Late Night Visitors

This past Friday night I was at home with the windows up, catching the breeze and playing around on the computer. Saw a car pull up in the driveway, went outside and the car was gone. Noticed the halogen headlights of that car go past a couple of times. Continued on with what I was doing and then saw a flashlight in the yard. I knew then they were cachers coming after What I afraid of? I grabbed my Surefire tactical light and went outside the greet the cachers. Turns out they were DrewsephVladmir, The 40 Foot Pandas and 1/2 of FarklinNinjas, a group from Union City, TN. The found the first stag and then went about entering the coordinates for the second and final stage in their high tech phones. We chatted a bit about the phones being used as GPS receivers. Then the group said their good byes and were headed back to their cars. I asked them to check their receivers and then they noticed the cache was in walking distance. I watched them trying to find the final using the phones that didn't seem to have an arrow screen. One of them ran out onto the highway to re-gain satellite reception. We spoke more about the phones and I mentioned that once their caching careers take them into areas with high tree cover such as Land Between the Lakes, they may want to think about a GPS with better reception.

We had a very pleasant conversion and hope to run into the group again on the trails.

New PT test

While at Ft. Campbell, KY several days ago, I browsed the headline of a Army Times of the new Army Physical fitness test. Regrettably, I didn't purchase a copy. Searches on the Internet of the new test have not come up with anything concrete, the best I found was this You Tube Video. The new test is supposed to be Army wide by this October. Asking a few people, including AGR's and technicians at this weekend at drill, I discovered I knew more than they.

Current test includes three events. Push ups, sit ups and a two-mile run. Due to a knee problem of a floating knee cap, I have a profile and substitute the 2.5 mile walk that I have to complete in about 36 minutes. For the most part, I start working out about two months prior and use a treadmill. I have noticed the PT test does not equal combat readiness with some much emphasis on running in shorts and t-shirt. It doesn't prepare much for a long road march with body armor, a weapon and ammunition.

The new test will be seven events. Thankfully, the sit up is gone. Since information is sketchy, it's hard to say what the events will be like and how to complete the test. I did notice in the video parts of the test were in PT uniform, others in battle uniform, including body armor and weapon. This leads to a argument, as a member of a transportation unit of the National Guard, we carry the M-16 which weighs 7.8 pounds and is 39.625 inches. My active Army counterpart carries the M-4 which is 6.36 pounds and 29.75 inches when the stock is retracted. Regarding training for combat, it would be better to carry the weapon one will carry in combat. But for a test that is scored and a soldier will be in competition for promotion, the field should be even.

Some other events that I know of; are a casualty drag and an ammo can shuttle run.

I will have to do more to prepare for these events, like carrying a pack while hiking the trails with more water than usual. The geo-kayaking I have planned for warmer weather should help my upper body strength as well.

26 Smilies

Last weekend I returned to the southern LBL and found seven caches and one DNF. After entering my finds and pulled up the map, I noticed 26 smilies on the map with 11 to be found. Number has increased this week with the addition about five caches.

First pulled up to Homestead, a nice area for a cache with old buildings, but couldn't find the cache again. Will return sometime. Next was Meteorite Rock, where I redeemed myself a DNF about 2 years ago. I don't see where I went wrong, but it was found. Next was Lickity Split, not being a fan of micros in wooded areas, I was impressed with the hide technique. Thankfully, coordinates were on the dot. Had it been back in the Garmin Legend or Etrex days, it would have been a cache I would have passed up.

I really wanted to get Nuts About Dreadlock Tree since I was in the area. But, I couldn't get close to the cache due to high water on a creek I needed to cross. Looking at my topo map, I didn't see an easy way. Went onto Lake Shore a 3 terrain cache. The road to the cache fit the rating. Parked about .10 from the cache and had an easy walk to the find.

At this point, I began to look at the downhill side of this cache day. I drove up north and worked my way down. Found Welcome to Model, TN, a great cache and great location. Owner did an excellent job researching and setting up the cache page. On my nRoute, I saw how close the cache was to the Trace and wondered about the 3 terrain rating. After a good climb up the hill, I appreciated the 3 star rating.

Now the highlight of the day. Went after Roundtop. Made excuses for myself and was concerned about the 1 mile hike each way and my knowledge of the terrain of the LBL. The hike was much easier than anticipated. Ran into a Boy Scout troop on the way and return trip. Chatted some about the geocaching merit badge. Was a nice hike. Ended the day on the Bear Creek Loop Trail. Found MTCBSA COG Dist Adventures of Scouting #5 and Bear Creek Loop Cache. Prior to hitting the trail, I was tired and hungry, I found the caches and went to a nearby McDonalds in Dover and headed home. With more energy, I would have hiked the entire trail and posted the trail online.

Maybe another time.....