2 posts tagged “terracaching”
Well, on Saturday I couldn't resist the temptation to go out Terracaching with Jon and Garrett. We decided to go up and hit a cache called "Dude, I can see your cache from here!" which is in the lower Rattlesnake recreation area, just north of Missoula.
We expected a nice easy hike, which it was, but we also knew that there was going to be a creek crossing, and since it is mid-May, the water is pretty close to its highest stage for the years. So, needless to say this might not have been the best time to do this one, but hey, how bad could it be?
Here a video that Jon did for the trip, and will get a good idea of just how sketchy the river crossing was:
So we headed on up the actual cache location and found the cache, which was not too far up the hill (about 400 yards). Found the cache with no problems, and signed the log and took in the views for a little while, discussing what our plan of attack was for the way back down. We swung by another little viewpoint, and were tempted to go down and check out the creek there, to see if it would be an easier crossing, but decided it would be easier to deal with what we already knew.
When we got back to the crossing, we decided to take a slightly different route which was a few yards further down stream. It was in more turbulent water, but it was turbulent because there were rocks breaking up the flow, which would actually make it a little easier to get across. Anyway. . .we made it through quite a bit easier that time, partially because we knew what to expect, and partially because we took a little better line.
Anyway, it turned out to be a great trip, and once we were done with the creek crossing we were able to settle down and joke around a bit.
Saturday was supposed to be a beautiful day here, so when I woke up and the thermometer said it was 55 degrees out at 9 AM, I figured it would be a good day to go for a hike. I grabbed the phone to call Jon and see if he wanted to hit the newest terracache that had been placed; and then I realized it was 9 AM, so I decided to wait an hour.
10 AM rolls around and I drop Jon a line to see what he was up too, and I find out that it was a good thing I had held off, cause he had just woken up. Anyway, we made plans to meet up in about an hour, and Jon called a few other people to see if they wanted to hit the cache with us, but my guess it Friday night was still a little too fresh in their mind.
So we hit the trail about 11 AM, and it was MUDDY, which is pretty typical this time of year, since the ground has thawed and all the snow melted. The other factor that didn't help was the fact that this was a new trail, and had only seen a few visitors, so it was not very well packed or secured just yet.
Once we got up on top there were some nice views back into the Missoula Valley. The only purpose the cache really seemed to serve, was to introduce us to the new trail, because all of the stages of the cache were in pretty humdrum places, but that is OK, we did find out about a new trail, and it did get us off our asses on a day we would have otherwise probably sat around in our underwear and watched TV.
All in all it was a good trip, we ended up hitting another Terracache in the are that I had already been to, so I stopped about 0.2 of a mile short of the cache to avoid a steep muddy climb, and let Jon got up there and find it on his own. It was a nice view (as evidenced in the last two pictures), so I didn't mind waiting.
Anyway, it made for a good trip, and a good excuse to get out into the woods.
10 AM rolls around and I drop Jon a line to see what he was up too, and I find out that it was a good thing I had held off, cause he had just woken up. Anyway, we made plans to meet up in about an hour, and Jon called a few other people to see if they wanted to hit the cache with us, but my guess it Friday night was still a little too fresh in their mind.
So we hit the trail about 11 AM, and it was MUDDY, which is pretty typical this time of year, since the ground has thawed and all the snow melted. The other factor that didn't help was the fact that this was a new trail, and had only seen a few visitors, so it was not very well packed or secured just yet.
Once we got up on top there were some nice views back into the Missoula Valley. The only purpose the cache really seemed to serve, was to introduce us to the new trail, because all of the stages of the cache were in pretty humdrum places, but that is OK, we did find out about a new trail, and it did get us off our asses on a day we would have otherwise probably sat around in our underwear and watched TV.
All in all it was a good trip, we ended up hitting another Terracache in the are that I had already been to, so I stopped about 0.2 of a mile short of the cache to avoid a steep muddy climb, and let Jon got up there and find it on his own. It was a nice view (as evidenced in the last two pictures), so I didn't mind waiting.
Anyway, it made for a good trip, and a good excuse to get out into the woods.
