Yesterday, I ventured out on my second ever Geocaching expedition. I selected a cache very close to home - as the crow flies probably not more than 3/4's of a mile. But in terms of vegetation, it might as well have been in deepest darkest Borneo. Talk about a jungle. A nasty combination of hoards of mosquitos, swampy terrain, thick brush, and a very healthy amount of Alaska's most evil plant - Devil's Club (the scientific name is very apt - Oplopanax horridus).
The cache, entitled, Splash Cash, has a difficulty rating of 2 1/2 stars (out of 5) and a terrain rating of 2 1/2 stars (again, out of 5). I wanted a bit of a challenge. Which it certainly was.
The heavy overhead foliage resulted in very unstable GPS readings. It was impossible to get a stable fix. I found the general area fairly quickly. But I couldn't get a solid reading within a 100 foot radius. Which doesn't seem too bad - but when you're in a thick green mosquito infested jungle, looking for a hidden green ammo box, it might as well be a 100 yard radius. I stumbled around for about a half hour - constantly swatting mosquitos and trying to avoid the devil's club. And because this was only my second ever geocache, I wasn't very sure about where to look. Was it hidden the rootball of a fallen tree? Or perhaps in one of a myriad of holes?
I finally did find it - not through superior navigation or great treasure hunting instinct. No, I just happened to look down and see a bit of slightly different looking green peeking out from under the forest floor detritus. Talk about luck.
I was very excited! This was a tough cache. It was filled with several goodies. While fighting off the mosquito hoards (they love a stationary target), I took a few pictures, signed the log book, left a toy car, and took a little toy Ernie (of Bert and Ernie fame). I then carefully reburied the cache and skedaddled out of there.
I'm allergic to mosquito dope, so the next time I go geocaching, I'm going to wear a pith helmut with a mosquito net. And leather gloves - I'm still picking the devil's club stickers out of my hand.
 See - I told you it was a jungle!!!!
Finding a green ammo box in all that green vegetation is like a "Where's Waldo" all in green.
8:16:03 PM 
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The totally camaflouged cache and my GPS. It was total luck that I happened to look down and notice that bit of green.
The Cache.
Self Portrait of the Geocaching Slat Rat.