Geocaching Saskatchewan style - wait there is a quilt at the end of this blog!!!!!!

I introduced my parents to geocaching a couple of years ago and they have become fanatics. Too bad that in Saskatchewan, the caches are few and far between - well fewer than in other places!  And for some reason we did not geocache in BC - hmmmm - we had lots of time. And only got one in Alberta. Well that was THEN - this is NOW!!!!

On day 1 - Caroline and I decided to try our luck with a long hike on an island between the Battlefords. No problem - WRONG. We ran into a bit of mud, but no disasters - then a major DISASTER - mosquitoes. I am not kidding - STUPID me was out in shorts with NO BUG SPRAY, although I had a long sleeve sweater on despite the heat. Lots of long grass - let's just say we hustled - oh yeah - instead of turning back - we forged on. Then we came to a washout - literally the road (the island is a sandbar) had fallen into the river because of the high waters. We tackled rose bushes to get past the washout. Quickly found the cache which was even further into the woods (were we not isolated enough???? - the hike was almost 1 KM). When we arrived back at the truck, my mom asks me "what was in the cache???". Hey - I didn't take time to check - just signed the book and  left in a BIG hurry. My legs were COVERED in mosquito welts. I thought I was in for a bad day.

We attempted several others that day - some successful and some not. Oh yes - we found one that we thought would be very close to the road - it was a perfect spot - a nice view point of the river. BUT no - we had to traipse through another field and found a box of books. After exchanging two books, we hiked back to the car. No mosquitos - well fewer this time!!!!

After the girls left to come back home - we could get down to some serious caching. I mean we were out for at least 12 hours and only had to come back home because the sun went down!!!!!

Besides the mosquitos - it was an interesting experience.

Let's just say that caching in rural Saskatchewan brings its own challenges. Something else to remember - there had been a LOT of rain.

What does that mean???   Well things grow fast and thick and high with lots of rain.

Side of the road where a cache is hidden on the other side of this clover

Clover almost as high as me in places. It was thick like walking through dense underbrush. The ditches were steep at this part, but thankfully dry

See how steep the silly ditch was and you can see my previous path through the clover

That's the stone marker (no not for the cache) and my dad in the background

Stone marker for an old school built over 100 years ago. School is long gone. Geocaching in a learning experience here. So many small towns, communities and all of them gone and markers like this are all that remain. 

Close up of plaque on the stone marker for Lynne School.

Where the cache was hidden - yes MORE deep grass. 

We were not in the municipality where I grew up and this next bit was new to me.

A summer road??????

Hmmmm - obviously not well used!!!!

See what I mean!!!!!   We did not have to drive on this one, and the ones we did drive on - were in better shape than this one!

We also passed many sloughs on the side of the road. In some cases, the road was literally a ribbon through the slough. Yikes - let's hope my Dad is a good driver!!!!!

We encountered MANY ditches that were full of water. 

So full that the cache was FLOODED out. We must have hit three or four that we could NOT access because of high water. Here you can see I need to go 6 M west right into a bug infested slough. I THINK NOT!!!!!!

What other hazards did we encount

Another summer road. No problem? Well look again 

Oh yes - this was completely submerged - I don't think this is passable even with the four wheel drive. It was frustrating because when we hit a road like this - we had to detour and sometimes couldn't get at it from the other side or would find the cache submerged in water!!!!!!

BIG holes in the road and sometimes even closed roads - I forgot to take a picture!!!!!   And yes - there was another cache at that rock on the right!!!!   My Dad and I made a good team - what I couldn't find - he found. Actually I think he had a better count than I did. 

Down trees. This was on a good enough road - we could go around the tree, but on other roads - well we had to hike in. 

Bridges - ah bridges. Well we clambered under, over and onto MANY bridges including this one in the distance. And once we read the clues and actually found the cache - there was NO NEED to do what we did!!!   Ah - all the fun of geocaching.  

Yes - I got smart and put pants on. Here is a sampling of the mosquitos!  This was the front part of my legs which are NOT the yummy parts

We also had our run in with burrs

And more burrs!!!!!!

And mud - let's not forget the mud!!!!!   (These are my cycling shoes by the way!!!)

Oh yes - my cycling shoes took a beating - not on the trip, but while geocaching. Why you ask????   Well - let me tell you the story!

Back to the island between the Battlefords. There are four caches in total on the island - hey - it is a HUGE island. The bridge to the island is pretty much in the middle - so two caches on one side and two on the other. Last year - we managed to get a cache on either side - the two closest ones. Caroline and I managed to get one of the farther ones on the more densely vegetated side. I knew the path on the other side was easier to access and to make short work of it all - I would ride my bike!!!!   Now there are trails all over the place and in keeping with some STUPID philosophy and because it is hard to watch the GPS while riding - I also took the fork to the right!!!   WRONG!!!!!   Next thing I know - I am riding in 6 inches of WATER!!!!  (Hey - it was hidden by the grass)  I almost make it through and just couldn't get the last couple of feet - so yes - I had to put my feet down - no I did NOT fall). Needless to say - my shoes took a beating. They were instantly soaked. After looking at the GPS - crap - this was NOT the right way. So back through the water and then on the other trail. Then took a right turn again - this time through MUD. After checking the GPS - no the right fork was NOT the right one AGAIN. CRAP. Then up and down through some gullies - roots, tree branches - crap - I need a MOUNTAIN BIKE not a touring bike. However I persevered and made it to the cache. Yeah!!!!!   Let's just say that the trip back to the truck was quite quick and very uneventful.

On my way back - I stopped at the other cache because I knew it had travel bugs in it. Only to find the caches, the bag protecting the cache and EVERYTHING in the cache FULL OF WATER. CRAP - it was a mess. Then I grabbed the bugs and went back.

Later in the day I decided to check this cache out on line and saw that there was ONE MORE BUG in the cache. CRAP - I wanted to rescue it because of the water damage so back to the island - back on the bike (no mishaps this time) and SAVED the bug!!!!!


It was a good day and we found some CLEVERLY disguised caches......

Eagle eyed Dad found this one (there was a jar inside the tin) amongst all the other dead trees!!!!!   I'd still be looking for that one!!!!

How about this for clever!!!!!   It was upside down in a garden!!!!   Hey - I found this one. I guess I am better in an urban environment!!!

And yes - some were ordinary finds!!!!!

Found this magnet in one of the caches. I thought it was appropriate for our days work. And while we hated to give up - we did have to give up on a few - the ones with the water and others that we just could NOT find. All in all - I think we found over 50 of them in 2 1/2 days!!!!!

To add a quilty flavour to this post - I think I will have to make a geocaching quilt. Here are some ideas I found on the internet.

geocaching quilt

And here is another - MY FAVOURITE!!!!!

Geocaching quilt

Here is the link to JOE TULIPS blog (the lady who geocaches and made this quilt!!!)

Joe Tulips blog


The other thing I forgot to mention - on day 2 of our geocaching experience I decided to download the geocaching app for the iPad. OMG - this is the most amazing app EVER. We found lots of caches in the area using the iPad. I was tentative at first wondering how much data I was downloading and wondering how much it was going to cost me. I found out it doesn't use much so we used it a lot. It is so much fun and EASY - well easy to get the information - doesn't make it any easier to spot them!!!!!!

After coming back from vacation I really really want to make quilts for my family and friends. I see all kinds of things that would be fun for them. And like I need more quilts!!!!!   OK - got to schedule some time in for that as well. 

On that note - I had better get out of here!!!!!

Ciao!!!!!!