3 March 2012 Cold Cache

It's funny how quickly humans establish a new baseline of expectations. In any other winter a March day in the low 40's with a little rain would be wonderful. This year, 40's and rain seems like terrible conditions. We were going to hunt a few puzzles and multis and did, but we really cut the day short with me whining about the cold.

Now I know why this is called Standing Rock Cemetery.

The stream was so high we were worried one of the caches might have washed away.

2 March 2012 Bedford Viaduct

29 February 2012 Leap Day Walk at Herrick Bog

28 February 2012 Walking at Sunset

26 February 2012 Another Visit to West Branch

We stopped back this afternoon to find the two caches we left unfound a few weeks prior. Our first find required multiple stream crossings with a final walk along a small strip of exposed water to a piece of land which is usually an island when water levels are higher. The hike started rough when Eva switched directions on the first stream crossing and I fell in the stream. I was cold and wet for the walk, but it was a fun journey. The last island walk finished about a half-hour before sunset. It was quiet and serene with no boat traffic. The dogs both jumped in the lake and splashed for a bit.

22 February 2012 The Ghost of Geauga Lake

It's always painful to pass this once grand amusement park which Cedar Point purchased and killed. I spent many fun-filled days here as a youth... everything changes... usually not for the better.

19 February 2012 Yet Another Walk at SGL 109

18 February 2012 Another stop at SGL109

State Game Lands 109 in Erie County Pennsylvania is an important place to many geocachers. It is home to Pennsylvania's oldest geocache and one of the few remaining caches published in 2000, the first year of geocaching. The oldest cache is really close to the parking area and a very short walk. For years, the rest of this gamelands was home to only a few caches that weren't visited too often.

The ten-year anniversary of geocaching changed that a bit as more caches were placed and an event was held to celebrate the tenth anniversary of State Game Lands #109. This big gamelands was a destination for many attendees of GeoWoodstock last summer. We hadn't been here in a long time and were looking for a place with lots of room to walk.

There was no snow as we headed out, but that soon changed as the snow started just after our first find. We found a handful of the newer caches here and left a number for a return or two more. It was good to have a nice long walk as winter starts to wind down.



The wetlands very near the oldest cache in Pennsylvania. If your hunting the cache, its best to walk past and approach from the woods; otherwiase, you will get really wet.

Our first find was down a short trail in a small stand of hemlocks.

Once we were back on the main trails in the wetlands area, the snow started to fall faster.

This is one of three gamelands I have visited with live tracks running through.

I've been on a mission to spot my first skunk cabbage of the season. while Ali was signing a lg book, I walked down to the water's edge with the dogs and spotted a few. Happily Eva missed stepping on them.

14 February 2012 Happy Valentine's Day

Ali and I enjoyed a quiet visit to Malley's to celebrate the evening.

12 February 2012 Cross Country

I had pretty much given up on any cross-country skiing in this year's super mild winter. It's been grey a lot, and there has been snow, but the weather's never stayed cold long enough to put down a good base. We spent the early afternoon with a few laps around the trails at Metzenbaum with the dogs. While we were there, we thought there was enough snow for some cross-country skiing. We arrived at The Rookery near sunset and enjoyed a peaceful ski out and back on the old interurban rail grade.

We saw our only blue sky of the day at Metzenbaum.