Premium Memberbership

Joining Geocaching.com is free.  You never have to pay anything to enjoy the hobby.  You can even log Premium Member caches without being a Premium Member.  You didn't know that?  As long as a premium member sends you the link to the log page for the premium member cache you can log it.  You just cannot see it on the cache listing.  
So why be a premium member?  I  like it because I don't have advertisements on my listing page or elsewhere and I absolutely love pocket queries. 
Premium membership does allow us to get instant notifications for new caches but a lot of the time I see them on the cache listing page first.  That's because cellular service is the pits where I live and I have them sent to my iPhone instead of email.
So, really it is not important to have Premium Membership to get a FTF!! 

So that brings us to the Premium Member caches.  Why limit who can find your cache?  Some would argue that it is to keep the newbies from finding your cache and then not placing it back properly or allowing a non-cacher to see it, etc.  Some like the fact that you can see who has been looking at your cache page and how many times.  This can be fun!! But really, who cares? I personally don't see the point in hiding a micro in the back of wherever and then making it a premium member cache. 

A weekend in Sooke

I needed a good few days of geocaching in order to reach a major milestone.  Since I have always wanted to do the Pacific Marine Circle Route and I have never been to Sooke, BC, the weekend of Sept 29th 2012, with all the awesome fall weather we have been having the decision was made.  
Wanting to keep it financially feasible but get the most out of the weekend with an eye on the weather I booked us into a "Rustic" cabin at Sooke River Campground. 

We set out Saturday morning and meandered our way down island.  Didn't really start caching until we made the turn at Duncan and headed for Lake Cowichan where we started to pick up the odd Island spirit cache on the Cowichan Trail.  Once we made the turn at Mesachie Lake onto the Pacific Marine Road we were enchanted by the meandering valleys and steep hill. This route has been discovered by motorbikes and I confess I itched to go home and get mine.  The route is narrow so you have to be aware of traffic.  Some caches were placed in awkward areas so it is best to have someone stay with the car and keep an eye out. 
 We found some interesting spots including a very large Spruce Tree.  We have found other large trees and this one actually had a fence around it to help preserve it.  Hopefully the pic will give you some idea of how large it actually is. Harris Creek Spruce

We continued on from here to Port Renfrew where we detoured to Juan de Fuca Provincial Park were we  met up with a cacher who we had been following all day. After a short walk to another cache we decided that we did not have time to do the Earthcache at this time.  It just means we have to come back to explore this area.  Like we need a reason to!! Too bad it was too foggy to get some pics here.
The road from Port Renfrew to Jordan River was under highway construction and after driving it we could see why.  We did manage to grab a few caches along the way though. 
We arrived in Sooke and at our campground sometime around 6 pm and elected to set up and have a bite to eat and call it quits for the day. 
The next morning we headed out and found a few local caches before hitting the Galloping Goose Trail.  Wow were there ever some awesome caches along this way. And yes, they were screwed to the trees.  Almost every one of them. One had a note in them asking what they were and who was he?   We suggested that the CO put them on posts but sadly he elected to archive them.  We hope he fixes them and puts them back as a lot of trouble went into these series.
Along with some other great spots like the bay and the boardwalk we really got a good idea of the area.

The legs and the JR's got a good workout and so far we managed to nab 40 + caches on both days. The cabin was looking pretty good.

The next morning we finished off a couple of local caches before hitting the road.  We wanted to grab some  of the TEAM caches on our list so we took some side trips and  worked our way across the Esquimalt Lagoon and onto Royal Roads University.

Finally we called it quits late in the day and headed home working our way north.  
All in all it was a fun filled weekend that just never stopped.