Florida May 2012

It’s been two weeks since the last blog update and this is down to the fact that we took a last minute trip to Florida. Therefore this blog covers the events of our little break. Obviously we were off to do the Disney thing with the kids but the GPS got packed ‘just in case’… J

We have made many trips to Florida over the years but we’ve only been caching there a little while and this would be our second time doing just that. Our first foray into Yank chaching was at Christmas and we bagged a few and learnt a few new things about how the game is played over there. This time though we had done more research and were a little more prepared. Given we were only there for a week it was decided that the Captain would drop the crew off at Disney one day and head out alone to try a ‘Power Run’.

Yee Ha Cowboy!!

This was something we picked up on last time we were here. American cachers all seem to have big numbers (30k+) and it’s no wonder when you see some of the volumes of caches placed along a highway or parkway. Many of these series’ have been coined ‘Power Runs’ and are deemed by purists as nothing more than a way to up your numbers. I can sort of see the argument from an Americans point of view - as at home we have seen many forums berating the BBLB series for many of the same reasons. What I did realise was that as a tourist visiting the area the power runs I went on took me to locations well off the tourist map and I saw wildlife I wouldn’t have encountered elsewhere…therefore does that not sum up what caching should be about? It also prompted me to consider how the natural landscape drives how we play the game. If in the UK we had miles and miles of perfect highway cutting through flat untouched vistas then I’m sure someone would be out depositing caches every 600ft quite simply because the landscape allows you to. One of the largest such runs is the 'ET Highway' series in Nevada which covers 1500 caches (at last count)! Instead we have to be more inventive and our hides follow our great public rights of way…something the septics don’t have!

I’ll run through a little more on where I went in a moment but to round off this train of thought first. Yes the Americans have a lot of caches but then again they have a lot of space for them so we can’t and shouldn’t blame them for that. Yes they have some boring hides… but so do we. For example there are a lot of hides in car parks hidden under lap post ‘skirts’. These LPS caches as they are known are, in my mind, worse than the power runs as they hold no scenic interest at all. Finally – the game is different and you have to learn it over again. My cachers eye is therefore all the better for the experience.

Power Run 1 – Good Vs Evil

It’s a good 90 minute drive to get to the starting point for this run of caches along highway 532. I started at GC39BYB with the intent of heading west down the road until a T-junction then I would drop south on the 419 before then doubling back on myself north back onto the 532. This should net me most of the series and a few others along the way. At the first GZ I pulled off the pristine tarmac onto the grass verge. I switched the engine off and locked up and followed the arrow. At the GZ it took me ages to spot the cache. What you have to realise is that caching is different here and you have to learn the local ways. The caches are all off the ground in trees (either hooked on with wire or lashed on with zip lock tags). Once you know this spotting them becomes easier. I was in UK mode so went straight to turning over rocks and looking at ground level – BIG NO NO. One of the cardinal rules of caching in an environment where everything is designed to hurt or kill you is that you never move anything with your bare hands. Finding this first cache in the tree reminds me of why it’s off the ground and I kick myself for being so daft. I collect a suitable pokey stick and head back to the car. 15 minutes it took for that first cache! As I progressed down the road I got into a better rhythm and knowing what I was looking for meant that sometimes I was spotting the caches in the trees before I’d even stopped. I also didn’t bother turning the car engine off as I was able to pull up within 50 feet of the GZs so I risked it (given no one else was out here). I soon had it down to about 3 minutes between caches. All the caches were in good order and decent sized – no nanos here! I encountered a forest fire at one point and the local Fire Department were eying me up as I pulled over to hunt for a cache very close to their fire beaters – wasn’t going to let something as minor as a forest fire put me off! The end of the day saw 106 caches in the bag and a lot of learning done but also a lot of things seen along the way… more of that later.

Power Run 2 – Central Florida Power Run
The Center Hill cache run starts in Webster, FL with cache number 000 (GC3ABCR). The very early history of Center Hill begins back in 1842. Elethorn Mobley was issued 160.24 acres, dated the 4th day of March, 1842. The families of Elethorn, John Mobley, and John Walter were some of the pioneers of Center Hill and Sumter County. They first called this area "Abram Town" or "Mobley Town". The Indians called Center Hill "Pochechey". This area extended from north of the present Highway 50 to near Beville's Corner. In 1881, Captain Major Lovell moved into this area from what is now Lake County. Mrs. Carrie Lovell named this little town "Center Hill" as it was in the center of the county and on top of a hill.

Soooooo obvious!

I arrived at the first GZ and pulled onto a grass verge. As I looked right I could see the cache hanging off the wire fence! Easy as that! This series seems to cross itself at various points and whilst most are on good tarmac roads some are not. Given I was trollying around in a hire car I didn’t want to risk venturing off the highway too far so I stuck to the main roads. At the end of the day I think I did a loose figure of eight around the roads of Center Hill. This area couldn’t be further away from the lights and candy floss of Disney. Small rough track roads would lead to occupied trailers and make shift ‘shacks’ and people were milling around all the time. I didn’t feel threatened and many of the folk gave me a wave as I drove by but I did get a feeling of isolation…what if the car broke down..? Would the toothless gent wearing only denim dungarees and sucking on a pipe give me a push? He wasn’t wearing shoes so I guess not. This area was much more wooded and old compared to the previous run on open highway and it offered different challenges but with the lessons learnt already I easily slotted into a rhythm again. Looking back though the experience would have been better if I’d had some company. Maybe when we come back here in a few weeks time we can set out as a group to pick some caches up rather than it be about trying to set records. Speaking of which, the day bagged 127 – a personal best!

Beware the gators in places like this

Ok so what have I learnt? Well for me the power runs offer the option of doing some caches in areas I wouldn’t have otherwise discovered so they get my vote – I may even attempt one of the bike trails next time rather than sticking with the car trails. You should always have a pokey stick, a mobile phone and gallons of water! Expect the unexpected! On these two trips I saw and came very close to Alligators, Wild Boar, Armadillos, Vultures, Fire Ants, Black Widow spiders, Long Horn Steer and something that looked like a giant red and black furry wasp. These are ‘normal’ out here. Some of the other series I researched called for snake boots to be worn and anti-venom to be carried…maybe next time…