+Ma & Pa Posted May 5, 2015 Posted May 5, 2015 You may have heard some say that geocaching is hiking with a purpose. This may not always be true. Here is something I wrote on that topic for our local group Our many years in a hiking club taught us that hiking usually means taking long walks on trails set aside for walking, hiking and/or backpacking. These trails can be in parks and in wilderness area but are usually groomed and maintained. Geocaching on the other hand is usually something quite different. A geocaching map may show a series of caches wandering through the wilderness and you could assume that they are on a hiking trail. Our geocaching experience has shown us that this is often not the case. A cache series in the wilderness is often an adventure bringing you to incredible places and views, but often it gets you there along logging roads, abandonned roads,and ATV trails, and may even require you to do some bushwacking through dense woods. Our geocaching trip today is maybe a good example of the difference. Our goal was 18 caches wandering through the wilderness off Dunsinane rd , north of Penobsquis. We parked where a hydro line (and the series of caches) crossed the road. We were pleased that we did not have to drive further as the road looked a lot messier just beyond. We left our car and returned 3 hours later after finding 19 geocaches and walking 10 kms (odometer on gps). I wore rubber boots because the caches are usually off the trail and could be in muddy or wet areas. Sometimes we were walking on elevated logging roads that were very dry and good walking. The views were incredible and we really knew we were in wildernes as we saw no signs of roads or habitation in all directions. Then the trail would start to drop and we would be on a muddy track in the lower terrain. We crossed small streams on fragile wooden bridges with missing planks. We were soon on muddy narrow ATV trails with deep watery grooves carved by the tires, and we would fight with branches and trees leaning over the trails. The series of caches then took a sharp turn on a wide logging road that was snow covered and made for treacherous walking. We eventually ended up on anothe ATV trail that dropped us even lower and got more and more muddy. Eventually we found all 18 caches and we prepared to return, but we noticed that there was another cache at Artesian Lake at the end of Dunsinane rd. The cache was over 2 kms from our position and would require a little 1.5 km detour on an ATV trail on the way back to the car. So why not go back that way. Well it turns out that the sun does not shine on most of the ATV trail detour so we found ourselves walking 1.5 kms on a snow covered trail. In some spots the snow would support us and in others the snow was weak and we sank down a foot or two, sometimes into water. In places where there was a little melting, the ground was soaked and we sank into the mud. If the trail got too messy, we sometimes had to get off the trail and wander through the thick woods watching out for roots, branches and soft ground. Our gps showed that we were approaching Dunsinane rd and the geocache, but the trail seemed to be veering in the wrong direction. On our right was a wide wet grassy area heading 350 meters down a hill to a railroad track. We figured we could then follow the track and end up at the cache. So we slowly meandered down the wet grassy hill and then crossed a deep ditch and climbed up onto the track. We walked along the track soon arrived at the spot where Dunsinane rd crossed the railroad track. We soon had the cache in our hands. Remember how we described Dunsinane rd and how glad we were that we did not have to go further down the rough muddy road. Imagine our surprise to discover homes at the lake at the end of the road. Two small yappy dogs approached us from a three story house, followed by two senior citizens dressed in their sunday best. We had a wonderful chat. They were surprised at the amount of walking we had done and that we still had nearly 2 kms to get back to our car up the road. We were surprised that they actually lived here and drove the road every day. They have lived here more than 20 years and are now thinking of selling. We explained geocaching to them and mentioned that they may see others down here looking for the cache We walked back to our car and drove home . Quote
TahoeJoe Posted May 5, 2015 Posted May 5, 2015 I look at it as hiking with a destination. I enjoy hiking, and when I can incorporate geocaching into hiking, even better. I have discovered many new places to hike thanks to geocaching. Quote
+Ma & Pa Posted May 5, 2015 Author Posted May 5, 2015 Here is a geocaching map of the area I described https://www.geocaching.com/map/default.aspx?lat=45.82505&lng=-65.350733#?ll=45.823495,-65.335541&z=14 . Quote
TahoeJoe Posted May 5, 2015 Posted May 5, 2015 Here is a geocaching map of the area I described https://www.geocaching.com/map/default.aspx?lat=45.82505&lng=-65.350733#?ll=45.823495,-65.335541&z=14 . Looks like they were hidden during the winter. I have a cache I hid during the winter which was pretty easy to get to. Come summer, I started reading logs that were complaing how difficult it was to get to. I never thought of the terrain which was covered with several feet of snow when I placed the cache. I changed my description to note the increase in difficulty when the snow has melted. Quote
+Harry Dolphin Posted May 5, 2015 Posted May 5, 2015 My geocaching friends call it "Hiking with a porpoise." Quote
+SageTracey Posted May 6, 2015 Posted May 6, 2015 Geocaching is another good excuse for cycling. Quote
+Ma & Pa Posted May 6, 2015 Author Posted May 6, 2015 (edited) I look at it as hiking with a destination. I enjoy hiking, and when I can incorporate geocaching into hiking, even better. I have discovered many new places to hike thanks to geocaching. Same here. Before geocaching, we would search for hiking trails or go back on trails we had done before. Geocaching has us discover new places where there is no "official trail". Before geocaching, we rarely went cycling but now we hit the bike trails to get cache series. Edited May 6, 2015 by Ma & Pa Quote
knowschad Posted May 6, 2015 Posted May 6, 2015 To some, geocaching is a chance to hop out of the car for a couple of seconds. Quote
+on4bam Posted May 6, 2015 Posted May 6, 2015 Same here, before geocaching when we went for a walk or bikeride and we usually ended up going to the same areas. Now we choose different areas and end up discovering new areas. We even discovered little hidden gems in cities we thought we knew inside out. On holiday we've taken side roads and found unique spots no tourist goes just because there was a cache that had an interesting listing or name. Quote
TahoeJoe Posted May 6, 2015 Posted May 6, 2015 Same here, before geocaching when we went for a walk or bikeride and we usually ended up going to the same areas. Now we choose different areas and end up discovering new areas. We even discovered little hidden gems in cities we thought we knew inside out. On holiday we've taken side roads and found unique spots no tourist goes just because there was a cache that had an interesting listing or name. My favorites are the ones off the trails in a interesting remote spot that I would never had thought to visit. Quote
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