Findley State Park Bomb Scare

I was made aware of a geocache recently being mistaken for a bomb at Findley State Park.  I can't tell from the information which geocache was x-rayed and if the cache is still in place.  There's a chance the cache was never published.  Each year a number of caches are dropped at places requiring a permit and never published if the cache owner doesn't follow up for permission.  Caches in satte parks rarely cause bomb scares, but this one did.  Remember to always mark your geocache containers when you place them.  This ammo can is waiting for us to find a hiding spot in the ANF.

In April, a bomb scare was reported when a geocache was found in Leesville, Louisiana.  The container was reported to be taped up "like a pipe bomb."  Nearby residents were evacuated while the bomb squad destroyed the cache container.

This last report from October 2019 is more disturbing.  It appears from the news report someone in Allen County (Lima, Ohio) removed a geocache which had been in place for over a year and moved the cache to a nearby Bob Evans where it was placed under a bench.  The container had what appeared to be a fake fuse sticking out and contained a note inside.

Different Micro

We've seen plastic versions of this made from soda bottle preforms.  This is the first time we have seen a brass garden hose union used with two rubber hose caps.

The container has held up well for nearly five years.  The original log was dry and in great condition.

Wettest Container

We found this cache recently.

We may have seen wetter caches, but this one was filled with water.  I stopped Ali before she poured out the entire container.  The slime line shows how full the container was.

The old logs inside were a nasty pile of mush.  Amazingly a new log and baggie left by friends about a year ago were still dry.  It was a nice hide in an interesting location.  Unfortunately it was doomed as the owner put a hole in the top of the container to hang the cache.

195 Days

We spend a lot of geocaching time in Pennsylvania State Gamelands.  Many of our favorite finds have been during gamelands excursions.  With personal events and COVID travel restrictions, it had been 195 days since our last SGL caching adventure.  We took care of that with a long walk on a warm, late-spring day with the geodogs.

There were toadpoles,

lots of butterflies,

and of course, plenty of geocaches.

There was no need for a mask.  There was only one other person in the gamelands.  He passed by on his bike as we were in the woods signing a log.  It was glorious!  It was the perfect way to be outdoors and not need to worry about social distancing.