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Sunday, May 31, 2009

12 May 2009 Lockport Nature Trail









I was a little late for trilliums and bloodroot, but this is one on my favorite places to walk in the Lockport area.
11 May 2009 Tree Outside My Office in Sanborn, New York


Friday, May 29, 2009

10 May 2009 North Warren and Anders Run












We had finally put our wits and a suggestion from a friend together and solved a couple Pirate & Crafty puzzles. There was a time when we had most of this solved before it had been found, but we were never able to get to the final coords. Armed with the correct answer, we headed out for a find on a tough puzzle. Local cachers know of so many great spots for a hide. This was no exception.

This cache was in one of those locations that only a long-time local would even know existed. After a short climb up the side, we came on this structure of unknown use. There was also an old stone wall. At the end of the rest of the loooong climb up, we found ourselces in an old mixed pine plantation.

Later on we grabbed the dogs and went for a walk at Anders Run to look for orchid leaves. We found the orchids and a few nice widlflowers in bloom. We'll need to return in a few weeks to see the orchids in bloom.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

9 May 2009 Tanbark Trail to Chapman


















Some days are perfect. Today was supposed to be an 11-mile hike with Gwen and Eva. We were wavering during the ride to the trail whether we should even bother. Every few minutes the rain started to fall lightly. We decided to do this hike anyway. We had a little rain at the start and a little more near the end, but in the middle we had a perfect day. There aren't too many of these so they are really special when they happen. This was also the trail where we found our 500th cache with a terrain rating of 3 or higher.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

8 May 2009 Deer Lick Nature Sanctuary








Gowanda is a pleasant Western New York town. I pass through it often on my way to Pennsylvania. It has streets for walking, an old movie theater, and a Tims (yum). Just outside of town is the Deer Lick Nature Sanctuary. The Sanctuary is listed as a Registered National Landmark. It has been in a Landmark since 1967. There are a handful of caches within the Sanctuary. There are two others in the area I wanted to search for as well, but notes on the cache pages seem to place the area of the caches on private property and now off-limits. It's a great place to walk and from the looks of it, you'll have the area to yourself most days. The stone at the bottom bears ee cummings' poem, I Carry Your Heart With Me. Based on the inscription, it was placed near the entrance to the park by someone on December 30, 2000.
7 May 2009 Sunset on the Niagara






It was a little strange caching here alone. I still didn't find the cache although I saw the owner a little later and know I'm looking in the right place. It had been raining and was a little chilly so this normally busy park was all mine this evening. This is one of the better places I know to come and see an amazing sunset.
5 May 2009 Relaxing on the Canal




3 May 2009 Laurel Run CITO


Our pre-CITO safety talk

Safety First

Ranger Rob talks about the history of Laurel Mill

Zoose was willing to CITO any lunch leftovers

Almost finished...

A few after-CITO blossoms






Liz and Wes hosted a CITO today in the ANF. As far as we know, this was the first CITO in the Allegheny National Forest. We were cleaning an area near Laurel Run which is a cross-country ski trail location. We onlt had about two dozen cachers attend the event, but it was enough to fill a dump truck. Ali and I were assigned a stretch of road with Luvs2Walk. We actually used all the trash bags we were given plus most of the second batch that was dropped with us. The strangest pick-up of the day was a motorcycle frame. At the end of the day, the park service looked happy.

After the CITO, Ali and I went back to look at some of the flowers and blossoms we had seen along the road. We also grabbed a few caches with Liz and Wes before a final stop at Ginger's Wagon Wheel (yum).
2 May 2009 Caching in a Game Lands












After the chores were done, we had enough time to grab the geodogs and head to this nice gamelands for a few caches. The caches were spaced over a few miles and gave some nice walking for us and exercise for the dogs. We had a great time watching the tadpoles in the puddles. The Brokenstraw passes through here. It would make for a nice place to kayak and maybe a five terrain cache. ;-)