21 February 2014 Strouds Run and Baker Preserve

We spotted a blue bird at one of our first caches. Can spring be far away? Athens is covered in puzzle caches with parks loaded with higher terrain hides. We started the morning finding a few of the many, many puzzles Ali had solved before our trip.

Thus strange water spout seemed to be a part of the dam and control system for the reservoir at Strouds Run. I've never seen something like this before. The water would go from flow looking like a large artesian well to spouting like a geyser.

The water was a mix of thin ice with open water along the shore. With a lot of blue sky thrown in, it made for a very pleasant first walk at Strouds Run.

We left the water line and headed uphill for a rock find overlooking the reservoir. Besides a well hidden cachem we were both happy to spot many rattlesnake plantains which showed evidence of many spikes from prior year blossoms.

I think I am the only person to see the profile of a face in this rock.

We passed a number of small waterfalls on our journey. They were all either iced in or kust beginning to thaw. In the warm day, this one was mostly thawed and had a fair amount of flow.

The day was filled with miles on the trail, lots of uphill, and blue sky everywhere.

We were nearing the end of our day when we cam upon this stream. Normally this is probably tame with little water. With the spring thaw in full force, today's crossing meant very wet feet.

We were down to our second last cache of the day and signing the log when we both spotted this nice oak tree highlighted in the afternoon sun.

Athens is a town that is driven by the university. On Fridays and Saturdays, alcohol rules the downtown. It's hard to navigate the town with bar-hopping students, but it is a college town which means there are bound to be some very good restaurants supporting the faculty. Ali located Lui Lui in a quiet side street near downtown. Their excellant Thai cuisine and quiet atmosphere made the location a perfect place to relax after a day of hiking and caching.

The best news of the day was I survived the hiking. If felt great to be back and ready to hike again. Until the next time...

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.

16 February 2014 Too Much Snow

We tried to take a walk in the woods and cache a little, but with over a foot of snow on the ground covering caches and more falling, it was a hard walk and too tough to cache. We settled for a couple urban hides in Titusville. On our drive home, Ali slowed on the snowy road for me to take an image of six road-side turkeys.

14 February 2014 The Eagle Captured

Returning to the same gameland over and over paid off this afternoon as we both got to see an eagle and I was able to capture a (grainy) image. I hope to see the day where these birds are common. In the meantime, I'll continue to be thrilled with each spotting.

13 February 2014 Moonlight Caching in North Chagrin

I don't remember which cache we were searching for on this moonlit night. I do remember neither the moonlight nor our flashlights helped us make the find on this cold evening. We didn't look for long, but wisely went back to our warm home.

9 February 2014 Snowshoes at Holden

Normally, we would have brought our cross-country skis today and covered a lot of territory at the arboretum. I still have very little stamina after being sick so we brought our snowshoes and enjoyed a relaxing walk through the frosted trees.

8 February 2014 Walking on Water

We don't go out in the boat very often. At one time Mogadore was one of my favorite destinations. It is quite deep for a reservoir in spots and always had good bass fishing. There are multiple caches on the islands, but the payback for the effort is never enough for us to head out in good weather. Since the winter had been horrendously cold, there was a thick layer of ice. It was time for us to walk on frozen water.

Ali leads the way. Um, isn't that my jacket? ;-)

The first island looms ahead.

Life on an island!

These were the second and third islands we visited on our walk. We were getting farther and farther from the safety of the shore...

With our finds made, it was time for the journey back to shore. It is beautiful, but that doesn't make it warm.

I used to fish here. It's a long way down.

There are more caches on the ice that way, but I'm just happy to see shore.

I celebrated leaving the ice by making a snow angel.

It was fun, and I didn't fall through the ice, but I hope spring is here early.

1 February 2014 Rough-Legged Hawk

We were on our way to Warren and stopped at the State Game Lands near Pymatuning to look for eagles. Ali spotted an eagle, but I missed the picture. I was finally able to get at least a distant image of the timid, rough-legged hawk we spotted a few weeks prior.

The roads were a little slippery so our caching day was short.

We stopped for a cache near this frozen stream.

A tall, isolated tree stand we spotted on our last walk of the afternoon.

26 January 2014 Exploring a New Trail

The new Cleveland Metropark's geocaching policy has been in place for about two years, Besides a number of caches in the park for us to find, it has taken us to many new trails. Each time we think we have seen the last, a local cacher sends us to a new location. Today we explored a short trail which was new for us in Bedford Reservation.

25 January 2014 Home Finally

I've lost count of the number of times I've been in the Minneapolis Airport when it's empty. This morning I was anticipating finally getting home.

Not all the gates in Delta's area at Minneapolis have been upgraded with tablets and personal space. B11 still sports its 60's era bus station decor.

A waiting jet at your gate is a happy sight. :)

Ali picked me up at the airport with the dogs. After much happiness and dog greeting we headed to Beyer's Pond for a couple geocaching finds. The snow was deep on the trails, but the day was clear.

The weather deteriorated when we moved from Beyer's Pond to Mill Stream Reservation. Besides the two of us geocaching with the dogs, there was a group playing a very spirited kickball game and a couple riding their bikes with the first snow tires I have seen for bikes.

24 January 2014 Unexpected Delay

Fog ice was still visiting the greater Spokane area so I decided to take the roads to the airport rather than the highway. I had a little time to spare and stopped for a couple caches. The ice made the rocks treacherous so I passed by a multi I was hoping to seek. Instead I settled for a quick find in a park and an early arrival at the airport.

There are only two places where I have been able to sleep and rest for years, in a moving vehicle and on a plane. I almost never sit in a window seat. My preference is an aisle while I often get the middle seat. Either way, I can easily fall asleep before the plane pushes back from the gate. Today, I had the very infrequent pleasure of sitting three across with no one else in my row. I looked out, saw the mountains, and decided to try a few images. The view was awesome.

By the time we reached the lights of greater Minneapolis and started to circle, it was clear this was not a good evening to be flying home through Minneapolis. The clear skies of earlier in my flight had been replaced with lots of snow. When I reached my connecting gate, the gate crew was already giving condolences to the passengers headed to Cleveland. I was lucky and able to board the first flight to Detroit Saturday with a mid-morning connection to Cleveland. Since the flight was cancelled for maintenance issues and not weather, Delta was giving lodging to a number of us. In the end, I was a lot luckier than the guy in front of me in line. He was hoping to get a flight to Detroit at 1 a.m. and rent a car which he would then drive to Cleveland where his tuxedo was waiting in his car at the airport parking for his noon wedding the next day. I hope he made it.

After waiting 45 minutes for the hotel taxi to arrive on its 20-minute cycle, the few and lucky amongst the stranded travelers were taken to a nearby DoubleTree Hotel for a night's lodging courtesy of Delta. The DoubleTree was tired and looked very chic for maybe 1990, but the time has passed for its decor including room phones that didn't function for room service. I was surprised to be in a handicapped-accessible room on the twentieth floor. Wouldn't it be a mess trying to evacuate a wheelchair from the twentieth floor in an emergency? Down on the first floor the climate was loud and busy with something called the Zuhrah Potentate's Ball. There was loud music, lots of alcohol, and a number of young ladies with little on in the way of clothing. All I wanted was dinner.

I didn't feel like waiting for room service or eating in the bar (either would have been a better choice) so I ventured out to the nearby Dairy Queen. I also decided to search for the cache that was hidden at the border between the hotel and the DQ. It would have been our first find in Minnesota if I had been able to reach the container. The cache is in the big pile of snow at the bottom of the image below. The person seeking the cache before me made the profound observation that a cache hanging in one of those evergreens behind the fence would have many more finds from out-of-town guests in Minnesota winters. ;)