End to Another Geocaching Adventure 2015

Here's to another fabulous year of geocaching in the Huron Metroparks!

But as rewarding as this little path tag is... it's nothing compared to the memories of having fun with members of Team Free Range Lobsters: scrapcat, TaGeez, WikidKriket, SnakeyLicks and Fiona-the-wonder-geo-puppy.

After visiting 13 Huron Metroparks, grabbing codes and logging smileys, season 2015 is in the bag! Time for a victory ice cream!

Victory Ice Cream!

Metroparking on Memorial Day

We've had a bit of a family crisis to deal with.... all is well in the end.  But as a result, I never posted my pictures from our recent MGA 2014 adventure.  Members of Team Free Range Lobsters (Myself, SnakeyLicks, WikidKriket, Fiona-the-wonder-geo-pup and 3inaTree) explored Lower Huron, Willow and Oakwood Metroparks.

First stop: Lower Huron Metropark

Unsuspecting fools.... 

... because the skeeters were waiting!  Rained for several days
before and the cache was in a natural marshland. Ugh.

Willow Metropark:

Fiona for the find!
Actually, Jeremy was signing as she was looking.

A lot less marshland = happier cachers!

In the middle of Willow Metropark is
Huron Township Cemetery.
Fitting to visit on Memorial Day

Lovely old cemetery - stones dating back to the Civil War

Oakwoods Metropark:

Time for our hot dog lunch!
Fiona is rewarded for being a good pup-pup

Visiting Hawkeye at the Nature Center

Pilgrimage to Squirrel Nutkins GC363
Michigan's 6th oldest active cache

Cemetery Hopping.

That area of Southeastern Michigan is brimming with historic, well-maintained cemeteries.  So, on the way down and back, I stopped off at a few.

SQ - Happy Hunting Grounds GCRFTC

Near SQ-Mother's Day Cache GC2VQR1

Circa 1810 GC1PH79

This last stop was quite fascinating.  It was my last stop of the day.  It's a cemetery (established 1842) that currently resides in the middle of several fenced in parking lots/storage yards and bordered by the highway.  The only way to it is to lightly-trespass by parking in a junk lot full of abandoned cars and walk down this blocked off paved road to the cemetery on the hill.  Weird!  Cool!

Down the Lane #21 - Clark Cemetery GC2RWY2

Blue check is the parking

Although I missed my partner-in-cache (TaGeez was home sick), it was a beautiful (if stifling hot) day.  Totals for the day included:

• 3 MGA14 caches
• 7 cemetery caches
• 1 historic cache with a deceased raccoon hanging nearby

Looking forward to our next excursion!

MGA14 - Hudson Mills and Dehli

Members of Team Free Range Lobsters were on the road again this weekend!  This was our inaugural adventure and picnic for the 2014 Huron Clinton Metroparks Geocaching Adventure (MGA14)!  

Hudson Mills Metropark

Present were myself, TaGeez, WikidKriket, SnakeyLicks and Fiona-the-wonder-geo-pup.

Ready for an adventure!

As Hudson Mills is Kriket’s least favorite park (although beautiful, it can be such a LONG walk), we decided to knock it off on this first trip MGA14-Hudson Mills GC52P76.  Paired with the longest walk, we also hit the shortest walk (which just happens to be down the road), MGA4-Dehli GC52QFW.

TaGeez, Kriket, Licks and Fiona at Dehli

The weather was beautiful – they had been predicting rain for the entire day, but, by the time we made it to the parks, all was sunny if a little breezy. 

Kriket and scrapcat at Hudson Mills

In addition to the MGA14 caches, we were pleasantly surprised that the MGA13-Series Bonus Cache GC49C7Q (located in Hudson Mills) was still active!  Although Kriket solved the puzzle last year, we never made it back this way to make the grab.  We were the first cachers in almost 6 months to lay hands on it. Beautiful walk!

As we began work on the Multi, we realized that the long one-way walk was unnecessary. The final was nearby. 

We found a nice secluded picnic area to setup our grill and enjoy a little Michigan fare: sausage dogs, Pringles, Faygo, grapes, and strawberries. I was food-prep and TaGeez was grillmaster today.

After our picnic, we decided to tackle the 4-mile roundtrip walk anyway, picking up 5 HM-Purr Fect Trail caches released the prior year.  I must admit we were hobbling at the end, and it was a really tough getting out of bed Sunday morning! 

 

We're not sure what they're doing....

In reflection, you could tell it had been a harsh winter – trees were down and the remaining ones were just now budding.  Not too many animal interactions today – we spotted Robins, Redwing blackbirds, turkey vultures, a rabbit and deer.  We returned back to the car just as the sun was setting.

2 down – 11 to go!

MGA14 - One Day and Counting!

I’m so very geeked!  The Michigan Geocaching Adventure (MGA) brochure for 2014 was released last night!

Between May 1^st and November 30^th, visit 13 Huron Metroparks to find a special cache in each location.  Not only do you get a smiley, but you get a special code and a clue to a bonus cache.  In year’s past, if you completed the series you received a special path tag for that year.  Last year, my sister (WikidKriket) and I each won a Huron Metropark annual pass for this year!

It’s great fun! The caches are all in good-sized lock-and-locks, and they are located along family-friendly trails.  Each year the caches are located in different areas of the parks so you can explore them to the fullest.  

Then, after grabbing your cache (or caches – each park has additional caches totaling about 120 of them), you can have a picnic, visit the nature centers.  One park has a tunnel under its pond.  Another has a wave pool.  Another has a water park.  There’s an Eagle’s nest, a hawk enclosure.  We’ve tripped across a lot of wildlife on our explorations. Each park has its own personality.

Visit some of my earlier blog posts to see some fabulous pictures of Team Free Range Lobster’s adventures! Here are several of my favorite MGA adventures: Huron Meadows and Hudson Mills, Lake Erie Metropark, and Indian Springs and Stony Creek.

See you on the trails!