DAN GETS AN OWWY (OR TWO) WHILE BATIKFREAK10 & WISCONGRANNY TAKE THE FALLS

We were at it again this past Saturday-of course I mean Geocaching. We'd wanted to get out for the past few weeks but one thing or another always seemed to get in the way. Finally we were able to break free. And we had an excellent day, a good mixture of cache types, a place or two we'd never seen before, and excellent weather--a high of 70* in the middle of July. Of course, there was suffering too. More on that later.

We hit Camp Creek State Forest for our first find and then went on to the well known Brush Creek Nature Preserve for our second and third finds. We had never heard of the place either and were pleasantly surprised when we got there.

Mash Fork Falls at Camp Creek SF is suffering from the recent dry weather, but there is still a trickle. These falls, about 5 feet or less in height, will be beautiful with a little increased flow when fall arrives. Our caching find was nearby, within sight of the falls.


Then we moved on to our second and third finds of the day at Brush Creek Falls Nature Preserve.

American Gothic, Geocaching style.

Woodhick803 & Wiscongranny show off the best in summer Geocaching fashion.

Camp Creek State Forest and Brush Creek Preserve are both the sites of extensive logging operations in the early part of the 20th century. Much of the hiking we did in these natural areas was on the remains of old logging railroad grades. The tan/beige object just above the right most flow of water is the remains of a cut stone bridge pier. The RR tracks would have passed just above the falls back in the day.


We've been under a fairly long spell of dry weather recently, not too surprising in mid-summer. For a look at the Falls after some heavy rain, go here. Quite a difference.

Although I'm modeling the ever popular "Sonic Dog" bit of swag (yes, I took it home too), the finds around the two falls areas belong to BatikFreak10 and Wiscongranny, so to them goes the credit for "taking the falls"

We are always on the look out for an unusual find, and today's was an excellent example. The cache owner had hollowed out a section of log after slicing off a slab to serve as a top. The top keys into the hollow inside so that everything stays in place and looks natural. He (she?) then placed the log hide in a small area of woods in a city park in Princeton WV. Sure looks natural here too. An excellent hide.

Sometimes I think that Geocaching means "Let's go for ice cream" to Wiscongranny. A lot of her finds seem not to be caches, but Dairy Queens...but this one is not the best sit down restaurant in Princeton WV. Good ice cream though.

Finally, our 12th and last find for the day goes to BatikFreak10. This is a Travel Bug Spa (aka motel). As with a lot TB motels and spas, this one is located at a truck stop area and is designed as a repository for travel bugs making their way to ???, wherever their destinations may be.

Now for the pain and suffering part of the day. I'm not one to whine and complain, but it was a really tough day. I got some poison ivy on my left ankle, TWO WHOLE BUMPS!! And then I got scratched on my left elbow at another cache, THREE SCRATCHES!! LOL We had a fun day :-)