Post date: 05-Mar-2009 23:42:12
Colin and I walked out our front door at 5:00 PM and headed through knee deep snow across the field. We approached Seven Oaks—a new development area near Rutherford.
Using Colin’s cell phone GPS (where you can only enter approximate coordinates) we looked for the pond in Seven Oaks. We compared the Google maps satellite view print out to the map of pending lots and sold lots in the area. We headed to the snow covered asphalt trail.
We trudged through the snow, dead bushes, and bare winter tress. We compared the GPS map to the actual pond. We compared curve and straight edges to the loops.
I started getting excited and said “We’re not leaving until we find it.” Even though I thought it might get dark before we found this thing. I started looking in various holes in trees thinking that that would be a cool hiding spot. Colin headed over to the group of trees with the large pine tree. We both decided this grouping made the most sense since it was closest to the frozen creek.
We searched on the side facing us, under logs, under trees, in the woodpecker holes in the trees. We concluded it must be on the side closest to the pond. Colin went around the left and I went around the right. I spotted a tree trunk with a flat resting shelf on the top. I poked my finger in the woodpecker hole for good measure. I knelt down in my snow pants and peered into the empty hole. Then I looked up to see a tiny shiny silver bullet shaped canister hanging from a rusty key chain type loop. The loop was fastened to the branch by a white plastic tie.
I starred at it shock that I had actually found a tiny unnatural object in mother nature’s landscape. I shouted “I found it.” Colin ran over and he unscrewed the tiny lid. We looked inside to see a coiled up scroll of paper. We had brought a rubber duck paper clip to possibly trade with another item in the canister. However, nothing else except perhaps an earring could fit in that canister.
We were the third group to sign the log for this geocache treasure.
Geocaching is a great workout and more fun than a scavenger hunt. It’s more like treasure hunting. We checked my watch—5:30 PM. We returned home rosy cheeked and exhilarated. Geocaching 1 complete in under an hour.