TOMTEC

Ok Olar, just for you I'll do the whole ride on my unicycle... Don't mind the wardrobe though, it keeps the cars from hitting me. Carpooling? I'm sure with a bit of thought we can create a descent route back to the car that will include a few more cache finds. If anyone is afraid of riding 20km, cycle caching may not be for you! Besides, try and fit 8 bikes on your car... I can only fit one in mine... Maybe we could take the GO train back... that would add a few caches. TOMTEC

He he, just be glad you weren't part of the organizing team... we did the whole event backwards again to remove all the stages! TOMTEC

Sounds good to me! I know there are a couple multi's by Nozzletime in Burlington along the Skyway that would be ideal to visit by bike: GCJKQN - This side of the bridge GCJKQP - That side of the bridge And another by Group_W over in Waterloo: GCNZ81 - Bike Rally Cache I'm sure we can find many others. If the destination is going to be mainly off road, we'll have to make Olar upgrade to one of these babies: So, when are we gonna have this planning pub night? TOMTEC

Why not bring Squeakieboots along? From her previous cache hiding adventures, I'm sure she would have no problem keeping up... to us... ok, keeping up to Annie! The weather does look great, so I'm actually glad we waited to do this one! TOMTEC

Alright, for all those interested in the GEST letterbox series, followed by caching around Georgetown, we're going to meet at the parking area for GEST 1 at 9am Saturday. TOMTEC

Yep, that's the one... GCR6QC - GEST 1: Who Let You Drive? it's a 4.7k loop with 6 Letterbox caches along it... That shouldn't be too much for anyone, even if it is wet! Anyone else interested? TOMTEC

Rescheduling the Hilton Falls hike is fine by me, the 15th could work... So... who still wants to go caching tomorrow? Maybe not the 25k hike, but I've got a bunch of caches in the Georgetown area calling my name... There is a nice Letterbox series that is a descent hike! TOMTEC

A Kamping Kabin? I wonder if it's anything like the Cabins at the CEC? Those were excellent! Even though I'm just down the road, I'd be up to splitting one of those for the weekend! Count me in! TOMTEC

As long as it's not raining, I'm good to go... I can deal with mud on the trail. The windchill may become a concern when the trail gets exposed, but when we're in in the forest, I don't think we'll notice it much. TOMTEC

Actually, I was going to try and order a pizza... 30 minutes or free right? The tailgate lunch idea sounds good though! TOMTEC

Sounds good to me! As long as the trails are not a complete muddy mess, anything North of freezing is good! So, Annie & Olar (and anyone else planning to leave a vehicle along the route for relief purposes) we should plan our rendezvous pickup locations for Saturday morning. Right now it looks like I'll have Coupar-Anus and Juicepig along with me in the van, so there is lots of room for you guys too! TOMTEC

I don't know of any groups that camped out for last years event. This year with the 2nd Annual COG Spring Fling happening in Scanlon Creek, the closest available campground is the Cookstown KOA. Unfortunately, Scanlon Creek no longer offers group camping on their property. If there was enough interest, I'm sure we could put together a group camp-out in time for the event. I believe May 12 is actually a free camping day for the KOA too!, So come up a day early and start caching! TOMTEC

That's a great idea... We could always load them up with extra water and a snack... save carrying everything for 25k. I'll likely be driving down with the Van, so depending on who is carpooling with me, there should be enough room for one or two more. Though if the weather is nice, I may just decide to break the bike out early this year... Hey C-A, think you can keep up with me? He he TOMTEC

No, you're not crazy... But yes, it's been archived: GCQCTZ - Kittens on the Hill- Ottawa TOMTEC

CWACN? I like it! Managed to return from Mexico without being murdered , so I'm up for a good hike! I'll stick with the day cachers for this one... hey, someone's gotta drag Annie across that bridge! Now we just wait for some good weather. What happened to that spring-like weather we had a few weeks ago? TOMTEC

Alright, I accept your challenge! Which topic would you like me to cover first? Maybe we need a poll... let the readers suggest things they would like more info on? TOMTEC

I know exactly what Olar is looking for... The K2 Traverse! I had a pair of these a few years ago for backcountry snowboarding. Unclick from snowboard binding, click into snowshoe binding. No straps or buckles.... just like a Ski binding, but faster! I never liked the fit of the old "Clicker" compatible snowboard boots though. I wonder if MSR still manufactures these? Heh, driving in snowshoes? It's hard enough while wearing ski boots! (especially while driving standard!) TOMTEC

Depending on how technical the terrain is, and the snow depth, snow shoes can still be useful on the Bruce. Though if you're climbing through Limehouse, I'd probably switch to some crampons! Most sections of the bruce are fairly well travelled in winter, so unless you go out right after a snowfall, you'll likely have a trail to follow. If you are hiking in the snowbelt areas, or along untravelled trails, snow shoes are amazing. I found that I was able to hike along at almost a normal (summer) speed not worrying about traction or where I step. When you venture into the bush to locate a cache, you tend to float on top of the snow (more of less) so no more "postholing"! Though, from what I hear... Fizbot can still make a nice posthole with snow shoes on! TOMTEC

We'll obviously we'll have to go visit GCP1F2 - Snowshoe Up and GCPD57 - Duck Chutes TOMTEC

I Haven't dined at any of these myself, but a quick search on the net finds a couple possibilities: N45 02.717 W79 19.141 (Hey, it's in the GPS, 'mus be good!) Andrea's Steak & Sea Food House Tel: 705-645-8841 264 Manitoba Street Bracebridge, ON Kelsey's Bracebridge Tel: (705) 646-8888 506 Muskoka Rd. 118 W. Bracebridge, ON The Griffin Pub Tel: (705) 646-0438 9 Chancery Lane Bracebridge, ON TOMTEC

I'm up for that... perhaps we could arrange a get-together at a local Pub in town for the evening... TOMTEC

Hey, that's pretty close to me... It also cuts right through a nice section of the Oak Ridges Moraine hiking trail! I'll hike over there tonight and grab you a couple photos! TOMTEC

Hmm, I might just be able to make it to this... Atleast for a couple hours. The weather report looks good at the moment too! I'll see if I can dig up a spare GPS to bring along for any muggles who may turn up for the day! TOMTEC

Yep, back in the day, before all those shiny Travel Bug tags were created, cachers would create "Hitchikers" with brief instructions and an eMail address on them to help track their movements. Here's a link to one of the better organized "Hitchiker" sites: The Monkey Cache You don't see many hitchikers around these days. Though I guess you could still try and use one as a poor man's travel bug... TOMTEC

Good Point, looking at the campground map on the Parks Ontario website, we should be aiming for the Babawasse Campground. As it is the closest to the CEC. (Also, I think the Jingwakoki section may be closed this time of year) After looking at the details for some of the sites, I'm thinking of either sites 3 to 7 along the river, or 15 to 20 in the middle. I guess it will depend on which ones are available... I don't think they have a group camping area, but we probably won't have that large of a group anyways! TOMTEC