At the start of the week, I was contacted by a complete stranger named Nicole (someone just in the area for consultant work at the local university for the week). I have been here long enough to know that when someone of intrigue comes along, you don’t say, “Wait, let me know think about it.” Instead, you take time for a get-together. So, that is just what I did. In the beginning of our first conversation, we each named our personal interests/hobbies and just like that, hiking came up. That was just the beginning of our parallel interest and thinking. Our conversations were loaded with fun and it was bizarre to have such a random run-in with someone who did not seem like a stranger at all. We share some of the same thinking, interests and beliefs. One of the highlights of our time together was when she spoke of the concept of “Geocaching.” This was something that I had never heard of before that evening.
In my own words, Geocaching is like a serious game of Hide-and-Go Seek. It is a world-wide quest where outdoor enthusiasts plant objects to be found with logs to document finds and Geocachers. From the moment that the concept became of topic, I was “in.”
A day or so later, we reconnected to GEOCACHE! We, well really, I chose the Chessie Trail Geocache which included the potential of walking among large free-to-roam livestock. YIKES! This find had a difficulty rating of 2 out of 5. We used her “handy dandy” GPS Easy Tracker device (which I totally need to get one) and even with all the stops, we were unsuccessful. I can’t wrap up this account of the Chessie without telling what I saw and heard. We had to walk along the river and it was just at dusk (NOTE: The trail signage reads loud and clear . . . No trespassing between dusk and dawn!). The sky was so clear and the stars were out. It was one of the clearest nights of the week. The moonlight was bright which gave us a little more light than our crank flashlights were putting out. Unfortunately, what I saw and heard was very different. After we spent about 30-40 minutes following the guide of the GPS compass readings and digging under rocks (just like the trail notes told us to), we walked back through the cow pasture to return to the car. Just then, I heard this awful cry. It was so spooky. I was panicked so much that Nicole was keenly aware that I was on “edge.” She reacted accordingly and quickly established the ground rule, which was oh so very simple: No one goes anywhere without the other! I think she was just as scared as I was but was trying to keep it together for me. Darkness, large livestock and a crazy spooky animal howling were just enough to FREAK me out! We never really determined what the howling truly was nor did we see any animals . . . all that mattered was making it to the car safely and with a sigh of relief, we did.
She was about seven steps ahead of me in thinking and had anticipated this reality of possible failure. She then challenged me to another Geocache. She had programmed about 3 or 4 “maybe” Geocache coordinates in her GPS (all of which were nearby). My mouth dropped. I was thinking that I had been living and hiking in this area for almost 3 years and probably have walked right by Geocaches many times over. Honestly, I probably have picked up a Geocaches and placed them in my litter bag thinking that someone was an irresponsible hiker and littered on the trial :-0
So, we tried one other Geocache at a local park in the downtown area. The clue was “it is magnetic, look under.” We had our crank flashlights going and we were wandering around the park area looking under each and every bench searching for the “find.” I kept thinking that a local police officer was going to be highly suspicious of our peculiar behavior and question us but we were able to skirt that run-in. Sadly, we were unsuccessful at the two dedicated attempts to locate a Geocache. We settled on having a drink or two at the one and only pub in my hometown called the “Grey Stone Pub.”
We closed down the place but not before the bartender took our picture to mark the end of a totally and completely random week. I might not have found a geocache but I am thinking that I might have found a new friend :)
Below, you can find some pictures of the trail so you can put a visual to the totally and completely FUN madness!
