Boy, I’ve gotten older in the past eight or ten years.
I have a cache up in canyon country that I haven’t visited in quite a while. It’s a last-ditch emergency cache, having nothing to do with natural emergencies like the cabin burning down – I called it my “on the run” cache, and it’s just a big ammo case containing a backpack filled with food, water and basics. This particular canyon heads for the state line, it’s immune to motor traffic, and there are plenty of places to hide from airborne search. But you’ll die in it without provisions – and maybe with provisions.
If I wanted to keep it useful I should have visited it more often, but that particular level of paranoia has lessened over the years and it was always “But what would I do with Little Bear” or some other excuse. The case is in a cave fairly high in the canyon wall, not easy to get to, paved with cactus spines from many generations of pack rats, unlikely to be stumbled upon accidentally.
But it’s been bugging me, maintenance is important and I’ve neglected this one so long I should either service it or bring it home for other use. Also there’s a problem with caches in the desert: Finding a hiding place is easy, but finding it again can be hard. I chose this particular cave because I was pretty sure I could find it again, but that was years ago.
Well, this morning I had to go to S&L’s to water their plants, and I wouldn’t take the dogs because Ghost would insist on staying and there’d be an argument. So finding myself dogless, I drove up the wash as far as the Jeep could go and then hoofed it into the canyon.
Son of a gun, I was no longer exactly sure where I’d left the cave. And when I found it, I wasn’t sure how I’d ever gotten up there. Finally making it up there, I wondered aloud how I’d ever made the climb while lugging a big metal ammo case.
I’m not as spry as I used to be, even with the prosthetic improvements.
I’ll go back with pads and gloves…and a hundred feet of rope.
“I drove up the wash as far as the Jeep could go and then hoofed it into the canyon.”
Thus revealing your cache to the black satellites operated by one or more of the “alphabet agencies” in case they missed it when you first placed it.
Hey, if yer paranoid enough to conceive and place such a stash, ya oughta be paranoid enough to worry about this.
I certainly am.
😉
Yeah, but I never mentioned it until I decided to pull out the cache. 🙂
GPS is your friend. Well, with lat/long properly encrypted of course. Unless you forget the key.
GPS would be a great way to bury something with zero landmarks – if you happened to retain control of that GPS unit and have it with you when you need the cache. Personally I’ve never placed that much confidence in a gadget. Geocaching sounds like great fun as a game – but I’ve never been convinced of its utility when things get serious.
You don’t hafta have that particular GPS unit as long as you have the lat/long. I’ve done a little geocaching; it convinced me that, although it was fun, it’s not a great way to find something unless you aren’t in a hurry.
Could you expand on what scenario would lead to you needing to Get Outta Dodge Right Effing Now considering you’re basically already bugged-out, so to speak? If you don’t wanna, I understand.
Myself, I’ve been pondering the utility of range markers ‘twixt homebase and the road. Also been trying to convince someone of the advantage of adding a tall turret when the house is re-roofed. Realistically, both items are just prepper fantasy…
That and those satellites belong to the folks you would most likely be trying to avoid. I don’t believe for a second that they couldn’t locate your position by backtracking the signal. Might as well put a big blinking light on your head.
No, you learn how to refind things the way we did for millions of years without GPS. By landmarks and dead reckoning
“Could you expand on what scenario would lead to you needing to Get Outta Dodge Right Effing Now considering you’re basically already bugged-out, so to speak?”
Doesn’t matter. Fact is if the proverbial s ever hits the f, one would do well for himself to not rely on a fragile machine that relies on batteries and satellite networks to figure out where he is.
” Also been trying to convince someone of the advantage of adding a tall turret when the house is re-roofed.” Astrometry or star gazing with a bottle of someone’s favorite libation.
Done hid a lot of stuff from myself over the years. Good on you for being able to track down your stash.
Oh Joel, you do have the most interesting problems. This is one that I cannot resist diving into.
Personally I’m not a big fan of GPS units having had one fail on me when I was a long way into the lonesome. I have always been a map & compass kinda guy. With that said, If your going to mark the area get a good topographical map plus a romer and a decent compass to orientate the map. Use an 8 figure reference point and that will get you down to around 10 meters.
This will explain what a romer is and how to use it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romer
If you can, get a 1:25,000 scale map of the area. A 1:50,000 is OK but a little sparse on details. Oh and while I’m at it, you can make a set of pacing beads to keep track of your steps as you walk in from the jeep. With the beads you know how far it is from yout start point so you will know if you have gone too far or not far enough.
This will explain how to use pace beads. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pace_count_beads
Good luck and I hope you never need the cashe but as a friend said a long time ago… It is always better to have and not need then need and not have. BTW if you are not sure about any of this and you are interested shoot me an email and I will send detailed instructions.
Is there anyplace down hill that has similar cave-like hidey hole potential ? Heading for state line might be the 1st place the ‘Authoritahs’ look if they are chasing you.
It DOES suck to get old. I’m always coming across what I used to be able to do is not quite so easy – impossible to do now.
“backtracking the signal” ???
Are you saying my little handheld GPS unit transmits? I don’t think it does that…
Can you post 2 pictures one illustrating the how the hell did i get that up there and second of of the mentioned ammo box 🙂 love reading ur stories and now i think ur paranoia has passed to me because i want to have a stash in a canyon like that immune to traffic with helicopter hiding spots hopefully for thermal image blocking hiding spots i know u are a paranoid old bat but send us some pictures please!
Kyle, it may take a few days but I promise another post with pics on the canyon cache.