We were in Hawaii, short on time, and heading into the woods to find a container that had been there—in one form or another—since the summer of 2000.
The plan was simple: hike the trail, find the oldest geocache in Hawaii, and get back before we were missed. My original log makes that last part fairly clear. Apparently, even in paradise, I could find a way to turn a walk into a small mission.
A date from the beginning
Our destination was Geocache (GC23), hidden on July 21, 2000. The unassuming name makes sense when you consider how young the hobby was. There were far fewer containers competing for clever titles back then.
By the time I arrived on June 2, 2017, this one was approaching its seventeenth birthday. That was a substantial head start on my own geocaching career, which began in 2009.
I enjoy finding caches with that kind of history. A date on a listing becomes something much more interesting when you can actually walk out, open a container, and add your name to the continuing story.
Away from the beach
LEGOexplorer came with me. Our photographs follow him along a reddish trail, through trees and thick greenery, before showing the two of us with the cache.
We were hiking in Keaīwa Heiau State Recreation Area, in the wooded hills above ʻAiea. The park contains the ʻAiea Loop Trail and takes its name from a traditional Hawaiian healing temple. It was a different side of Oʻahu from the beaches and coastal overlooks we had been enjoying.
The cache owner’s listing gives a fairly emphatic piece of advice about the short approach away from the trail: it should not require an uphill scramble. Repeatedly emphatic, in fact. It reads like advice developed through long experience with geocachers making things harder than necessary.
I can appreciate that. I have certainly provided the hobby with my share of unnecessary complications. Fortunately, my log records a straightforward find here; there is no dramatic wrong turn to report.
A favorite point for the walk, too
We found the cache in good shape. The photograph of us holding the ammo can is the simple proof of a successful little expedition: two smiles, a GPS, and the find we had made time for.
The older date was what put this cache on my radar, but it wasn’t the only reason I gave it a favorite point. My log specifically mentions the hike, the sights and sounds, and being taken off the beaten path.
Being short on time had not stopped us from enjoying the place. That mattered. I would rather remember a walk through the Hawaiian woods with LEGOexplorer than remember only that I had checked another historic cache off a list.
There was plenty more to our Hawaii vacation, and the beaches, sightseeing and family adventures deserve their own story. This was one small outing within it, with a very particular destination.
We had come looking for a piece of geocaching’s early history. We left with the find, a photograph together, and a good reason to be glad we had made the detour.
Field Notes
- Adventure
- June 2, 2017 — Oʻahu, Hawaii
- On the hike
- spierson82 and LEGOexplorer
- Historic cache
- Geocache (GC23) — hidden July 21, 2000
- Setting
- Keaīwa Heiau State Recreation Area / ʻAiea Loop Trail area
- Perspective
- A focused cache outing within our wider family Hawaii vacation; no claim that we completed the entire loop.
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