Wednesday I was back in virtually the same spot as I noticed there were several caches hidden in the general vicinity and thought I would get some exercise in while trying to locate. Again there was a fair bit of traffic in the park making stealthy hunting quite difficult. The first find was hidden in a copse of trees so I got that one logged in.
The next two were not so easy. Both were close to the river so between dozens of boats filled with fishermen and those who were trying to launch boats, out walking their dogs, or just otherwise being nosey, I couldn't really look in earnest. I made one last attempt at a cache that was a bit out of the way and came up a winner. The best part of this one is that I got to see the back of the Children's Golf Course. I had forgotten that was in the area and now I have the itch to get the clubs out of the garage and get to swinging.
Thursday found me up at the crack of dawn again and putting a route together to walk and hunt before work. I decided the Trolley Trail that runs between Gladstone and Milwaukie would be a great way to get both accomplished. However, I needed to find a good spot to park the car as the entire walking trail is 2.0 miles meaning a 4.0 mile round trip. I decided to drive the route and mark the parking areas before stopping at Springfield Park and heading out from there. What a lovely park! I've been scouting out locations for my steam punk picnic in July and think this would be the perfect spot. I wanted someplace out of the way with a grassy area for picnicking and playing bocce ball, bathrooms and easy access. This fit the bill to a T. Now to see if I can reserve the spot I want.
But back to walking/caching... I made a quick grab at Springfield Park then headed south on the Trolley Trail. I was able to snag another cache a short distance later. I walked another 15 minutes before heading back to the car. I then moved to another park along the trail.
Risley Park had two caches hidden so I thought that would be a great place to park, search, then hit the trail again. The first cache mentioned it had a difficulty of 2 because of the stealth aspect. Boy were they right. Every time I would get close to GZ (ground zero), someone would stop with their dog, or a neighbor would leave their house. I decided to head across the park to the other cache until things quieted down.
This one took a bit but I eventually found it. Part of the problem was it was in what I considered wetland area and I didn't want to cross the barrier to search. Once got over that fear, I stayed on the concrete culvert and quickly made the find.
Once logged in, I headed back to my original destination and, with no one around, started searching. Now we've all heard the heard the term 'searching high and low'. I don't know why but I always forget to look up while trying to find a cache. I think because 90% of them are on the ground, or under something. Fortunately after looking around the base of the tree I remembered to look up and sure enough, there was a bison tube covered in camo tape hanging about 6' off the ground. I was a little concerned I wouldn't be able to reach it. Finally on my tiptoes I was able to get it down and sign the log. Wheh!
So, I know I'm not breaking any geocaching records with my 3-4 finds a day nor am I logging in a bunch of miles walking but it's all better than what I've been doing....waking up later, drinking too much coffee, and then driving myself to work. This way I get some finds logged, and at least an extra 4,000 steps added to my pedometer every day.
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