20 February 2014 Escaping the Cold

Mega events have a way of changing the caching landscape of an area. The changes aren't usually good. Between burned-out local cachers who gave all their free-time for months to prepare for the event and a pile of cheap vacation caches, an area can be a little scared by the experience. We wanted to visit Athens, Ohio before MOGA came through and changed the area.

After a stop in Zanesville for some walking and a few finds we were on our way to Blue Rock State Forest and an older cache near the firetower. The nearly 80-year old fire tower is still standing and has open access to the stairs for climbing. It was a thing of beauty.

The object of my climbing desire.

Of course, we climbed it. There were only two of us and we're small.

The observation tower is closed from access, so the top of the stairs is the end of the view. Its a good view with Appalachian foothills visible in the distance.

Ali returns to land after the climb.

We also stopped for our first finds at the Muskingum River Parkway and Burr Oak Lake for our first finds in those state parks. I never realized the roadside pull-offs for the Muskingum River locks were a part of an Ohio State Park. The lock was interesting and we spotted a few ducks in the water. We were late to Burr Oak and did little beyond a short cache near the entrance. A longer visit will need to wait.

Ah.... just a few short hours south of the Cleveland area, and the weather was near spring.