8 February 2012 Back in New York

I had a short trip to New York and was lucky to once again have no snow and mild temperatures. I stopped on the way for a little walking and a couple caches near Erie at Elk Creek.

My last stop of the day was near Westfield, New York. I often try to bypass at least part of the Thruway to break up the monotony of the drive so I have driven through Westfield hundreds of times. On the west side of town, there's an Old Ford dealership that closed a few years back. We once used the drive to turn around in a snow storm and seek shelter in Westfield for the night. These days, the building is a visitors center for promoting the local wineries. There is a cache at the back of the property which shares some history of the area which I never noticed. The vineyards behind were at one time an airfield. The only real evidence of the old airfield is an old beacon. The weathered sign on the tower calls back a time before the Federal Aviation Administration and points to the Department of Commerce Aeronautics. It was an unexpected great piece of history.

16 January 2012 Southern Tier

The western end of I-86 can be a really quiet place to travel in mid-Winter. I've been through here during snow storms where the highway was one lane with deep snow on either side. Fortunately, the weather was perfect this afternoon for a drive east. This rest stop was a good place to stretch and grab a cache. In normal winters, the container would have been buried below at least a foot of snow. Today it was a quick find in very cold winds. It must be lonely to work here during the winter.

20 November 2010 Caching Chautauqua

13 November 2009


I was traveling from the Falls to Pennsylvania and stopped by this cemetery. Most cemeteries have names like Roselawn or are named for the town or city. This quiet rural cemetery was named much differently. There are two Revolutionary War Veterans right by the gates.

4 August 2009 Luensman Overlook Park







On a clear day, you can see Canada from this park. On this overcast evening, there wasn't much to see. The fungus in the woods made for interesting shapes. Low light and really wet ground didn't make for great pictures. As I was getting ready to leave, the sun made a valiant effort over the trees to the west.

4 July 2009 Chautauqua and Cattaraugus


We planned to visit Cattaraugus County and finish the first half of the Enchanted Mountains Geotrail. Friends stopped by so we started later than planned. The day took a 'let's see which cache is next' path. Our starting point was a dnf along the Conewango River. The Conewango is a really good choice for an easy canoe through a scenic area. This cache is located near one of the drop points.



Our second stop was a park in Frewsburg. We were both a little apprehensive about hitting public parks on the 4th. We expected them to be overrun with muggles. Funny thing about the day was we saw almost no one. It was a little cool for the holiday, but there was still a blue sky that beckoned for a picnic at the park.




We wandered through Cattaraugus eventually finding two of the EMGT caches. One was at a park in Perrsyburg. It's an older park, but has all of the things that parks should have except people.




We closed our day with a return trip to Deer Lick Nature Sanctuary. We found the last caches in the area and walked most of the trails. One of Zoar Valley's many waterfalls is a nice cascade deep in the Nature Sanctuary.

25 June 2009 Caching in Western New York













There were two new caches placed at Jamestown Audubon Center & Sanctuary. We are usually here for a visit at least once a year so this seemed a great time to stop. There is usually a good assortment of waterfowl with turtles, frogs, and wildflowers thrown in. The trails offer a few miles of walking with a real bouncy boardwalk that is perfect for getting Ali's feet wet when I misbehave. We were surprised to see that the largest pond was nearly dry. Hmmm... what happened? Later on the trail, Ali found a plaque explaining that the lake was drained to control the carp population. Apparently there is a short window during the spring when the carp are spawning where draining the lake is effective. I guess now we know.

We also went east to Cattaraugus County to find some of the caches in the Enchanted Mountains Geotrail. It's a two-year challenge to find 32 caches, one each in the towns within the county. This makes five geocache challenges we have this year. I am a little concerned about so many. The cache quality with cache-specific challenges tends to be erratic as does the locations. We are now about half-way through this challenge. Today, there were a couple nice locations. On our first day out there was one nice location. I always expect that geotrails designed to bring tourists should have at least a few wow locations. So far, this one has had none. I haven't been swept away by the Ohio State Park ones either. In a place like Cattaragus, my mind keeps thinking, 'forget the challenge, go to Allegany State Park.' Hopefully, we will be blown away by at least a few of these caches.

29 April 2009 Along Lake Erie

1 April 2009 Lake Erie at Sunset

I was on my way to Niagara Falls for work for a few days and stopped to cache for a bit along a nice rail trail. I was at a friend's cache signing the log and was treated to the back-and-forth calls of a pair of barred owls. After leaving the trail and seeing the beginnings of a grand sunset from the road, I drove to a nearby vineyard with a view of Lake Erie and took a few images as the sun went down. For the first time, I actually saw the green flash as the sun dropped below the horizon. No luck with a photo though.

13 March 2009 Jamestown

16 February 2009 Waymarking in Westfield

18 October 2007 Caching Alone









I was headed back to PA for the weekend. For the past year and a half, I would have been chasing caches with Gryff. Since she has a new job, I hunt alone on these trips. It will be at least five months before my friend is once again available caching. This park in Erie County on Rice Road is really pleasant. Gryff would enjoy it.

I finished the evening finding a cache at a small lake east of Jamestown.