Harder Than It Looks

I am not collecting Treasures intentionally. I am, however, a collector and completionist by nature. Texas has 254 counties, and I had to cache in them all. The United States has 3,144 counties (and county equivalents), and I’m working on them as well. I have a tiny itch in the back of my skull that I will never get rid of until I return to Dardanelle because I’m missing a courthouse. Therefore, I see those empty spots on the virtual shelves and instinctively want to fill them. It was easy enough to finish the new series of Event memento Treasures (a physical cache, small or smaller, with three favorites or more, or an Event). The course of daily caches pretty much took care of that. The Planetary Treasures (physical caches, regular or larger, Difficulty 2 or greater), though? They’re harder than I thought for a number of reasons. The obvious reason is the greater rarity of regular and large caches compared to other sizes. In addition, larger caches tend to be of lower Difficulty; being big usually makes them easier to spot. Slightly more unexpectedly, I’ve found a lot of the larger caches in town, meaning I have to go farther afield to get them. For instance, I had to run out to Hutto for the one pictured above. Most of the ones remaining are ones I’ve been dreading: multi-mile hikes, ancient caches that haven’t been found in years, ones I’ve previously attempted and haven’t been able to find, and ones I wouldn’t normally go after under any circumstances (the D5/T5 large scuba? That’s a negative, Ghost Rider.) There are a few around here that I had been intentionally avoiding for completely different reasons. There are about half a dozen that are part of a series, each named after a different state. I’ve avoided them because I’m working on a state name challenge and have been trying to find them organically rather than going after a similar series (there are two such series that I’m aware of in Texas: one here in Austin and another in San Angelo). Luckily, some of the regulars in the local series represent states I’ve already found, so I won’t be messing up my aesthetic or anything. Either way, I foresee some trips to find some bigger prey in the near future. Those empty spots offend me.

Later today, I’ll be hosting the biannual solstice Event, which I inherited from Tygress and Waterweasel. If you happen to be in the Round Rock area (just north of Austin), you are invited to join us. All are welcome!