Greg Crittenden Memorial Park Cache

Name/URL: Greg Crittenden Memorial Park Cache
Coordinates: N 39° 01.959 W 077° 29.787
City: Ashburn, VA
Date: 1/27/07
Result: Success
Joined By: Pete/Sam/Christy/Brian
Taken: Scary finger puppet
Left: Red ninja
Log Book: Signed
Notes: Good place to come for baseballs, but not conducive to hiking.
Has this cache been subsequently found by others? Yes

Cache #8 - Reminiscing of Upstate NY Cache

Name/URL: Reminiscing of Upstate NY Cache
Coordinates: N 39° 00.482 W 077° 26.410
City: Ashburn, VA
Date: 1/17/07
Result: Success
Joined By: Pete/Sam
Taken: Nothing; Too small
Left: Nothing; Too small
Log Book: Signed
Notes: Stopped here on way home from BK right down the block. Was very similar to Backside of the Buffalo. Pete re-hid the cache. First to sign the new log.
Has this cache been subsequently found by others? Yes

Cache #7 - Backside of the Buffalo

Name/URL: Backside of the Buffalo
Coordinates: N 39° 01.712 W 077° 29.225
City: Ashburn, VA
Date: 1/17/07
Result: Failure
Update: Success 1/24/07 (w/ hints from 5OutdoorAdventurers)
Joined By: Just Mike
Taken: Nothing; Too small
Left: Nothing; Too small
Log Book: Signed
Notes: Thrown off a bit the first time by the coordinates and red herring photos in the logs. Found without too much difficulty the second time, after waiting for the smokers to go back into Buffalo Wing Factory. Real coords are probably W 077° 29.223.
Has this cache been subsequently found by others? Yes

Cache #6 - Lots of Men

Name/URL: Lots of Men
Coordinates: N 38° 55.673 W 077° 22.512
City: Reston, VA
Date: 1/23/07
Result: Success
Joined By: Brian
Taken: Nothing
Left: Nothing
Log: Signed
Notes: Had to grab this one, since a few feet away from one of our regular lunch spots. Standard lightpost cache.
Has this cache been subsequently found by others? Yes

What's Up, South Riding?

Another advantage of our move in 2005 from South Riding to Ashburn is that there are absolutely no caches any where in or around South Riding. That is pretty lame for a community with that many people. In contrast, Ashburn has dozens of caches.

Maybe we will place one in South Riding on a future trip there. The only problem is that it is a bit far for us to go for when the cache needs maintenance.

Cache #5 - Fifteen Two

Name/URL: Fifteen Two
Coordinates: N 38° 59.171 W 077° 19.645
City: Great Falls, VA
Date: 1/15/07
Result: Success
Joined By: Brian
Taken: Nothing
Left: Nothing
Log Book: Signed
Notes: We parked at N 38° 59.352 W 077° 19.845 - would have been better off at the trailhead at N 38° 59.171 W 077° 19.645. Also, the coordinates in the solved puzzle seemed to be about 75 feet away from the ultimate location. Fortunately, Gaiter Man had found the cache as we were correcting our course. We left our trinkets in the car, so sadly we could not take anything (will save them for the next cache). Pete and Sam had to remove their shoes to wade across the little stream at the end. Sam also spotted a turtle along the way (see pic). Also, you can see that Brian thought it would be fun to take a picture of his ipon in the cache and post it on the site to see if that drums up greater interest. Note Sam's rugged footwear. Pete made it all the way there, and most of the way back.
Has this cache been subsequently found by others? Yes

Event Cache #4: NoVAGO Kickoff and Caching

Name/URL: NoVAGO Kickoff and Caching
Coordinates: N 39° 02.700 W 077° 30.115
City: Ashburn, VA
Date: 1/14/07
Notes: This was a meeting of the Northern Virginia Geocaching Organization at the Ashburn Library.

NoVAGO Kickoff

I was able to attend some of the NoVAGO Kickoff meeting at the Ashburn library. Since Christy was out of town for the weekend, I was only able to attend for about 30 minutes before picking up Pete and Sam.

It was interesting to see some of the faces for cachers I have seen in the logs for all of the local caches. I also saw some sample caches, and learned about how they run the organization. Now that we are signed up with NoVAGO, we can attend some of the upcoming events.

Cache #15 - Are the Cravens Really Resting?

Name/URL: Are the Cravens Really Resting?
Coordinates: N 39° 01.467 W 077° 28.822
City: Ashburn, VA
Date: 1/6/07
Result: Success
Joined By: Just the four of us
Notes: We spent about 30 minutes searching and ran out of ideas and time. Will return. Returned 7-8 times before the CVS drive thru was empty enough to grab this under the lightpost skirt.

Cache #3 - All About the View

Name/URL: All About the View
Coordinates: N 39° 00.242 W 077° 32.394
City: Brambleton, VA
Date: 12/31/06
Result: Success
Joined By: Tom, Jackson (for first part of search)
Taken: Nothing
Left: Nothing
Log Book: Signed
Notes: This was a fun one. Started out with Pete, Sam, Tom, and Jackson at N39 00.911 W77 32.556, a small outcropping by the reservoir. Trails were unpassable, and we were .76 miles away, so abandoned area and drove through a new development, then through some very muddy trails which became unpassable. Mike, Pete, Sam (in backpack) hiked about .4 miles through some rough terrain and barbed wire to finally locate the spot and (eventually) the cache (which had a nice "view"). On the way out, the game warden and several police cruisers were waiting for us. They informed us that the land was not public, and they also found a hunter out there shooting a few days earlier. We were released on our own recognizance, and proceeded to Tom's house to watch the Eagles defeat the Falcons and clinch the NFC East title.
Has this cache been subsequently found by others? Yes

Cache #2 - Caching 101 in Herndon

Name/URL: Caching 101 in Herndon
Coordinates: N 38° 59.429 W 077° 22.976
City: Herndon, VA
Date: 12/30/06
Result: Failure
Update: Success 1/18/07 (Mike/Brian, with hints from Banshee Reeks)
Left: Skull and star
Took: Spyro game
Joined By: Brian, Patti
Notes: We quickly arrived at the approximate location, spent about an hour looking without success. Pete wanted to keep searching, but Sam had enough. Will have to return sometime.
Has this cache been subsequently found by others? No

Cache #1 - Betwixt and Between

Name/URL: Betwixt and Between
Coordinates: N 39° 00.803 W 077° 22.442
City: Sterling, VA
Date: 12/30/06
Result: Success
Joined By: Brian, Patti
Notes: This was our first ever attempt at geocaching. Found fellow geocacher Banshee Reeks. He had returned the cache just before we arrived. He joined us on the next cache as well.
Taken: Nothing
Left: One dime
Log Book: Did not sign
Has this cache been subsequently found by others? Yes