“Surviving Another MOGA”
by Denmother
(March, 2009)
"We just love you guys!" As geocachers descended
on the area around
This was the second year that L Frank and I were on staff for MOGA. The forecast called for rain and possibly snow, but we were hoping for the best for Saturday’s competition. MOGA Founder, Brawny Bear, assured everyone that the weather would be "sunny and 70 degrees." We figured as long as we didn't have lightning, that geocachers were crazy enough to cache in any kind of weather, and we were right.
MOGA 2009 truly had caches for every level of physical ability. This year’s theme was the Wild West, and the different types of caches were named after ghost towns (individual competition), Western movies (team competition), Indian tribes (easy terrain, low difficulty), and gunslingers (easy terrain, high difficulty).
Friday was cold and overcast, but the rain stayed away. After a couple of staff meetings, L Frank and I joined the crowd gathered for the BYO event at Timber Ridge. We met cachers who were attending MOGA for the first time, and reconnected with others who we met at last year's event. Everyone we talked to was in good spirits and looking forward to the competition or to casual caching the next day. The BYO event hosts, BlueBeadMan and 2_cats, had hidden the event logbook in a night cache that started at the pavilion. As it got dark, cachers armed with flashlights set off to find the cache. L Frank and I followed the conga line of cachers that zigzagged through the woods, ending at a jail cell where we found the "loot" and signed the log. What a great way to start the weekend’s activities!
The morning of the individual competition was cold and drizzly, but the starting area was filled with cachers ready to race through the woods to find as many of the 30 punches as they could in the 3-hour time limit. L Frank and I stationed ourselves near one of the punch locations to get pictures and video, and kept in contact with other course monitors by walkie-talkie so we knew when competitors were approaching our area. After a couple of hours, we noticed storm clouds blowing in over the lake from the south, and L Frank alerted the other course monitors who were within range. The response we heard back was "It's going to be sunny and 70."
Well, the rain soon started to come down, and we took cover under some cedar trees and continued to take pictures and video of the cachers who made it to our location. With about 30 minutes to go, the rain was coming down in sheets, and we headed back to the finish line to watch the competitors as they came in. Most were drenched and exhausted. Those wearing plastic bags and disposable rain gear came back with their rain suits in shreds from bushwhacking through the thorns. To make matters worse, the field that was being used as the parking area for the individual competition quickly became saturated, and nearly every vehicle had to be pushed out of the mud. Those that were stuck too deep to push out had to be pulled out by the Army Corps of Engineers with a winch. One unfortunate woman was sunk too deep even for the winch, and had to call a tow truck. She was not happy.
We stayed as long as we could at the individual lot, then grabbed a quick lunch and headed over to the team competition. Because of the weather, the afternoon starting time was pushed back to give those who were at the morning competition time to make it to the team starting area. The rain had not let up, and the starting tent was filled with cachers plotting their strategies and anxiously waiting for the race to start. I was amazed that so many competitors showed up in the pouring rain. The MOGA staff asked how many were there for their first MOGA, and at least half the participants raised their hands.
The 2-person and 4-person teams started from the Stoutsville Recreation Area in the wind and ice-cold rain. Once the race began, the Army Corps of Engineers brought in a wood-burning stove and set it up inside the entrance of the tent. While TheMadChef and I were tallying the punch cards from the morning competition, one of the 4-person teams came back and turned in their cards with only one punch. They said they were done for the day.
Despite some glitches with GPS units, all the teams found their way back and were accounted for by the end of the 3-hour time limit. The Army Corps of Engineers told us that the starting tent had blown over in a gust of wind shortly after we had left, and they had to scramble to pull the stove out before it did any damage.
The team punch cards were tallied in the warmth of MOGA Headquarters, and the staff enjoyed a nice dinner in the Dining Hall along with competitors and casual cachers who had braved the elements that day. At the awards ceremony, we were excited to see that a 4-person team of SLAGA members, The Silverbacks, had not only taken first place in the 50+ age division, but had also brought home the MOGA Cup, which has traditionally been awarded to the best 4-person team regardless of age division. Congratulations RGS, Sniper1, Didg Guy, and CDS231!
The snow finally showed up overnight, but we received just a
dusting at the
Thank you to Brawny Bear, everyone on our wonderful staff,