It’s been almost three months since we last found a geocache…back in Salt Lake City in mid-October, before we returned home from Geocoinfest 2009. So the urge to get out there and find a cache or two has been growing stronger, especially since about the middle of December.

Today we drove to Canmore to spend part of the day with friends, visiting, skating at the pond and generally celebrating the New Year. As we drove west, we stopped in a safe parking area along the shore of Lac des Arcs to search for a couple of geocaches: GC1WJ8D Canoe Canoe and GC2116J Duck Duck Swan. Last time we walked across winter ice to the little island, the wind was blowing so hard that our kids could barely stay on their feet! Fortunately, there was only a light breeze today so we had no trouble making our way across the patches of snow and ice. Canoe Canoe added another 4/3 rating to our list of finds.

We walked across the ice and clambered up a steep embankment to intersect with the trail to Duck Duck Swan. We’ve driven this stretch of road many, many times and had no idea this little point of land had a trail to a couple of bird-watching duck blinds! After finding the cache, I stopped to take a couple photos of a decrepit picnic table perched on a high point overlooking the lake.

Now I don’t normally blog about a couple of straightforward finds, but since this was our first time out in 2010 (and our first time caching in more than 10 weeks), I thought I’d give it a quick mention. If you or your kids need to stop and stretch your legs a bit when driving west of Calgary, this is a nice place to go for a short walk while also logging a couple of finds. But take note: depending on the time of year (and ice conditions), you will need a canoe to make it to the island!