Overview - The Retired Monkey Challenge Trail consists of 210 challenge caches covering 30 miles along Highway 441 in Central Florida. The trail was created by RetiredGuy and Cute Little Fuzzy Monkey with substaintial help from sloth96. Special thanks to all those that have helped maintain the trail over the years, particularly Dittocat, Black Jeep, and FloridaJim. 
Total different cachers making finds: 694 FTFs still available: 0 Stats updated as of 09/25/2023 RMCT Pathtags – We have special award pathtags that can be earned for completing 50, 100, and 150 of the Retired Monkey Challenge caches. When you qualify, send you mailing address to RMCTpathtags at gmail.com and we will send them out to you. These pathtags can only be earned. 
Leaderboard - There is a leaderboard for the Retired Monkey Challenges, which is updated periodically. The leaderboard tracks each cacher's progress on Retired Monkey Challenge Trail. Click on the leadboard if you would like to see all the geocachers that have found at least 25 challenges.
 Signing Logs – You are welcome to sign the logs even if you do not qualify for the challenge. If you do, use a WRITE NOTE log online and then change it to a FOUND IT when you qualify for the challenge. 
• CuteLilFuzzyMonkey a.k.a. _ILMOP_ – Retired Navy Chief and a geocacher since 2013, CuteLilFuzzyMonkey resides in Austin, Texas with his wife, Mizz Monkey. Concentrating first on Florida, he found over 20% of all active Florida caches (45,000 at that time) in his first year of geocaching. 
• sloth96 – Full time engineer and cacher since 2009, sloth96 resides in the Boston area with two Siamese cats. He enjoys Delorme challenges, Interstate Challenges, 360 Degree challenges, and long walks on the beach. 
Gas, Food, and Water Essentials are available only in three places along this section of 441: 1) at the northern end in Kenansville at the junction of 523 and 441 2) in the middle at Yeehaw Junction 3) at the southern end in Okeechobee Florida geocaching can be hot so bring lots of water with you. And drink it. 
Cell Coverage - Beware that cell coverage is spotty along 441. Besides being out of touch, you should make sure all caches have been downloaded before starting.  Standing Water - During wet times, there may be standing water between the road and some of the caches. It is recommended that during these times, you bring waders (waterproof knee boots).  Dangerous Animals and Plants - Since you are in Florida, you may come across a small alligator or poisonous snake while caching. Keep your eyes open and keep your distance. You may also come across poison ivy and many thorny plants. Lastly, don’t forget your bug repellent.  Planning - Unless you have a very experienced power trail team, you should count on taking at least two days to complete the entire Retired Monkey Challenge Trail. North to South works better as three quarters of the caches are on the west side of 441. Lodging can be found in Vero Beach, Melbourne, or Kissimmee / St. Cloud. The closest airports are Melbourne, Orlando, and West Palm Beach. Always park safely as trucks do come down this highway quite quickly. While you can use any vehicle for the run, be careful of getting stuck in mud unless you have 4WD.  Maintenance - We have strived to keep all 210 caches of the Retired Moneky Challenge Trail well maintained. Our goal is to always have all caches in place with dry logs and enough room to sign. With the exception of the need to wade across water during parts of the year, we view that the caches should be relatively easy to find. Missing Containers – If you have done a thorough search for a cache (remember that water is a natural hazards that you must overcome), you may replace it. All caches should be replaced with waterproof containers zip tied at eye level to substantial objects at the posted coordinates. Please do not use replacements as an excuse to just throw down a cache to speed up your searching. If you replace a cache, please contact RetiredGuy and let him know. Missing / Wet / Full Logs – Please replace these with suitable new logs which you should always carry anyway while caching. We prefer Rite-In-The-Rain paper. Help Maintain the Retired Monkey Challenge Trail – If you plan on visiting the Retired Monkey Challenge Trail and would like to help us with maintenance, please contact RetiredGuy in advance. We will often supply caching teams with maintenance kits containing perform containers, preprinted RMCT logs,zip ties and instructions. Integrity of Finds – Occaisionally the challenge checkers will report that the cacher has qualified for a challenge when in spirit, it is obvious that they have not. For example, occaisionally a cache will have an elevation associated with it that is clearly wrong. We will attempt to fix the issues in the checkers and we may choose to delete the Found It log if done outside of the spirit of the challenge. Please police yourself and stay within the spirit of the challenges. Comments or Questions - If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to contact RetiredGuy directly. While we try reading all the logs, we often fall behind or sometimes miss things. |
