False Bottom

Sometimes we run across caches that leave us stymied. This was one of those caches. Back on March 11, 2007, we found our way to the location of this geocache (False Bottom GC11259). We spotted it almost immediately and had to give the retrieval process a lot of thought. You see, the cache is a fake champagne bottle suspended quite a ways up in a tree. In order to get credit for finding the cache we had to retrieve the bottle, remove the false bottom, sign the log hidden inside, and then return the bottle to its lofty position. We retreated to a distance that would allow us to survey the surroundings and plan our strategy.

Our first approach (jumping up and down on the ground hoping to cause an earthquake) failed. So, too, did our second approach (using our Reno extraction tool (mike) to climb the tree). Eventually, we all agreed “Oh Well, you win some, you lose some!” We headed home with our shoulders sagging, uttering unkind words about the geocacher who hid the cache.

We tried a little bribery to entice other geocachers to come forward and retrieve the cache for us. Unfortunately, no one was willing to risk life or limb for a cup of coffee--even if it was Starbucks! I guess it was going to be entirely up to us to come up with a solution.

Larry worked on our dilemma and finally "created" a necessary tool! He took a 20 ft. piece of PVC pipe and cut it into 5 sections, each 4' long. On the “top” piece, he attached some long screws that would allow him to hook the container, remove it from it’s perch, and slowly lower it to the ground. He was very proud of his accomplishment!

Since Mike and Cynthia had been with us the first time, we waited until they were back in town to finally go for the cache. Today, we joined up with them and headed to the cache site! Larry assembled his retrieval tool and he and Mike joined forces to grab the cache! We signed the log and now had to return it to its rightful place. That proved harder than we thought! The retrieval tool was on the flimsy side, but, eventually, with a helpful "go right", "too far", "go left", "a little higher" from Linda and Cynthia, they returned the cache to its rightful spot! Whew! Are we glad this one is done! And, just in case, we now have the tool to retrieve any cache anywhere! We also have lots of pictures of the whole thing and we will be laughing at ourselves for quite a while.