The Bridge

11/11/2012 By Kabutroid
Well, this cache outing was probably one of my most eventful as a whole, or at least the most amusing to others around me. Not specifically with finding the cache, but my general activities for the afternoon. And all because of the snow. As I’m sure everyone from around here is well aware, there has been quite the dumping of snow in the past 24 someodd hours. The snow in some places where drifts gather was well over a foot deep, and generally close to that deep pretty much everywhere.

Did I curl up under a blanket? Have a hot shower? Drink a mug of hot cocoa in front of the TV? Nnnnnah, that doesn’t seem like my style. I hauled out my snowshoes, winter gear, and hiked several kilometers around St. Vital park, and found me a geocache in the middle of it.

Did I stop there? Oh, I think you know me better than that (or maybe you don’t, but trust me on this). After I was done my hike, pulled out my hammock, strapped it to some appropriately placed trees with daisy chains and carabiners, and kicked back in the hammock while watching the snow fall.

Did I stop THERE? Not quiiiite yet. I pulled out my camping stove and fuel canister, melted some of that fresh snow (no fluorine or chlorine or rust from pipes or anything!), dropped in a bag of tea (coincidentally Canadian icewine tea), and kicked back in that hammock, watching the snow fall, while drinking some hot tea. I was tempted to also make some beef stroganoff with more hot water and one of those dehydrated camping food things I had with me, but had been snacking throughout my hike.

This year, I’m making winter my... umm... colloquialism for a female canine ToungeOut .

But yes... random relaxing in the snow, while at the same time confusing and astounding passersby aside, I mentioned some geocaching somewhere in there!

So midway through my snowshoeing (during which I actually saw tracks from 2 or 3 other snowshoers, so I’m not the only one ), I worked my way along the ridge following the river, and made my way to ground zero. Once I was approximately close, it took me a minute to get my bearings (and breath back), and soon began to home in on the coordinates. There wasn’t all that much snow under the bridge... or any for all intents and purposes, really... but there wasn’t anyone going for a walk anywhere close to there, so I wasn’t too concerned about looking out of place.

Once I reached ground zero, finding the cache itself was pretty easy. A few seconds of looking later, and I had the cache in hand. Gotta say, I was kinda amused with the method by which it’s kept in place. I was COMPLETELY expecting something else go keep it there... and when anyone else finds the cache, I’m sure they’ll know what I’m talking about after they find it. I quickly signed the logbook and dropped in a micromail ball, and replaced it as found. Mission accomplished BigSmile .

With the cache back in place, I hoofed (or rather ‘shoed’ I guess) it back over to near the duck pond at St. Vital park where my wife was going to be picking me up after she was done shopping, and I set up my hammock and everything to wait for her. I even got to have a few short conversations with people that happened by. Most people just didn’t say anything, but among the few greetings I received, at least one couple chatted it up for a bit, and I told them about my setup and how I’m taking a hold of winter, not the other way around. They were pretty amazed with the setup. The only thing I could have asked for otherwise is a bivouac tent. One day... one day...

All in all, an awesome day, and finding a geocache during it just cranked the awesome levels BigSmile .

Took: Nothing
Left: Logbook entry and micromail ball