We enjoyed another geobiking adventure on Sunday (May 4), heading to SE Calgary where we parked at Grammy & Grandpa GeoKs’, unloaded our bikes and then hit the trails along the Bow River into Fish Creek Park. The weather was terrific (sunny but not too hot), the mosquitos aren’t out yet and we found lots of geocaches. The only negative all day was that some pathway sections between Douglas Glen and Carburn Park were washed out in the flooding, so Mr. GeoK and eldest GeoKid had to do some backtracking and carrying of their bikes.
We split up near the Higgins Bridge, with Mrs. GeoK and youngest GeoKid heading south while the other half of the family headed north. Mr. GeoK and eldest GeoKid got off to a tough start, finding only 2 caches while Mrs. GeoK and youngest GeoKid bagged 7. But they persevered and their fortunes changed and by the end of the day we were at 12 + 9 for a total of 21 finds.
Highlights included success in finding GCH5BM – No Stoned Unturned, a puzzle cache hidden by 3jaze; GC15ZAD – Hillbilly Zack’s Cache, hidden by gardengorilla and found with the assistance of bullmoose rocks; and a couple of brass caps BCP160 and BCP329. The views from GCQFGZ – ATSOM #4 were excellent.
We thought we had the area pretty much cleaned out, but when we ran into bullmose rocks on the bike trails and teamed up to go for Hillbilly Zack’s Cache, he advised us that he has several puzzle caches hidden in the area. Mrs. GeoK has looked at some of his puzzles a couple of times, but hasn’t yet buckled down to solve them. Maybe this is a job for the next Calgary snowstorm!
We also spotted a couple of ring-necked pheasants while out searching for caches. They are beautiful birds – very colourful and large enough to startle you if you startle them!
Since the weekend, time permitting, Mr. GeoK has been busy caching in north Calgary. Mrs. GeoK really enjoyed GCGX2F – Rememberance, hidden by Ting. This is a 13 part multi-cache that takes you on about a 4 km walking tour through Garrison Woods, searching for a series of memorial plaques which detail the heroics of the Canadian Forces in World War I. Once you gather all the requisite information it’s a simple matter to answer a series of questions and reorganize the numbers to come up with the coordinates for the final, a well-hidden cache a relatively short distance away.
And our other big job this week is getting ready for GC1B908 – WWFM III – The DHARMA Initiative. Mrs. GeoK has about a half dozen prizes organized, the nametags and keepsakes ready to go and we’ve got a couple new hides in the queue, already approved and awaiting publication shortly after the event. outforthehunt has also agreed to post a new brass cap in Pearce Estate Park. So far, sign-up is a little disappointing, indicating only around 20 – 25 attendees in total, but we’re hoping for lots of "last minute" joiners so that we can meet or beat last November’s turnout of approx. 50 people!