MnGCA

[Paklid]

I just about wet my pants reading a hysterical log entered by Sharknose Bunnies:
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=6fc95077-e6e5-4236-ac07-f38bc4fb43d5

After reading the log, I noticed something called "nominate this log for Lost and Found Story". I did nominate, I don't know what that means, but this log was fabulous. I wonder how many other features of the geocaching website I haven't bothered to notice....

Here's the log (it's for the Hard Hat - A's cache hidden by Gustobob):

Good humor! I was running late to meet my wife for Dim Sum by the time I got to the parking lot here, but I had come so far I really didn't want to leave without trying for this one. The logs had me a bit concerned, but it was only about three tenths of a mile from the car, there was a path heading in the direction of the cache, so I figured "What the heck, how hard could it be?" Made good progress to about .18 of the cache, then cut off the main trail and immediately got attacked by the itch weed army from heck. Holy Crom, that stuff went right through my long pants, my shirt, everything. After about two minutes, I was scratching like Perry from Infected.

Then I hit the swampy area. Looked rather firm, so I stepped onto it and immediately my leg disappeared halfway up my shin in some of the blackest, stickiest, gooiest mud I've ever seen. I tried to pull my boot out, but only succeeded in pulling my foot out of my boot, which then resulted in me sinking my bootless foot into the crap with only my sock on. And remember, I'm supposed to meet my wife at a restaurant in fifteen minutes. I bent over and stuck my hands up to my elbows in the mud to pull my boot out, and was able to get my muddy sock back into my boot after a bit of tugging and creative tying. By this time my other foot had sunk down up to my shin as well from putting so much weight on it to get my other foot out, and this time I couldn't get enough of a plant on firm ground with my other foot to pull out the newly stuck foot. This time I had to purposely slip my foot out of the boot, reach in again to this stinking stuff and pull out my other boot, and repeat the process to get my second boot on again. I had nothing to wipe my mud covered arms with, so I had to use my pants, and now I'm absolutely pouring sweat as well, because it's ninety degrees out and I'm struggling to get myself out of swamp mud.

Finally, I got myself back to firmer ground, and was able to loop around the rather small swampy area. I almost gave up, but decided that there was no way I was turning back after coming this far, so I pushed on. Fortunately, higher ground was just a hundred feet or so away and once there I found a better trail right to the cache, which only took a couple of minutes to find.

On the way back, I manged to find a much better route, which skipped the swamp (but not the Attack of the Itchweed, part 2). Running really late now, I jogged back to the car. By the time I got there, I looked like a completely different person, My boots were pitch black. My feet were soaked and covered in mud. My pants had mud all over the them. My arms were caked with mud. My shirt was drenched with sweat and covered in flecks of mud. And I couldn't stop scratching everywhere! I was Swamp Thing!

Time for Dim Sum! Needless to say, they sat us in the back corner of the restaurant, and I'll be paying for this one for quite a while. And I just realized this, but I've never even liked the A's.

In any case, thanks for the adventure! (1917)
_________________
-Paklid

[pfalstad]

Yeah I was scratching my legs like crazy on the way back to the car after that one. No mud though.

[bflentje]

Scratching my legs just reading the story..