Tag Archives: geocaching

Dropping a Travel Bug

As I noted in a post last year and another further back, I am a on and off geocacher. However, prior to this trip to Spain, I decided to initiate a travel bug and place it somewhere Salobreña, the town where we stay.

I named it “Fanática del fútbol” and the objective is to visit mant places and give the team names and favorite “equipos.”

Once we were here, I needed to find a cache big enough to hold it and be one that is visited regularly. I selected one and a couple of mornings ago, Sally and I went looking for it. Geocaching’s tracking system is awesome worldwide and we found it easy. I retrieved it, inserted the TB, and replaced it.

Here it is, a easy find. *Photo by Sally Cargill*

So, with its trip from Vermont, the TB has already logged 3,638 miles. Hopefully, folks will move it around Spain and Europe. I get a notice if and when it moves.

Que comiencen los juegos!

So, I just got a message “Du kommst jetzt erstmal mit uns mit… 💪🌸” which means, “You’re coming with us now” so the TB is on its way!

Geocaching Again

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I’ve been an intermittent geocacher since 2012 when, as I described here, got hooked on one of the world’s most popular outdoor activities. Since then, I have found over two hundred caches in many states and a few in Spain, usually when I am traveling on vacation. I can search for descriptions and addresses of each cache with my cell phone. There are more than three million around the world.

More recently, in addition to looking for caches, I have placed a few of my own in local forests. I placed my latest one, “Off the Beaten Path -Barely,” last month. It’s an multi-tasking trek – exercise, dog walking, bird watching, and enjoying nature as I looked for an interesting site.

Chicken of the Woods – a favorite of many.

After a mile or so of hiking on trail system, I found a place I thought would be easy and also accesible in winter. Here’s what it looked like:

So far, three groups of geocachers have found it including one person who logged it the next day as a “first to find.” This cache is near a trail that is lightly used so it will be interesting to see how many notification emails I get before spring. Why not add geocaching to your activities in the year ahead.

The Trails of Lake Fausse Pointe State Park

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We had never been to Lake Fausse Point SP but after an interesting journey getting there, Penny and I enjoyed getting out on their many trails.

Most are very bikeable if you are comfortable with roots and long rather narrow bridges over swamps. You see lots of neat things like this gnarly tree:

And this sign:

And this cottonmouth

From time to time, while I am checking something out, Penny relaxes along the trail

One outing, we came back to the interpretive center and in talking with the naturalist, I asked, “Any alligators out this time of year?” She said, “There are eight out back.” Sure enough, in the small pond behind the center, a bunch of small ‘gators were lying around, quite dormant in the cool temperatures. There are two or three in the picture below — but I would never have thought to look for them if she had not told me about them.

We endured a line of storms with a tornado watch while we were there. Most of us gathered at the conference center because of the concern of high winds but all passed without damage, aside from a deluge of rain throughout the night.

One ranger told me: “This is Cajun country and you have to want to get to this campground to do so. It’s off the beaten path. We like it that way.”

Aside from the rain and mosquitos, so did we.

Check out my birding blog at Vermont Birder

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