14 October 2013 Beartown Colors

I was meeting Ali and the dogs at Beartown Lakes to search for a multi cache. As I was driving, I realized the colors were at their peak locally. I kept hoping to reach Beartown before the sun started to dip. I was too late the higher arc of the sun lighting the trees, but we were able to enjoy a pleasant fall evening and a geocache.

13 October 2013 End of the Season

It was cold and raining, but we weren't the only people to show up for the last day of the season. Waiting for March...

12 October 2013 Caching Forest County

We headed south today to cache an old railroad grade. One the way we made a stop or two along the Allegheny River to hunt a couple caches and see if we could spot any migrating birds. We had no luck with the migrating birds. There wasn't much to see in fall colors either. This year more than most the colors appeared to be really varied in their intensity.

While on the trail, Ali spotted some tall american chestnut trees. Most showed signs of blight, but some appeared to be blight-free. These trees are usually gone before they reach 20-25 feet so this was a nice treat. It's fall and time for us and the dogs to be dressed in safety orange. This is an out-and-back trail. While near the turn-around point, two hunters arrived to start scouting for deer. They were hunting with bows and didn't look all that serious in their adventure, but safety is always best.

We were also able to fill-in another block for the fizzy challenge. We've not reached our last grid section to meet fizzy challenge requirements.

Ali and Gwen near a tall chestnut

Safety Gwen

Safety Phineas

11 October 2013 Treman State Park

This was my second visit to Treman State Park. I had stopped by in early spring to hunt the geocache in the park. At that time most of the trails in the park were closed to keep visitors away from potential injuries on ice. This afternoon some of the trails were open, and the park was doing a brisk business with weekend arrival for fall camping. My hunt for the geocache ended about 350 feet from ground zero with two barricades blocking the small walkway over the stream. I was really happy that my visit and walk let me stop and visit the super waterfall in the park. Hopefully, I can make a return trip when the trails are open to hunt for the cache and explore more trails.

350 feet and two barricades from the cache. :( There's always next spring.

We visited this wetlands area in western Cattaraugus County a number of years ago while completing one of the county's geotrails. There are new caches there, and it was a nice opportunity to walk and enjoy sunset before the last stretch of the trip home.

10 October 2013 Another Night in Cortland

I had time for one cache in a neighborhood park before dinner with friends. This was a good choice for a quiet walk along the pond

9 October 2013 Cortland

The days were shorter leaving minimum after-work caching time. For once I actually planed well with a solved sudoku puzzle a Cortland GeoTour near the nice stream below and a cache in the nearby state forest. It was a super evening to be out. For once I maximized the relaxation with a good plan.

State forest roads in New York are enough to raise the terrain rating of any caches located there. You need to have a careful touch and a little luck when driving on these roads.

It's partly to mostly cloudy over 300 days each year in nearby Syracuse, but Cortland can still show an amazing sunset. This evening the sun and the moon teamed for a show.

8 October 2013 Conawango to Cuba

The Conawango River is a beautiful river that runs from New York's southern tier into Warren County where it joins with the Allegheny River to continue south. To the north the river is a quiet place to paddle. This was near a cache by one of the entry points by the New York-Pennsylvania border.

I made a return visit to Seneca Oil Spring near Cuba, New York. This location was the first spot where petroleum was discovered in the US in 1827. Today there is a small fence around the spring which still seeps oil and bubbles methane gas.

The colors were intense today.

7 October 2013 Farm Caches in Ashtabula

We had stopped at this farm in Ashtabula to cache before. We found one cache and decided to pass on the balance of caches deeper into the farm. Phineas the beagle can get a little excited when he picks up smells. I suspect he would be overloaded at a farm. Today I was headed to Pennsylvania with a business trip to New York just ahead. I was alone and decided to return to this farm. One of the family stopped out to greet me and say hello. The farm animals are used to seeing humans since the farm is part agro-tourism. They were really curious and came right to the fences as I looked for the caches.

Say it ain't so... :(

5 October 2013 Caching Corry

2 October 2013 Just Walking

We ended a streak of consecutive days of geocaching today. It was nice to just walk in the park and enjoy the colors.

1 October 2013 Evening Walk

I expected to see a lot of fall color while on vacation. Our first Sunday in New Hampshire was really beautiful, but the rest of the trip was marked by mostly trees that had not yet changed. Back in Ohio, we walked the dogs at Orchard Hills this evening with the expectation of seeing more colors, but there was still very little change.

29 September 2013 Last Morning in Maine

We awoke to our final morning in Bitteford and Maine with heavy fog. After breakfast we made a stop to hunt a puzzle final at an lpc in town. The cache was strange since it had been almost a year without a find. Lonely caches have become fairly common even a tenth-mile into the woods, but light pole caches usually continue to get found. We were happy to add our signature to the log book.

Clifford Park was a bit of a gamble. We knew there were caches in the park, but a few had not been found in 17 months. It's hard to believe traditionals in a city park would go unfound that long and a bonus puzzle after three finds would also sit unfound. I was skeptical when we arrived because the front of the park looked like a somewhat neglected city park. Once we reached the woods, rocks, and trails, I was very happy we had found this gem. We had a great time and wished for a little longer time window to hunt a few more hides in the park, but we were both pleased to find two caches which had sat unfound for a long time.

I was happy for a return to Portland Headlight. After our last visit, we had purchased a lighthouse passport book so Ali wanted to stop for a stamp. By the time we left Clifford park the fog and clouds had been replaced by bright blue skies. I struggle more with the question of visiting old favorites or making new memories at new places, but I was really happy for a chance to return again to New England. Hopefully, there is another visit waiting in the future.

Well, it's not far down to paradise, at least it's not for me
And if the wind is right you can sail away and find tranquility
Oh, the canvas can do miracles, just you wait and see

It's not far to never-never land, no reason to pretend
And if the wind is right you can find the joy of innocence again
Oh, the canvas can do miracles, just you wait and see

Sailing takes me away to where I've always heard it could be
Just a dream and the wind to carry me
And soon I will be free

recorded by... Christopher Cross in 1979

For me the weather was so vivid on the morning we were here, this looks like a scene from a model train layout with a real building and a painted backdrop.