Best of 2014: I am the God of Leaky Caches and Soggy Log Books

Number 8: GCBB8F - I am the God of Leaky Caches and Soggy Log Books
Hidden by JoeCthulhu
164 Favorite Posts
Washington, District of Columbia
Found on December 11, 2014

Washington, DC is not only the seat of a world power and a cultural hub, it is a geocaching paradise: particularly if you love virtual (and, increasingly, earthcaches). Areas in and around the National Mall and the various presidential and military monuments it is possible to find caches that have accumulated thousands of favorite points. This is particularly handy given the increasing popularity of challenge caches that demand finders to have found combinations of caches with sometimes as many as 8000 favorite points with as few as 10 to 20 caches.

Being tucked behind the Capitol at the steps of the Library of Congress, this virtual cache is comparatively off of the beaten path of tourists eager to gather as much of “DC” as they can in the short period of time that they have to experience it. Perhaps this is how it was overlooked when I lived in the DC area in the latter half of 2009 and on my numerous trips back in the years since. Frankly, those who try to experience the best of DC in a few days are deluded, I had months and I couldn’t even penetrate the surface. There are still countless museums I dream of visiting.

Let me hop off my high horse, geocaching is an excellent way to see DC. I first noticed this trend when I was checking out geocaches in Baltimore, but caches tend not to be placed in areas that are particularly unsafe for outsiders. Obviously, if you’re in an unfamiliar environment you should be vigilant and careful, but that should be common sense. Geocaches, especially virtual and earthcaches, are also often placed in interesting places. Also consider caches with ample favorite points and you can pick out some places that you probably really want to visit.

A quilt that hung in the now-retired Senator Jay Rockefeller's office in the Hart Senate Office Building

Immediately prior to finding this cache I solved the coordinates for a mystery cache, U.S.S. to CinC. This cache took me through the halls of the Senate office buildings where I not only had the opportunities to see where some of our greatest presidents had their offices when they were members of the Senate but I also had a chance to meet the staff and talk to the people representing my interests as a resident of West Virginia in the Senate. After I found this virtual cache, I continued on to an earthcache at the National Museum of the American Indian, where I spent hours among the exhibits, watching the films, and binging on the delicious cuisine.

But back to the Library of Congress, on a cold December morning, it is deserted. I had the place to myself to answer the questions necessary to log the find. Tightly gripping my coffee to keep my hands warm, I spent just a few extra moments with Neptune, knowing that of all the wondrous and inspiring statues and monuments in DC he is easy to miss and that in such company I would want the visit, too.

Neptune with some of his friends from the sea on a cold and dry December morning

Top 10 of 2013: Lincoln

Number 2: I can see Lincoln
Washington, District of Columbia
328 Favorite Points 

Having adopted West Virginia as my home state, President Lincoln is a president dear to my heart. And indeed, this isn’t even the only geocache I’ve done involving the 16^th President of the United States of America. The first was a flashmob at the “Lincoln Walks at Midnight” statue found on the West Virginia State Capitol grounds (which, if you’re ever in Charleston, merit at least an hour or two of your time).

But here we are, about a 5 hour drive from Charleston, the capital of the only state born out of Civil War, looking toward the Lincoln Memorial from another impressive memorial, the Korean War Veteran’s Memorial. On the day of our visit, a group of Korean War Veterans were also visiting, flown in on an Honor Flight. Their expressions ranged from elation to sadness, often cut by the voices of park rangers yelling at folks to stay off the grass.

Lincoln presides over the National Mall grandly, despite the rat race below. His way at life and his unfortunately way of death, coupled with the most prime real estate on the Mall, mean his monument is rarely less than jam packed during daylight hours when the temperatures aren’t bone chillingly cold. I heard on more than one occasion when I lived in DC that if you wanted peace you ought to visit the Jefferson or FDR memorials instead, unless you waited for the right time of day.

DC has a bit of a reputation for being a rough town. There are certainly some parts of DC that earn this reputation. But high crime is not bad in the areas frequented by tourists. Great efforts have been taken to ensure the security of guests to the National Mall at all times of day. So while some may react in shock, the best time to visit Lincoln is at sunrise or sunset. He’s less busy at these times, and watching the changes in the light adds such depth to the experience. It’s a pleasure to sit with him at these times.

So this wasn’t a WVTim cache, so we’ll settle that mystery now. But if the top cache is a WVTim cache, which one was the top find of 2013?

Discovering DC's Spark

Juggling grad school and all of the associated tasks required making the dreams of a lifetime come true; I don’t have much time for hobbies. Truthfully, I have only one hobby: geocaching. In short, geocaching is a global scavenger hunt where hunters seek out “treasure” with GPS coordinates. At the coordinates geocachers may find everything from a magnetic black tube the size of the tip of their little finger with a log book inside to sign to a large ammunition can with treasures to trade and a log book. The most rewarding part of the hobby is exploring both familiar and unfamiliar places. In one day of geocaching on foot I found ten geocaches and discovered some of the magic of Washington, DC.

In the fall of 2009 I was a Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Graduate Fellow at the National Academy of Sciences. This put me six hours from “home,” where Chris and my cats were, in a city I had only visited once previously. The fellowship was an opportunity of a lifetime that I would strongly recommend, but there was a little matter of what to do on the weekends. This was one of the earlier weekends I was in DC and the answer was clear: geocache.

I started the hunt in a place I was familiar with, the Academies. Outside the entrance to the Academies facility I was working out of was a cache, Slow Rondo. From Slow Rondo, I ventured a few blocks to Chinatown’s most obvious landmark to find a virtual cache, Do You Feel Stupid Yet? A virtual cache is one with no physical logbook to sign, but where you must answer questions and/or take a photograph to prove you were there. But from here, it was toward terra incognito, although geographically I was headed in the direction of the White House.

My next cache was a landmark, it was our 100th find. I say “our” because since day one, Chris and I have shared our geocaching account. The cache, The Actor Really Did Break a Leg, took me to the exact place where President Abraham Lincoln died, a home right across from Ford’s Theater. It was a pure accident this is what happened, but I couldn’t imagine a more interesting cache as the landmark.

The next two caches were typical of DC, they were virtual caches, at some of the best monuments and statues in the District, Expanse of Freedom and General of the Armies. But the one after was an immediately favorite, it was stone indicating Mile Zero of the National Highway System. From this point, most people are probably ogling over the White House, which is squarely behind this stone, but for me I felt as if I was in the presence of greatness. After ogling like a fan girl, I looked at the GPS and found the next one was only a few hundred feet away, A Wood Chuck's Paradise, at the National Christmas Tree.

From behind the White House, I began to meander toward Adams Morgan, where I was planning on meeting me fellowship colleagues for dinner. I found myself in a park dedicated to a man who helped open up the west, but was now clustered with homeless people. Yet a few blocks later, I found a webcam cache at the most expensive university in the country to attend, at least it was in 2009, George Washington University. Webcam caches, similar to virtuals, have no physical logbook to sign, but you must get in the field of vision for the cam and have someone remotely capture an image of you in the shot.

On the campus of George Washington University. September 2009.

But with an eye on the watch, my final find of the day was on a deserted urban street, home to the offices of law firms and lobbyists. 18th and N St NW would be occupied the next morning, but for now those who work there were likely at their homes in Virginia and Maryland. I quickly recovered a bison tube tucked up under a lamppost and signed my name on the log. Of the ten caches I found, this and Slow Rondo were the only ones that had a physical logbook to sign.

From here, I hurried through DuPont Circle up to Lauriol Plaza, one of the best Mexican restaurants in DC to join the other fellows, some of whom I still count among my very best friends. DC is hundreds of worlds packed into a small area, and this was only a compressed taste of discoveries to come, courtesy, in part, to geocaching.