Where are they now?
WalkingAdventure
(by rawevil)
In the last couple of articles, we heard about guinea pigs. And to this day, for the life of me, I cannot get this cacher’s encounter with guinea pigs out of my head. It’s nearly impossible to get an article from this WGA legend:
Yes, Mr. Chris Walker (aka WalkingAdventure himself). I first met WA at Pike Lake State Park when the WGA BOD had a WGA informational booth set up when the WDNR held one of their free weekends. That was the very first time I volunteered to help out as a member of the Wisconsin Geocaching Association.
Chris began caching 06-13-2005. He was elected to the WGA Board of Directors in February of 2013 after attending his first WGA Event held at High Cliff in 2009. After his first year on the BOD, he was elected as President for the next three years. I was proud to have served with him in his last year. He was (and still is) a very good teacher. There were a few things I learned from him while serving the WGA community as a whole is that we are just that, a community. There is no I, there is us and we serve the entire state. He also taught me that a good teacher will lead you to the answers and not give them. That was when I learned abut the importance of the WGA website and all of the information I would ever need is right there as long as it was documented.
The last thing I learned was to face a few of my fears; especially public speaking. I believe, with his help I have mostly overcome that. I still get nervous, but the nervous isn’t so bad now. SO for that WA, thank you! So, what is he up to now since not being on the BOD? Here is what he has to say:
“Since the end of my last term in 2016 as your president of the WGA, I’ve been spending my time doing pretty much the same as I did when I was on the BOD.
I enjoy planning and hosting geoevents such as the Trail of the Serpent kayaking event a couple of years ago as well as the annual Winter Solstice event held every mid- December, where we publish 20ish caches for the event and bring cachers from across the state for some outdoor time and socializing.
My favorite event so far has been the Fox Valley Road Rally, which I put on with several local friends. This is a mix of geocaching and a scavenger hunt, allowing us to come up with unique and exciting activities that are outside the normal rules of caching and allow us to highlight the local unique places within our communities. Look for this event to hit the Fox Valley next in Summer 2021. This is a blatant rip-off/homage of the Waukesha Road Rally that my good friend chevyole hosts this year in October and we take turns hosting in each location every other year.
The rest of my time is spent brewing beer, making poor (but exciting) decisions in the Jeep while off-roading, and traveling with my wife, Keri as much as we can. Life is good and exciting. Take in as much as you can.
If you are passionate about geocaching and creating fun for other geocachers, I suggest you consider running for a spot on the WGA BOD. I’ve met so many great people across the state, making new friends, and seeing such fun sights, I feel everyone should take a term. What you will learn about your state, others and yourself will change your life in a good way.”
I want to thank WalkingAdventure for all of the caches and events he has put out/on over the years. I’d also like to thank him for the two terms he spent on the WGA BOD. Did I promise there was a guinea pig connection here? Yes, I did . . . I learned to ramble from him as well. He does it much better than I do 😉. One of the best logs I have ever read on a cache was one of his while attempting Ninth Street Boat Launch Rev.3 (https://coord.info/GC361DJ). The log:
“Off to finally look at this one after all the years ignoring it. Parked nearby and wandered over to WP1 which was found within moments. Walked to WP 2 and pondered things a bit then noticed somethings furry.
Squirrel? Rabbits? No, there were Guinea Pigs! 4 Guinea pigs were shivering nearby with 1 off to the side. I chased the loner back to the group of 3 but it then bolted for the nearby bushes. There I found 3 more guinea pigs so I was glad this one was a runner. Called the City Police (is it Fox Crossing or Menasha I didn’t know but we were closer to Menasha so they won). Community Service officer arrives and we grab a net and a kennel. 2 passers-by help rustle up the little fellas and we double checked to make sure none were left behind. Looks like the 3 big ones and the 4 little ones were all there were. I will add the photos of the adventure.
Off everyone goes, the gp’s were waving from the warm vehicle- off to the FVHA for them and a new, caring family. Want to adopt them, give the Humane Association a call.
Back to the cache. I didn’t have what I needed so I thought it out and decided to check a couple of places. BAM, hit paydirt on the 3rd spot. Signed the log, reflected on the adventure and then headed out. 45 minutes here was well spent.
Photos 1 and 2 were when I decided to wrangle them before the officer got there. He was a runner! #3 was off to the side and we wouldn’t had seen them if there wasn’t the runner. #4 is all the family back together, huddling for warmth.”
Thank you WalkingAdventure. The man, the myth, the legend! And, if you want a personal recommendation for one of his caches, I would highly recommend Faldi (https://coord.info/GC2JF94). I will never forget solving this puzzle being soaked with the remnants of snow while sitting in Applebee’s in Neenah in 2014 when all of a sudden the solve came to me and I couldn’t get the check fast enough. Now . . . I have to figure how to tie my next article into these last four . . .