Our first cache was called "Birds Of A Feather." It was a multi-part puzzle cache; a tough one for newbies, but we didn't know that at the time. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into, but after about an hour of flailing around inside the airport breaking out the clues, and another two deciphering and tracking down the other parts and other clues, we were hooked. Here is our first log:

[log] This was our first cache and it was a lot of fun with a puzzle and decrypting. Living in the area we thought we knew about where the cache would be and then were a bit surprised when it was entirely somewhere else. Then, we couldn't find it after walking past it a half dozen times. We spotted a red dice within a foot of it and thought that it had been vandalized and the dice was all that was left. Then, just when we were about to give up, Penny spotted it. Our GPS had gotten us within 10 feet. We took a CD (Great folk music) and left the dice, an address book, a tape measure/level, and a sea shell from South Carolina.

We didn't obtain any pictures on this first caching adventure, not realizing how into this we were going to get. Eventually, we would wind up carrying two cameras, his and hers. Most of the animal pictures belong to James. Most of the flower pictures belong to Penny. Everything else we often don't remember who gets the credit. Check out this great picture of animal poop on the right, better known as scat. Yes, we really did take that picture and many more just like it. Pretty exciting, no doubt!!

And so we headed off to our second cache, becoming rather excited that we managed two caches in one day. With each cache we learned. On this one we learned to wear hiking shoes, to set a waypoint at the car so we can find our way back, and to be prepared for anything, and also to carry maps.

[log] This was the second of two caches today. We put the location into our eTrex and started the approach from the Southwest. We got as close as .8 mile (the instructions said .1 mile). We should have suspected something right then, but adventurous as we are, we parked and headed out. Fortunately we set a waypoint on the car or we would still be wandering around out there. It was still easy travel until we arrived to within 800 feet - above it. What was a basic 2 in difficulty up to that point suddenly turned into a 4. By the time we located it and then trekked our way back to the car, we were whipped. We took a bag of cat stickers and left a bear. This would have definitely been easier if we had started from somewhere north of the city, in the Valley.

This is our GPS tracking map for our first two caches, Birds of a Feather and Buck or Less

The following Saturday, April 24th, we headed out again, our GPS's loaded with new adventures, our camera loaded with, ah, a chip. This one took us south toward Clancy, and then up Lump Gulch Road into the mountains.

[log] Nice cache but a bit difficult for the hiker-challenged. We could have parked closer if we had our topo maps, which we did but didn't know it till later. We took the power bar (Penny needed it) and the spider ring and left a CD by Colin Raye "Extreme". Penny thought the name was very appropriate. It was a nice 1.3 mile hike in and 1.9 mile hike out. Don't know how my GPS got us in the wrong direction. The view from the final location was great.

We started out on foot following the bearing line straight over and around all the granite boulders. The woods were gorgeous, filled with huge pines and tiny purple pasque flowers and shooting stars. After a few misses we found the cache nudged in a crevasse at the top of a group of bus-size granite boulders, part of Sheep Mountain. Our route back got a little off track and we wound up hiking a half mile farther than we needed to, and then we made our first geocaching friend. A mountain biker came up the dirt track with his dog huffing and puffing to keep up. The dog--she introduced herself as Zelda--stopped to say hi, weighing chasing after her master or taking a slow strole with us. For about a half hour we had ourselves a canine friend. When we got back to the car we didn't know what to do with her. The mountain biker was somewhere up the trail, so noting that she had a phone number on her tag, we decided to take her with us until we got to cell phone range. Just before pulling onto Lump Gulch Road, we had to wait for a car to pull in. The woman driver seemed to recognize our passenger. We stopped; she stopped. It was the wife of the biker, and the mother of one of Penny's junior high school students. All ended well. We said so long to Zelda, went home, sat in the hot tub and planned our next adventure searching for treasures in beautiful Montana back-country. [top]

We headed out the next day following the GPS east on Hwy 12. 40 minutes later we were gazing across a lazy marsh, trying to figure out how to get to the other side. The GPS pointed to some high ground so we got back in the explorer and started searching our way around on the back roads until we found ourselves within two-tenths of a mile of the cache. From there it was on foot into the brambles, and piles of driftwood. Canadian geese announced our arrival; a bunny rabbit watched us for a few second and then scrambled into the brush. A couple of wrong turns and then a few right turns and we were looking down at the cache. We traded our treasures, signed the log, and knew for certain that we had stumbled onto one of the best kept secret pastimes of modern day.

[log] Excellent location for a cache. The sounds of birds were constant with Canadian geese really letting up a fuss when we got close. Saw two white-tail deer. Probably saw the same rabbit (got picture) that Jennifer and Dean saw so we had to take the bunny erasers. Also took the belt clock. Left a miniature set of taro cards.

It was two weeks before we managed to get the GPS's fired up again. There is a certain pride, a bragging right you might say, to being the first to find a cache. We woke up Saturday morning, May 15, to a new cache listing south of Helena and no one had logged a find yet. "Why not us?" we voiced to each other, quickly pulled our morning together, and hurried out the door for what would become our very first, first-to-find (FTF), and our very first Travel Bug.

[log] A wonderful cache and our first, first. We picked up the .999 travel bug (also a first for us) and hope to place it somewhere that it can do a lot of traveling. The day was absolutely perfect with temps in the mid to high sixties. We took the magnetic nail clippers and left the glow in the dark stars to go with the blacklite that was already there. Thanks to Buck-or-Less group for another great Cache.

Travel Bugs add another layer to the game, a step-up in the excitement. This particular Travel Bug (TB) was attached to 1-ounce of silver. It's goal was to travel the country in hopes of being photographed in front of each of the US Mints, or to go overseas and be photographed in front of the mints of other countries. Sadly, for reasons too numerous to mention, many TBs go missing after a time. .999 travel bug went lost in Germany in May of 2006 after logging 11,460.3 miles. Of the 17 TBs that we, Frogwarts & Bearfr, started over the years, only 5 are currently (April 2009) still on the move. More about our Travel Bugs in later episodes.

For a time Buck or Less Too had us wandering around, second guessing our GPSs, but alas, we found it and sure enough, we were the First to Find. We signed the log book, noting our trades and enjoyment at the opportunity to be the FTF, and then spent the next hour or so exploring the area. Over the years we have found that the fun is not just the geocaching, searching and finding treasures with our GPSs; it's the adventures we discover along the way, such as a little, blue butterfly that danced around us and then lighted on a stub of an old log long enough to be photographed, a spider which we knelt down and analyzed like a couple of children, though we didn't scoop it into a jar and take it home to show mom, or a pair of ducks that lazed in a wide spot in a nearby creek (we love anyplace that has water) , occasionally dipping their heads to see what delectables await their dining delight in the murkiness below.

Not every Geocaching adventure goes well. Kickapoo 2 in Montana left us with some definite memories, a mixture of wonderful experiences, and one disaster.

[log] Not only did we find this cache, but it had the Al Doug Travel Bug.

It has been on its way to San Antonio, Texas, so we are going to try our best to get it pointed in that direction. This was a beautiful hike, again an area we have never been to. There were some massive snow banks which were easily avoided, or walked across. They were very solid. I dropped my camera and broke it. UGGGGG! It was still a great cache. We took the $5,000,000 Turkish Lirasi Note and left a Screw Driver set.

1 week later: Because we keep a scrap book of all our found caches, and I dropped and broke my camera on the way to this one, we had to go back and get pictures. Unfortunately it snowed last night on McDonald Pass and we had to push upwards of five inches of snow to get to it.

Penny wanted pictures of some of the flowers in the area and despite the snow, she got them. Had to do a little digging around to find them. (See pics) Despite the snow (only a month until the beginning of summer) it was a great day for a hike.

Some caches are assigned a theme by the cache owners. Rimini Snowflake had to do with snowflakes. The owners asked that snowflake related items be traded. Broken camera so no pictures. Would have liked to have gotten pictures of the billy goat.

[log] This was a nice, easy hike to this cache. Came across a billy goat about a mile from the camping area. Appeared to be wild but a bit out of place. We took the bookmark and left a Snowflake Rhyme scrapbook sticker.

We dressed for the weekend intermittent rain, clamored into the Explorer and headed south on I-15 toward Butte. We were tired of being couped up in the house and the sculpture walk seemed as good an excuse as any to fire up the GPS's and "get out of Dodge." We took the High Ore Road exit, midway between Boulder and Basin, slowly picked our way along a very unmaintained road, stopping several times to admire and photograph Boulder River raging along next to us. It was Spring and the mountain snows were melting. We found a place to park reasonably close to the cache coordinates, turned our backs to the river and started walking the old Milwaukee railroad bed. It was along there where locals, hikers, and visitors had 'sculpted' with native rocks and other man-made materials. Impressed by these works of art, Geocacher jowens planted a cache, Basin Sculpture Walk, to bring the Geocaching community there to witness the artists' endeavors, and maybe create their own. We did just that, or rather Penny did. She built a sculpture, which she titled "The Butterfly." We then did our Geocache thing: found cache, traded items, signed log, rehid cache.

Basin Sculpture Walk came into this world August 17, 2003, and then found its way into cache heaven October 3, 2004, a short life for most caches. For whatever reason—vandals, locals deciding it was time to put the fun away—the sculptures were destroyed sometime during the summer of '04. Jowens, the cache owner, chose to archive the cache that had been dedicated to the art. [log] A wet, rainy day, but we made it to the cache in between showers. The sculptures along the trail were interesting, so we left behind our own. We took hematite rock and a butterfly stamp, and left a sparkly bear and two bug rings. Thanks for the cache and bringing us somewhere we have never been.

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When we finished up with Basin Sculpture Walk we weren't ready to go home. The rain had let up a little so we followed the road a bit farther and then took a side road, parked and started exploring on foot. We headed along a path, a gentle climb up a ravine, until we came to an old cabin, circa early 1900s or late 1800s was our guess. We poked around, took some pictures, explored, until I got a brilliant idea. Ideas are my forte; not to say Penny doesn't get them, but I get many more. The difference between us is that she acts on them. They just gurgitate inside my head until they turn to mush and disappear. Once I voice an idea, though, and Penny likes it, she will invariably be the one who puts it into action.

"Why don't we start our own cache?" I said, having absolutely no clue how to go about doing that. Before it turned to mush she said, "Yeah," and then I said "Yeah." The yeah's had it and we continued our exploring with a whole new goal in mind. Although the cabin area seemed perfect at first, we ended up following a couple of deer trails back toward the Explorer and then up until we were on an outcropping that overlooked the gulch and the river. This was the spot. We took numerous notes and GPS readings and then headed home.

After analyzing the area on the on-line topo maps we chose to call the cache Buttermilk Gulch Overlook, in honor of the name of a gulch that could be seen, Buttermilk Jim Gulch. Somewhere we acquired an old ammo box, hit the dollar store, and loaded up our first cache. The following Saturday we headed back down I-15, took the High Ore exit, parked and climbed, and then planted our first cache, still under the handle "Paddock2". Needless to say, it was a very exciting day. We rushed home and submitted it to Geocaching.com and waited anxiously for it to be published. The next night, May 30, 2004, it went live and then we waited to see who would find it first, who would become the FTF on our first cache.

[cache description] Short 0.1 mile hike on an overgrown man-made trail. Elevation change is 180 feet.

The access is a short hike suitable for children along a packed trail with great scenic views of Bull Mountain and Buttermilk Jim Gulch. Entire trail is on BLM land.

The cache is a green ammo box. Original contents are: Logbook with Penci/sharpener, Montana postcard, Mini calendar, Calculator, Crow Flitter Critter, Yo-Yo, Cowboy Statue, Barrettes, Blue Ice, & Table Tennis Sport Balls.

[The hint] Take High Ore exit from I-15. Continue South; take the Non-maintained cattle access road. Park at N46 16.182 W112 13.078. Walk up the old dirt road to the sign marked, "Locked Gate Ahead." 10 yards past look right to see rock-sided trail.

The log from the First-to-Find:

 June 2, 2004 by Packyfan (30 found)
[WARNING: This paragraph has clues about the cache.] I loved the hike and the view. It was kool to be the first ones to find it. It took me the good part of an hour to find it, but the burnt wood gave it away. This cache should have a harder difficulty and terrane. I fell down a couple of times and scratched my legs and got bit by knats. We took the crow football and the blue ice and left the necklace and bookmark. Thanks for this wonderful cache. We had a great day.

We couldn't just sit around the house while waiting for Buttermilk Overlook to be published. We were still trying to break in our GPSs, so we headed out Sunday morning, taking Highway 12 to Avon and then 141 North toward Helmville. Our first charge was to find our way into the Ogden Mountains of Helena National Forest, east of the highway. What a wonderful drive and great views.

[log] What a workout getting to this one but the views were well worth it. For some reason we didn't realize it was a theme. The closest thing we had to "First Aid" in our goodie bag was a candle. I know, it's a stretch. We left it anyway and took nothing.

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And then it was on to our first Red Hot Mama cache. There is a lot more to Geocaching than running out with your GPS and logging a hidden treasure, or even where you go to find these hidden treasures (our pictures can attest to how fantastic that is). There are the hidden treasures behind the hidden treasures . . . the cool people behind the handles, like Red Hot Mama. We logged many caches with her name on them and with each one we became more and more curious about this "Mama" who called herself "Red Hot." We each, Penny and I, formed our own picture. Weren't we surprised when we finally learned more about her, and her daughter and son-in-law, Leonata & Yumitori and then finally met her. More about this fantastic, awe inspiring lady and her awesome family in later chapters.

Once we made it out of the mountains, the drive and hike to Button, Button were a little less vertical challenging. We parked next to Browns Lake, eye-balled some Muggles who we hoped weren't eye-balling us, and took an easy stroll to the cache.

[log] Easy drive to fun theme cache. Walked right up to it laying on the ground. Took a wooden leaf button. Left a purple dragonfly button. Hid the cache back where we thought it was originally. This was the second of four caches today.

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Previous logs on this cache reported a stench from an elk that had been butchered near one of the campsites and very close to the cache. Fortunately the stench was gone, but sun-bleached bones, and ragged remains of hide were still in evidence. We took pictures and kept a wide birth as we searched for the cache. Once found, traded and logged we explored along the Black Foot River. We came upon a camp made up of a dead fire ring and an interesting tent-like shelter made of gathered twigs and branches. Inside the shelter was clothing. We got no closer than to take a picture, not sure if the clothing was a sleeping person. We whispered our way by just in case.

[log] Very difficult to find because our GPS never showed closer than 30 feet,and we never found the rock. Still, we circled until we stumbled onto the cache. Great hiding place. Elk smell is gone but four skeletons remain. We bottomed out the four-wheel drive so we recommend walking in from the parking on Hwy 200. Was a beautiful spot along the Black Foot River. Wonderful pinewood and river aromas. Took the Indonesian Paper money. Left the Al Doug travel bug and a small spotted frog. We will come back to explore the area a little more in the summer.

	The final cache of this Memorial Day weekend took us up to Rogers Pass on the Continental Divide. As we noted the "Record Cold Spot" sign telling us it was 70° below zero in 1954, we were quite pleased that on our visit it was better than 130° warmer. The altitude was 5610 feet when we started up the Continental DivideTrail. The 3100 mile trail, which starts in the Chihuahuan Desert of southern New Mexico and ends at the Canadian border in Montana's Glacier National Park, rises to over 13,000 feet, so our little portion at less than half that altitude was barely noticable. Still, it zig-zagged back and forth until we were within 100 feet or so of the cache at just over 6000 feet; not a tremendous climb by any means unless you're a serious couch potato. Doing this might help us from becoming that.
We turned off trail, up a side-hill, and spent several minutes locating the cache, and then looked northeast across Sunset Mountain, a small piece of the Helena National Forest, itself a small piece of the Rocky Mountains. Although we took pictures and enjoyed the views, I don't think we ever took the time to truly appreciate the beauty of Montana's Big Sky Country. From Yellowstone National Park south to Glacier National Park north, to the mountains in the west and the plains in the east—Wyoming to Canada, Idaho to North Dakota—Montana is an abundance of visual resources.

[log] Great hike up nice trail on Roger's Pass. Many mountain flowers in evidence. Walked right up to the cache. This was our fourth and last cache of the day. Took the "I Love My Cat" key chain. Because the cache was low, we left a Winnie The Pooh key chain, a Marc Anthony CD, a small army helicopter, and the .999 travel bug. This is one any cacher would enjoy.

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Some caches turn into all-day events. Such is the case with Statues Times Ten, a 10-stage multi. We drove over to Bozeman from Helena with the sole purpose of picking up Penny's daughter, Jamie, and her boyfriend, Gabe, and showing them what Geocaching was all about. As the name implies, there were 10 statues (except one was missing for restoration, which we didn't know about at first). With each statue we learned the clue to the next statue and gained a piece of the puzzle to assemble the coordinates for the final . . . the actual cache. Luckily Gabe was a Bozeman local and had a little inside knowledge on the statues. One of our miscalculations took us into the mountains south of the city, not exactly where we were supposed to be, but it was a nice drive. The coolest, I thought, was Tyrannosaurus Rex in front of the Museum of the Rockies. AWESOME! All in all it was a great day with the kids.

[log] It took us 3-1/2 hours with miscalculating twice and ending up in some unsuspecting neighborhoods. Is there truly a statue missing or did we miss count and not see it? We never went back to check but one of our foursome deducted that that was the case. Great guess. We picked up daughter and her boyfriend for this one (their first cache) and they had a great time. The cache itself was so well hidden that even with two GPS trying to out-do each other, it took a good twenty minutes to find it. Yours truly, one of us without the GPS, stumbled onto it. We took a hologram sticker, left a staple puller and a Lewis & Clark Postcard. Thanks Don and Nancy for the tremendous dedicated effort at putting this one together.

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[log] How many times have we driven by this and not noticed the climb to the overlook? What a wonderful view. We took The Collector TB, left the Lewis & Clark Postcard and a Elk Postcard. Thanks Gary & Bernie for a great location.

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[log] With a little effort we walked right up to the area of this one and then spent a half hour stomping around looking for it. I was close to giving up but Penny was persistent. We took the rabbit key chain (maybe to add to a TB we picked up earlier in the day) and left two Toy Army Vehicles to go with the travel bug that was already there. Thanks for the cache.

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[log] This was a wonderful hike in. Saw rabbits, hundreds of birds, a snake (non-poisonous), a small but impressive waterfall, and numerous flowers. Took a sea shell and the Joe Dalton TB. Left a Cookie Monster key chain and change purse. Thanks for a great location for an afternoon hike.

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[log] Found this one as part of a 7-cache day between Butte and Three Forks. Great Murals. Didn't take long to find the cache. It was a lot smaller than I expected and was surprised by the log. Super idea.

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[log] Because we read the logs, and Penny was on top of the "think out of the box" thing, she walked right up to it and picked it up while I was busy searching in the wrong place. That was lucky because black clouds with lighting and thunder were racing across the mountains from the east. Not a good thing when you're the highest point around. We entered the log and ran for it. Thanks for a great cache. Wish we had had time to linger.

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[log] Great site for a cache. The biggest challenge was searching for it with two boys sitting six feet away having a conversation. Managed to snag it anyway. We were just a couple of weird toursits acting even weirder. Wonderful history. Traded the Maryland quarter for a Florida quarter.

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[log] It has changed considerably since I was last here six years ago. Thanks for the reason to return.

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[log] After 45 minutes of searching the entire area we decided this one was our first no-find. We spent the next couple of hours hitting the other caches in Butte and then on our way out decided to try it again. BINGO! It was right where we both looked at least four times each. How the heck did we miss it? Persistance pays. We took the yellow Lotus Sports car and left an Army Convertible and an Ace Hardware truck. Thanks for the cache.

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[log] This was the last in a 7-cache day, and the best. Unfortunately we ran into dusk. We will return later in the summer to explore the entire park and surrounding area. We found it with no problem, partially because it was totally exposed as we approached it. We took a feather and left a small pocket knife. Great day for caching (except for the brief thunder and lighting storm in Butte). Thanks Don and Nancy for bringing us here.

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