Less than 5%

For those of you who have been following this, you know I have a Top 5% bookmark list of what I consider really good, well done caches. I don't believe the list has ever gotten up to 5 percent. As of this morning, I have 87 caches that I have placed on the top 5% list. With over 2400 finds, I could have 120 caches on that list. I'm not sure if the fact that I don't have 5 percent on the list is a good or a bad thing. It's really just the way it is.

Today, as I was looking over the list, I noticed two of the caches have been archived. It's been my practice to remove the caches from the list once they've been archived. Since no one can find them, it doesn't make sense to keep them on the list. I've made on exception with that guideline. I keep Who waxed Mr. Ed? on the list because it was a virtual, so there wasn't any cache container to find, and because the ride through the area is still what got the cache on the list in the first place.

The first cache that I removed was called Rock in a Hard Place. There was a certain creepiness factor involved with this one. It was hidden underneath a footbridge in a regional park near me. There were lots of spiders crawling around in the support beams of the bridge. I liked the fact that you could be under there looking for the cache and people could be riding over the bridge and not realize that you were even down there.

The other cache was an urban micro. Almost all urban micros never make my list. This one, however, was very cleverly done, being situated outside a coffee shop. There was a bench nearby, with a statue on the bench. The cache page directs you to sit on the bench and think about it. That particular day I was with a group of cachers and we all ended up sitting on the bench to contemplate where the cache might be. When it was my turn, after sitting with the statue for awhile, it dawned on me that he might be looking at the cache. Sure enough, it was hidden in a support for a parkway tree and the statue was "looking" right at the tree.

It became a simple maneuver of, "hey, why don't you take my picture while I stand over here." Thinking about that cache brings back very fond memories of the day spent caching with friends. We all got a good laugh at the way the cache was hidden and how the cache hider incorporated the surroundings to help cachers find the cache. Unfortunately, the city of Los Angeles came along and decided the parkway tree didn't need the support anymore, so the support and the cache went away. And so Little Tokyo muggle-me-not is no more.

We all know that caches won't necessarily last forever. This game is forever changing and so caches come and go. Still, it's always sad when a good cache disappears for whatever reason. These types of caches, the ones that make you think, are one of the many reasons why I like to geocache. It's like solving a puzzle and some of the puzzles are more complex or more fun to do than others. The really good puzzles get to be on the list.

Pictures were taken at or near the following geocaches:
Who waxed Mr. Ed? - by fooshfoosh and family
Little Tokyo muggle-me-not - by OLdweeb