24 April 2008 Posted






This evening I went out to retrieve a friend's travel bug that I had placed in a cache in January. The bug is in a race and she asked me to grab it if I had the time. It was a sunny evening and this trail was a good place to walk so I went for the bug. When I got her e-mail, I wondered why this cache had been unvisited this spring. It's an easy walk and a simple multi. Once I got to ground zero, I realized why. The owner has now posted the land. I tip-toed in, grabbed the bug, and enjoyed the remainder of the evening (on public lands).

22 April 2008 Rev. Mike's Favorite Place





Our friend Rev. Mike calls this his favorite place. It is a State Game Land at the very edge of Lake Erie on the western side of Erie. There are some outstanding views of the lake here and some really nice places for hiking. I stopped by here on my way to New York for work. The wetlands kept me busy trying not to get soaked. It was a wonderful place to spend a quiet evening.

21 April 2008 The Trail Seldom Walked











We walked the evening on a little-used trail in North Chagrin. It is a one-way trail passing through woods and leading to a wetlands. This evening we were treated to wildflowers and carpets of ramps in the woods. We got to see lots of red-wing blackbirds and a few heron while in the wetlands area.

20 April 2008 Around the Property


Spring Bulbs...





In the Woods...







It was an amazing day to look for flowers. The property was full of colors including bulbs we had planted and spring blossoms in the wild. I hope you enjoy...

19 April 2008 Elk County Caching











We went to an event today with our friends Wes of kcepenn and geobeerer. After the event, we packed up Wes' truck and headed out for some serious hunting for rock hides. Ali and I had a great time. I'm not certain how much Wes and Tom enjoyed crawling through these tight spots. The rocks were fun and a late walk along the railroad grade gave us a chance to see this really old stone building that was located right along the track bed.

17 April 2008 How Cool is This?



17 April 2008 How Cool is This?

For years there has been at least one male cardinal hanging out by the shrub near the window for my office. I just noticed that a female has joined him and they are setting up a nest in the shrub. It is really great to watch them as they come and go. They are both a little cautious so a photo of her staring at the camera is the best I have so far. That's her beak in the center of the picture.

16 April 2008 Back to the Rookery






It's spring... there's peepers... and the woodcocks are doing their dance. There's lots of time to go other places. This has been an amazing spring at the rookery. We've yet to be there without sightings of herons. The peepers are really loud this year. We got as close to a woodcock as we've ever been. Oh, and the sunsets have been memorable (the moon was looking pretty good too).

15 April 2008 Walking the White Pine Trail






We stopped by a local park to walk the white pine trail. Most of the evergreens here are hemlocks, but this area was a white pine forest and still has a few of the really old white pines. We got started a little late so the bloodroot had already closed for the evening. A short evening out turned into seven miles in the woods, but it was a pleasant walk with a quick stop by a small pool after sunset to watch a few frogs hop in.

13 April 2008 Around Town






The last week had been really tough for both of us so taking a quiet day and hanging around Shaker Lakes seemed like a good idea. We grabbed a few caches and passed a quiet day while waiting. The birds weren't plentiful, but these ducks were great. Afterwards we walked down the road to see the grave of Jacob Russel, a Revolutionary War soldier. It stands alone in a small roadside grave.

12 April 2008 Caching Tuscarawas County









A little farther south made a world of difference in the wildlflower watching. We found sping beauty and spice bush was in bloom. Later in the day, Ali spotted the first orchid leaves of the season.

Goat Haunt had a rare weekend off work when we were in town so he joined us for the fun. We started off in New Philadelphia and moved onto points outside the town including a nice hike at Zoar Woods. We finished the day on the tow path for the canal and a walk along the North Country Trail. Both areas had just recently flooded. Two of the three caches we hunted appeared to have been washed away in the flood. The height the water reached was amazing.

11 April 2008 Spring, Sunset and (lots of ) Peepers

9 April 2008 Centerville Mills








We had never been to this park before. We knew our friend Chris really liked this cache so we were expecting a lot. The area was wonderful. Our first find was near a really outstanding waterfall. We were able to walk down the steps and crawl around the rocks for a bit. We also saw our first ramps of the season in another area of the park.

8 April 2008 Frohring Meadows









We had stopped here in the snow to hunt for a cache. We had a great time with the snowshoes, but no cache. This evening, we returned for a shot at two multis. Success was ours. We found both caches. We had a three-mile walk though the woods. We also heard peepers, saw our first trout-lily leaves, and found this pond with really large egg masses. Hopefully, one of the summer posts will show these fields filled with prairie flowers.