Current at 11/6/2011 (Online waypoint URL) You have already found this cache! Master Index    Nearest Caches Pheonix by Flotsom and Jetsom (2/1.5) (Archived) N49� 51.904  W97� 07.513 (WGS84) UTM  14U   E 634732  N 5525314 Use waypoint: GC1JG7V Size: Micro    Hidden on 11/28/2008 In Manitoba, Canada Difficulty:     Terrain:                   In a small park. This replaces the original cache "Oriole", hence the name. Small cache, containes logbook and pencil only. Please replace carefully. Stealth may be required and your cooperation in muddling the footsteps in the snow would be appreciated. (I.e. have fun and make lots of paths.)

Additional Hints (There are no hints for this cache)

4/4/2009 by Kabuthunk
Last find of the day. I was kinda debating whether or not to go after this cache today. I had just finished a particularily hard-fought find at the nearby Ogre Height, and didn't know if I was up for more water-hopping. However, since Iwas in the area already, had some time to kill, and there was still tons of daylight, I figured I'd at the bare-minimum give it a drive-by.

And so I set out to do just that. A quick trip down some very puddle-covered, very ice-chunk-so-as-to-make-tons-of-icy-speed-bump roads. Eventually, despite the shocks on my car now crying in agony, I found myself to the area. This area DOES seem famliar somehow. Can't remember if I did find Oriole at all. Hmm...

*checks*

Apparently I did, back last August. Huh... maybe I'd just remember the area more if I saw it green, instead of covered with snow . In either case, I was able to park quite nearby to the cache. Actually, I think the GPS was showing me exactly 10 meters from when I stepped out of the car. Not wanting to sink into a foot of snow, I walked around a bit to what seemed to be the main trail onto the park. However, no matter how I followed the trail, my GPS almost perfectly kept saying I was always 10 meters away! At first I thought the cache would be somewhere entirely different, since I could have sworn that the 'obvious' looking spot was a lot closer than 10 meters from me. However, I decided to check anyway, just to be safe. Thankfully, there was several other trails leading around the area, so I was able to follow some other footprints all the way and keep snow out of my shoes.

Yeah, I know... at this time of year especially, I should at the bare minimum have my instant winter boots... but I really didn't want to bother with those today .

But anyway, reaching the cache location, I saw the container sitting gingerly inside . Almost TOO gingerly, in my opinion. In all honesty, I could see a mild breeze or rainfall knocking this out of place! No clue how it managed to stay in place since the last finder in March... but it was basically just barely sitting there, not held down by anything, not wedged into anything, and just barely kept from slipping out by a small notch beneath it.

Opening the cache, I quickly signed it and tossed in a micromail ball. I was contemplating that a regular chainmail ball might fit inside, but I figured it'd just get wedged, and there'd be all sorts of problems. I attempted to replace the cache in a bit more sturdy of a manner. There was a bit of a potential wedging spot that I tried to get one part of the cache container under. Didn't really work all THAT well, but it's a lot more secure than it was when I first arrived. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything else immediately nearby to help secure it, and I didn't want to draw undue attention to myself by hanging around there longer, or hunting around for things under the snow.

Hope it manages to stay there. When I left, it should be able to survive a lot more wind, rain, snow, or... whatever else we get out here... than it used to .

With find 488 under my belt (only 8 away to the big milestone that I'M looking forward to), I headed off. Wish I could have done more caching today, but with not all that much time left at this point, and nothing else in the near vicinity... it looks like any other caches wait for another day.

Thanks again! Glad to have gotten out to this park again .

Took: Nothing
Left: Logbook entry and micromail ball