365 True Things: 180/Frivolity

"Frivolity" in my blog stands for geocaching, it seems.

(I should, maybe, branch out.)

Mimring at Walk the Plank

But yeah: today's frivolity was a quasi–death march through Nisene Marks State Park, in Soquel.

"Death march" as in three of us, hiking high and low over open country (no trails except what animals left) seeking out six caches. The "(not) Naked and Afraid Challenge Series," courtesy of mayela mingi (Dan).

When I say high and low, I mean it. Steep terrain, lots of slippery dry leaves, navigational challenges galore—and then at the caches themselves, retrieval challenges.

FifiBonacci with cache #6 and TOTT

The caches tended to be hung 20 feet up redwood trees. Which required a TOTT ("tool of the trade")—which we usually found underneath the cache: a long thin branch, on occasion with a manufactured notch. Though a couple of times we had to manufacture the appropriating device ourselves.

FifiBonacci at #3: climbing tree

There was much looking at smartphones. There was picking and choosing of directions to follow. There was falling onto one's backside. There was an excellent tree to climb. There was a grand picnic spot in a redwood grove. At the very end of the series, there was a precipice: which Mimring (Alastair) took on with some trepidation—safely, as it turned out, thankfully—whereas FifiBonacci (David) and I (annevoi) circumvented with a somewhat easier descent.

It was a glorious way to spend time together. Having a common goal. Enjoying the scents and sounds. Sweating. Talking. Each of us has now logged our experience on the geocaching.com website, and together, they add up to a rich communal experience. Starting, of course, with the cache owner's placing of the hides, on one day in April 2014.