Better late than never

At the end of my last post, I mentioned that we went geocaching on the Bearspaw Lasso Trail but I never did write the follow up post to that day. So here it is...better late than never.

From July 26, 2013
We were greeted at the trail head by a beautiful doe, casually grazing on the lush greenery abundant in the area. She was not too worried about our approach, just moved slightly off the path and watched us get out of the car and start our first search. Our first target was Gnome Alone CCARS09 (GC1YAA4) which was an easy find to get us started. Sadly the gnome who was supposed to guard the cache was gone but the cache was in good shape. And the hike up to it got us warmed up for what turned out to be quite an afternoon of hiking.

The next cache on the trail was Living in a Yellow Submarine (GC4B02Y) which was another quick find and a cute cache container. It is always nice when a cache is hidden in an unusual container or hidden in some way that takes imagination and creativity.

Our entire hike was made more enjoyable by the scenery, the wildflowers, grasses and ponds we passed.

 After all the rain and flooding Calgary went through in June, July was green and lush and feeling very much NOT like winter.

As we hiked to GCPF5C (Blueridge Micro), the trail dropped quite a bit in elevation and we came to a small creek to be crossed. However, the GPS was quite sure that the cache we were looking for was not across the creek. We searched in all the obvious spots and just could not see what needed to be seen. Then, I saw something that just didn't look right...and there was the cache. Again, just a unique way to hide a cache in plain sight, but something that made this better than a bison tube in a tree!

Across a little bridge (watching out for trolls) we went, and up into a treed area. It was a welcome way to cool off a bit as the day was warm, but soon we were out onto the grassy hillside again and looking for a multicache called When You Feel Miserable (GC1AZJK). The first part of the cache was supposed to be near a fenceline but this area was covered in anthills and millions of large ANTS! We did our best searching but gave up as the prickles, ants and sun were taking their toll. We moved on.

Following the path led us down to a quiet road we had to cross to an area we had been before. There is a large pond here with lots of ducks and reeds and mosquitoes!

 

Orange You Glad It's Not a Micro (GC1YA97) has a nice view of this pond which was quiet and peaceful this hot summer day. We signed the log as quickly as we could as the bugs were thick and relentless beside the water, then we made our way back to the trail. We almost turned back here because the next cache was one we had found back in 2007 when we first started caching and there was quite a distance to the cache past that one. But turning back would be almost the same distance and not as interesting since we had already covered it, so on we went. Friday the Thirteenth (GC1YZZJ) was the cache we had previously found, and is well worth a visit, especially if you are a night cacher with enough courage to search a dark wooded area. For us though, the destination was another Beatles cache appropriately named The Beatles - A Tribute (GC4AEBM). The littlest goat pulled this one from the hiding spot with a giggle. A fine tribute to the Beatles indeed!

The next cache itself was unremarkable but easily found in a grove of trees. (GC4AEAD) We had to reapply the bugspray and head to the next one before we were sucked dry by the mosquitoes. GC32JGR (Goodbye Calgary) was a unique hide placed in a clever way. We looked around for a bit before finding it and after closing it up and walking away, realized we had to go back because the littlest goat was still holding the log book.

Our last cache of the day, after a long hot hike, turned out to be our 500th cache!  We were excited to reach this milestone and a bit relieved to find the cache as we were hot and thirsty and tired of the bugs. The cache was hidden near a beautiful little pasture that was noted in the title of The Ponies Crystal Pasture (GC4AE98).

 Our return to the car turned out to be an adventure in itself as we made a wrong turn on one of the trails and had to do a lot of scrambling through trees, down a steep hillside and across a little gully. We made it through to the right area and soon found our ride waiting where we left it. A great day of caching that ended well.

International Earth Cache Day

Today was International Earth Cache Day so, despite feeling lousy with a cold, I organized a quick single-stop geocaching trip for my family. There was an easy Earth cache located in a neighbourhood near us, so easy that we could see it as we drove up. Erratic Behaviour in Edgemont (GC1Q1KY) is one of several Glacial erratics that can be found in Calgary.

An erratic is a large rock that was deposited on top of a glacier as it moved past mountains. As the glacier melted or receded the rock was left behind, often miles from the mountain from which it originated. In Alberta we have a strip about 640 kilometres wide that runs from the Athabasca River Valley to the southern end of the province which contains thousands of rocks from tiny pebbles to large boulders left behind by a receding glacier. These rocks are thought to have originated from near Mount Edith Cavell in Jasper National Park.

 Another famous erratic that is the largest known glacial erratic in the world is found in Okotoks, just south of Calgary. Big Rock is a 15,000 ton quartzite boulder and is also an earthcache known as Where the Beer Got It's Name (GC2388). (The Big Rock Brewery in Alberta took its name from this rock.) 

To log an earth cache as found, instead of finding a hidden container,  you need to e-mail the cache owner the answers to questions they have posted in the description of the cache. Usually these questions help confirm that you were present at the cache site. For instance, the owner of an erratic cache might ask you to estimate the size of the rock or identify what minerals are in the rock.

Did you take part in International Earth cache Day? What interesting earth cache did you discover?

     

Geocaching in the Valley Ridge area of Calgary

I know I promised stories of the rest of our summer trip but I am interrupting the summer stories for a more current geocache adventure we recently went on.
As newish Calgarians, transplanted here 5 years ago from Vancouver, we are still getting to know Calgary and the surrounding area. We are always surprised and delighted to find a new hiking or walking park and finding the Valley Ridge trails was just that sort of place. Only about a 10 minute drive from our house, there is a small gravel parking lot with walking trails leading first to a play park and then to the woods.

 We skipped the play park on the way in as our dog was too excited and wanted to get on the trails. So we headed first for Creepy Ol' Tree cache (GCY1PG) in a southerly direction on a narrow trail with a steep slope down to a creek on our right and an uphill rise to our left. Scooby Doo was thrilled to be along on this adventure and was barreling up and down the hills and into the creek and back to us again. We were enjoying the walk, the trees, the birds and the lure of a new cache.



The littlest goat was holding the Garmin GPS and kept her eye on the compass, letting us know when it was time to veer off the trail and up the hill. It was a quick find to grab the cache and sign the log. Then we left a travel coin to continue its journey.

 

The next cache in this direction was going to be across the creek so we decided to head back toward the beginning of the trail and take the other trail paralleling the river to look for another cache. (GC1XYK1) For Brinleigh, kiddie cache #3 the cache hiding spot was marked quite well for kids to spot it and our little goat did just that. She was happy to make the find on her own and hide it well after. Since she was still in a good caching mood we decided to go for one more. (GC103TB) Howler was next down this trail and we were enjoying the fall colours and the river views so much that we were at it before we knew it. A little scrambling around just off the trail and we had this one in hand too.

There are several more caches in this area and we are definitely planning to return for more. But for today this was just the right amount of caching. Now it was time to stop at the park and let the littlest goat check out the playground equipment.

Scouting for a campground near Bragg Creek

On Sunday our little family took a drive to look for some potential campgrounds for future camping trips. We have lived in Calgary for five years but have not gone camping in the area, so we wanted to see what sort of sites are available. Our target area was south of Bragg Creek off of Highway 66, following the Elbow River. And since we were going for a drive, I thought we might as well pick up a few caches just for fun!

Our first stop was in the Redwood Meadows neighbourhood on Highway 22 before Bragg Creek.  To protect the townsite from the Elbow River floods a berm was built which makes a great walking path and happens to lead to two caches. The first one we sought out was On the way to Grandma's House (GC189XA). For a regular sized cache it was hidden in an unusual place but we made the find and headed off to Sherpa's Cache (GC17CF5). As we approached the trail head for this one, I glanced into the forest on our left and saw a beautiful buck laying beneath a tree enjoying the cool cover of the trees on this hot day. He was undisturbed by our presence and continued to rest as we passed by. The search for this cache was trickier and involved scrambling over rocks until the old Goat spotted the container. Inside the ammo can we discovered a travel geocoin ( SW#3's Shamrock) that we picked up to move along. When I entered the coin tracking number to log our find, I discovered that it had travelled to Europe, Eastern Canada, Hawaii and the southern USA and had ended up back at a cache just hundreds of meters from its origin!


Since we were so close to the Elbow River and it was a very hot day we went down to the edge of the river and dipped our hands and cooled off for a few minutes before continuing our journey.

We drove right past Bragg Creek as the line of traffic coming in and out was not inviting and continued on to Kananaskis Country on Highway 66. We stopped for a quick micro called Kananaskis Country Cache (GC12C97) right at the big sign for Kananaskis Country. The littlest goat jumped out of the car, walked over to GZ and plucked the cache from its hiding spot! She is getting to be an amazing cacher.

Just a few hundred metres away was the first campsite we wanted to check out and at the beginning of the path down to it, was another cache called Gooseberry (GCQM20). This one took a bit of walking around in the trees as the GPS couldn't get good satellite signals but eventually we found the spot and earned another smiley.

We checked out the campsites at McLean Creek and decided those would be the ones we try out when we get a chance to camp. Then there was just time for cooling off in the creek before heading back toward Calgary.

We made one final stop just before reaching the Trans-Canada highway and that was at a cache called Wolf Kubs Kache (GC3FK11) hidden by the Strathmore scouts. Parking near this cache was not allowed so the old goat and the littlest goat waited in the car while I made the trek to GZ to try my luck. This cache was easy to locate but hard to pick up. I had to use all my arm strength to retrieve it from its hiding spot and then repeat the process to replace it in the same spot! Should have sent in the old goat!

We are getting in more caching this summer by blending it in with other activities and taking opportunities to do quick ones when we can. They often bring us to places we never knew existed or ones that we have been meaning to get to but haven't taken the time. Where are you exploring this summer while you geocache?

Canada Day Caching

Yes, we finally got out to do some more caching!
Had a fun day in typical Calgary weather. Hot and sunny when we set out, black clouds swept in with a few thunder claps and a big downpour, then hot and sunny again. Took a day to introduce more friends to geocaching and we now have more caching buddies to go out with. The tiniest cacher (at 1 1/2 years) caught on quickly and was checking behind every bench after seeing us pull one nano out from behind a park bench.
We planned our cache adventure to start with a cache that the kids could trade swag in and out of, then a couple of micros for the grown ups and finally a cache at a play park for the kids to have some swing time. Luckily we had good luck and found 4/4 today and the kids enjoyed all of it, even the rainshower.

We did have to place a note on one cache that needed maintenance. The lid of the cache had a hole in it and the cache was filled with water when we discovered it. The pencil was wet and the paper was unusable. This is the sort of thing you need to let cache owners know about so that they can clean it up and repair the damage and get their cache up and running again.
Another thing to mention is that the regular size cache had a theme of 'Round' objects so my daughter took a yoyo and replaced it with a bouncy ball. It is nice to keep to a theme when trading if at all possible.

It was a fun way to spend Canada Day away from the crowds, but still outdoors and with friends. What did you do for Canada Day?

How to Hide a Cache

Just a reminder that if you want to learn how to hide a cache that is a bit different (non-traditional) there is a class this Saturday afternoon at the CNIB building in Calgary. This will help you learn how to make puzzle caches, multi-caches, and hides that are not your everyday lock'n'lock under a tree! And these skills will help with the upcoming CCARS event in May.
For more information on the Saturday class click here.

Geocaching 201 this weekend

There will be a special workshop this Sunday afternoon in Calgary where you can learn everything from how to choose a good container to where is the best place to hide that container. The workshop will be held at the CNIB building in the Northeast from 2pm until 4pm and there will be an indoor presentation and then an outdoor demonstration. Everyone is welcome including children. For more information or to confirm your attendance please click here.
I am hoping to look for a few caches tomorrow so I can post about them on my blog. Please keep checking back! And if you decide to go to the workshop please say hello if you see me there!

Geocaching 101

If you are in Calgary and want to learn more about geocaching, there is a group gathering next weekend to teach the basics. It will be family-friendly, done in teams and you will get your first smiley for sure just for attending. See the geocaching website or click here and join the fun! Be sure to dress for the weather!