Cachly Tip: Favorite Puzzles

Team Gates has created a new "How To" puzzle solving "Chapter" series, and they have been great fun. Not only an excellent tutorial for new cachers but a fun refresher for the rest. TaGeez and I have been the lucky FTF'ers on a few. 

Chapter 1: https://coord.info/GC8T035

We enjoy working puzzles together, and, as we solve them, we add them to a bookmark list. Next time we're in the area, we will make the grab. Unfortunately, as you add more puzzles to the list, you lose track of which puzzles were more enjoyable than others. So...

When we save our solves and add them to our offline list in Cachly, we use the highlight feature to mark ones deserving Fave points. So simple but effective!

Memory Lane?

More like "totally forgot about it!"

I was answering a message from the official geocaching.com app when I saw something *NEW* on the landing page. Clicked to find our little 15-cache puzzle run Sunday put us over the top for this cache challenge! Sweet! Five more souvenirs! 

https://www.geocaching.com/blog/2020/05/take-a-trip-down-memory-lane/

Michigan's Kirkland Warbler GeoTrail

“The sun does not shine for a few trees and flowers, but for the wide world’s joy.”

HENRY WARD BEECHER

And, so, that is how we felt Saturday as ShelleyJean, TaGeez and I headed up to Roscommon for the Kirtland Warbler's geotrail. With Governor Whitmer loosening the restrictions for COVID-19 travel, we were free to roam (with proper precautions - Have I mentioned that SJ bought a personal porta-potty? Brilliant!).

The brainchild of Mike Petrucha, the Kirtland Warbler geotrail was supposed to run in conjunction with the annual (cancelled this year) Kirtland Warbler Festival.

Welcome to the Kirtland's Warbler GeoTrail (KWGT) Launch. This trail will take you in a loop in central Northern Michigan through the Jack Pine ecosystem, breeding home of the Kirtland's Warbler. This tour takes you to a total of 25 caches with an amazing trackable geocoin as a reward (100 available)

Big kudos to Mike, who moved the launch event to a large parking lot for social distancing and even supplied homemade masks for those in need. No surprise that almost 100 geocachers attended - our first opportunity to get out and enjoy the sunshine in months due to lock down.

Ran into friends at the I-75 rest stop

ShelleyJean, TaGeez and Scrapcat - playing it safe

And away we go! It's estimated it's a 128 mile drive from cache to cache between Roscommon and Mio. It made for a very nice loop, and we ran into other cachers at most every stop. Part of the trip was on rural highways but a good portion were on these tiny Michigan logging roads!

Mural at one of our stops

World's Large Kirtland Warbler - Mio

Mike did things a little differently than most geotrails. As we found each cache, inside the container was a question to be answered from the geocache page. Great way to ensure we read them and learned more about the Kirtland Warbler and the Jack Pine ecosystem.

Kirtland Warblers nest at the base of the Jack Pine

It took us exactly 5 hours to complete the 128-mile trip, collecting smilies on 24 of the 25 caches (traffic jam on a narrow logging road so we skipped 1 outlier). We ended our geotrail in the Gahagan Nature Preserve where Mike awarded each of us a lovely geocoin. By day's end, he was down to 4 out of a hundred.

We had intended to walk and do a picnic lunch at the preserve so we detoured to a nearby park for cold fried chicken, green grapes, and Pringles. SJ brought her peach bread, which we enjoyed sitting under a tree near the baseball field. Absolutely lovely. 

With time to spare we drove up to Hartwick Pines State Park (Michigan's largest old-growth forest), where Shelley & I walked the trails while TaGeez napped in the car. Here we heard many birds, including, we think, the Kirtland Warbler, but we didn't see any. Nor did we see people - the trials were cool and peaceful under that lush canopy of trees.

For old time's sake - they got a new sign!

Tree Worshipper
Scrapcat visiting The Monarch

ShelleyJean, Bird Watcher

Chapel in the Woods

94 days in lock down due to COVID-19. We tried to keep our spirits up, but nothing could've been more restorative than out with friends, in beautiful Michigan, on a new geotrail. PRICELESS.

Memorial Day Moments During a Pandemic

Memorial Day is normally the kickoff for summer vacations, but, for TaGeez and I (and ShelleyJean), it's normally the start of the Summer Geo-Road trips. Not this year.

With Michigan's COVID-19 stay-at-home order, there was no spur of the moment trips to the Thumb or hunting a geotrail in an Ohio county. So, we decided to keep our adventures closer to home.

First stop, Belle Isle for Commander Overlord's new Adventure Lab. Sometimes I skim through these write-ups, but the CO included just enough history to keep me focused. Unfortunately, we had to stop at 3 sites as the roads for the Eastern half of the aisle were closed due to water over the roads.

Next stops were garden centers North of Shelby Township. That area is filled with historic roadside cemeteries and delightful puzzles by our Geo-buddies. It was a great way to get out in 89° sunny weather, hopping from puzzle final to puzzle final, while sipping cold drinks in the cooled car.

It may not sound like much, but, after 2 months of confinement, you learn to appreciate the little things.

Happy caching & keep safe!

Glorious Day Not to Maintain Caches

Beautiful day to get out and get some much needed Vitamin D.

I had several caches on the far west side of town with previous searchers crying DNF! Two, in particular, had people messaging me that, "Oh, it is definitely not there!"

With the stay-at-home order loosening, TaGeez and I decided to take a drive on that side of town, and, alas! The caches were right where we left them! Same places almost 200 other cachers had found them!

C'mon out! They are waiting for you!

3,000 Days of Caching Joy

So, what have you done over the last 3,000 days? I went in search of plastic containers! EVERY DAY!

From the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River - Michigan to Georgia. Plus a few choice morsels in California, too. From -26° F to a heat factor of 110°+. Blizzards, business trips, holidays and pandemics. Let's not forget the times TaGeez and I were car-less. Such an challenging adventure!

But all good things come to an end, my friends. I said when it stops being fun, I would end it. And, heading into the new year, it's felt like such a chore. We've cleaned out our area, for months grabbing lamp skirts & street signs. I think the last 50 days were the greatest challenge with Michigan's Stay-at-Home order and the global pandemic.

But as I sit here, I'm resisting the urge to slip on my Wellies and go grab a P&G. How do people do this? You just go home after work?!? TaGeez is willing to continue this madness with me, but it's time. We are turning our focus to more hiding, walking geotrails, and planning more adventures. I can't wait to see where this takes us!

As of today, I have the sixth all-time longest streak in Michigan and the third longest active streak in Michigan. I will enjoy it for the next seven days when Team Hugs surpasses me in both.

Thank you, my Sweet TaGeez, for your willingness to share this insane journey ❤️ And Thank you for all the hiders that made this possible!

These Are an Interesting Times - Run for the Trees

The blog has been quiet lately. With COVID-19 and the Michigan Stay-At-Home order, admitting that you geocache has created a hostile environment over the last 7 weeks. The Governor of Michigan allows "social distancing exercise", but there are many vocal opponents in our local community.  Their point is (and I fully understand both sides), if you go out to find a box in the woods, you are endangering the weak and the compromised.

We've been living with a good and bad angel sitting on each shoulder, having an argument.

But we're wearing gloves. Those should be reserved for essential workers

And we made masks. Healthcare workers are in need of those

We carry sanitizer and wipes. There are elderly who can't find them

We've targeted lonely caches/ Yes, but who else is out there?

But we're walking in nearby parks. But the Governor said essential travel only.

Is Geocaching essential?  

We''ve been called selfish carrying on with our cache-a-day streaks. But, when everything else has been taken away, two people spending 24 hours a day in a 700-square foot house, and all your trips have been canceled, making that 700 feet trek from a parking spot to a cache location can be heavenly. Normalcy in a maelstrom of anxiety and turmoil - something one can control and enjoy.

Just lately as people are clamoring to return to normal and the COVID-19 curve is flattening in Michigan, some of the hostility has died down. Still restricting ourselves to just a cache a day (and taking ALL precautions at 6 AM!), we made our first "public venture" this past weekend.

Saturday, when all events around Michigan cancelled, TaGeez and I moseyed down to Belle Isle shortly after sunset to complete the Michigan State Parks "Run for the Trees" 5K fun walk on our own.

#RunForTheTrees #BobRoss #HappyLittle5K #MiStateParks

Sunset Point was peaceful and cold - the only other movement were the passing freighters.

Funny thing is... as we pulled in to park, we spied something along the waterline. A cache! 

Not only that.. it was a cache with a blank log - an FTF! And that is gold this month as Michigan Reviewers have placed a moratorium on cache publishing starting on April Fool's Day. Unfortunately, even though we had this in hand and signed the new log, we can't claim it. Rattrak confirmed later this was a new cache for the recently-cancelled Belle Isle event, and he's pulling it for republishing next year.

(SIGH) Hopefully this will not be the "new norm".

Stay Safe - Wash Your Hands - Happy Caching!