Bow River Pathway – Edworthy to Bridgeland

Although the weather forecast was a little "iffy", we decided to try to get a ride in this morning, so after loaded up the bikes we drove to the Edworthy lot where we usually park for the spring CITO event. We were a little later getting there than we would have liked, ’cause we had to wait for a decking contractor to stop by this morning. We started riding shortly after 9:30 and our first stop was Show me the Bunny, a regular-sized traditional cache that we DNF’d three or four weeks ago. And while it was a quick find today, it continued to challenge us! No matter how much muscle power the two of us put into trying to twist the lid off the container, it simply wouldn’t budge. In the end, we settled for signing our name to the bottom of the cache container using our Sharpee marker and then posting a "needs maintenance" log!
 

Next, we headed a little north, towards Foothills Hospital and the University of Calgary, to search for 3 gecoaches: a micro, a small and a regular. GC1PFYK was Mrs. GeoKs’ favourite hide encountered today. Given the location of this particular geocache, our next challenge was to figure out how to get back across the TransCanada Highway without incident or injury. We ended up carrying our bikes up a couple long flights of stairs to a pedestrian overpass, and from there we slowly worked our way south and east into Bridgeland, where we spotted a lovely heritage building and Mrs. GeoK will submit as a new waymark.

After one quick find, we spent several minutes searching for Stop and Smell the Roses before the cache owner, who could see us from her office window, came out to tell us that the container seems to be missing. This is the second time a container has gone missing from this hiding spot, which led us to suggest it might be a squirrel or some other 4-legged "muggle" making off with the hide. We’ll  have to make a return visit once the container is replaced.

Following one last quick stop, we started making our way west towards Prince’s Island and one more geocache hidden just off Centre Street. The sky was getting really dark and we were sure it was going to start raining, so as soon as Mr. GeoK found the ladybug and Mrs. GeoK took a couple photos we remounted our bikes and started pedalling west.

The pathways were packed with perspiring people pursuing pure air and pumped physiques, so Mrs. GeoK rang her bike bell more than enough times to drive Mr. GeoK crazy!! Once we passed the Pumphouse Theatre, the trails were almost empty so we made good time, arriving back at our parking spot at 12:30, just before the black clouds released a torrent of hail and sleet! Total riding distance today = 27.5 km in just under 3 hours, with 7 geocaches found.

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