I am posting this at the risk of upsetting my cat loving sister.  Jane, I apologize.

My post last October about the unfortunate feline in Anoka seemed like a one-of-kind event.  But running into a second black cat, lying dead within feet of a hidden geocache, is just outright strange.  While geocaching my way home from the events in Hudson, WI last weekend, I spotted a geocache, Welcome to RiverFalls! (GC17QDN) by Hike and Seek, located near the River Falls city limits as I approached from the north on highway 35.  It seemed like an easy find so a stop was in order.  As I approached ground zero of the cache, I immediately knew something wasn't right.  Upon closer inspection, it was clear that I had stumbled upon another unlucky kitty.

Whatever happened to the notion of nine lives?  I know crossing the path of a black cat is not good but I would not have thought that would affect the cat.  Was this just really bad luck or was this another despicable act of feline murder?  Fellow geocacher Norvina and I surmised that kitty may have been hit by a car.  Still alive, it managed to climb its way to the final resting place in the tree where it passed into cat heaven.

Another Despicable Act or More Bad Luck? Unlucky kitty lying in tree within feet of the geocache.

Another Despicable Act or More Bad Luck? Nine lives come and gone.

Win Big Cache (GC1VQB6) by bflentje

Ever since I stumbled upon the GDLibrary (graphics device library) while working on a web project, I've been wanting to create a geocaching puzzle that involved dynamic web images.  Building a functional slotmachine as the puzzle seemed like a fun idea.  After hours of scouring around the Internet for the slotmachine images, I had what I needed to begin.  The slotmachine was written in Classic ASP (Active Server Pages) and is able to be embedded into a geocache listing because it looks and acts like nothing more than an image tag.

As a geocacher looking to score the find, the only way to solve the puzzle is to click the spin button on the slotmachine and hope for good odds.  You are awarded the coordinates, in part or in full, by hitting a winning combination as defined by the payout schedule or by scoring a jackpot.

While geocaching today in St. Paul Park, MN, fellow geocacher bowersm and I ran into a potentially explosive siutation.  We were searching in the snow for Ouch!! I stubbed my toe  (GC1R1QF) by pswith5 when we stumbled upon this funky looking orange plastic device.  Inside the plastic contraption was a metal cylinder with an orange wire connected to it.

At first I thought I had discovered the elusive geocache and that it was some strange container.  I wasn't the most gentle as while geocaching I usually get down and dirty.  Upon further inspection, we noticed the orange device had written on the side of it in big, bold, raised letters, EXPLOSIVE.  At that point we realized it probably wasn't the geocache.  I took a deep breath and gently placed the device on the ground.  After some debate about what to do, bowersm and I decided it would probably be wise to report it.  We routed the GPS to the city police department and made a report.  We can only assume the issue was dealt with as the officer on duty taking our report didn't seem interested.

After an exhaustive search on the Internet, we determined that this device is undoubtedly a live blasting cap.  During our search, we also found reports and photographs of various hands and fingers allegedly blown apart by blasting cap misuse.  Real or not, one of these devices exploding in your hand, or worse, in your face, cannot be a good thing.  Be careful out there.

A Potentially Explosive Situation We found the device tucked next to the giant boulders.

A Potentially Explosive Situation The device up close.

Geocaching legend King Boreas held his 6th Annual Halloween Hoopla geocaching event on Halloween this year.  It usually takes place on the first Saturday prior to Halloween but since Halloween was also on a Saturday this year, they were celebrated the same day.

I do not attend geocaching events consistently but there are a couple of events I do NOT miss.  Halloween Hoopla is one of them.  This was my fourth year attending and each year the event seems to get bigger and bigger.  I would guess that if the crowds keep multiplying each year as they have, this event has potential to go Mega within a couple of years.  According to King Boreas, a mere 17 people attended the first event back in 2002.  This year, 107 geocachers logged the event as attended and the speculation is that over 200 people actually attended the event throughout the day if you count families and children.

Enjoy the photographs.. 

Halloween Hoopla -- All Hallows' Eve King Boreas at the check-in table.	Halloween Hoopla -- All Hallows' Eve Good-boy explaining his tactics.	Halloween Hoopla -- All Hallows' Eve Norvina and Good-girl.
Halloween Hoopla -- All Hallows' Eve Meralgia dressed as a geocache and attempting to get signed.	Halloween Hoopla -- All Hallows' Eve Coughin Up A Lung paid a visit to the event.	Halloween Hoopla -- All Hallows' Eve Group photograph of the Halloween Hoopla attendees.

This morning during the 8AM segment of AM1500 KSTP's Patrick Reusse radio show, my geocache named Halloween 2008 BONUS: Coughin Up A Lung was mentioned.  Reusse interviewed fellow geocacher Andrew McCracken about geocaching in response to last week's article in the Minneapolis StarTribune.

You can listen to the segment using AM1500 KSTP's On Demand feature by clicking here.  The interview about geocaching starts right at 14:04, fourteen minutes and four seconds, into the segment.  If On Demand does not work for you, you can also find the segment in the iTunes Store by searching on Patrick Reusse, October 27th, 2009, hour 4.  You can also download the segment in MP3 format directly from here.

You can read about the construction of the geocache by clicking here.  You can read more about incident by clicking here.  You can also read my response to the county contemplating the issuance of a citation by clicking here.  You can read the Sheriff's Department Newsletter here.

This is the second article published in Thisweek newspaper and the story is still not correct about the incident involving my geocache named Halloween 2008 BONUS: Coughin Up A Lung.

You can read the article online on the Thisweek Live website  by clicking here.

Since Thisweek is not capable of any investigative work, let me make a couple of comments to help set the record straight.  First, the geocache was not something left over from Halloween.  Guidelines on geocaching.com forbid temporary geocaches.  Coughin Up A Lung was not temporary and it was not just left over.  It was a viable, active, popular, and highly maintained geocache.  The geocache logged over 40 finds in it's short 8 month life, and considering it was a mystery cache, this was a phenominal feet.  The second thing to be pointed out is that the article implies there was something inherently dangerous about this cache.  Nothing could be further from the truth..  it was nothing more than a Halloween prop, not so different than what I see on my neighbor's front porch during the Halloween season.  The actual geocache container was the typical container used in geocaching; a painted .30 caliber ammunition can purchased at Fleet Farm.  The container was stuffed with child friendly Halloween themed trinkets purchased from Target Stores.

One thing is for certain, the article speaks volumes about the REAL reason for the harrassment I received from the Sheriff's Department earlier in the year.  It had NOTHING to do with geocaching and everything to do with saving face.  I would imagine the embarrassment caused by the needless deployment of county assets meant someone should pay.

You can read about the construction of the geocache by clicking here.

You can read more about incident by clicking here.  You can also read my response to the county contemplating the issuance of a citation by clicking here.  You can read the Sheriff's Department Newsletter here.

It seems as if geocache Halloween 2008 BONUS: Coughin Up A Lung just won't die.  It was featured in the Minneapolis StarTribune today as the centerpiece for policy change in Dakota County Parks.  Like all previous articles, this one too lacked historical detail of the geocaching incident.

You can read the article online at Minneapolis Star Tribune website for yourself by clicking here.

You can read about the construction of the geocache by clicking here.

You can read more about incident by clicking here.  You can also read my response to the county contemplating the issuance of a citation by clicking here.  You can read the Sheriff's Department Newsletter here.

While searching for Anoka Skyline (GC1NGV3) by blueirocguy, a geocache on or near the municipal parking ramp in downtown Anoka, I stumbled upon a gruesome scene.  I was on the top deck looking down between the decking and the south facade of the structure.  I noticed something very funky as I was looking for what was supposed to be a geocache..  even from where I was standing I could tell that it was something quite out of place.  Now curious, I drove down to the next level and checked it out up close.

What I found may disgust you.  A female cat, stuffed between the deck and the facade, obviously in a permanent sleep, paws crossed.  You be the judge, was this a despicable act of feline murder or did this cat just have really bad luck and end up here on its own?  We sat and contemplated calling the authorities but what would it gain?  The cat would still be dead and my geocaching day would most likely be over.  I felt terrible but moved on.  I never did find the geocache.

A Despicable Act or Really Bad Luck? Bottom center, you can see kitty.

A Despicable Act or Really Bad Luck? It looks like foul play to me, but you never know.

It was brought to my attention this morning by a coworker that my archived geocache Halloween 2008 BONUS: Coughin Up A Lung was written about in one of the local newspapers.  The Burnsville and Eagan edition of Thisweek newspaper contained an article about the incident and how it is leading to a new geocaching policy in Dakota County.  What the article lacked was the history and details of what really happened during the incident.

You can read the article online for yourself by clicking here.

You can read more about incident by clicking here.  You can also read my response to the county contemplating the issuance of a citation by clicking here.  You can read the Sheriff's Department Newsletter here.

Last year I hosted Minnesota's First Ever Canoe-in Geocaching Event.  It was such a success that this year, on Saturday August 22nd, 2009, I hosted Minnesota's 2nd Annual Canoe-in Geocaching Event.  The venue was the same this year and was held on the beautiful Cannon River.  We dropped our boats in at the Cannon Falls landing and paddled to the landing at Miesville Ravine Park Reserve.  Paddling geocachers had fifteen geocaches, eight of which were new, to find along the 6.5 mile journey.  Festivities following the run down the river included a picnic and social hour.  A new addition to the event this year was the sweet corn feed, of which everyone seemed to enjoy.

I do not have a precise head count of event attendees but there were 43 RSVPs, 38 geocachers logged the event electronically, 54 individuals signed the paper log, and the shuttle bus was standing room only.  The event was attended by some geocaching legends, a handful of fresh, new, geocachers, and every level in between.  It was difficult to get a boat count this year but I do have confirmation that the Cannon Falls Canoe Rental shop ran out of canoes and had to place inexperienced paddlers in kayaks.

Enjoy the photographs (click thumbnails for larger view)..

Minnesota's 2nd Annual Canoe-in Geocaching Event Gathering at the top of the river.	Minnesota's 2nd Annual Canoe-in Geocaching Event Who's riding with who?	Minnesota's 2nd Annual Canoe-in Geocaching Event My paddling companions, my little Laura and friend Ryan.
Minnesota's 2nd Annual Canoe-in Geocaching Event A geocache stop along the river.	Minnesota's 2nd Annual Canoe-in Geocaching Event Landing near geocache Cotton Picking Goodness.	Minnesota's 2nd Annual Canoe-in Geocaching Event Paddling down the lazy river.
Minnesota's 2nd Annual Canoe-in Geocaching Event Relaxing after the long paddle.	Minnesota's 2nd Annual Canoe-in Geocaching Event A view of the picnic.	Minnesota's 2nd Annual Canoe-in Geocaching Event The attendance log.