Geocache Destruction!

Wow!  What a difference twenty months can make, especially to geocaches made largely of non-treated lumber. 

Recently, I got a couple of alerts letting me know that some folks visited a pair of caches of mine.  One of the cachers recommended that one of the hides be archived (permanently taken off-line). Another wished he or she could have seen the other cache “in its prime”.  I temporarily delisted the caches and went out to check up on them.

I think a series of “before” and “after” pics is a good way to describe what I found.

Here is Mate in One on the day it was placed (whoever found the cache would lift the white queen to reveal the plastic cache container).

And here is what I found today (I piled up the scattered detritus for this pic):

Only some treated and cedar chunks survived.  I am guessing the parts that did not rot away were swept down the slope and into the nearby swamp - probably what happened to the cache container, too.  So, yeah, I archived this one.

Here is what the second one looked like in my garage a couple of days before I put it out there:

Here is what it looked like on its first day:

Here are some pics of what it looks like now:

Although the severely weather-beaten map looks amazing, it is extremely fragile.  The actual cache container and the frame are holding up surprisingly well.  I re-enabled the listing for this one this morning.  I figure this guy has a couple more months left in him before he needs to be archived, too. 

While I’m at it, I might as well post the cache description.  Enjoy!

Geocache Description:

South of Tower
You stand at the end of a gravel roadway near the base of a large, nearly-featureless tower which looms above the surrounding forest.  The tower is surrounded by a tall barricade with a gate in the center of the structure.  Accompanying the birdsong, you can make out the drone of some sort of machine operating at the base of the tower.

>open gate
The gate is locked and you do not have a key.

>i
You are carrying:
A pen
A navigational device
Some trinkets

>north

Forest Path
You walk along the barricade and discover a slight break in the foliage to the east of the fence.  The break opens up to a leaf-strewn pathway of sorts extending north and south.  The fence and tower base are still visible through the trees and the mechanical hum is slightly louder here.  Although it is noticeably cooler in the shade, the mosquitos have taken notice of you and light on you occasionally to snack.

>north
Forest Path
You walk down the path and past the perimeter of the fence where you reach a number of fallen trees of various types and sizes which mark the end of the trail.  Animal burrows are evident here and there and you are careful not to turn an ankle with a clumsy misstep.

>search trees
You find nothing but piles of decaying leaves.

>count leaves
There are 69,105 leaves here.

>examine trees
There is nothing notable about the fallen trees other than they appear passable if you are the adventurous type.

>north
North of Tower
You scramble over the decaying logs to discover the forest opens up a little slightly to the west of the forest path and becomes a small clearing.  You immediately notice that it would have been easier to simply walk around the fallen trees instead of climbing over them, but that is exactly what hindsight is for.  Although the machinery is still audible here, the tower itself is nearly completely hidden from view.  The mosquitos seem to have picked up their pace.

There is an ancient map and a brass lantern here.

>look at map

As best as you can make out, the weather-beaten, ancient map describes a world which no longer exists except in the memories of the elders.  You recall them spinning tales of a vast underground world where voracious creatures lurked in the darkness, where pictures did not exist, and where seemingly innocent mistakes were brutally punished.  You thought the stories were the stuff of campfire fiction meant to impress the young, but here is proof otherwise right before your eyes.

>get all
ancient map: The map is fragile and would probably fall to bits if you moved it.  You decide to leave it alone.
brass lantern: Taken

>turn on lantern
Sadly, the lantern, another relic of a bygone era, does not function.  As you move it you can hear something rattle around inside.

>open lantern