Bridge to Ikeda [Geocaching]

[KingOfPain]

So I was sitting outside of a nearby Starbucks enjoying the afternoon sipping on coffee and savoring a piece of orange cream cake when Jerms (aka SF or PoO depending on how far you go back) joined me. I was glad he showed up as I was just getting a bit annoyed reading the manual of this new toy. That's what kids are for, they are supposed to pick up any electronic gadgets and have them figured and setup for their idiot parents, in minutes, right? The gps was stuck at locating satellites since I turned it on 15 minutes ago so there wasn't much we can do with it. It suppose to take awhile to initialize since it was the first time the unit was turned on, but not that long. So we sat there debating whether an overcast sky is a clear sky, or the manual just meant not blocked by trees and buildings, if I should take voice lessons, and why he thinks he needs to be thirsty to drink coffee rather than drinking coffee just for the enjoyment.

We still didn't have a working gps after awhile til I wasn't thirsty for coffee nor hungry for orange cake anymore, so we decided to give this geocaching thing a try anyway, without a gps. We started with something easy. I have picked out the cache beforehand, I know the place by the description as this location is only about 2 blocks from where I live.

Bridge to Ikeda (N 49° 30.225 W 119° 35.472)
[b] A cache by arcs Hidden: 7/13/2005
Size: (Micro) Difficulty: Terrain:

[/b]Located on the edge of a park dedicated to the "twinning" of the cities of Penticton, BC and Ikeda (pronounced "Eee keh dah" - not like the Swedish furniture store), Japan.

This is a magnetic micro. A short rest near the end of the bridge will help you find the cache. This cache is meant to bring you to the art gallery and the Japanese Garden. The garden is a result of the pairing of the cities of Ikeda and Penticton. A huge effort has been expended by the community to produce the sanctuary that is this garden. My family will be watching the cache for me. I hope you enjoy it. Beware of muggles. PLEASE - ENSURE YOU REPLACE IT EXACTLY WHERE YOU FOUND IT.

It took about 20 minutes to find the micro since the hint "A short rest near the end of the bridge will help you find the cache" was kinda misleading. The nearest conventional resting area has 2 benches, it's not there. We had to use the additional clue *shame*

This cache was rated appropriately and made for a good starting point for newbs. The scenery would be worth the trip, especially for out of towners

Here's a picture of the bridge. An outdoor artisan market is held there every Tuesday evening during the summer months.





A picture of the bridge and art gallery last winter.




PS: Those who want to try geocaching before deciding if it's worth investing on a gps to get in the game can try some of these easy hides around your own hometown without a gps.

KoP

[Kylearan]

Hi,

congrats on your first find! Although it's too bad your GPS isn't working yet; I hope this will get fixed soon. But this looks like a really beautiful location!

We had to use the additional clue *shame*

No shame in that if you've tried it without the hint first. I know of several cachers, especially those only caching for stats, who decrypt and read the hints before they even start to search. But I knew the founder of RB would embrace the challenge without cheating!

Sadly, my wife is one of those who look at spoiler pictures and hints before attempting a cache. Not because she's caching for stats, but because she doesn't have the patience for long searches and becomes frustrated quickly. Speaking of which: Expect to get your frustration tolerance tested sooner or later...Of 10 attempted caches, I only find about seven or eight, one turns later out to have been muggled, and one I'm too stupid or blind to find. This can be annoying in case of multis where you have to run around and collect clues for two or three hours first...

I'll try to make some pictures next time I go for a cache and post them here, too. For now, here's a beautiful bay in Spain we discovered thanks to a cache (appropriately called "dream bay") on a bachelor's party trip I've made with friends some weeks ago, and a picture of me signing the logbook.

-Kylearan

[Griselda]

Congrats on your first find! It looks like a beautiful location. I hope you get your GPS working today. We went looking for a microcache last year that we couldn't find. First, my husband and daughter looked for it, couldn't find it, then the next day they brought me over, and I couldn't find it either. Finally, a few weeks ago (months after originally looking for the cache), I couldn't resist trying again, so we stopped the car when driving by and I looked again- and found it within 5 minutes! I hadn't been expecting the cache to be magnetic, plus it was hidden well.

Our local town has a festival going on this week that includes a geocache competition today. We were going to try it out. Hopefully with all 3 of our eyes, we should do OK.

[KingOfPain]

We want a photo report!

Still haven't got my gps to work yet. I guess I will have to take it up the mountain tomorrow and give it a good view.

Question: Do you guys bring any garden tools for digging up cache?

KoP

[Kylearan]

Hi,

Question: Do you guys bring any garden tools for digging up cache?

No, because buried caches are not allowed:

Caches may be quickly archived if we see the following (which is not inclusive): [...] Caches that are buried. If a shovel, trowel or other “pointy” object is used to dig, whether in order to hide or to find the cache, then it is not appropriate.

I bring gloves though, because on more than one occasion I had to search in thorn bushs or not-so-clean environments for the container...

-Kylearan