10 February 2016 Cliff Park

Cliff Park is a small park tucked away in a residential area near Spokane's hospital. Walking to the top of the stairs, gives a good view and a nice sunset. Walking the base of the outcrop leads to a very nice example of columnar jointing. It was a good choice for a park visit on an evening with an early sunset.

9 February 2016 Liberty Park

Spokane has a number of beautiful, old parks which have survived and maintained their stately grace. Liberty Park suffered a much worse fate. The park was designed by renowned designed Fredrick Olmsted and opened with a covered stone walkway that led to a pergola. Over the years it was a streetcar destination, boasted a pool, and was home to an ice skating rink in the winter. A long decay led to the park eventually becoming a victim of Interstate 90 in the 1950's. Today the park is bounded by the highway and an office supply retail chain. It's remains are the now-uncovered stone walk which led to the pergola. I stopped by to visit the ruins as part of the Spokane GeoTour. It was an interesting look at a fading piece of history.

It must have been grand.

8 February 2016 Plantes Ferry Park

I had been to this park a few time to hunt caches before. The park is almost in the middle of my two offices in Spokane and made a great destination for an afternoon with an early sunset. I had no idea of the history behind Antoine Plante, the man for whom the park was named. I also did not know of the trail which led to some great views of the Spokane River or of the statue of Antoine Plante erected near the river.

The glow from the late sun was intense on this side of the river.

I also managed to avenge a dnf on a multi from a few years prior. The sky was blazing with late daylight as I headed to the parking lot.

7 February 2016 Revisiting Medical Lake

I arrived on Sunday for a week in Spokane. I had the afternoon to hike a bit and chase for a few caches on the Spokane GeoTour. I decided to spend the afternoon in the area near Medical Lake. I first visited this area in the previous October and knew there were more places to visit which seemed to offer good walking options.

Every visit to Spokane offers the chance of opportunities for interesting old car viewing. This rare Studebaker Conestoga near the parking area for my first walk was a new sight for me.

The time on the trail was good too.

There was still sparse sections of snow on the trail at higher elevations and in shadier areas.

This Chevette, near the deepest part of the out-and-back walk, faired less better in life the the Conestoga seen on the way in.

The rental waits as I return from a find across the road from Medical Lake.

It was an early, but pleasant, sunset.

6 February 2016 Making Stark a Habit

This was our last day of visiting Stark to complete the GeoTour. After a quick stop in Canal Fulton we made our way back toward the Canton area. Our first stop in Canton was at Westbrook Veteran's Memorial Park.

I wonder who first thought placing a cannon or artillery piece in a final resting spot was a good idea? These pieces were both captured in the Phillipines during the Spanish-American War. The longer barrel on the left was made in France in 1748 before the US existed. It must have been a relic in 1898 when it was captured. The casting work is amazing for the age of the pieces.

The barrel is 11 feet long.

This twisted piece of metal was cut from the conning tower in the remains of the USS Maine. The USS Maine exploded in Havana Harbor and appeared to be the final event triggering the Spanish American War. Parts of the Maine appear to have ended up everywhere.

Our next stop was at the tomb of William McKinley, the President during the Spanish American War. The area was festive with activity. It was quite a difference from the quiet

There aren't too many Allantes on the road anymore. We spotted this one sporting a 30-day tag in the parking lot while picking up our coin. With an early Northstar V8 and an ill-fitting roof, I hope the new owner is aware of the struggle ahead. The years have been kind to the body style.

One last walk after picking up our coin gave us one more of the Stark GeoTour caches and a view of a nice hawk (the bird... not the car)

3 February 2016 Fowler's Cemetery 1825

With days being slightly longer, I had the opportunity to stop for a cache find on the way home. This quiet cemetery is home to some of the older settlers to the area.

1 February 2016 Day Off

I was near the use it or lose it point with a day off so we decided to use it. Winter days off aren't usually days of choice for me, and the down time was mainly to give us time to travel to Elk the prior day. With great weather for the first day of February and not too many work events in the morning, we were able to spend the afternoon with caching and bird watching. We started with caching in Titusville. We stopped for an old cache we had never searched for in the past and a puzzle cache sitting unfound since August 2014. Neither of us expected to head into the woods very near town and find large rock formations.

We found the caches and made our way off to a favorite eagle area near the Ohio and PA border. We were hoping to see at least one of the two eagles, but birding luck was not with us for the day. We were able to spot an interesting smaller hawk and a lone female mallard on a distant pond. I was still playing with the new camera and happy to try capturing an image of a flock of geese in flight. The image was real, but the monochromatic blue-grey sky makes the image look oddly unreal or staged.

31 January 2016 Visiting Elk County

It was 57 degrees and the 31st of January.

We had fishes to feed

and caches to find.

It had been many years since we walked this gamelands in search of an AGT cache. There were small patches of snow on the way to remind us we were lucky for this day of mild January weather. We were happy for the opportunity to enjoy it.

Maybe Lizzie is getting over avoiding the camera.

30 January 2016 Quiet Day in the Woods in Venango

29 January 2016 Last Traffic Light

The nearest town to our home in Pennsylvania will soon lose its traffic light. There's a couple of lights on the bypass, but the light on main street has gone dark. Three stop signs stand ready to control traffic.

24 January 2016 Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail

The blue sky doesn't tell the tale of cold. While we were on the open towpath a winter wind kept us moving. When the trail dropped into the treeline the walk was less harsh. The cache finds were quick.

It looks like a bike trail culvert, and it is. It was also a very nice echo chamber. Lizzie thought I was weird.

An old farm gate along the rail trail tells of a past life for the land.