Jim Vokes NY
New member
The first time I went Geocaching...
My Son in law Dan, and I decided to try Geocaching with my GPS so we went to the web site and picked out a cache site near us. It was located in a large wooded area.
We arrived at the area in our pickup using the cache GPS coordinates as a goal. We parked along the road and decided on the direction to head out the mile into the woods to find our first cache. We were really excited.
It was a warm fall day and the New York Trees were in their full autumn colors! It was a beautiful day for a hike in the woods. I know that you folks know exactly what I mean.
Well, first we started down into a valley where the going got a little rough as we neared a creek with lots of underbrush and brambles to push though. But we were having fun, RIGHT?
Soon we were heading up the long steep incline to the ridge. There were no trails, even deer trails, requiring quite a bit of effort.
Well, when we topped the ridge, we soon realized that we had to descend into another valley and then climb up another ridge to find the cache that had looked so close on our map.
While Dan is young, I am not getting any younger. I knew if I walked much more, encountering terrain similar to what we just went through, I would never be able to hike out for sure.
After relaxing and debating this for awhile, sadly we decided to call it a day and made the seeming long return trip to the truck.
Disappointed, we drove on down the road when suddenly we came to an old dirt road to the right. It dawned on us that the old road seemed to be going in the direction closer to our GPS target cache. This old road didn't even show on our map. Gee, I wonder???
After winding around through the woods, we realized as we road deeper into the woods that we continued getting nearer our cache site.
Much to our surprise, we eventually came to within a 100 feet of our cache deep in the woods. Could it be?
Well, we parked the pickup and entered the woods. Within a few feet, we could see the beautiful, active beaver pond mentioned in the original description.
As we approached the pond with the colorful autumn leaves reflecting off the calm surface, we were startled by the telltale "slap" of a beaver announcing our arrival.
Thirty minutes or so were needed to discover the hidden cache, record our presence, pick out and leave a trade item common to this hobby.
Also we learned an important lesson.. never leave your camera at home!
Then Dan and I sat for a time on a log in the spiritual like silence. entertained by the squirrels at play and the songs of the birds singing while they flitted in the brush.
It was a time of peace and tranquility that only a place of secluded splendor can bring. Our excited anticipation of seeing a beaver or a deer cavorting about never happened. In the beauty of the moment, it didn't seem to really matter.
When living experiences like this, it is pretty hard not to believe in a higher power watching over us, blessing us and showing the way!
Peace, Good Health and God Bless my friends..
My Son in law Dan, and I decided to try Geocaching with my GPS so we went to the web site and picked out a cache site near us. It was located in a large wooded area.
We arrived at the area in our pickup using the cache GPS coordinates as a goal. We parked along the road and decided on the direction to head out the mile into the woods to find our first cache. We were really excited.
It was a warm fall day and the New York Trees were in their full autumn colors! It was a beautiful day for a hike in the woods. I know that you folks know exactly what I mean.
Well, first we started down into a valley where the going got a little rough as we neared a creek with lots of underbrush and brambles to push though. But we were having fun, RIGHT?
Soon we were heading up the long steep incline to the ridge. There were no trails, even deer trails, requiring quite a bit of effort.
Well, when we topped the ridge, we soon realized that we had to descend into another valley and then climb up another ridge to find the cache that had looked so close on our map.
While Dan is young, I am not getting any younger. I knew if I walked much more, encountering terrain similar to what we just went through, I would never be able to hike out for sure.
After relaxing and debating this for awhile, sadly we decided to call it a day and made the seeming long return trip to the truck.
Disappointed, we drove on down the road when suddenly we came to an old dirt road to the right. It dawned on us that the old road seemed to be going in the direction closer to our GPS target cache. This old road didn't even show on our map. Gee, I wonder???
After winding around through the woods, we realized as we road deeper into the woods that we continued getting nearer our cache site.
Much to our surprise, we eventually came to within a 100 feet of our cache deep in the woods. Could it be?
Well, we parked the pickup and entered the woods. Within a few feet, we could see the beautiful, active beaver pond mentioned in the original description.
As we approached the pond with the colorful autumn leaves reflecting off the calm surface, we were startled by the telltale "slap" of a beaver announcing our arrival.
Thirty minutes or so were needed to discover the hidden cache, record our presence, pick out and leave a trade item common to this hobby.
Also we learned an important lesson.. never leave your camera at home!
Then Dan and I sat for a time on a log in the spiritual like silence. entertained by the squirrels at play and the songs of the birds singing while they flitted in the brush.
It was a time of peace and tranquility that only a place of secluded splendor can bring. Our excited anticipation of seeing a beaver or a deer cavorting about never happened. In the beauty of the moment, it didn't seem to really matter.
When living experiences like this, it is pretty hard not to believe in a higher power watching over us, blessing us and showing the way!
Peace, Good Health and God Bless my friends..
