11 June 2016 Geocaching Medina

This was a rare weekend where the dogs headed off to camp so we could spend the weekend caching together. We wanted to start early and cache until almost sunset. Doing it in Medina meant we had less driving than our usual activities. The county's geotour started today. It was well done with caches in interesting area. We had qualified for a coin at the end of the day, but decided to return for a second day to complete the requirements for a path tag. It was a day filled with blue skies and puffy clouds, butterflies, birds, and the persistently noisy cidacas. Normally only the trees give away the locations where they have been with leafless branches. Today, they were low enough to the ground to see the up close.

We made it most of the way back to our Subaru before a thunderstorm passed through at the end of the day.

6 June 2016 Visiting Tanbark

There aren't many days where my world is unscripted with really nothing to do. The week prior my team had finished a months long project so I was able to take an Monday away from the office. Local cachers gave an unexpected surprise with new caches placed along the Tanbark Trail. It was an amazing day to just head out with Ali and the dogs and enjoy a favorite trail.

5 June 2016 Westline

We've enjoyed Westline and were happy to make a return to the trail for another visit. It had been a wet morning, but we had a break in the weather to enjoy a few caches.

The caches along the trail were part of a series located near natural objects the cache owner viewed and anthropomorphic. One of the caches was placed near the tree below which appears to have a face.

The cache owner didn't spot the tree below, but I thought it looked like the scream.

We left Westline with the plan to spend the rest of the afternoon enjoying some walks for caches in the ANF. By the time we reached our first parking area, it was clear from the ugly, dark clouds moving in that this would be a short afternoon on the trail. We walked out for the cache and enjoyed a great stream but hurried our walk a bit. We were lucky to return to the Subaru before the rain came in earnest. It was a nail biting drive but we later learned we were lucky to be in McKean County rather than our home county of Warren where a tornado with 90mph winds wreaked havoc.

By the time we were back to Warren the rain had passed. I had seen a mid-70's Grand Prix sitting with a for sale sign for a few weeks. We stopped so I could take a look.

My brother drove one like this when he was young. His had a red interior while this one was a dark color. Beyond that the color was the same. Those many years ago, my brother loved his car. I expect he would be over the top for a chance to drive one round for fun again and maybe visit a few cruises. This one looked very clean from the road. It looked clean on first approach too. It was only when I saw the rust damage around the rear window that I knew this would be very short lived fun and huge expenses to keep intact. :(

We made one last stop for a walk along the Allegheny River and a chance to spot a large stand of iris in bloom.

4 June 2016 More of the Moths

We enjoyed our walk in this area of the ANF over the Memorial Day weekend so we returned to find the rest of the series. We knew before we parked that the moths which were everywhere on our last visit were at least as abundant today. They were on our windshield as we drove the last bit to parking.

Our Subaru was a moth magnet.

This swallowtail at rest looks like a sleek glider.

Lizzie never passes by a chance to rest at a cache location.

Cinnamon ferns looked great today along the edge of the trail.

I thought this section of the trail was more scenic than our last visit. For at least part of our journey we had a small stream flowing next to us.

We also had raindrops for part of the hike.

This is not an area visited often. At times the trail was overgrown.

Eventually, we came back to the stream where there was a tiny footbridge made from open grating. I was not going to pass on a crossing and was able to convince Phineas to be brave and cross. Lizzie was having none of that and waited with Ali for our return.

I had seen oxalis leaves at different parts of our walk. I finally spotted some blossoms near a point on the trail where we encountered a really upset woodpecker. There were holes up high in a dead wood of a few trees not far from the trail. I was sure it was protecting a nest, but never got a glimpse of the young woodpeckers it appeared to be trying to feed.

3 June 2016 Robert Miles

Robert Miles was a Revolutionary War soldier and is considered to be the first settler in the land now known as Warren County Pennsylvania. We stopped by his grave site while finding a geocache on a pleasant spring evening.

29 May 2016 Unexpected Rain

The day started off perfectly. We enjoyed seeing rhododendrons in bloom at the house, took a walk in our woods, and finished some outdoor chores.

We finished the chores and headed to Hatch Run to continue seeking the cache series in the area. It looked like a great day to be on the trail.

We had a great time playing nature nuts.

We even made a stop at the bridge for another look for our long-running dnf. We successfully managed to miss the find once again.

If we had been able to see the future, we would have stopped there. Instead we headed northwest and upwards towards a back portion of the property. We both saw darker clouds but dismissed them with a quick 'it's not supposed to rain.' By the time we got near the first hide there the clouds to the west were looking sinister. Then the wind began to whip up. We doggedly looked for a cache while the weather moved in. When we abandoned the search, it was too late. We were well away from safety and in one of the worst storms I have seen on the trail. It's tough to navigate a trail by yourself in intense driving rain. With two terrified dogs, it was nearly impossible. We slowly made our way in the direction of parking hoping the storm would pass and a terrified Lizzie would not stop and lie down from fear any more. We were completely, totally soaked and chilled by the time the last of the rain passed. We made our last bit of the walk to our ute and a squishy, wet ride home.

28 May 2016 Multitudes of Moths

We headed off to Elk County to hunt a series of caches in the Allegheny National Forest. As we were driving down the road we started seeing moths. Whenever we were by the Subaru or walking the road, we saw a lot of them; hundreds of them. They were Ferguson's Scallop Shell Moths.

Ali made a rare spotting of a spring peeper.

We also spotted indian cucumber in bloom.

This quiet spot in the woods earned a favorite point.

The geocaching wasn't bad either.