Top 10 Caches in York County

With the 13th Annual GCHR Picnic fast approaching, I figured I would put together several lists detailing the best caches around the area.  Today's list will be the best caches, based on favorite points, in York County.

The red dot (next to the "Y" in York) is the approximate location of the picnic.

For more information on the picnic - click here

York County – top 10 caches 
based on favorite points earned:
Note: parts of Newport News Park reside inside York county

1.    GC1D0HG – Waller Mill Overlook – 109 favorite points - hidden by va griz.  This cache is located a short walk away from parking and is located about 13 miles north of Newport News Park.  This cache is famous for the scenery in the surrounding area.

  Note from SNAP!!!: This is a beautiful location and a tricky little hide!

2.    GC2BAF – The Cave – 98 favorite points - hidden by The-Colemans.  This virtual cache is located just east of Newport News Park on the shores of the York River.  Located in the community of Yorktown, this area is full of history.

Note from SNAP!!!: A virtual with some history - doesn't get much better than that!

3.    GC8AEF – The Lost Day – 61 favorite points – hidden by Kingsman.  This is another Virtual Cache located near Yorktown, a short 5 miles drive away from Newport News Park.  A great chance to learn a little something about the calendar.

Note from SNAP!!!: Another Virtual with history!

4.    GC34RA8 – Raiders of the Lost Ark – 54 favorite points – hidden by Scottish Cavalryman and adopted by Bad_Wolfe.  Located just south-east of the park, this is one of the four caches in the area with an Indiana Jones theme.  This multi shouldn’t take you too long to complete but there is a puzzle involved.

Note from SNAP!!!: A very nice multi - just down the road from the park!

5.    GC322EM – 403’s Boo Boo Box Hide-out – 50 favorite points – hidden by GeoMunster1313.  This could either be a Park n Grab or could leave you scratching your head!  Located about 15 miles north of Newport News Park just off of I-64.

Note from SNAP!!!: Tricky, tricky, tricky - - but a favorite!

6.  GC5CFVY - Waypoint Wayside - 46 favorite points - hidden by Kemallor.  Another gadget cache that has earned plenty of favorite points.  Cache is located less than 7 miles from the picnic.

Note from SNAP!!!: Another great gadget cache!

7.    GCGERG – The Source – 45 favorite points – hidden by Cacheola Crew.  Another Virtual cache and this one is quite a hike but can be reached from Newport News Park.

Note from SNAP!!!: A very nice hike to this Virtual cache!

8.    GC1YBHP – The Rune Stones of Hardwood’s Mill – 41 favorite points – hidden by CacheBeagle.  Be warned – this is a 5 Difficulty, 5 Terrain puzzle cache.  This is a great geocache but you might want to start working on this one now if you plan on attacking the physical cache while at the picnic.

Note from SNAP!!!: The first 5/5 puzzle cache we attempted.  GOT IT!

9.    GC2NEV0 – Tom Hanks #3 – 39 favorite points – hidden by RusandMil.  This is located less than 4 miles east of Newport News Park.  One of several Tom Hanks themed caches in the area.  A very short walk from parking.

Note from SNAP!!!: At one time there were 5 of these caches - loved them all!

10.  GC3TQ28 – Larry’s Handiwork – 17 favorite points – hidden by VA CHB.  A clever cache located right inside Newport News Park. Be warned this cache has a little trick to it but should be found easily.
Note from SNAP!!!: A tricky little cache but don't worry - help is nearby!

Stay Safe & Keep Caching!!!

Suffolk Nana & Papa - - - or just plain ol' - - - -  SNAP!!!

Day 6 of SNAP!!!'s "GeoWoodstock13 and more" trip!

For those that are just joining us, Nana & I have had this 9 day geocaching trip scheduled for almost a year with daily TARGETs we hope to do each day.  Here is a recap of the previous days.

Near "Tip of the Tongue"

Day 1 Target - travel to GeoWoodstock 13 - accomplished
Day 2 Target - Events prior to GeoWoodstock 13 - accomplished
Day 3 Target - GeoWoodstock 13 - accomplished
Day 4 Target - Train Trestle Falls (GCT397) - accomplished
Day 5 Target - State Game Lands #109 (GC184) - accomplished

Scenery on the way to "The Spot"

What follows is a brief report on some of the caches we found during day 6.

Scenery along the way to "The Path"

We started early in the morning and we made it to Naples , NY in plenty of time to get the caches in the area long before the heat set in!

The path to "The Spot"

GC2FK18 - Tip of the Tongue - this cache was on the list as the cache just before our main cache of the day.  Wonderful area, plenty of scenery and we sure are glad we sprayed down before heading in to the woods for this one!  Loved the creek running through the area near GZ.  Great cache, nice hide, favorite point awarded.

Nana at "The Spot"

GC39 - The Spot - The oldest cache east of the Mississippi had to be the TARGET cache of the day!  Parked in the coordinates for the cache and sprayed down, took, water and hiking stick and set off across the field towards the cache.  It was a beautiful day and the start of the hike to the cache (0.4 mi total) was very pleasant.  Even as the hike progressed, the downward slope of the hike only increased every once in a while.  That was until about two thirds of the way to the cache.  That is when we realized that there must be hidden cameras nearby.  This would make a good event for downhill skiing but the slopes are getting a little trying.  Eventually we found the cache.  Really not sure how anyone could possibly miss it.  Traveled all this way and now we have the oldest east coast cache under our belts... all we have to do is <gulp - as I look up that steep slope we just came down> yep - all we have to do is make it back to the SNAP!!!-mobile!  Being no where near as young as I used to be - I said to myself - let's try 50 or so steps at a time.  We can do this for sure!  Uh.... nope!  How about 20 steps at a time!

Papa resting!

I could keep going like this or I could simply tell you that there are numerous trees that now have claw marks on them from where I used them to get back up those hills!!  I remember leaning back on a tree resting for like the 2 millionth time when Nana said those 4 little words that made my day!  I was leaning up against this tree, sweat dripping off me so fast the tree was thanking me for watering it when Nana came from around the corner and said "I see the van!"  We made it!  (of course we did, I already told you it was a nine day trip!)  Note:  The distance from the parking (at N42 40.414 by W077 20.252) to the cache is 0.401 straight line miles, the elevation change is 337 feet.  Favorite point awarded, of course.

The SNAP!!!-mobile is in sight!

One of the Virtual caches we did was GCB546 - It's a Wonderful Life.  This cache was awarded a favorite point for numerous reasons.  "It's a Wonderful Life" has always been one of my favorite movies of all time but imagine my surprise when I found this Virtual that is on the bridge that was used in the movie.  Thanks to mama Bear for placing this cache here and bring a tear to my eye as we found the answers to all of your questions!

The view from the bridge at "It's a Wonderful Life"

We traveled a lot on day 6 and really didn't find but 12 caches - 7 Traditionals, 1 Earthcache and 4 Virtuals.  The good news was we awarded 6 favorite points!!!

The grave of Harriet Tubman

Day 7's blog will cover "exactly how far we will go to get Nana a "shiny white" rock as well as the caches found that day!  Until then...

Stay Safe & Keep Caching!!!

Suffolk Nana & Papa!!! - - - or just plain ol' - - - SNAP!!!

Thanksgiving Weekend (Part 1)

For those of you that know us - you know we always cache on the weekends.  One weekend we usually team up with jtmlam59, the next with alara.  As it turned out, this weekend was alara's turn but it was also Thanksgiving weekend and alara had family plans.  So what to do?  We could have stayed in town and attended one of two different family events, or even stayed home by ourselves and celebrated quietly.  Late Wednesday I came home from work and told Nana - "Let's go caching!"  I pulled one of the trip lists out of dusty files in the computer and refreshed the caches.  The purpose, destination, and length of the trip would depend entirely on how we felt. We packed up the bags Tuesday night, slept in Thanksgiving morning and eventually got on the road headed towards Richmond.

The first part of this list was some of the older caches in Virginia.  The first cache was Richmond's oldest cache - Richmond's Original (GC491) - this cache is located in Pocahontas State Park and we were delighted to learn the park was open Thanksgiving Day.  The 2.5 - 3 miiles (round trip) hike to and from the cache was beautiful.  It was a cool fall day but the hike made it seem almost like summer.  The find was quick once we got to GZ and it added another block (March 2001) on our stats.

The next series of caches were all older ones and most added blocks in our stats.

Guinea Station (GCBD9) - placed June 2001 - The plantation house where Stonewall Jackson passed away.

Famous Last Words (GC123C) - placed July 2001 - a monument at the Spotsylvania Courthouse Battlefield.

Lee's Hill (GCBD8) - placed June 2001 - located atop a hill with a fantastic view - Lee's command post.

Beanpoles and Cornstalks (GCB1C) - placed June 2001 - the site of a Union Army train tressle

Pit, Pawpaw, Pawnee and Patowomeck (GCB44) - the site of a naval battle near Aquia Landing

Goat Skywalkers (GCF49) - placed July 2001 - an amusing site with fantastic scenery.

So the first day of our trip and we gathered 7 total caches - not really a great day as far as numbers are concerned but we filled in several months on our Jasmer chart.  We also learned some things at these great virtuals.  Special thanks goes out to Ted (the CO) who is keeping these older caches active.  We also named this series of virtuals as the winner of the "Coveted" Nana & Papa cache of the Day award.

Stay tuned for Part 2 coming your way very soon...

As always - Stay Safe & Keep Caching.

SNAP!!! - Suffolk Nana & Papa