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Thread: Caches in the Eustis Area

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Eustis, Maine
    Posts
    378

    Default Caches in the Eustis Area

    I would like to encourage more of you to cache in our area, especially in the fall when the weather is cool and the bugs are gone! We get a lot of geocachers from the campground but not too many of you venture up this way, and when you do, you often grab just one cache and ignore the others. Starting north of Kingfield, there are currently 13 active caches and two others that are temporarily disabled. Just above Kingfield, start with Geocache GC19AC. Next comes Narrow Gauge Trail CG14AZD; Fallen Arch GC4E52; A View of the Lake GC149W5; Bigelow Preserve GC14JRJ; Mooselook GCPC9P; Eustis Ridge II GCWEW5; OnRoadToMyersBeach GCWCFJ; Milwaukee Brewers GC14HEG; In Memory of Georgia GC131KY; By A Dam Site GCYC11; Chain of Ponds GCGP12; and Mainiac1957's Map38 Cache GCWT94. I have plans to put out some more. So other than distance and the price of gas, what keeps you away? Would you like more caches to make it worth a trip? I can always sprinkle the route with micros if need be. And if you need advice on how to find, where to stay, where to camp, where to kayak, just e-mail me, I'd be glad to help!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Brewer, Maine
    Posts
    1,832

    Default

    There are some beautiful caches in your neck of the woods. I've done some of the older ones.
    The Bigelow Preserve cache scares me. Dad and I hiked the whole Bigelow range on the AT one summer (when I was about 10 years old) in record heat. We were supposed to go to the NH border, but I bailed after 3 days. Pretty mountain, but I'll have to get over the memories of profuse sweating!!!
    I would like to get back to that area again with my boat and do the lake accessable caches around Rangely and still want to do the cache on Sugarloaf mountain.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Unity, Maine
    Posts
    3,874

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by kayaking loon View Post
    I would like to encourage more of you to cache in our area, especially in the fall when the weather is cool and the bugs are gone! We get a lot of geocachers from the campground but not too many of you venture up this way, and when you do, you often grab just one cache and ignore the others. Starting north of Kingfield, there are currently 13 active caches and two others that are temporarily disabled. Just above Kingfield, start with Geocache GC19AC. Next comes Narrow Gauge Trail CG14AZD; Fallen Arch GC4E52; A View of the Lake GC149W5; Bigelow Preserve GC14JRJ; Mooselook GCPC9P; Eustis Ridge II GCWEW5; OnRoadToMyersBeach GCWCFJ; Milwaukee Brewers GC14HEG; In Memory of Georgia GC131KY; By A Dam Site GCYC11; Chain of Ponds GCGP12; and Mainiac1957's Map38 Cache GCWT94. I have plans to put out some more. So other than distance and the price of gas, what keeps you away? Would you like more caches to make it worth a trip? I can always sprinkle the route with micros if need be. And if you need advice on how to find, where to stay, where to camp, where to kayak, just e-mail me, I'd be glad to help!

    Arrgh . . . no "sprinkling of micros" please, I'm begging you . . . they are the bane of my existence.

    I mean that's not to say I don't enjoy a micro now and then (and in fact I won't often pass on one if I'm going by) and I do enjoy the fiendishly cleverly hid ones, but it seems as though in the past few months we've been bombarded with "seed" themed-micro caches . . . which aren't bad in themselves, but they just seem to spawn more and more of these types of caches and so very often you end up visiting lots and lots of guardrails when in fact some of these places could utilize regular cache containers which are infinitely more exciting to find and hide for kids (the chance to swap out swag) and for adults (I for one often try to jot down a few notes about the view, the search, etc.)

    I also cannot fathom why some folks enjoy hiding micros in middle of the woods -- for me (a Magellan user) it's hard enough finding a regular sized cache much less a micro . . . although I must confess I have seen some micros in the woods which were appropriate. To me micros definitely seem better suited for placement in urban areas or in areas where placing a larger cache container might not be appropriate or practical (i.e. I have a micro that I placed in Dixmont since I only had permission to use a small section of land for my cache, I have done GRCs that offered a great view -- but there was no other place for a regular-sized cache.) Just my opinion. OK, enough of a rant on micros. . . .

    When you're off the beaten path it may be hard to get a ton of folks to your area to cache, but one thing that definitely helps is cache saturation. I know for example that when I decide to go out on a day-long trip or an overnight caching trip finding an area that has lots of caches -- good caches -- ones that intrigue me (and for me that means a place with history, a scenic view, etc.) is the main draw. Numbers aren't everything, but it helps. If Location A and Location B both involve the same distance in traveling and both have interesting sounding caches (again, this is subjective), but Location B has a few more caches than Location A I'll often go to that location just because it offers me more caches to search out.

    Distance is definitely a factor these days with the price of gas . . . and for me, more importantly, the cost of time. In fact the other day I finally had some free hours so I thought about going caching . . . I had three general locations in mind -- the Augusta area, Thomaston area and Greenville area. To be truthful I really wanted to head up into Greenville as there are a lot of caches I haven't done there and there's one in particular -- Pontiac Silver Streak -- that intrigues me just based on the name alone. My second choice was to grab some in the Thomaston area, but in the end I only had a few hours so I choose the cache location closest to me in Augusta.

    Another aspect is the location of the caches in relation to main routes of travel. Caches close to or along main routes of travel will usually get more hits than caches that involve a little more travel off the "beaten path." In other words if I'm just passing through and notice a cache a mile off a main road I may be more apt to grab that cache versus a cache located 10 or even 5 miles off the main road. I've noticed this with caches in my area -- caches that are relatively close to the main drag so to speak get found a lot more frequently than some of my more isolated caches -- not that it's a bad thing . . . just a fact.

    It also seems that many cachers will filter out (either manually or through software) caches that do not appeal to them based on the challenge level (terrain and difficulty.) For example, if I'm in the area and hoping to grab a bunch of caches I might pass on a cache that has a high terrain or difficultly level . . . especially if it involves a major hike and I have limited time (that's not to say I don't enjoy a good hike and trust me after doing a bunch of grab-and-go caches I really look forward to a short to moderate hike on many caches) or don't feel like hiking a mountain. Again, this is just me. I also generally steer away from water-based caches and the wickedly steep mountain caches . . . just not my thing.

    Finally, one way to help boost finds is to host an event in the area. It seems as though events tend to bring more folks out to an area and the area caches. In addition, it seems as though some folks will put out new caches right before or on the day of the event as a way to lure even more cachers into the area -- especially those die-hard FTFers!

    OK, this all said . . . I promise you here today . . . I will get up to your area . . . it just may be later than sooner . . . but someday. . . .
    "Courage is not the absence of fear, but the realization that there is something more important than fear."

    "Death is only one of many ways to die."

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Unity, Maine
    Posts
    3,874

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sudonim View Post
    There are some beautiful caches in your neck of the woods. I've done some of the older ones.
    The Bigelow Preserve cache scares me. Dad and I hiked the whole Bigelow range on the AT one summer (when I was about 10 years old) in record heat. We were supposed to go to the NH border, but I bailed after 3 days. Pretty mountain, but I'll have to get over the memories of profuse sweating!!!
    I would like to get back to that area again with my boat and do the lake accessable caches around Rangely and still want to do the cache on Sugarloaf mountain.
    The Bigelow Range . . . that isn't the section of the AT known as the 100 mile wilderness trail of death and despair (or something like that), is it? My gung-ho sister was trying to get me to hike that section with her for years before she finally gave up trying to convince me it would be "fun."
    "Courage is not the absence of fear, but the realization that there is something more important than fear."

    "Death is only one of many ways to die."

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Unity, Maine
    Posts
    3,874

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    Oh yeah, I had another thought . . . I get lots of thoughts . . . some are just better than others.

    I personally also am leery of doing a cache if it hasn't been found in some time or if there have been a few DNFs. My reasoning may be faulty, but I often wonder if a cache hasn't been found in over a year or two if there is a reason for that -- i.e. geocachers didn't find it and just didn't bother logging a DNF, it involves a major hike to find and I don't want to commit that much time to finding that single cache on that day -- although I may seek out that cache someday in the future, etc.

    Seeing a cache with lots of DNFs also tends to make me steer away from a cache as I think a) this may be wicked tough and challenge my pea-sized brain and b) I wonder if the cache is in fact still there -- especially if the cache owner hasn't checked and confirmed if the cache is MIA or still there. Having an owner periodically log a note that the cache was checked and is in good order sometimes helps me decide whether the long drive, hike, etc. is worth the effort.
    "Courage is not the absence of fear, but the realization that there is something more important than fear."

    "Death is only one of many ways to die."

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Brewer, Maine
    Posts
    1,832

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    Quote Originally Posted by firefighterjake View Post
    The Bigelow Range . . . that isn't the section of the AT known as the 100 mile wilderness trail of death and despair (or something like that), is it? My gung-ho sister was trying to get me to hike that section with her for years before she finally gave up trying to convince me it would be "fun."
    No Jake, the 100 mile wilderness starts just north of Monson where the trail crosses Rt. 15. From there north it crosses no PUBLIC roads. It does, however cross about 1/2 dozen private roads like the K.I. road and Jo-Mary road, so it's not really THAT wild!

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    ME
    Posts
    3,529

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    Well, KL - I hope to make it up your way soon this fall. That Grandbaby sort of slowed me down. Hubby and I did a run to Wilamantic today - testing our wings. Also, my daughter loves your area so I hope as the baby gets bigger we can venture up. Don't give up.

    As for Jake - and the micros, well, we could write a story about Jake and Micros........do as you wish. They are an attraction for some and a distraction for others LOL Thanks for all you are doing to promote your area. That is important!

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Unity, Maine
    Posts
    3,874

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sudonim View Post
    No Jake, the 100 mile wilderness starts just north of Monson where the trail crosses Rt. 15. From there north it crosses no PUBLIC roads. It does, however cross about 1/2 dozen private roads like the K.I. road and Jo-Mary road, so it's not really THAT wild!
    My mistake . . . I wasn't exactly sure where this 100 mile wilderness section was . . . only that it sounded like something I wouldn't want to do anytime soon.
    "Courage is not the absence of fear, but the realization that there is something more important than fear."

    "Death is only one of many ways to die."

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Clinton, Maine
    Posts
    19

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    With any luck we will be able to hit some of the caches in your area soon. We are going to Rangley for the Foreigner concert. I love the Stratton and Eustis area. There is excellant camping and hiking.
    Gump & Gumpette

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Maine
    Posts
    1,972

    Default In the Fall

    I have been up there in the past and would love to return. If I were coming back it would be for the weekend. Can you suggest a campground to stay at? I would be tenting. Thanks for the warm invite.
    Last edited by Team2hunt; 07-25-2007 at 08:11 AM. Reason: not awake yet
    Why not live life like it is your last day....instead of pretending to be a member of the Peter Pan Club and believing you will be around forever.

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