Our log from April 18, 2009:

"...As we did with each of the stages, we then made our way back to the Florida Trail and walked to the most convenient access point. Stage Two was interesting...upon arriving at the "gully", our first thought was "Nahhh....it wouldn't be down there!" Well...if it wasn't, it wouldn't have been as cool a hiding spot, right? Retrieved the stage and onward to stage three.

Stage Three was definitely the "baaaddddest" of the Badlands ("bad" meaning "good" of course! ). What an incredibly non-typical piece of land for Florida, with all those pine-and-oak-laden hills and gullies! Up & down we went until arriving at this stage and finding it quickly.

Headed back to the Florida Trail for the remainder of the hike. Arrived at GZ, found the cache readily and headed over to Spring Park to check out the spring. Even though the spring was unfortunately dry, it was still a cool spot to explore."

"THE FLORIDA BAD LANDS CACHE"

From our log... "Chapter Three – Sometimes we actually figure out those annoying mystery caches!

Well, Marc figured it out…all I know is that Marc was on the computer drawing boxes this morning, but I guess he did something right because his center point brought us to within 85 feet of the cache.  

After leaving the fallen bubble, we headed directly here with only a bit of ankle deep water, mostly just some mud and muck though.  GZ itself was surprisingly dry.  This is a really cool area and the hiding spot was awesome. Would love know more about the history of the area.  Then we took the nice, easy shortcut back to the car. Don’t you love it when that happens?

(Ha! Ha! Just kidding!  There is no nice easy shortcut back to the car, silly!  But at least  we knew what to expect on the return trip so we survived…)"




50 Feet North of The "Exact" Center

Hidden along a remote trail connecting the Oakridge and Washburn areas in the Morris Bridge Wilderness area, this cache combines the best of both areas.  The semi-tropical, moist area leading up to the cache is just spectacular and the Ancient Regeneration tree is really cool...almost artistic!  One of our favorites of the many fun caches hidden throughout these trails.  

Ancient Regeneration?

One of many on the River Trail in the Croom Section of the Withlacoochee State Forest.  This one was our favorite and we didn't even have to get our feet wet.

Beautiful Swimmer

Rugged Florida-style geocaching at its best in a secluded spot in the Morris Bridge Wilderness area!  With this one, figuring out how to get there is half the fun..

Big Pine Island Roundabout

This cache is on our faves list because of the amazing aesthetic experience we had exploring the Bok Sanctuary grounds on which the cache is hidden.  The following is an excerpt from the log we wrote on August 9, 2008, which explains it all!

"...Decided to tour the sanctuary itself before hunting for the cache and we had wonderful time. After reading about the life and times of Edward Bok in the interpretive center, we enjoyed the gardens, the Carillon Tower and the Pinewood Estate. As far as wildlife, we spent some time feeding the Koi and snapping some photos of some swans and a water snake hanging out near the trail.

...As we walked this trail, we were reminded of some of the trails we explored while caching in Birmingham, AL. The red iron/hermitite in the soil was reminiscent of the iron ore found throughout the Birmingham landscape! In any case, found the cache readily and then headed back to the cafe for lunch."

Bok Bonus Trek

From our log on May 23, 2010:

"Well. we finally did it!!! And about time too...don't know why we waited FOUR years after publication to finally seek out this wonderful group of caches and complete the Green Swamp East Challenge. What an incredible way to "tour" this piece of land...from a palm oasis to some time in "the hole" and after a little bit of trail blazing, the opportunity to stand on the spot where three counties meet, all the while passing through swamp land, treed-tramways, palmetto prairies and even prescribed burns. ...and although it was hot out there these past couple weeks, we really enjoyed visiting this time of year since everything is so green and lush thanks to the unusually heavy winter rains this year. Wildflowers, butterflies and even a couple gators were spotted along the way." 

Bonus Cache - Green Swamp East Challenge

Bonus Cache - GSW Challenge

From our 5/30/09 log:

"We have had this cache on our to-do list for quite some time now and we finally made the trip out to Caladesi today to find it. We had originally planned to take our kayak out to the island, but Marc has been having that arm & shoulder pain again, which would only get aggravated by paddling, so we opted for a breezy ride on the Caladesi Ferry instead. Enjoyed the nice long walk along the beach, fully understanding why this lovely place has been voted the best beach in the U.S. - white sands, clear blue gulf coastal waters, wildlife...who could ask for more. We also enjoyed mucho wildlife - gopher tortoises, gulls, pelicans, roseate spoonbills, ospreys, fiddler crabs galore, a multitude of fish, etc....

This was an incredible spot and we are so glad that this cache finally lured us out this way...highly recommended and definitely one for our favorites list!"

Caladesi Island Extreme!

Calusa Circle

No it's not in Florida, and unfortunately it is archived but we couldn't help ourselves.  This excerpt from our log says it all: "From the great hike up (and we do mean up) to the fantastic view when we got there. It was a beautiful fall day and we were able to see the Manhattan skyline clearly along with the changing foliage on the surrounding mountains."

Cat's Elbow

1.5 mile walk along a sandy beach in the Hamptons.  The best of Long Island geocaching.

Cedar Point Mystery

A bushwacker's delight in Flatwoods Wilderness Park!

Changing Channels 

An incredible paddle along the Hillsborough River!

Chapter 2…..Return by River

From our log - ..."Anyway, this is an awesome use of the Wherigo platform. Since physical caches are not allowed in National Wildlife Refuges, this gives geocachers who like to hike an opportunity to explore the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge via the wonders Wherigo technology. We’ve never had the opportunity to hike along these VERY “rustic” trails, so this was the perfect excuse."

Chazzy Swampy 

This is such a lovely piece of land with its super tall palm trees, amazing oaks dripping with Spanish moss and other awesome scenery. Saw a turtle that was trying hard not to pose for the camera, some elegant water fowl and evidence of piggy activity on the way to GZ. 

This was a 2 1/2 terrain, so we knew that meant water crossings would be at a minimum, "a minimum" being the operative term here.  Since we had all that rain recently, we came prepared for "a minimum" of wet feet, which we only experienced briefly at the Shinin Ditch ford. The crossing was refreshingly cold, yet easy as the ground was nice and firm and the water was clear. The final .3 hike to GZ is just incredible, the Ditch to one side of the tramway and some lush green swamp land on the other side. And the long hike was well worth it with a very scenic GZ as the destination, once again reaffirming what geocaching has always been about to us...the journey itself. 

Confluence 

A beatiful trail in the Citrus Tract of the Withlacoochee State Forest...and, yes, some cool caves too!  A great time exploring some unusual natural features for this area!


Cool Cave Cache

Cozumel's Stone Arches Earthcache

We absolutely love this series!

When it was first published, of course, we initially noticed the really cool geo-art...great bird ! Then we set out to learn as much about the local birdie population as possible in order to figure out all the puzzles. That was fun, as we really enjoy all our Floridian fine-feathered friends!  Then we had to find the ideal time to go out and actually hunt for the caches...

We have been spending the week in Naples...and the weather is beautiful (sunny, warm, yet breezy)...and the ground is pretty dry...so this was definitely the perfect time for us. The 13.75 mile hike was amazing. The cypress trees are starting to green up and the air plants scattered around the landscape are simply amazing...and it's so nice being able to hike along nicely maintained trails all the way around, while enjoying the lushly green swamplands. As far as wildlife goes, there were oodles and oodles of gators, with an abundance of babies out there this time of year. We even

CREW Rookery Final - Fowl Language

"Really enjoyed the paddle along this beautiful stretch of the Withlacoochee river. It was nice and cool this morning with the cloud cover which made our journey especially comfortable. Even though the first half of the trip is upstream, the river was smooth as glass and there was only a slight current with which we had to contend. The water levels are pretty low and it got shallow in some areas, but we were able to get to where we needed to go with no problems. Overall, the wildlife was quiet today, although we did see some pretty birds, turtles and lots of catfish. "

Croom-a-Coochee Paddle 

List consists of some of the most memorable caches we have found.  These caches either bring you to a really nice spot and/or have provided us with a great experience.  After all that is what Geocaching is all about.. having fun and finding new places.

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M&M's All-Time FavoritesPublic