Looking back on May 22, 2019
An entire room dedicated to a single geocache. That is what impressed me most about INFERNAL DEVICE 2.0 (GC6XJQA). The owner had put a remarkable amount of creativity into giving us an experience to work through.
Looking back for Halloween, this one is an easy choice. Our actual visit was May 22, 2019, during the road trip to GeoWoodstock in Fort Worth. CanisMinor, djpd1023, mjholley and I had worked a stop near Oklahoma City into the route, and I am very glad we did.
A Cache Worth Planning Around
We were already having a memorable trip. Earlier that day, we had visited Mingo (GC30) in Kansas. That gave us a connection to the beginning of geocaching. INFERNAL DEVICE gave us a very different example of what people had learned to create with the hobby.
djpd1023’s log remembers hearing about this cache from Flowers22 back home. Once our GeoWoodstock plans took us through Oklahoma, it became a must-stop. CanisMinor also recalls having it on the group’s radar for quite a while.
One Room, One Very Elaborate Geocache
The listing describes an interactive geocaching experience, and that is a good way to approach it. Details matter. There is a puzzle to work through, and the setting is part of what makes the whole thing memorable.
What struck me was the commitment: an entire room devoted to this one geocache. Somebody had taken the idea far beyond hiding a container and had built a place for visitors to experience it.
It also gave the four of us something to work on together. mjholley’s log remembers how much thought had gone into it and the fun of figuring it out. CanisMinor was thoroughly impressed by the puzzle-solving demands. All three companions came away praising the creativity.
I will keep the particulars to myself. My original log did the same. Part of the fun is arriving without knowing exactly how everything works, and I would rather leave that experience intact for the next group.
Meeting the Person Behind It
Meeting and talking with the cache owner was another part of the visit I enjoyed. After seeing how much had gone into the room, it was fun to talk with the person who had helped make it happen.
CanisMinor’s account also recalls the owner showing us some of the construction behind the experience. That added another reason to appreciate the work. The finished cache was impressive; getting a little understanding of the effort behind it made the visit even better.
One Favorite Point Wasn’t Quite Enough
My original log called the creativity and theming top-notch and said I wished I could award more than one favorite point. That still seems like a fair assessment.
We had a busy journey ahead, with Fort Worth, GeoArt, events and plenty more caches waiting for us. This stop had already earned its place among the experiences I would remember from the trip.
Mingo had given us a piece of geocaching history. Near Oklahoma City, we found a room built around one geocache, a puzzle to share with friends, and an owner it was a pleasure to meet.
That is a pretty good reason to make room in a road-trip itinerary. Even if the cache name does sound like something you should probably be avoiding.
Field Notes
- Adventure: May 22, 2019
- Location: Oklahoma City area, Oklahoma
- Companions: CanisMinor, djpd1023 and mjholley
- Featured cache: INFERNAL DEVICE 2.0 (GC6XJQA)
- Type: Traditional Cache; difficulty 5, terrain 2.5
- Part of our 2019 GeoWoodstock road trip
- Retrospective occasion: Halloween 2020
- Exterior and road-trip context photographs only; puzzle details preserved for future visitors
No comments:
Post a Comment