What is your geo-name again?

What is your geo-name again? 

By Bert Marshall (BaytownBert)
Southeast Texas Representative Texas Geocaching Association

My geocaching handle is BaytownBert.  It’s confusingly cryptic in that my name is Bert and I live in Baytown, Texas.  Believe it or not one time someone asked me where I lived after we exchanged geo-handles.  To save space on the logbooks, I usually just put BB and the date.

Over the years I’ve observed some really cool names, like Skunkonthefog, FluxVector, and Bigguy In Texas.  I’ve also heard some astoundingly long, bizarre and undecipherable caching names that left me scratching my head in amazement.  It usually goes something like this: “Hi, I’m BaytownBert.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m 382764956thb938rt8743monkeylips-from_Toledo_Texas and I am a newbie to the game.”  I usually refrain from guffawing, but on occasion giggle a little.  My next question is how they plan to sign the log on a nano, but again stop myself.

A geocaching name should be considered not only important, but precious and a player needs to understand that a lot goes along with it.  Take for instance the trail you leave in loggings, hidden caches, event attendance – well you get the picture.  Your logging name is a snapshot of you.  If you do well, people may not notice, but if you do bad, well again it is a historical entity that other cachers will bat around.

“Who hid this one?”

“BaytownBert”

“Ugh, well that means the coords are probably off 40 feet and it needs maintenance…”

“Yea, that and he’s probably writing a scathing log on someone else’s cache as we search for his stupid choice of containers.”

“I hope not, as all his caches are about the worst example of how to play this game.”

“Yea and he’s always ragging on the reviewers saying how awful they are.”

“I bet he doesn’t even bathe…”

This is an extreme example and I do bathe – I promise I do.  You see, you can play this game for a long time gliding under the radar and no one will actually pay you much attention, but the day you hide one is the day where folks will begin to notice you.

Comments you want to read are “Nice hide” not “Needs Maintenance”.  With a total of 300+ hides and events under my belt, it is not uncommon for me to get one to ten NM logs a week.  I’m retired and usually get to them within 48 hours, but even when I worked 12 hour shifts and 60+ hours a week, I did immediate maintenance.

The reason is simple; I did not want my geo-handle to be associated with anything negative.  Now mind you, some folks will find offense at something I did occasionally and that is not what I am talking about here.  What I mean is when your geo-handle is mentioned folks look at each other and nod. 

The next thing out of their mouths should be, “What is the D/T rating,” or “Is there a hint?”

One of my favorite exclamations when I can’t find a cache is an ode to my old caching buddy.  I raise my fist at the sky and shake it while exclaiming, “Curse you AaronBarbee!”  Aaron hid a series of caches in the Baytown area years ago called the Soda Tube Trials.  At each one, you could be killed or injured and I got all of them and paid the painful price on quite a few.

One of his caches was in the middle of a bee hive colony and I went out in a white Mylar suit in the middle of July to replace the missing soda tube with him.  There were thousands of bees around me, as AB stayed back to watch.  I was only stung twice.

Due to this series, Aaron was widely known and in a good way.  Folks came from all over to do his caches.  Since then he’s kind of quit caching, moving into other endeavors, but he left a very positive image of himself to other cachers.

Recently in the Texas Geocaching Association (TXGA.net), we voted 3 people into the Hall of Fame and minted pathtags to commemorate them.  Texas Dreamweaver, HoustonControl, Mrs. Captain Pickard are well known cachers in Texas and deserve the accolades.  These folks have contributed so much to the game that they are examples of how to do it.  Their geo-names are known to many in a very positive way and that is the point of this primer.

Guard your name as it is precious indeed.  Be mindful of how you sign the logs by writing good ones. Come to events and help out, or stage really cool events. Help newbies and do what you can to give back to the game.  Down the road you might find out that you have inspired a goodly number of people to be better players.

One more thing.  Don’t forget to have a lot of fun!

GC3B8ZZ Geocache: Baytown Bert's A Crying

GC3B8ZZ Geocache Hell?  You decide.

A group of us intrepid geocachers are going after these two caches next Saturday: Read what one fellow experienced just the other day: 

Blindzman wrote: Well I guess I should write a log for y'all to laugh at. My wife, son, daughter and me met up with CacheControl at about 9:00am on the trail and were separated at about 9:15am (mistake number 1) The first cache we went to was "A cache to cry over", it is in the same woods as this one. When y'all do it you will understand how much extra is involved in that cache. When we left there we were only .51miles from "BB's a crying". We thought it wasn't going to be that big of a deal. 

Well it took us at least 1.5 hours to get between them. The real problems was on the way out, it was only about .73 miles from the cache to parking so we started off & that hike took us almost 2.5 hours. Well between the two caches I knew I was not in that bad of shape but I also knew I was not in the best of shape either, we almost turned around but figured we did not want to give up. About half way out I realized how bad of shape I really was in and how dehydrated I really was with about .25 left on the way out. 

I honestly did not think I was going to make my way out the last .15, both my legs were cramped straight and I looked like double peg leg walking, it was on nothing but pure drive and will power. We finally came out of the woods at 2:30 directly in front of the parking and I fell down under the water spigot at the house and laid there for about 10 mins with ants covering me and really did not care because I was cooling off. 

Well from there it just got worst. 

The home owner finally found me and had me come into a breeze way to get out of the sun. While there I had them cut my pants off from the knees down. While out of the trail I had taken my outer shirt off and was in my undershirt, well that ripped off and I put my main shirt back on. CacheControl showed up and suggested we call 911 so I listened and when they showed up they started me on an I.V. 

CacheControl and Blindzman at San Jacinto Methodist Hospital in Baytown, texas

By the time we got to the hospital I felt so much better and refused to be admitted and went outside to wait on my family to show up. After about 10 mins the ambulance driver offered me her phone and my wife did not pick up so he suggested she may be in the ER waiting room so I walk in there with my cut off shorts no shoes and no shirt with my ripped under shirt hanging from my waist and the nurse were looking at me like they were fixing to call 911 on me again but for a completely different reason and my family thankfully was in there and off we went. 

Well thacatfish, and Geogeex showed up to check on me and after about 10 mins of sitting in the parking lot we headed home. I guess I have to say TFTC but don't know if we will ever reattempt this one again and we at least got the smiley. For all of y'all thinking of going after this one make sure you DOUBLE the amount of water you think you should bring.

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BNC- 1st Nurture Nature Class - Geocaching

A small group of future geocachers met today at the Baytown Nature Center, 6213 Bayway Drive for the first class in a monthly education series called the Nurture Nature Series.


The Nurture Nature Series is the first Saturday of each month from 10:00 – 11:00 am. The program is free with the regular admission of $3 (children under 13 are free) to the Nature Center. “Reptiles” will be the next topic in the series on July 2. Interested in participating? Call 281-420-7128 to RSVP and make sure your space is reserved.

Larry Houston was the guest speaker.  In geocaching circles, he is known as HoustonControl and is a mover and shaker in the Houston area with over 4400 "finds" and a 110 "hides", some of which are in the Baytown Nature Center proper.  Larry has also earned a Platinum Earthcache Master badge, awarded by the GSA (www.earthcache.org) and has geocached in 7 countries around the world. He is Baytown's resident expert geocacher.

 

After Larry ran through the history of geocaching and the basics, he turned it over to me (geocaching name: BaytownBert) and I talked about what to carry with you when you go out on a geocaching adventure.  Everything from bug spray to emergency supplies.

Following up was a cacher from La Porte known as JustDucky2, who explained what "trackable items" were and even sported a tattoo with a trackable serial number.  Trackable items are special dog tags or coins with a dedicated set of alpha-numeric characters that travel from geocache to geocache and are recorded on geocaching.com, when found by geocachers.

We then broke off into groups and went and looked for some of HoustonControl's permanent geocaches inside the park and a few he put out just for this workshop - which are not recordable.  All and all, we had a great time and everyone attending left with a ready to hide geocache furnished by BaytownBert, with the promise to hide it after they had recorded their first 50 "finds".

The 33 Rules of Geocachingland by Baytown Bert

1. Cardio (you will need it)

2. The Double Tap (bring redundant data)

3. Beware of Bathrooms (don't use PI for TP)

4. Wear Seat Belts (it's the law)

5. No Attachments (check for ticks)

6. The “Skillet” (remember granola bars)

7. Travel Light (you may be out late)

8. Get a Trusted Partner (self-explanitory)

9. With your Bare Hands (bring band-aids)

10. Don’t Swing Low (barbwire in the back)

11. Use Your Foot (see number 10)

12. Bounty Paper Towels (see number 3)

13. Shake it Off (ladies, see number 12)

14. Bring Change of underwear (in case you forget number 12)

15. Bowling Ball (if all else fails, crawl under it)

16. Opportunity Knocks (FTF!)

17. Don’t be a hero (occasionally let someone else be FTF)

18. Limber Up (3 push-ups will usually qualify)

19. Break it Up (be the first to say "break is over")

20. It’s a marathon, not a sprint, unless it’s a sprint, then sprint (see number 16)

21. Avoid Strip Clubs (avoid skirt-lifting as often as possible)

22. When in doubt know your way out (dehydration kills)

23. Ziplock (bring extra baggies)

24. Use your thumbs (on a heavy caching day, use both hands on the GPSr)

25. Shoot First (Stop looking at your GPSr and follow your gut)

26. A little sun screen never hurt anybody (self-explanitory)

27. Incoming! (Watch for swinging limbs)

28. Double-Knot your Shoes (*GBP = 3X knots)

29. The Buddy System (No cacher left behind)

30. Pack your stain stick (better your stick than your hand)

31. Check the back seat (Don't leave without your kit)

32. Enjoy the little things (That's why you geocache)

33. Swiss army Knife (GSAK)
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Letter to City Manager Garry Brumback

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Hello, Mr. Brumback! I'm trying to find the plan for the development of a trail system in and around Baytown, but can't seem to find it. While geocaching (and you may have heard me comment in my videos) I am continually impressed with the large scale development of trails along Fairmont Parkway, Red Bluff Road, and now along McCabe Road in La Porte.

McCabe Road and Fairmont Parkway trails are cement and very wide and this has to have cost a fortune, but where and how are they getting funding? I think it is imperitive if Baytown is to attract higher income families, we push the trail system forward asap.

Baytown native, Larry Houston and I have now successfully placed a large number of geocaches (23) along Goose Creek trail to attract out-of-towners and hopefully they will stop in for a bite to eat while here and as a side benefit, use our trail making it inherently safer. It took the Jenkins Park (Cary Bayou Trail) a long time before it felt safe, but now there are a lot of people using it. Incidentally, there are also 12 geocaches hidden in Jenkins Park/JC Holloway.

Rumors are Lee College wants to become a 4 year college and this further pushes the need for an extensive bike/hike trail system, especially along Goose Creek and its tributaries. Our city's streets and lack of shoulders are literally dangerous to bicyclists and desperately needs better biking trails of distance.

Next is the Jenkins Park trail expansion and the continued development of the Bark Park. The trail expansion should be carefully planned so a 5K distance is achieved, instead of an arbitrary plus or minus that amount. This will allow runners to know their exact distance, making it a perfect place to train for 10k races, etc. The sooner the overall plan is developed, the sooner trees can be planted.

What is the plan concerning the 3 bridges across Cary Bayou? I believe I heard Scott Johnson say they would be replaced.

Concerning the Bark Park: The city should light this park. Next, a flea and tick spray schedule should be placed outside the park and updated monthly.

Pedernales Falls State Park is Awesome - Part 1!

Well, I finally got my Camp-out on and it was everything I had hoped for and more. This past weekend, my brother TJ Bustem and I spent four days in Central Texas, specifically Pedernales Falls State Park. Texans know it as “Perdenales” thanks to LBJ and both pronunciations are acceptable according to the Parks and Wildlife web site.

Back in January while making plans to camp, I made a number of purchases to replace old camping gear, including a new tent, mummy bag and camp stove, etc. On this trip I planned to prove this equipment and since it had been years since I had camped, I also planned to tote along anything else I might need, erring on the side of too much equipment.

I was pleased with the quality of my “3 season” Eureka Apex-2XT Dome tent. It was about a hundred bucks and is easy to set-up. I did get a surprise Thursday night when I went to zip up the tent at bedtime when a honeybee stung me on my right pinky finger. I had left the fly open on the tent and when the sun went down and the temperature fell, the bee landed right by the zipper. Lesson learned – keep that tent zipped at all times.

My sleeping bag is the Kelty Mistral 20 degree mummy and I was toasty, even when the temperature fell to 26 degrees F Saturday night. My propane stove is the excellent Stansport H.O. model 206 and I heartily recommend this model to everyone. The H.O. stands for high output and I made coffee on it in under four minutes using my vintage Comet aluminum coffee percolator, and this at below freezing temperatures.

I broke-in my new cookware, which is a 3-piece set made by Texsport. They call it the “Hard Anodized Cook Set” and it was used to heat up water for oatmeal and clean-up, along with the various foods we cooked. I bought everything through www.JoesSports.com and their service and prices are very satisfactory.

It’s about a four hour drive from Baytown to PFSP and check-in time for a reserved site is 2pm, so that doesn’t give you a lot of daylight to set up camp and do much of anything other than walk down to the Falls and look it over. The Falls on the Pedernales River can flood in 5 minutes and I’m told they have a siren set up to warn folks that a dangerous (and I mean a Tsunami) amount of water may be on its way. It’s something to consider if you crawl over the rocks in the river bed and have physical limitations. 5 minutes to clear the area and if you think you can’t, then don’t go down there, but stay up high on the sides of the river. Here is their web site.

Let me tell you about the rest facilities (toilet/shower) at this Park. They are heated, clean and make your camping experience wonderful. The Park itself is well-staffed with “Park Hosts”, which are basically retired campers who help maintain the Park in exchange for parking rights and they do an excellent job.

It’s been a number of years since I broke out of my comfort zone when it comes to sleeping and I’m not counting motels beds either. Sleeping in a mummy bag inside a tent, out in the woods is a far cry from what our spoiled bodies like and the first night was a bit uncomfortable. Add in the raccoon that decided to check all our gear for food and I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep. Neither did TJ Bustem.

We were up at the crack of dawn though and it was 29 degrees. My hands and feet were beginning to freeze as I made coffee and stoked the fire pit. Camp fires are allowed at this SP if kept inside a metal pit, unlike the Guadalupe River SP, which is under a total campfire ban. Thank the Lord, as camping without a campfire, is like showering without water in my opinion.

We shook the cold off, made a breakfast of hot oatmeal, jet-fuel strength black coffee and jalapeno, bean & cheese tamales from Los Toritos in Baytown. I decided this would become a staple on my campouts, as you can easily heat them up in a covered pan of boiling water and they taste great and stick to your ribs; besides camp food always tastes great regardless of the combination. Stay tuned for part two.

JJ Mayes Wildlife Trace Revisited

This past Thursday, I looked out my front door and all I could think about was going hiking. The weather report from the day before called for mostly cloudy skies and possibly a bit of rain, but what greeted me was just the opposite. Evidently a Norther had blown in and we were once again being blessed with clear blue skies and temperatures in the 50’s. My kind of day.

Looking my bride square in the eye, I appealed to her about my need to hike and nodding her approval, she watched as I packed my High Sierra fanny pack. It’s a real gem of a pack and heavy duty as all get out, allowing me to comfortably carry quite a bit of heavy stuff. Over the years I’ve tried a good number of packs and carriers and this is the best thing short of a full day pack for my needs.

In case you are interested in getting one, I bought it online at www.joessports.com and it’s called the High Sierra Ridgeline Lumbar / Waist Pack and it costs about $50. I recommend Joe’s also, as I’ve bought a lot of stuff from them and they are fair in price and excellent in service.

My usual gear went into the pack, which includes my Powerlock MultiTool (which my son carried while serving in the Army in Iraq), Canon digital camera, Nikon binoculars, Sansa MP3 player, 2 bottles of water, red neckerchief, cheese crackers, sunflower seeds and a couple other essentials.

Rolling down the driveway in my hoopty in anticipation of hitting the trail, I cruised off towards I-10 and the hectic traffic, which is exactly the opposite of what I am trying to find on the Trace. The trail is twelve miles from my house, but due to road construction on I-10, it is an unbelievable twenty-four miles to get home. To leave the Trace, a person has to head east, not west, go over the Trinity River and drive to Anahuac to make the turn-around. This adds twelve miles to the return trip.

Pulling into the Trace, I spy another vehicle in the parking lot and it turns out to be a couple from Baytown and they plan on biking in the Trace. Since the road is closed and the gate is locked with a sign that states “U. S. Property – NO Vehicles”, they are hesitant to enter. I tell them I interpret the sign to read no motorized vehicles and they decide that’s what it means also.

What a beautiful day for hiking and riding and we all head off into the Trace, me going towards the Hurricane blasted picnic area and they, after preparation, into the Trace proper. We did not cross paths again, but I did see them crossing one of the boardwalks hours later. I wish I would have asked their names and email addresses.

The picnic area at the front of the Trace is filled with giant oaks and there are a lot of downed limbs which makes it look inadmissible, but after negotiating the destruction I found most of it is wide open and quite majestic. I hope it is cleared and opened soon.

Leaving the picnic area, I crossed the fence into the Trace with the intention of walking the main road to the locks and dam on the Trinity River. The locks are maintained by the Wallisville Lake Project workers and the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers on the east bank and if my feet are any indication, this is about 4.5 miles away on a very rustic and storm-beaten dirt road.

The last time I was here was about 3 weeks ago and the fires that were burning then were now out, but the pleasant smell of wood smoke lingered. I couldn’t get over the feeling that I was seeing raw nature though, as fire-burned areas existed long before man and this burned area looked plum primal.

I was delighted to see the oddly red-colored raccoon at work looking for crawfish, which I spied the last time I was here, but this time, he had the jump on me and ran before I could get more than a blurry photo. This trip allowed me to glimpse numerous well-fed nutria, shorebirds, predatory birds, a small snake and diverse ducks, but alas, it is still too cool for alligators. The upside is the absence of mosquitoes.

I made my long walk in the sun to the locks and back feeling totally cleansed by the exertion and sunshine logging in about ten miles, if I can include the many meanderings I allowed myself and I posted my photographs here, for all to enjoy.

JJ Mayes Wildlife Trace Feb 2009