Hi, nishollow and Pserine!

Rich and I haven’t gone geocaching in a year and a half, but your spooky puzzle-multicache was impossible to resist. We solved the puzzle a few weeks ago and would have loved to hit the trail immediately, but we didn’t have a portable UV light and had trouble finding one for sale locally. We finally ordered one and it arrived this week, so our plans for Friday night were set.

Although this is intended to be a night cache, we began before dusk, hoping that our flashlight would be enough to guide us along your intended trail. It was, along with Rich’s knowledge of the trails in this area. Stage 1 was nicely done, a good test of our UV light, and the object in question was a nice fit for the theme of the cache. Stage 2 was tricky (bwa-ha-ha, indeed! ) but we eventually prevailed—even though I’m still not sure how you intended to denote your coordinates for the final hiding spot. It grew rapidly darker, and chillier, as we searched for Stage 2. The intended night caching experience was not lost on us.

We found the final cache using a bit of “cacher’s intuition” and luck. I signed the logbook and we added a Maine traveler to the cache. We enjoyed the calm, dark night as we walked back out to the car, slipping slightly on the slush beneath our feet and keeping watch for the glowing eyes of woodland critters … and the demons that obviously lurk here. We celebrated our narrow escape with pizza and a pitcher of beer at the world-famous Library in Jessup.

Thanks so much for the cache!

Found it! Zhanna and I decided to begin our search while there was still some daylight left. We are very familiar with the trails here because we have been mountain biking and squirrel hunting in this area for many years. It was about a half hour before saunset when we arrived at the parking spot. The temperature was still in the mid-30s, the sky was heavy overcast, and there was still some snow on the ground. Using a bright enough flashlight, we figured the reflectors would be easy to see, and they were. Stage 1 was a quick find. [Our UV light was adequate in the rapidly fading daylight.] Stage 2 was much trickier. [The coordinates were somewhat confusing.] And Stage 3 turned out to be a real STRETCH, literally! [We left the container just a wee bit more “accessible” for the next finders.] It was already very dark during the walk to final cache site. After signing the logbook we left a geo-traveller and took nothing. The hike back to our vehicle was fun, too. We didn’t see any scary critters or evil demons.

Thanks for an exciting and pleasant nighttime caching adventure!