Geocache Vandalism

A few weeks ago I participated in a geocaching event in Maine. I chose to look for caches which were hidden around the shores of Flagstaff Lake. This meant that I could spend a day paddling the lake, going from cache site to cache site, combining two fun activities at the same time. I managed to find 9 out of the 10 geocaches I looked for, a pretty good record for me. One of the caches was a brand new one created for the event on an island in the lake. All of them were not easy to find. They were well hidden!

I recently received news that some kill-joy out there has been going around stealing caches and throwing the contents in the garbage. He manged to find and distroy the new cache and perhaps some other ones around the lake. His rationale is that he is "defending the forests" by removing what he sees as trash, littering up the landscape. He fails to mention that most of the geocaches he has removed up to this point actually were hidden in roadside guard-rails, a commonly used hiding site...

Sadly this is a case of a mis-guided person whose actions do nothing to defend the forests, but serve only to alienate him from hundreds of geocachers. In fact the motto of the geocaching world is "Cache in, trash out". Caches are not litter. They are carefully hidden, safe for animals and help promote an appreciation for the wilderness by getting people out there in the natural world. While paddling Flagstaff Lake, I brought along a trash bag to defend the forests and beaches. I collected all the trash I came across - there was a lot of it! - and was able to recycle nearly all of it when I returned home.

Eustis Geocaching Event

Geocaching has becoming a regular part of my life when I'm out paddling or hiking. I'm not much into looking for caches when driving around, but I've discovered that geocaches are often hidden in interesting and scenic areas well worth kayaking and hiking into. Flagstaff Lake in western Maine is one such area. I camped there briefly last summer, but only now have found the time to return to explore and look for caches. I found there were some serious challenges! In some cases, the fall draw-down of water has created a shoreline which is both shallow, strewn with snags, with a bottom composed of boot-sucking mud!


Once onshore, the challenge continues! I found it was seldom possible to land directly in line with the geocache's GPS coordinates, so it meant heading along the shore before entering the area of the cache. Some bays, like this one, are packed with wood debris. The gorgeous mountains in the distance, full of their fall glory made it all worthwhile, however!


On the other hand, much of the lake has shores of fine sandy beaches. Easy on the kayak's hull and it sure makes looking for a cache a whole lot easier.


The lake itself being dam controlled varies in depth over the year. Fall is the time when the water level tends to be lowest and many spots were shallow. Happily, the sandy bottom in most places means that a sudden grounding of hull or paddle isn't that damaging. The whole day varied from cloudy, then sunny and just as suddenly windy and rainy. Still, the whole lake has beautiful mountain vistas, covered at this time of the year in glorious fall colours. Highly recommended!

Geocache at Crotch Lake

Almost a year ago Mairi Watson and I left a geocache at site #42 on Crotch Lake in Ontario. It was placed in a couple of ziplock bags and hidden under the ground juniper cover. We knew it wasn't the best arrangement, but it had been a spontaneous thing so we went with what we had. In the spring of 2010, we visited the cache and finally registered it on the official Geocaching site. Within a couple of weeks it was discovered. Naturally comments began coming in about the container... Finding myself in the area once again last week, I launched early in the morning to see what I could do to put things right.


Site #42 was all in order, much as we had left it, although someone had added a green plastic chair, and some firewood, all carefully stacked. The rain and high winds of the previous weekend had required people to add a multitude of rocks to hold down their tents as well as some overhead scaffolding for tarps. I headed off to look for the geocache. I was shocked to find it lying in full view! The juniper bushes were much thinner this year than last exposing the ziplock cache for all to see. In fact, it looked more like trash than a geocache...


So here is a photo of the new container with its original 'hot' contents together with some of the additional items which discoverers have added over the summer. The new container has been covered in 'camo' duct tape and hidden in the original spot, buried in the ground cover making it less visible, less 'trashy'. Who will be the first to find it now?

I've Been Baking Kayaks!

It's been an indoor day today with snow in the air - not easy to take when it's the first full day of Spring and the temperature is well above the freezing mark! Obviously it's 'Baking Day' and what better things to cook than some kayaks. FIMO clay kayaks actually. I'm in the process of cooking up some little goodies to put in the Geocaches I find when I head out shortly on my annual trip south.

People like to leave things in these caches so that others can either collect them or pass them along to other caches. I'll be attaching tags to some of these which are registered. This will enable me to track their movement from cache to cache. They'll all be placed near water with instructions to place them in other caches near good kayaking sites. Who knows, perhaps I'll find some new places to paddle via them!

Not One Thing, It's Another...

Given the hard state of the water in local lakes, I've had to pass the torch over to the few still remaining on the water - what little there is. These ducks, mostly mallards from what I can see, are clustering close to the lake's outlet where a small patch of open water still exists.


Meanwhile a few kilometers downstream, I'm busy 'geocaching'. At this point, I'm following the river along an old rail bed that's been converted to a walking/skiing trail. A series of geocaches have been hidden along the trail every 500 meters or so. I walk along - the skiing being temporarily ruined by some rain - following my GPS from cache to cache. Six of them found today, which equals about three kilometers each way. If it's not one thing - kayaking - then it's another - geocaching!

The geocache in the photo above was hidden right at the river's edge. Perhaps I ought to look into getting a river kayak and take advantage of the running water. I have very little experience in fast water however and wonder if winter is the time to learn... Perhaps not.

GPS As A Verb

It was the dis-connect between my charts and what I could see around me while paddling on Georgian Bay a couple of years ago that finally pushed me to buy a GPS unit. A year later, I bravely headed out once again on Georgian Bay, this time from Honey Harbour. Within a half hour I was lost once again! How could this happen, especially now I was equipped with both charts AND a GPS unit?

The fact of the matter was that I wasn't using the GPS enough to really learn - and remember - how the thing worked. Once out on the water, I found myself scrambling to recall which button did what and how to apply it to my situation. I realised that I needed to find an interesting way to practice using the device so that these situations didn't recur, but what?

Accidentally discovering a 'geocache' this past summer in Newfoundland has proven to be my key. Eager to learn more about what I had found, I joined the geocache internet site and, as I've reported on other posts, am now a geocache addict. In the process, most of the mysteries of using a GPS device have now disappeared. I feel much more comfortable and confident using it while paddling. In fact, I can't wait to head somewhere warm this winter to begin geocaching and exploring while kayaking in ernest.

Look What I Missed!

It's no secret that I've become a geocaching fanatic recently. I've discovered it's a fun way to motivate myself to get out, to hike and see places in my neighbourhood which I've passed by, thinking there was little to interest me. How wrong I was! With one kayaking/geocaching adventure weekend now completed, I'm eager to do more.

I began wondering what I missed in the way of caches during my summer's travels. The map above gives you some idea. I either paddled or hiked past hundreds of caches! They are hidden almost everywhere. Had I been more aware of this activity, I could have added a whole new layer to my travels making them even more interesting.

Most of the caches are on land, but some are within reach of a paddler. The fact that those water-side locations are few in number has only increased my eagerness to begin placing some caches some of which would only be available to those paddling. I have a few places already chosen and I'm sure there will be more to come...

Train Wreck Paddle

When I was in my teens, my brother and I took up scuba diving. It wasn't long before we'd explored our local lake and began looking for other lakes to explore. One place we never managed to get to was a small lake where it was rumored a train had been wrecked and fallen into the water. It would have been a perfect dive site, but the chance to visit never arose and soon life took over. Until this morning...

I was looking for some new geocache sites to visit when one appeared on the screen, called 'Train Wreck'. I checked the Google map. It was THE wreck from my youth! Here's the cache description:

"This cache is located near a very active train line. Do not use the train track to get to the cache. This cache is meant to be found by boat.
"This is a traditional cache, which is located underwater next to an old box car in Orford lake. The depth of the cache is less then 3m. You will need a dive mask once you get to the site. The cache is a Nalgene water bottle.
"It is recommended that you use a canoe or kayak. There are two place to put into the water.
"The government picnic area located at 
N 45º17.419’ W 72º16.136’
 or
 fire truck water intake location at 
N 45º17.605’ W 72º15.653’ parking is available across the street.
The lake offers a nice afternoon for kayaking. A good secluded place for lunch is at 
N 45º17.765’ W 72º15.767’"

Well, well, just what I like. Two of my interests coming together to complete something left undone from the past. I'll be checking this geocache out next summer. I'll have to free dive as I no longer have scuba gear, but I'll definitely be paddling my kayak to the site.

The photo? Not a train wreck, I know, but a few more million years and this lovely scene will be a sandy beach. Those waves are slowly wrecking that huge rock...

Geocache Kayaking

A few weeks ago I read a trip report by a canoe paddler about his trip to Crotch Lake, Ontario. He mentioned there were 'geocaches' on the lake. This perked my interest and last weekend a group of us went kayak-camping on the lake to see if we could locate the caches. Here is a photo essay of our adventure.

First we did some team bonding to prepare ourselves for the grueling tasks ahead. Notice the clever way we took advantage of each other's boat wake to reduce our paddling fatigue in the chilly Fall weather...


Once we were warmed up and had established a base camp, we headed out for the first geocache. Shocked to discover the site was not located where the canoe paddler had said it was, we then followed the GPS track which eventually led us to this lonely beach where the land search began in ernest...


Our eyes were glued to the GPS screen as we made our way through the camp site's heavy brush, up cliff faces and through fire pits, as the ever elusive geocache slowly came within our grasp. Suddenly one of our party was yelling and screaming and jumping around in glee. The geocache prize was ours! We painstakingly open it to reveal it's mysterious contents. An incredible find, but wait! There was no writing implement to record our visit... Then, like a bolt from the blue, a pen was discovered some distance from the cache site itself! How wild can this adventure get?


Staggered by the thrill of it all, we took a moment to sit down and listen to our leader's calming words, "It's just a silly geocache, people. Get a grip on yourselves. We're here to paddle, after all..." We returned to our senses, grateful for these wise comments from our leader.

We placed the geocache back in it's hiding place and then quietly returned to our kayaks. He was right. This was a paddling trip. It was late Fall. We had to remain stable and cautious out here in the wilds of rural Ontario.


But, wait a second... Isn't there another geocache around here somewhere...? In the end, we found all three lakeside caches and set about hiding one of our own. It will be spring before anyone returns to Crotch Lake to dig them up again. meanwhile we're hooked on mixing kayaking and geocaching as a way to enjoy being out on the water.