More geocaching

Today we looked for two geocaches, one at each end of the Pine-Strawberry trail. We actually looked for the first one up the road from where we would end on FR 428 because we left a vehicle at that end. This geocache was called "Whine" and it was new. We were the second to find the cache, so no glory. The first to find a cache (yesterday) gets to put "FTF" by his/her entry. Darn! It wasn't too far off the road but a bit of a climb. It did take us probably 5 minutes to find it once we got close. George's Garmin Colorado 400T is much more sophisticated and now, with a software update, even told him he'd arrived! The coordinates in my older Magellan 315 must have been entered incorrectly. It said I was still .99 miles away from the location. Still, with expert sleuthing and the process of elimination, we  managed to find it. It's like searching for Easter eggs!

It's always fun to look inside the container and see what all is there. A journal where you can record the date is standard. This cache had a cute finger puppet. (see photo) We took nothing, left nothing. (TN/LN)

The second geocache would be a good one for kids to find. It was less than a quarter of a mile from the trailhead and easily found. Plus it contained several toys. (Remember take nothing unless you leave something in its place.)

According to the sign at the trailhead, it is 2.5 miles to FR 428. I'm pretty sure it is longer than that and we took a bit of a shortcut. The trail follows the ups and downs of the mountainside above Pine. The Forest Service has been busy. With grant money and donations from local residents, crews have thinned the forest. However now there are huge slash piles. To me, if these caught fire, it would make things even  worse. It seems to take them until the following season before they burn them. There were some that were burned- this was a good winter to do so. Guess they can only do so much with the time and funds they have.

The idea is to have a fire break around both Strawberry and Pine in the event of a nearby forest fire. Though the burns and slash piles aren't pretty, the fire break does give comfort. Plus we saw 5 deer, which we might not have seen had the forest not been cleared. 

Some of the manzanita was still blooming plus a cluster of Oregon grape. We were buzzed by a hummingbird in an area thick with gnats. Bugs are actually hummingbirds' main food, especially when they have babies. We saw and heard jays and flickers and smelled a skunk. Fortunately we didn't see him!

There are 60 geocaches hidden within 5 miles of Pine alone. Wherever you travel you can probably find several to hunt for. Today we had a gorgeous day for hiking. We got our exercise and enjoyed the outdoors. Successfully finding treasure was the icing on the cake!  Jaimie

Comments

[Ed Greenberg]

Nice picture of you in this post.

[Jaime Hall-Bruzenak]

Thanks! Just give me a finger puppet.....!