As I write this puzzle, I've been caching for almost two years. I've spent many hot days and many moonless nights finding that elusive container to be able to sign my name and later log it on GC.com. I've scaled rocks and cliffs, been too close to rattlers on at least four occassions, got poison oak too many times to count. Do I have any regrets? - Not really... the fun, the camradiere, the adventures - It just can't be beat. Well, maybe I regret one thing... I should have started caching earlier but there is no time for regrets now. Instead, join me for a quick trip down my memory lane...
2006 - The year I started caching, in February to be more specific. I remember signing up for GC.com before I even had a GPSr because I was quite excited about this geocaching "thing." I received the GPSr on a Monday but waited until Saturday before going out with the whole family. We were lucky to find 2 caches that day even though I barely had a clue how to work the darn thing - didn't know what the "Go To" feature was. Anyhoo, I'm not going to talk about my first cache since it's on my Profile page and I think it's unimportant for this puzzle. Rather, I start with my first DNF log, - Study Break (GCGPKM) which I loggged as DNF twice. I had been there at least 4 times until I logged my second DNF, almost tearing the place apart. Since I was inexperienced I had no clue what type of hide it should be so I spent an extraordinary amount of time looking for this one, and if you read the listing it's an easy find.
In April I found My Side of the Mountain (GC2848) and some other caches that day. It was the first time I went out caching with Eric from 'Eric and Hill' and we have been out many times caching together since. Eric introduced me to geocaching - yes, he created a caching monster. If you don't like this puzzle blame it on him 
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My introduction to tricky hides was with Bus Stop - Trail head (GCTCJ2). It was the very first cache my family and I attempted but we left empty handed and I stopped by several times over the next week and a half with and without GPSr (still didn't know about the "Go To" feature) until the lightbulb came on and I actually found it. Since then I've found several similar hides and nowadays it's the one thing I always check first.
Ahhh... The little trinkets we leave behind... Some of you might remember my little Polar Bear erasers that I used to drop off in caches. One of the first caches I dropped an eraser in was TecMyntzCacheWalk (GCH8ME). The story behind the PB erasers is that after I had found several caches I did notice "trademark" items from previous cachers - flag pins, little footballs, geobug buttons etc. and I wanted to have a little thing on my own. As luck had it, I was able to get about 800 erasers from eBay but now I'm out and I can't find anymore. 
One thing that bothers me is when I solve a puzzle and then go out to find the cache, it's either destroyed or missing - that has happened several times. My level of annoyance grows with how much difficulty I had solving the puzzle. Take for example Fruit Salad (GCVK4M) - It was straightforward to me but I had somewhat hard time to find the correct webpage with the answer. To top it off, when I made the hike to the cache I discovered it was trashed, probably by an animal. Oh well, no time to shed tears for a broken cache...
Do you like underground caches? -I do! Eric and I did three of them on the same day Ghost of Cypress Creek (GCRV5B), The Womb (GCRNVJ), and Slime City (GCRKN3). However, Eric is not too fond of them since he is afraid of spiders; he loves climbing high places and I'm afraid of heights. As you can see we make an interesting geo-team: one is acrophobic and the other is aracnophobic.
Another type of cache I enjoy is Virtual. -Why? Because it is (virtually) always there and many times it brings you to different places and you see things you would not otherwise bother to look for. A good example is Enjoy Your Sit With Sam! (GCH6FZ) that has been around for more than 4 years - ancient by the geocaching timeline. Would you stop by and look at the artwork if it was not a cache? I know I wouldn't. It's too bad GC.com does not allow Virtuals anymore.
I did hide several caches during my first year and PB's PC Cache #8 - Blue Screen of Death (GCY6FJ) is probably the most difficult. It involves working through many layers to reach the solution - not very elegant, just plain hard work. I did add on a new clue a while back since nobody has found it since February.
Geocaching is not without its inherent risks as I wrote in my note for Beached Whale II:Tail with a Twist (GCX1C3). A couple of days after my find I got a poison oak rash along my right leg - not the first time I got PO and it's probably not the last time either. However, I did find a PO treatment that works well for me even after the itchiness starts.
Sometimes you find novel caches that really stand out because of the creativity that went into making them - Sea Monkey Central (GCJNKV) is one of them. Go and grab it if you get a chance - you will not be disappointed!
I ended 2006 with over 1000 finds - but who's counting!!! 
2007 - It only took me three days into the new year before I logged my first DNF for Del Mar Ocean View (GCB68). It wasn't because it was missing, I just couldn't find it that time so I had to leave blue-faced. (I did make a smiley later on, but that is a different story.)
Early in the year I also made a trip to my hometown in Sweden due to death in the family, and while I was there I decided to do some caching. Webcam caches are normally not my favorite type of caches but it beats a LPC anyday. The novelty of getting a webcam cache far away is pretty cool and OBS! virtual (GCK49T) is now my northernmost webcam cache - above the arctic circle. However, I did get reminded about why I now live in So Cal - a few days later the temperature dropped to -40F, way too cold for this Polar Bear.
From one thing to another. When I first started caching most puzzles did not have a coord checker and we did pretty good anyways. Somewhere down the line it seemed like a puzzle was not solvable unless there was a coord checker to confirm the solution. When IHO LLOT: En Garde! (GC117B1) was published it had a coord checker but somehow it disappeared and yours truly had to post a note about it. Lucky for me the coord checker appeared again and I was able to solve the puzzle - don't know if it would be possible otherwise (I've included a coord checker with this puzzle for your convenience).
Have you ever tried to do a Multi-cache and a waypoint was missing? It happened to me at Uncle Leo's Boot (GC11BBY) where WP1 was originally attached to the "boot" of that car. It had been towed away sometime between the day before when it was found until I got there - LLOT tried to give me hints on where to search without "giving it away." Well, after WP1 was fixed I finally could log a smiley and that was the only thing that was important.
One of my most frustrating puzzle caches was Quit poking Me! (GCM3BC). It was my closest cache since 2006 and I was only able to solve the first part, but the second part eluded me for a long time. After a nudge I was able to complete the puzzle and went out for it only to discover the 'No Trespassing' sign - well, you can always read my log if you want more details.
I did go to several events in 2007. In early April I signed up for my very first CITO event - San Diego Earthday CITO (GC11QYT). It was a nice day to spend time with some like-minded people and do something good for Mother Earth. Later in the year I attended the Pizza & Beer event A Milestone Celebration (GC15RZD) and for the first time I actually won something in the raffle - a cammoed container! I'll save that container for a special puzzle for you guys.
Did you ever hold on to a Travel bug or coin for too long? I'm guilty as charged until recently when I dropped off 3 TB's in my Happy Meal McCache (GCKJBR). I like having a regular cache not too far from where I live where I can drop off some TBs and coins and hoping that somebody else will take them on their journey. Well, if you are in my neck of the woods please take The Pink Bear to the zoo and take his picture there. I've been holding that TB since August -07 and my intention was to go to the zoo but I never seem to have the time. I know, excuses, excuses...
Sometimes I never find the cache I'm looking for ... I probably should've stopped after I logged my note for Pizzzah D'oh Boyzzz (GC133H8).
I cannot forget to tell you about my Mt Whitney trip I did in the summer. Earlier in the spring I had received an invitation from Thunder-4, devhead, FlagMan, and zatyko to join them on this "little" hike, and after months of prepping we were ready to go. August 1st - It was a fairly clear night at 2 am when we started our ascent. The light from the moon gave us decent visibility on the trail and we could hear muffled screams from other parties along the trail as the werewolves were attacking them... Just kidding, but it makes for a better story!!!
Although the hike to Mt Whitney is worth mentioning, I do have many other memories from that trip. A few days before the hike, Flagman, Thunder-4, devhead and I were altitude prepping on White Mountain. We reached +12,000 ft when Flagman and Thunder-4 returned to the cars, and devhead and I wanted to hike the extra mile to 13,000 ft before heading back - and we did. As we were driving down the mountain we decided to stop by Trees of age (GC14E1B) and grab it, and when devhead opened up the logbook we noticed it was blank - sweet, another FTF, our third during this trip.
Well, these were some of my memories - I hope you have plenty of stories to tell yourself.
Good luck and have fun!
Stay on the trail almost all the way and you shouldn't have much trouble getting to the cache.
Don't forget to write down the code for Code #14 to be able to solve for 'Tecolote "Puzzle" Canyon #20 - Finale!' or you'll have to go back again
It's bad caching karma to rip papers from the log - bring a writing instrument and a piece of paper with you.
Fine Print:
I will not confirm, check, verify, look at, clarify, corroborate, substantiate, authenticate, validate, or give personal hints until all 20 puzzles have been solved. It's only fair since there are some hardcore puzzle solvers that are toiling with these puzzles. However, if you e-mail me where you are stuck and the puzzle has not been solved for an extended period of time, I can add hint(s) to the listing for everybody to see. Feel free to send me an e-mail whenever you are stuck, but don't expect a personal reply until all 20 are solved.
Instead of writing notes in the cache log as a as a way to communicate with each other, you can discuss the puzzles in this thread in the forums, but no blatant hints or spoilers please. Keep that off-line!
Links to the other caches in the series:
Tecolote "Puzzle" Canyon #1 - Warm-Up
Tecolote "Puzzle" Canyon #2 - Sci-Fi
Tecolote "Puzzle" Canyon #3 - Odd!
Tecolote "Puzzle" Canyon #4 - The Wave
Tecolote "Puzzle" Canyon #5 - Say What?!?
Tecolote "Puzzle" Canyon #6 - Brain Teasers
Tecolote "Puzzle" Canyon #7 - Ranking
Tecolote "Puzzle" Canyon #8 - Dominoes
Tecolote "Puzzle" Canyon #9 - Birthdays
Tecolote "Puzzle" Canyon #10 - Origami
Tecolote "Puzzle" Canyon #11 - ???
Tecolote "Puzzle" Canyon #12 - Acronyms
Tecolote "Puzzle" Canyon #13 - Stuck
Tecolote "Puzzle" Canyon #14 - 10 Miles
Tecolote "Puzzle" Canyon #15 - Tic-Tac-Toe
Tecolote "Puzzle" Canyon #16 - Numbers
Tecolote "Puzzle" Canyon #17 - Cubik's Rube
Tecolote "Puzzle" Canyon #19 - Riddles
Tecolote "Puzzle" Canyon #20 - Finale!