Treasure Hunting in the Keys

BJ and I got into geocaching which you can check out by clicking on this link.  Actually, I think I am into it more then BJ but what interested us about it was doing it with Reagan and Addie, especially Reagan.  Most of the cache's have trinkets included that you can trade with trinkets you bring - rule is don't take anything if you don't leave something!!  There are hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of cache's worldwide.  At the website after you have registered (free) and agreed to abide by the rules you can get the GPS coordinates of caches where ever you are or are going to be!  We have found several dozen in and near Key West.
While BJ was working on here quilt the other day I decided to go up to Big Pine Key and do some treasure hunting for caches there; also was expecting to see some of the Key Deer!  I downloaded about 8 caches to the GPS, already had some along the route there downloaded, and headed out about 1PM.

First two were right on the edge of the Keys Deer refuge and I found the caches fairly quickly; one was in the hallow of a dead tree and the other was buried under some rocks at the foot of a phone pole, but no Key Deer.   I next headed to No-Name Key which is connected to Big Pine by a bridge near the No-Name Key Pub - a traditional watering hole in Big Pine!!  In this case there were two different caches in back country away from the main road across No-Name.  It is prime territory for the Key Deer.   I parked off the road near a path leading into the wilderness and headed down the path.  First think to greet me was a Key Deer.  She backed off the trail a little, but did not run or show fear.  Just watched me go by as I continued along the minimal path.

Shortly however, the path became even more minimal to virtually non-existent.  I was making my way thru the woods headed in the direction my GPS was pointing.

I was surprised to run across a very rusted out auto frame; no engine, no body parts, just a frame with a bright chrome bumper attached to it.  Not enough for me to tell the vintage of the original car, but was amazed that the chrome bumper still looked so good - they don't make'em like that anymore!!  See the pic of it I have included.  

Eventually, I broke out on a slightly more civilized (barely) trail that was going in the general direction I needed to go.  I continued along it thru several intersections with equally primitive trails until I came to a "road" thru some wetlands that were not wet, because this is dry season.  The road bed was raised and there were culverts under it to facilitate the flow of water when it was there.  The road continued toward the shoreline which is where the cache was located.  Shortly, I approached the shoreline and found a break that ended up right at the foot of the dock that was my "target". 

 After finding the cache and signing the log I headed for the second cache in this area.  It was about a half way back on the trail I came in on and off to the side.  Here are some links to the two caches if you want to see what the cache webpage tells you.
No-Name Key dock  and Dirty Dog Pond on No-name Key
Note the coordinates are not shown unless you are a registered user, but all info is otherwise there including all the logs and pics entered by the geocachers that have "found" these treasures!!

After returning to the Jeep and thanking the Key Deer that had been guarding it for me, I decided I still had time to do a few more.  Both were on the main N-S road of Big Pine Key.  One was a nice little one that Reagan would have been delighted with.  It was a box full of "treasures", it would have taken all day for her to figure which one she would have traded for!!  The other one was at the Blue Hole, a pond in the Keys Wildlife refuge that is a fresh water pond.  This was a virtual cache, i.e. there was no physical cache as is normal but you have to provide the person who placed the cache with info, and sometimes a pic, to show that you were there.  I collected the info I needed took a pic of some Key Deer and alligators that were hanging around watching the tourist and went on my way.

                                                        
It was getting too late and I skipped the great temptation to stop at Sally's Ice Cream shop where they hand make the best frozen custard in the Keys!

I headed on down what is I believe one of, if not the most, beautiful drive in the World, the Overseas Highway aka US Highway #1.  One of the reasons I skipped Sally's was because I wanted to see the vista's across the islands and seas the road traverses and it would have been after dark if I had gone for the custard!
                                                                                                                                                      
However, it was still light when I got to MM17 and I could not resist one more hunt.  There was a cache near Perky's tower which I have seen a dozen times because we frequently drop our kayaks in the water nearby.   I found the cache with minimal delay and signed the log book and moved on!  The tower was build in late 20's as the bright idea of a fine Yankee gentleman to control mosquitoes which were a real problem in the Keys in those early days.
He knew bats consumed prodigious amounts of mosquitoes so he reasoned if he built accommodations for them they would move to Sugarloaf Key where his bat motel was and make the area mosquito free!  In theory, it sounded good and he certainly did his part.  The bat tower has survived multiple hurricanes, including the 1935 killer hurricane, and stands today pretty much like he built it.  But, nobody has ever seen a bat in it!!   Meanwhile the Mosquito Control Commission has controlled the mosquitoes quite well, while unleashing one political turf battle after another!  The Executive Director is the highest paid civil servant in Monroe County!!  It is another of the many political entities that make life in the Conch Republic so interesting!