It’s Not About the Containers
Several years ago a local geocacher wrote about how the game could help preserve our collective memories. I have always believed that and it has influenced who I am in the game and logs I have written — photos, streams of consciousness, high strangeness, social change, and more. The Caching Diaries are the parts of the game that are important to me. Follow on Bluesky.
December 16, 2025
Santa Within – A Tale of Two Lists
On a cold rainy day we stopped at the North Pole, Alaska. We encountered memories of Santa Claus Lane, wondered about the Naughty List, and recalled a special story, The Santa Within Me. Our inner Santa is more important than ever. Watch for the Diaries to return in the New Year.
December 13, 2025
Salvation Mountain
Salvation Mountain - the outsider art of Leonard Knight - illustrated his message that God Is Love. It was constructed near Slab City in the California desert. Where else could it have been built? It remains a symbol of what Knight believed, as well as a powerful piece of folk art.
December 3, 2025
Simon Rodia’s Dream
Simon Rodia single-handedly built the Watts Towers. It was the work of a lifetime, except Rodia was able to finish his art and walk away. In many ways his story personifies the legend of Fisher King who was compelled to fish, until Parsifal asked a question that healed the king. Rodia demonstrated both the powers of his art and an archetype of personal transformation.
December 1, 2025
Poetry in Motion
Poetry in Motion. The cache owner requested poetry. I’m not sure this rises to the occasion, but on an autumn day in Portland, I needed to find paper to write my user name. And then I began thinking about poetry and memories of a memory.
November 24, 2025
The Mojave Phone Booth
The Mojave Phone Booth is about more than a booth that is no longer there. It is about a Booth that is no longer there. There is a difference. The virtual geocache here keeps the experience real. It cannot simply be removed.
November 22, 2025
Down at the Station
On our way to the Iceland Noir writing festival we first stopped in Portland. There was a geocache at the train station. An old woman in the waiting room seemed to have had no schedule to meet. Street people in the park were going through their day. Our collective memory filled the air, down at the station on a windy day.
November 4, 2025
Hoosegow
We came for a virtual geocache at an old jail, a true hoosegow in every sense of the world. But we started to walk around to look at the town and soon were invited to see the old union hall and a beautiful mural depicting the 1983 strike. Of course there was also a collection of African art. Somehow it all fit together.
October 26, 2025
The Machado Postpiles
The Machado Postpiles were once a secret in the western Sierra. Even after the postpiles were revealed, they remained hidden for a long time. Today, the route is known, but the Sierra does not give up its secrets easily, requiring acts of faith on a trail loosely defined by cairns. The reward is to walk past the granite expanse, to stand on postpiles that are 13 million years old. It is to experience wonder.
October 16, 2025
Wounded Knee Creek
Wounded Knee. Very few places have both profound sorrow and a spirit of resistance. The massacre here changed things forever, but after the 1971 occupation things would never be the same. Its words continue to evoke struggle. Trump’s refusal to revoke the Medals of Honor awarded here shows the power of its place, and just how far we have to go as a nation to begin to understand what it means.
October 14, 2025
Tales from the Hornet
Come for a cache but stay for the Tales of the Hornet. It may be one the world’s most haunted ships, but even stranger might be the stories of Mark Richards who claims he once battled aliens on board. We are not likely to believe Mark’s accounts, but if you visit be sure to ask if any of the ghosts have seen Ellis.