1 March 2017 Along Lake Erie

My drive back to Ohio started with gentle weather and a stop at the Lake Erie Seaway Trail Center on Route 5 and a view of Buffalo. On my last visit there were no turbines. Now they stretch along the shore heading west from the edge of Buffalo.

By the time I visited Super Freeze for an early season cone the blue skies were gone for the day, and dark clouds had rolled in.

I was undaunted and made my way on to Sturgeon Point and a few caches by the park and nature trail near the marina.

No Boats Today

My luck held out until I reached Wendt Beach Park and the rain arrived. My caching afternoon was over with a rain filled drive awaiting me.

26 February 2017 Winter Walk at Allegany State Park

23 February 2017 Southern Tier Caching

I was on my way home to Pennsylvania and wanted to enjoy a mild February day. Ali suggested the Arnot Nature Preserve with a 2003 and 2004 cache. The 2004 cache was a multi last found in September 2014. The caches were calling and the dirt road was there for walking.

I spent a long time hunting the 2003 traditional in this snowy foundation before making the find.

A guess and luck got me within the final of the lonely multi cache. Once there, the last stage was an easy find. 29 months without a find!

I was hoping the wetlands area might yield a duck sighting, but the water was still iced in.

My last visit was to Park Station in Chemung County. This is an attractive, large park with a nice trail around the perimeter of the lake and through the woods. It looks like a great place to spend a summer day. The trail around the still frozen lake were empty as I walked.

21 February 2017 Lunchtime Caching

I usually don't go geocaching at lunch. There is often no caches nearby to interest me (ie. in a park), or the drive is too long to take time away from work. There just happened to be a trio of caches located in the woods between a church and a housing development. It was five minutes from my office and perfect for enjoying the sunny day.

The trail entrance included a handpainted map. It's good I didn't need to remember the details.

The first cache was near an area the church has set aside for outdoor services. It was a little cold today, but the small opening in the woods seems to be a peaceful place to gather and worship or just reflect.

The second hide was near a light-hearted eight commandments sign which was missing my favorite, Thou shall not place micros in the woods.

The last hide provided a leg stretch in the open area. It was a great way to get out for a break at lunch.

20 February 2017 Big Flats

I was making a visit to our site in Cortland. It had been a while since I last visited Big Flats. I enjoy the parks and it's a good place to break a drive. The community park has a number of large trees scattered throughout the park. The were leaflessin the blue afternoon sky.

19 February 2017 Spring Hike in Hatch Run

18 Feburary 2017 Back in Pennsylvania

Returning north after a week in Florida should spell cold and snow in February. That wasn't the case in the winter that barely arrived. What snow there was on the trails was light with the streams open and flowing. It was warm enough fro Phineas to be on the trails without his usual Fido Fleece gear.

I was sad to see this old woodside caboose stripped of its undercarriage and dropped in the woods as a hunting blind.

11 February 2017 Harns Marsh

It was time to return home. We had a little later flight so Ali hunted down a place for us to cache and walk for a bit on the way to the airport. I knew there were caches here and was hoping for some walking. As we got near the marsh, we were in a residential neighborhood that was leaving me wondering if this was worth the visit. Then we arrived at the marsh. The images below say it all for this birding paradise. I would have considered a nice walk a good day with a few caches a better day. There were birds everywhere. It was an awesome end to an super visit to Florida.

It was time for our flight too. It was an amazing, wonderful, unexpected experience.