Easter Sunday return to caching

It has been a long, extremely cold, very snowy winter! And we are really done with it! I know we will probably get a few more snow flurries before I can consider getting started on garden work but today it was warm enough to get out as a family and enjoy some suburban hiking.

We started with a cache that has been nagging at my mind for a while. The Hunger Games cache (GC35K4Z) is a puzzle cache that requires you to have read the first Hunger Games book in order to solve the puzzle. I had some issues with the idea behind the book and was resistant to reading it, but I thought I should at least read the first one so that I knew more about it. Well, that was the plan.

Turns out I really liked the books. Yes, books. Had to go to the library and find the other two because I wanted to read more!
 
You only need to read the first book to solve this puzzle cache though, and the solution is pretty easy.
The littlest goat was not keen on going caching today but I gave her a bit of a guilt trip and she came around. As it was, she was the leader walking through the woods and was the one to pull the cache out of hiding!

Then it was on to the next cache called Dig It! (GC4KEAC) that was placed for the Fall Cache and Release event of 2013. It has a Thanksgiving theme but Easter is also a time of being thankful so today was a good day to look for it! The littlest goat was at GZ before the old goat and I had even cleared the woods and she had the cache in hand before I even saw where she pulled it from. We loved the inner container. Some thought and creativity has gone into this one and it is worth a visit.

We took a short drive to our next target area. There is a new area called Nolan Hill in the Northwest of Calgary that is just starting to be built up. There are still lots of fields and undeveloped but cleared land with a couple of ponds and a creek running through it. Perfect when someone has seen fit to hide a few caches in the area!

Our first target was Nolan Hill Scramble (GC52D8G) and scramble we did! We went down into the creek area and then had to go back up to the trees when we realized where the compass was pointing. Saw out first crocus of the season and felt a rush of relief that spring may actually be here!

Took a bit of searching as the container is well-camouflaged, but we were successful in the end. Littlest goat went for a walk around the pond while we searched and she came back excited about seeing a Bufflehead and a Goldeneye diving for their lunch.

We headed over to the walking path to look for Nolan Hill Stroll (GC52D8X) next. Couldn't get Little Goat out of the creek so the Old goat and I had to search on our own. The container was a bit trickier than the last one as it is smaller but the coordinates were better, and after some pricks and pokes in the hands, we found the cache.

At this point we called it a day. I still had a turkey to roast and the others were planning on heading to the pool for a swim. A very pleasant day out in the fresh air with the family now that spring is peeking through!