I have placed four cashes around Marl Lake. It is a beautiful area and has a nice trail. The lake is shallow and in the summer it is common to see deer, eagles and osprey on a hike.
It is a good hike if you do all the cashes. From the parking lot to the farthest one is a 4.8 mile round trip and it is a fun hike.
A lady went out to find my cashes a few days ago and she found them but she commented that Royal#6 wa probably going to be hard to find when the snow gets deep. It was on the ground under a log and I had not thought about that. I decided I would go out and relocate it the next chance I had. I got up this morning and it was snowing. I looked at the weather forcast and saw that we will be getting snow every day for the rest of this week and next week too.
It was snowing pretty hard and the wind was really a blowing when I left for the lake. It is only about 8 miles from here to the lake but I had to go into 4WD in a lot of places, not really for the snow but there is a lot of ice on the road.
The house here is in a low area, not swampland by a long shot as the property drops about 80 ft at the back but it is in river valley. The weather is much different here from the town many times and the town is only 3.5 miles away.
I pulled out onto the highway and that wind was sure a blowing, I went into town and took care of a little business and headed for the lake, wondering if it was a good day for it.
I drove to the lake and parked. I could hardly see across the dang lake, the wind was blowing the snow so hard. I looked out on the lake and there were huge gusts of snow bluring the far shore.
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[attachment 74179 IMG_4120.jpg]
The trail runs along the right hand shore and and I turned on the GPS and with camera in hand headed out. It was a nice walk. The wind was just a howling but the trail is protected from the worse of it.
I only saw this little guy on the hike. He was huddled up on the branch and fluffed up to ward off the cold air. I saw him when I was headed to the cashe but as soon as I got the camera out he took off. I had a peanut in my pocket and just tossed it over toward the tree and set off again.
I finally found the cashe and it was getting covered with snow. It is a good thing I went out today. I pulled it out and started looking for another hide. I wanted somewhere up off the ground but not some real simple hide. It is very rough walking back in the wood s in that area, not because of the rough ground but because of all the dead branches that constantly slap you in the face. I had to break them off to make any headway. I had forgotten to bring gloves, like the dummy I am.
Like I said, that wind was really a blowing. There are a lot of dead trees in that area and suddenly I heard a loud crack and the sound of a big tree coming down. It was close enough that I froze and tried to see if something was headed my way but it was off a bit. Then another one came down and I decided it was time to get this thing hid and get out of the woods.
I finally found a place to hide the cashe in the crotch of a tree. It was where several limbs come out and since I had the cashe camofaged it was almost invisible. I then stumbled around and found a limb that I could prop up in a natural way and hide it better. It looked good. I checked the GPS and let it average and caught the numbers. I headed back toward the truck.
As I neared the area I saw the red squirrel I got the camera out and walked slowly. There he was again, in the same place. I took a series of pictures of him as I approached wanting to make sure I got at least one picture of him. He cooperated this time. Maybe he found the peanut. He did not have it with him so he probably had not found it.
[attachment 74176 IMG_4118.jpg]
[attachment 74180 IMG_4131.jpg]
I finally got back to my truck and headed home. After I got home the snow really started coming down and it is still snowing out there. Winter seems to be here for sure
It is a good hike if you do all the cashes. From the parking lot to the farthest one is a 4.8 mile round trip and it is a fun hike.
A lady went out to find my cashes a few days ago and she found them but she commented that Royal#6 wa probably going to be hard to find when the snow gets deep. It was on the ground under a log and I had not thought about that. I decided I would go out and relocate it the next chance I had. I got up this morning and it was snowing. I looked at the weather forcast and saw that we will be getting snow every day for the rest of this week and next week too.
It was snowing pretty hard and the wind was really a blowing when I left for the lake. It is only about 8 miles from here to the lake but I had to go into 4WD in a lot of places, not really for the snow but there is a lot of ice on the road.
The house here is in a low area, not swampland by a long shot as the property drops about 80 ft at the back but it is in river valley. The weather is much different here from the town many times and the town is only 3.5 miles away.
I pulled out onto the highway and that wind was sure a blowing, I went into town and took care of a little business and headed for the lake, wondering if it was a good day for it.
I drove to the lake and parked. I could hardly see across the dang lake, the wind was blowing the snow so hard. I looked out on the lake and there were huge gusts of snow bluring the far shore.
[attachment 74177 IMG_4119.jpg]
[attachment 74179 IMG_4120.jpg]
The trail runs along the right hand shore and and I turned on the GPS and with camera in hand headed out. It was a nice walk. The wind was just a howling but the trail is protected from the worse of it.
I only saw this little guy on the hike. He was huddled up on the branch and fluffed up to ward off the cold air. I saw him when I was headed to the cashe but as soon as I got the camera out he took off. I had a peanut in my pocket and just tossed it over toward the tree and set off again.
I finally found the cashe and it was getting covered with snow. It is a good thing I went out today. I pulled it out and started looking for another hide. I wanted somewhere up off the ground but not some real simple hide. It is very rough walking back in the wood s in that area, not because of the rough ground but because of all the dead branches that constantly slap you in the face. I had to break them off to make any headway. I had forgotten to bring gloves, like the dummy I am.
Like I said, that wind was really a blowing. There are a lot of dead trees in that area and suddenly I heard a loud crack and the sound of a big tree coming down. It was close enough that I froze and tried to see if something was headed my way but it was off a bit. Then another one came down and I decided it was time to get this thing hid and get out of the woods.
I finally found a place to hide the cashe in the crotch of a tree. It was where several limbs come out and since I had the cashe camofaged it was almost invisible. I then stumbled around and found a limb that I could prop up in a natural way and hide it better. It looked good. I checked the GPS and let it average and caught the numbers. I headed back toward the truck.
As I neared the area I saw the red squirrel I got the camera out and walked slowly. There he was again, in the same place. I took a series of pictures of him as I approached wanting to make sure I got at least one picture of him. He cooperated this time. Maybe he found the peanut. He did not have it with him so he probably had not found it.
[attachment 74176 IMG_4118.jpg]
[attachment 74180 IMG_4131.jpg]
I finally got back to my truck and headed home. After I got home the snow really started coming down and it is still snowing out there. Winter seems to be here for sure
We are getting one of our occassional snowfalls now. 6 inches yesterday and maybe 8 more today/tonight. You can have that stuff, i got real tired of it 20 years back 