Went muddin

We had fun on Saturday, so Sunday, after doing some gardening, laundry and other chores around the house, we decided to do a little active geocaching. We like to walk in the boonies, so we headed for South Mountain area. There are 3 sites all within close proximity there, so we thought we’d try our luck even though we knew we might run into some muddy areas. We found mud, but the water problem was even worse. We just couldn’t find a way past it.....even if there was still ice on some of it. It wouldn't have been strong enough to hold us. It was a nice walk though and we will likely go back once things dry up.....and after the heavy bug season, as there’s bound to be plenty around there soon. At least I had a chance to practice using the GPS, and relearn the things I had forgotten about how to operate it.

I have a nephew to visit in that area, so that seems to be a good excuse to return.

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Middle of Nowhere Covered Bridge

Today we took part in the 4th Annual Nature and Bird Walk at what used to be Down to Earth Gardens. Actually, it’s a privately owned 100 acre piece of land that the owners, Patti and Pierre, enjoy sharing. They have even built a covered bridge across a stream that flows in a rather lively manner in the spring time. There are other interesting things to be found in this patch of woods, including the remains of an old car and a face on a tree.

Their neighbour and retired Ministry of Natural Resources worker, John MacKenzie, led the walk, sharing his expertise about the wild side of nature and identified many trees for us along the way.

This cache is easy to find. In fact, I made a point of printing off the sheet from www.geocaching.com before setting out, thinking I would pick up this cache along the way. Unfortunately, the co-ordinates didn’t print with the rest of the info, and I didn’t happen to notice until after I turned the computer off. I actually used the "where would I hide a cache" method, and found it without the coordinates.

A couple of the other people on the hike came off the trail to see what I was doing. I had hoped the

trail guide would keep them all busy for a couple of minutes, with his stories, but instead, I think I’ve convinced a few people that this hobby can be great fun.

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CITO

We started our 2008 geocaching season by taking part in our first CITO this morning..
That’s Cache In, Trash Out, to the uninitiated.

Basically what it means is we spent the morning with a group of other geocachers,
picking up trash along Highway 416. We had separate bags for recyclable tins and
bottles, and just put the paper in the regular trash bag. It was often too wet or deteriorated
to pick up with the pole with the nail on the end that I was using. I was thankful to have that though, as it often helped steady me on some pretty steep slopes. It also helped me identify some really soft ground before I would likely have accidentally sunk up past my ankles in the mud.

There were 65 people expected today, but I’m not sure if they all came. It was a good,
lively group though, and we got the job done. We split up into 4 separate groups and
went off in different directions, agreeing to meet back at the park at noon, for the
promised barbeque. They say they didn’t get as much trash this year, even though we did
manage to cover more ground. I guess that’s a good sign that people are learning not to
litter. Most of what was picked up, by our group anyway, was recyclable.

One group came across a dead deer, while we saw a couple of dead muskrats. Road kill.
We, ourselves, wore the orange vests so we could be easily seen by passing traffic. Many
cars and trucks honked their horns at us as they drove by. They were just saying thanks :)

The food was supplied by M&M’s and Giant Tiger, and there were lots of prizes supplied
by all kinds of places. Via Rail even kicked in a train trip from Ottawa to Niagara Falls.
One of our group one that. I won a family pass to the Diefenbunker. Ron got a hat, and
at the end of the day, when there were still prizes left and we were told to help ourselves,
we took a small ammunition chest, so we can create a geocache of our own someplace.

The ammunition chests were painted black and green by the kids who attended. They could clean up the park, but they were not allowed to walk along the highway so they
were kept busy with Frisbee and this painting task.

All in all, it was a really nice morning, and I’m glad to have had the experience.

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All Caught Up

Well, it looks like I did it. I'm all caught up, and ready for new adventures. I even had to delete my last post when I found that I had actually repeated myself. I hope that when I deleted that it didn't take out the same pictures that were posted early on. I'll have to check on that in a day or two, just to be sure. Apparently it takes a little longer to get the pictures out of this system.

We already have plans for our first outing in a week or so, weather permitting, so do stay tuned.

Edmond's Locks

I’m almost ashamed to say that it took us three tries to find the cache at Edmond’s Locks. But hey, we weren’t very experienced at the time, and I’m still not sure the co-ordinates were correct. You have to give us something for perseverance though. We just kept going back until we found it. Okay, so I’ll admit that the owner took pity on me and actually e-mailed me with a clue.

One of the reasons we kept going back though, was because it’s a lovely spot. Before our days with a GPS we just drove right on by and never really got to know these places that are so close to home. Now we see them in ways we never would have, even if we had stopped by from time to time. Geocaching causes you to look in every nook and cranny.

On our first trip there, we actually looked on the wrong side of the canal. And in both directions along the canal. It was a really good exercise in learning to read the GPS. We realized our mistake eventually, when we figured out the waypoints were leading us into the water. We had to leave for the day, but had already decided to come back.

When we did, we thought it would be an easy find. There is a long stretch of grass, and just a few trees, so how hard could it be, to find a spot with exact coordinates, when you have a gadget that points the way?

Well, let’s just say that the coordinates are generally just accurate within a certain percentage and the area to be searched is usually several yards square. Maybe even more than "several"........ And you really don’t know what level to look at. Geocaches can be hidden in trees, or under rocks on the ground, or cleverly disguised by some natural feature or some ingenious trick by the person who put it there. We’ve seen all of these now, to the point that sometimes I just sit and look and think, "Where’s a good spot to hide something?" Anyway, on our second trip to Edmonds Locks, we came away with less confidence than we had built up when we had previously searched and found many other caches all in one day.

I did log the fact that I hadn’t found it yet, online, and that’s when the cache owner decided to be helpful. The clue got us looking on the right level at least, and that helped narrow things down a bit. The cache was eventually found on September 1, 2007. It was in a rather logical place, and I don’t think we looked there on our previous visit. I do think the waypoints were off a bit, or maybe the big tree at the end of the point just messed with the satellite signal and made it difficult to pin down. Then again, perhaps we were moving too fast, and not giving the signal time to catch up with us. Experience has taught us that sometimes it pays to sit and wait for that to happen.

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