We stayed Friday night in a nice hotel near Newark and then decided to finish up the northern side of the canal and then proceed to the southern part. We also decided that with all the problems we had with the hunters we would stay near the canal and not venture anywhere into the woods so as to not tempt our fate.
We finished up the few caches (5) we had left on the northern side then took a very old and high steel bridge over to the northern side. Saturday was about 10 - 15 degrees colder than the previous days and to top things off there was a steady 15 knot wind that was gusting up to 25 knots.
Now on the north side of the canal we kept finding caches one after another. One of the cuter caches we found was in a bird watching area. This is not a Duck (GC3WGPC) earned a favorite point from us as being creative and unusual (compared to the others along the canal).
There is a small portion of the caches along the canal that require you to walk/bike. We found a place to park the SNAP-mobile and then proceeded to walk the 2.4 mile round trip hike. We did all the odd number caches on the way to the end and even numbers on the way back.
We were heading towards C&D H/B #11 (the fartherest cache from the parking area) and about 250 feet from GZ when all of the sudden there was a volley of gun fire. Really really close gun fire. Yes we were in the No Hunting area but we were really close to this old rusty fence that was the boundary. Needless to say we did not continue towards GZ but instead turned around immediately and headed back to the SNAP-mobile picking up the even number caches along the way. It was about this time that I realized (in case there was any doubt) that Nana & I are addicted to geocaching. Here we are hundreds of miles from home, over a mile from the SNAP-mobile, temperature in the lower 40s with very gusty wind, gun fire all around us - and we are geocaching!!! Yes - we are addicted!!!
We finally made it back to the SNAP-mobile, slowly thawed ourselves out and then continued westward picking up caches every three or four telephone poles along the way!
When we got to the end of the southern side we were rewarded with a puzzle cache (C&D #55). We made the puzzle cache much harder than it should be but eventually made the find.
The last cache we attempted on the day was Mason Dixon Stone at C&D Canal (GC2TRQ5) - this was Pam's favorite cache of the day as it not only was a puzzle cache but also gave us a Benchmark and a Waymark. The only problem was that the final to claim the geocache was back along the canal in a hunting area. We claimed the find for the Benchmark and Waymark but left the actual cache for another day.
Cold exhausted and tired we then decided to make the 4 hour drive home and use Sunday as a rest day before the work week starts again.
We loved the C&D canal but wish we knew ahead of time how close to the hunting areas we would be. Guess we will just have to make another trip to the area to pick up the caches we skipped.
Recap of the weekend:
174 - total caches found
surpassed 4000 finds and 4100 finds
added 5 different months on our Jasmer chart (in 2001 and 2000)
Just s a side note - we were thinking of all the local geocachers down in the Hampton Roads area while we were doing these caches - so much so we decided to take a special pic just for a particular group in our home area. Now before you judge me too harshly - please remember - I (Papa) am no longer any where as nimble as I used to be - also - this was my fist time trying this. Dean - the below pic is just for you!!!!
Favorite Caches on the day were:
C&D 55 End of std Delaware Caches - GC2T6KG
This is not a Duck - GC3WGCP
Winner of the "Coveted" Nana & Papa Cache of the Day Award - The entire C&D series published by The Delaware Commission
As Always - Stay Safe & Keep Caching!!!
SNAP!!! - Suffolk Nana & Papa
Just to let you know, "This is not a Duck" is GC3WGPC not CP. :) Tarfu
ReplyDeletethanks - fixed - now all I have to do is fix my fingers!!!
Delete