...Jonboy is one of those intrepid geocachers who eats three-star terrain caches for dinner and knocks off four-star terrain caches for dessert.The challenge came late last August in the form of a taunting forum post from the NY based geocacher, Jonboy. "Easy Pickings in the Highlands" was the title, but a quick peek at the terrain ratings for his suggested caches told us that he had anything but easy pickings in mind. What he really seemed to be saying was, "So you think you're tough? Come geocaching in the Hudson Highlands".

Now, Jonboy is one of those intrepid geocachers who eats three-star terrain caches for dinner and knocks off four-star terrain caches for dessert. He had bagged a number of caches in New Jersey's scenic Ramapo Mountains (Yes, NJ is not all refineries and smoke stacks. There are some scenic spots. Really, I have pictures.) and he thought it was time for us NJ and NYC area geocachers to make the short trek up north to check out some of his local caches.

The gauntlet was thrown down and several of us chose to take it up - come fall - when it was cooler - and prettier, we said. Fall fell, then the snowy winter came and went and the caches were still sitting there, mocking us. Finally, the weather turned, so I bumped the old post to see if there still was any interest. Tossing out a few dates, one kept coming back as good; April 3rd.

I gave Skigirl43 (who doubles as my wife and human PDA) a call and asked, "Do we have any plans for April 3rd?" When she answered in the negative, the date was set.

Topping off at about 1,500 feet above sea level, the mountains of the Hudson Highlands don't sound very imposing at first. At least, not until you realize that most of the trailheads start at sea level and many of the peaks stand from one-half to three-quarters of a mile from the trailheads. Anybody making the climb quickly learns why these mountains earned names like Storm King, Mt. Taurus and Breakneck Ridge.

I consulted with Jonboy, and another local, Ttepee and using their input and a topo mapping program, plotted out a seven to ten cache route, with most rated between three and four and a half stars for terrain. With a few days left before the 3rd, the route was settled. Now the question was, "Will anybody go?".

Past experience with group hunts led me to expect a handful of attendees under the best circumstances. The weather wasn't predicted to be perfect and the route wasn't exactly a walk to the 7-11, so I thought we'd get perhaps five or six people to join us. The first to sign on were Long Island stalwarts Squealy and JMBella. The highlands would be quite a change from their usual Oyster Bay, Bethpage and Levittown haunts.Then, NJ's famed Skully & Mulder team joined in.

Then, NJ's famed Skully & Mulder team joined in. Skully & Mulder are a father, three young girls and a dog, who have tackled some of the toughest caches in NJ; with big smiles according to their cache log photos.

With two days left before the trip, the list started growing, Quoddy, KBer, Hartclimbs, Lunaruby, Team Demp, Team Shibby - basically the crème de la crème of the northern NJ geocaching community.

Some newer geocachers also signed on. Serg312 and AsileRD, who had been at the sport for a few months and Batonka, who had picked up the sport just two weeks earlier and had two finds under his belt. The Connecticut legends, Planet and Barefoot said they were in, and New Yorkers Fosterbass, Jonboy, and Ttepee rounded out the group. Jonboy had previously found all the caches, so he came along to act as a guide and get a few laughs as he watched us drag our winter-softened bodies up the steep slope of Mt. Taurus.It appeared that Jonboy had pulled a fast one on us... By Friday night, twenty-two geocachers and three dogs were set to go Saturday morning.

Skigirl43 and I rolled out of bed early Saturday morning, filled our packs with snacks and water and our veins with caffeine and made the hour long drive to the meeting place. Soon everyone was there but Planet, Tepee and KBer. While waiting, we decided to set out for the nearest cache. Only .17 miles from the parking area and rated at three stars for terrain and difficulty, the Jr.'s Point? cache looked like a good warm-up. A quick look at my topo map suggested that we take the right fork on the trail, but Jonboy insisted we go straight ahead.

After a short walk we came to a cliff with an outstanding view of the Hudson River. The only problem was that the cache was at the bottom of the cliff. It appeared that Jonboy had pulled a fast one on us by taking us the hard way, but nobody complained because we were too busy snapping pictures and taking in the scenery. We skirted the cliff and came at the cache from below and in what was to become a pattern for the rest of the trek, several geocachers in the vanguard had already found the cache and re-hidden it by the time the last of the group arrived.

Ashley of the Skully & Mulder team found the cache among the acre-wide jumble of talus left behind by an old quarrying operation. We signed in and followed Jonboy along the easy route back to the parking area (how kind of him). It was a round trip of a bit over a mile and we had yet to begin our climb.

There was still no sign of Planet, Ttepee or KBer, so we decided to move on and let them catch up with us. We were particularly concerned because Planet had made a couple dozen of her famous sandwich wraps and most of us were counting on them for lunch. The climb to our next destination, The Funnel, was relatively gentle at first. Hartclimbs, Lunaruby and I fell behind when we stopped to admire Team Shibby's huge roll of toilet paper. It was soft and fluffy; Charmin I think. I took a squeeze, couldn't resist.

Just then, we heard a crackle over FRS channel 2. It was Planet and Ttepee who had just arrived, followed by KBer. We urged them to hurry up and continued toward the second cache. When we reached the area, we saw that most of the group was already halfway up the 45 degree slope of the abandoned quarry and looked like a swarm of ants crawling up the wall. We hurried over to join them and it was quite a climb. Not only was it steep and covered with Volkswagon sized boulders, but there were thorn bushes pretty much everywhere. We scrambled to the top, bloody and breathing hard, to find most of the team gathered around the logbook. They were again kind enough to re-hide the cache for us so we could look for it.

After signing in, it was time for the next cache, the Gates of The Hudson. Jonboy knew of a shortcut; a goat path, he described it."Does this trail ever stop climbing, or does it go right on to heaven?" A quick look at the topo map showed the route was indeed fit for a mountain goat, but that was about it.

Half the group decided to follow Jonboy on his "shortcut", while the rest took the longer route up the marked trail. Skigirl43 and I were in the latter group. The trail was longer and certainly not easy.

The climb was steep and steady and at one point I heard someone cry out "Does this trail ever stop climbing, or does it go right on to heaven?" The trail finally did level out and turn toward the cache. As we approached it, we heard the crackle of the radios again and it was the other group already at the cache site. We arrived a few minutes later and stopped to admire the fabulous view. Maybe we were in heaven.

With the group together again we signed in, lounged around for a while, then it was on to the Mt. Taurus cache. This was more of the same, a stiff climb followed by extraordinary views. It was here that we stopped for lunch and some of Planet's delicious wraps came out.

After lunch, the trail finally started downhill to the relief of many. Along the way we bagged Bull Hill Junction and continued downhill to the Old Cornish Farm cache. This one was an interesting change of pace. After climbing through a pristine forest and making our way along rocky ledges, to encounter this old, abandoned farm in the middle of the forest was startling.

We examined the foundations and partially intact structures. It was obvious that this was the farm of a very wealthy family, as the barn was made of stone, heated with fireplaces and insulated with terra cotta tiles. You know you have money to burn when you worry about keeping the cows comfortable.

We logged the cache, posed for a group shot in the doorway of the barn and it was on to the next cache. It was here that The Fellowship broke up.

Jonboy decided to re-visit two of the caches on nearby Breakneck Ridge and Barefoot, Hartclimbs, Batonka, Team Shibby and Lunaruby tagged along to log them.

The rest of us, looking at the 600 vertical ft. climb in just over two tenths of mile instead decided to make our way back to the parking lot. Along the way we stopped at the Cornish Mystery House cache and checked out the ruins of the old mansion where the cache was hidden. From there it was an easy mile back to the car. Seven hours, just under ten miles, sixteen hundred plus vertical feet and seven caches later we were done.

Half the group headed home while the rest of us retired to a nearby Irish pub to drink the day over and enjoy some burgers and Buffalo wings. As we took our seats, Hartclimbs said, "All I want is a good draught beer". To our dismay, the waitress informed us that the Guinness tap was broken. Gu sealladh saelbh oirnn! An Irish pub without Guinness!

But worse news came when the waitress returned to advise us that all the taps were down. That's it, no tip for her! As we enjoyed our meal and our bottled beer, we discussed the day and we all agreed that it was a blast and easily the best non-event we had ever participated in. We're already planning a Hudson Highlands Jaunt II.