PetSTEP

One thing was very clear over the holidays.  If Geodog Phineas were able to recover from his injury, his days of jumping in and out of the GeoUte were over.  We also knew that one of us trying to hold him in the rear seat wasn't a safe idea either.

The hardest thing about finding a dog ramp is finding one that works.  The reviews are filled of failings where the ramps sag, wobble, or break.  If not under-designed, many fail from slippery surfaces or surfaces that fail quickly under wear from the dog's claws.

We spent a long time looking and reading reviews before we decided to give a try with PetSTEP.

Once it arrived, it seemed really sturdy.  We had it in the house for a couple weeks training the dogs to use the ramp on the bed.  Our first trial was a success.  With more use Phineas and Lizzie are getting much better at using the ramp to enter and exit the GeoUte.  It is great to reduce one more risk for Phineas while also making trips safer for Lizzie.

Phin makes a great model.

It is great to have Phineas still able to join us for great places like a geocaching hike near Wildcat Run by Chapman State Park.

Well Hidden Bison

I have no idea how Ali was able to spot this super hide in the woods.

This super hide had been seventeen months since its previous find.  A few freshly dropped leaves would make this nearly impossible to find.

Project GC Lonely Cache Script

Lonely cache challenges have not been a part of geocaching since the Challenge Guidelines were reworked.  There are a host of problems related to the concept of lonely caches as a challenge including encouraging throw-down hides, multiple finders in one day, on-line found logs by cachers who didn't find the cache...

Despite the restrictions for using this as a concept for a challenge, Project-GC now has a lonely cache checker for caches found one year or longer since the prior find.  Hunting lonely caches is one of the side games we play within Geocaching so we are happy to now have a tool to see how many lonely caches we have found.  

The script output...

The script says 76 since it hasn't updated for our visit to the Ghost Orchid multi in Fakahatchee Swamp.  It also shows no lonely cache finds before 2011 which makes me wonder if it is accurate since we started caching in 2004 when there were fewer cachers.

It's still fun to see the stats.  I'm not surprised we have a lonely cache find in Mexico, but I forgot the two in Canada.  The stats were fun.  With lonely finds in ten states I'm inspired to hunt for lonely caches in more states.

Our two longest lonely caches came from an afternoon visit to the LBJ Grasslands in Texas.

Our Mexico lonely cache was part of a mountain climb.

The oldest on this list came from a visit to beautiful Fillmore Glen in New York.

Our most recent lonely cache find a few days ago...

I think there is a flaw in the checker's ability to find older caches, but it is a lot of fun to look back.

An Update on Geodog Phineas

Phineas had been off the caching trail since late November.  He was on pain meds with the hope that he would recover from his neck injury.  The pain meds did not work, but our vet is a licensed for pet accupuncture.  He received three treatments each a week apart and showed great improvement.  By the last we were happy to see our beagle back.  He has continued to improve and has been removed from his meds.

What does this mean for him as a GeoDog?  Well so far he has been with us for eleven finds this year with visits to Cleveland Metroparks South Chagrin and Acacia Reservations and a cold walk at LakeMetroparks Penetentiary Glen Reservation.  It appears Phin is back, and we are thrilled.

Phin Bays at Acacia

Phin and Liz at Penetentiary Glen

We don't know if this improvement is long term or if he will need future treatments, but we will happily enjoy any time with him that we can have on the trail (or off).

He no longer jumps in and out of his dog crate to enter and exit the sport ute.  He now has a pet ramp which Lizzie is also learning to use.  There will be images of that in a future post.

The Hides of Perez8

When we travel to Florida to visit family, we always set aside time to visit Myakka River State Park.  To go along with the wonderful wildlife...

we are treated to the creative hides of cacher Perez8.  His hides are very creative.  Some are just fun.  Many are challenging field puzzles.  The images below are a sampling of some of the recent ones we found while visiting.

This one puzzled us last year.  This year, we were able to find the solution.  His hides often gather 50% favorites from the finders.

If you are in SW Florida, take the time to hunt a few of Perez8's cache hides.  If you are near, make a stop at Myakka River State Park.  The hides are plentiful and the wildlife is wonderful.