Best of 2014: Under a Lamp Post

Because I need a little more time to work out my 2015 New Year’s Resolutions, the next posts are going to be dedicated to the 10 most favorite geocaches Chris and I found in 2014. These caches are selected based on two criteria: 1) they were found in 2014 by us and 2) their number of favorite points on January 1, 2015. They include locations of great natural beauty, historical interest, that showcase the imaginations of ingenious geocachers, and combinations of these characteristics. These posts may include spoilers.

Number 10: GC2TJG2 - Under a Lamp Post
Hidden by WVTim & Krazydan7
150 Favorite Posts
Martinsburg, West Virginia
Found on November 8, 2014

WVTim is something of a geocaching celebrity. He is known not only for placing outstanding geocaches (spoiler alert: he hid multiple caches that appear on this top 10 list), but also for being a wonderful person. Even though our correspondence has been limited to the internet so far, we connected right away because he's a son of Marshall (I won’t reveal the year!) and I am a daughter of Marshall (MS ’08).

It was actually an accident that we sought out this cache. We were over near WVTim’s church where he’s hidden four outstanding caches (GBC 6 – Gadgets Supplied, Safecracker, * some assembly required, and This Old House) when we met two members of 4LostMarbles! who were caching the area from Baltimore. They told us (Chris, Brian/bitmapped, and myself) about this lamppost cache that they just could not find. They looked everywhere around this common lamppost and they did not understand how this cache could possible elude them. Hearing about their difficulty and realizing it was a WVTim cache, we figured it was probably there and there was probably a twist.

Spoilers follow. This is your only and final warning.

After cleaning up at the church, we drove over to the pharmacy and the five of us gathered to consider the lamppost. The four of them focused on the lamppost when my attention wandered. WVTim had given 4LostMarbles! a hint. The hint was something to the effect off “10 feet down.”

When we pulled into a parking spot I had noticed a drainage area/dry retention pond directly in front of us. As I started down the slope I signaled to Chris to have them follow me because I spotted an enormous culvert.

I had never found a cache like this and had a little bit of trepidation. I am a little claustrophobic and a little afraid of the dark. What I am saying is, there are excellent reasons why I had avoided caches like this in the past. But this one seemed designed for nervous, easily perturbed geocachers. Though, in the interest of being entirely honest, I didn’t hesitate when one of the guys eagerly entered ahead of me.

When we had the cache in hand, the hint made perfect sense. We were not only thrilled to have found it, but to have made some more friends in the hobby. Besides, the more friends you make from different areas, the more help you have when you get stumped—and every good cacher gets stumped once in awhile!