10 May 2016 Two Parks

I chose the evening's entertainment by looking on the map for a grouping of caches. I didn't want to drive far this evening so Dan Nichols Park in Salisbury seemed like a reasonable choice. Dan Nichols offers a longer trails than most of the options.

It was a night for an assortment of ducks. This mother duck was leading her fleet in training.

Steel bridges are disappearing. This old repurposed bridge in the park is one of three remaining steel bridges in North Carolina. I am glad to see it serving a new duty in the park.

I was glad the paddle boat rental was closed for the evening. I would have looked like a fool paddling around in a boat by myself.

I've seen so many empty purple martin houses over the years that I often wonder why people try to build a colony. North Carolina is an exception with an active society and many successful locations. The gourd configuration at the park certainly appeared successful in its mission this evening.

I also spotted this nice mockingbird hopping from branch-to-branch along the tree line at the edge of the trail.

After a long walk and successful cache hunt at Dan Nichols Park, I made my way to Granite Lake Park. The park is a small community park despite it's large park name. I'm not sure Granite Lake exists, but there is a small pond area that was once open for swimming. Now its home to a motley mix of ducks and the ever-present geese. The multi at this park has been on the unfound list for a while. I found two stages of the hide quickly and had a mental block with the third. The cache owner eventually took pitty and gave me a huge hint for stage three. The hint should never have been needed as the hide is fairly common just well done. On the whole, the cache owner is skilled at making things hide in plain site. By the time I finally reached and found the last stage, I needed to make a quick return to the parking area to get out of the park by closing. This tough multi earned its favorite vote

Near one stage a male and female cardinal were very busy grabbing things and flying away to some nearby nest.