Almost Spring

It seems odd to be thinking of spring while snow falls outside, but the official beginning of spring is only seven days away. But while we can look forward to warmer temperatures, wildflowers, and the numerous other treats which delight outdoors adventurers, there is also the inevitable appearance of all those bothersome insects. Ticks and chiggers being by far the worst. While hiking I always remind our kids that bothering wildlife (ie. chasing squirrels, throwing rocks at snakes, etc.) is against our outdoor ethics. Ticks however, are fair game.

My wife and I have been enjoying the recent weather and have used the opportunity to dayhike some local trails which has been fantastic. Those combined with some searches for geocaches located in wonderful areas has allowed us to hike at least twice a week.

We were fortunate to visit Hole In The Ground Creek Falls. It was actually a set of waterfalls located down an old ATV trail north of Pencil Bluff. The scenery was outstanding. We spent quite some time enjoying the area and sat down to have lunch beside the upper falls. It was great. Our round trip distance measured by GPS was 3.03 miles.

Three days later we ventured into the Poteau Mountain Wilderness to visit Slate Falls. The hike along the old road was easy but we were disappointed that the falls were all but dry. Still getting to see the height of the falls and explore around the remains of the old stone dwelling made the trip more than worth while. Of course we hunted for and found the geocache Slate Falls while we were there.

On March 4th we were delighted to get another chance to go hiking and this time we chose to hike Hole In The Ground Mountain Trail. It's hard to describe how wonderful this trail is. Being located south of Booneville, with a trailhead at Jack Creek Recreational Area and the Dry Creek Wilderness, this trail is a seldom visited jewel in the Ouachita Forest. It isn't for the timid though. The trail can be challenging in places and is rough in others. Sometimes both. We tried to begin our hike from the Jack Creek trailhead but my wife didn't want to have anything to do with crossing the frigid flowing creeks. So we drove to the other trailhead and hiked in from there. One of my favorite parts of the trail are as you summit and cross over Hole In The Ground Mountain. The Pine on the west side of the mountain quickly gives way Black Oak on top and then Cedar as you move down the east side. The transition is so quick it is almost instant. There are also abundant geological formations and views along the way. I strongly encourage anyone who can to visit and enjoy the trail. You won't regret it. We flip flopped and got a total of 5.7 miles in that day and wished we could have done more!!

Monday brought about a doctors appointment in Poteau. That's a long drive and we stopped by Subway to grab some lunch on the way home to celebrate my 25lbs I've lost so far on my diet. We decided, spur of the moment, to hike at Runestone State Park in Heavener. It is kind of shocking how little trail maintenance is done there compared to our state parks. Yet another reason Arkansas is awesome! We hiked for roughly a mile by combining two trails ad enjoyed the views immensely. The picnic pavilions at the park have hang glider shaped roofs which was really neat.

The next morning, Tuesday, after the kids were off to school my wife asked me if I wanted to go for another hike. Oh Yeah! I was ready to go! :-) We decided to combine some geocaching along with our hike. We went to Knoppers Ford Recreational Area and hiked the Sugar Creek Hiking Trail. It was really warm when we started from the trailhead. The views of Sugar Creek were beautiful and initially the trail was clear and easy. Once you get about 0.5mi from the trailhead the trail gets rougher though. Again from lack of maintenance. Some blowdown had been there so long that the spur around it was more prominent than the trail itself. That notwithstanding, the trail was great. I enjoy hiking on seldom used trails. You never see another soul and have the woods all to yourself. We hunted for four geocaches along the way and enjoyed a picnic when we reached Middle Creek. By looping back we manged to hike 3.6mi in total. We did see three snakes (a ringneck, a kingsnake, and a cottonmouth) along the way. Of course with the warmer weather those little parasitic spawns of evil were out also. I hate ticks! But on the plus side, tick checks can be fun. ;-)

We've made plans to hike some more trails in the Brushy Creek Trail Complex this Sunday. We were going to do it Saturday but this cold and rain weather will still be here. Sunday should have temperatures in the 60's so it will be great. We're going to build a campfire in the camping area afterward and roast some hot dogs and marshmallows. I'm bringing our fishing poles to try our luck while we're there. The whole family is really looking forward to it and it should be a fantastic day.

The Ouachita National Forest offers so many things to do and see I don't think anyone could see it all if they spent a lifetime exploring it. I am sure that the attempt itself would be rewarding beyond measure. Arkansas offers so much to do. I feel blessed to live in such a wonderful state and being able to watch my children explore the natural world around them, knowing they will be able to share it with their children.

December's Featured Geocacher

Well, better late than never! This is the second installment of our monthly featured cacher. The inaugural "interview" was very well received and we appreciate all the great comments. So without further adieu, we'll introduce the featured geocacher for December: goatsandvettes!

With the roar of horsepower and the smell of burning rubber, goatsandvettes sped into the geocaching world in February of 2008. A resident of Fort Smith, goatsandvettes can be found tearing up the asphalt from cache to cache along with jay jay55. If you've been geocaching in Fort Smith then you've probably experienced this duo's creative and fun hides. As much fun as their caches is reading their online logs explaining their misadventures while geocaching. Enough of all that, we better get to the interview before goatsandvettes speeds of again!

How did you hear about geocaching and what was your first hunt like?

TheCLB told me about it. First cache was Tramlaw Kelley Hwy. Pulled into parking lot she said, IF we had a gps with us, it would be point that way and then as we drove thru parking lot she said now it would point that way. Pulling into ground zero was asked where would you hide a cache..after several incorrect guesses, finally the the term skirt lifter was explained. Soon I was signing my first cache and hooked.

How did you choose your handle?

From a combination of two cars I own. An 2005 Pontiac GTO (the GOAT) and a 1977 Corvette (the VETTE) which became goatsandvettes

After your first find, what about geocaching has kept you interested?

Being raised in the country I enjoyed getting out and hunting (though I haven't hunted anything alive for a long time).This hunt gives you a quarry that is so stealthy, impossible to hear, blends in with the surrounds and hides in plain sight, knows few boundaries around existing amongst us in the city or country. Can watch you in silent laughter as you hunt, prod, and poke for it. Be within inches of you and invisible. Survives all elements from freezing winters to egg frying summers. The night hunts are some of the most fun. Where else can you walk around in circles in the dark, with a flashlight in the middle of the woods and not be considered strange. Well, at least not strange by other geocachers.

Of all your hides, which is your favorite and why?

If you mean hides, as in one I put out, that would be some disassembly required. Took a while to figure out how to assemble and make it difficult and fun to take apart but easy to reassembleg almost anyway and it still work for the next cacher.

If it one I found, it would be one I found earlier and then took JJ to to find. The Dock of The Bay. A beautiful lake, stars above, a cool night, and she found the cache and I found the Caching Partner I will spend the rest of my life with.

What is your favorite type of cache? (traditional, puzzle, multi, etc..)

I like all of the caches for the most part. I enjoy the challenges of multi's such as Curve Appeal or the infamous "gill specials" but like those micro's in the middle of a busy muggle filled area. I like the urban ones as well as those in the woods. The woods ones are best at night when your caching partner hears "lions and tigers and bears" lol.

What was the most embarrassing thing to happen to you while geocaching?

When after numerous attacks upon JJ by "Man Eating Armadillos" and "is that a bear" or "are there coyotes out here.. wild things live in the woods", (she's a city girl), I was "Scared by a little baby bunny rabbit that took off as I was about to retrieve a cache". Might as well make it public knowledge as JJ logged the "attack of the bunny rabbit" on the cache log.

Geocaching, is it a game or a sport?

Both, a game where you can use strategy, the knowledge and skills you have and you learn, and you get to keep score, but also a sport where you can "hunt" in the woods", where you can explore the sides of mountains, hike and climb into the locations. I think Geocaching is both.

What surprising thing have you discovered about yourself through geocaching?

That this is one thing I prefer to not do alone as other hobbies but to do with someone (ie JJ) anytime day or night. I am surprised that I will traipse through the woods at night in the freezing cold to look for a cache and enjoy it laughing all the way and actually get up earlier to go to a "Meet and Greet" then to go to work and be happy in doing so.

What GPS do you use?

I use a Garmin Etrex Legend HCX for when I get out to locate the cache. I use a Garmin Nuvi 260W loaded with caches and logs to find the way into caches via roads.

Do you have any geocaching goals and if so what are they?

Just to place more caches, find more caches and keep looking for and placing more challenging caches.

We'd like to thank goatsandvettes for taking the time to answer our questions. As always if anyone has any suggestions feel free to let us know. We'd love to hear from you! We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and have a happy new year! Happy Caching!

Camouglage

Wow. Is it getting closer to Christmas already!? It's been such a hectic time. Doctors visits, birthdays, and everything else that makes the holidays so crazy. We celebrated my nephews birthday this weekend. He was of course spoiled rotten again. LOL. Why my sister believes an eight year old needs an iPod is beyond me.

We've been hiding caches like fiends the past couple of weeks. We've hidden four Terracaches (two virtual and two physical) and an ALR geocache. I was really nervous about the geocache we hid but it seems to be well received. That will teach me for reading the GC forums too much. LOL. Our ALR cache is a challenge I dreamed up named Calliope's Challenge. In order to log the cache you must find thirty consecutive caches and have an online log length of fifty words.

We had both my nieces and my nephew over at the house all day today. All the kids just love hanging out together. My oldest niece even helped me paint an ammo can which gave me the idea for this post.

I enjoy painting caches we are going to hide. I'm not very good at it but I believe it adds something special for the finder to have a camouflaged ammo can waiting. I even leave a little note on the cover of the logbook thanking them for hunting our cache. I try to stock them with really good trade items. We can't afford much but thanks to A to Z in Alma we at least have some nice toys. Hardly anybody ever lists what they trade so it's hard to tell what most cachers think of the trade.

Anyway, I thought I would talk about how I camouflage an ammo can and maybe get some input from anyone reading, especially if they have never attempted it before. I'm interested in getting better at it so any input would also be most appreciated.

We buy our ammo cans from a scrap metal dealer in Glenwood, AR. He literally has hundreds of 50cal cans that he sells for $1. Pretty sweet huh! The downside is you have to look through them (which he encourages) and sometimes mix and match lids. So the first step in preparing an ammo can for a hide is to check the rubber seal. Without that the can will allow moisture in and ruin all the contents. The second thing to look for (in older cans) is holes. The best way to do that is simply hold it up to the light while looking in the interior for any light a hole may let in. Now that you have a can in good condition it's time to paint!



The first step in camouflaging a can is sanding off any rust. You'll want to be sure to do that outside since I was told some older cans used lead based paint. I'd err on the side of caution and wear a mask or at least be outside when you do this. Once you've sanded all the rust off go ahead and cover the can in a coat of primer. I do this to protect the can (hopefully) from rusting any further.



Once you've let your primer dry cover the can in the primary color you wish to have. I usually use OD green or brown. I use the Krylon camouflage paint mostly. Their oD green is a little light compared to some darker ones made by BLP Mobile Paints that I sometimes get from the army surplus but they dry very quickly and can also be used on plastic which is an added bonus. You could use a cheaper version of brown though. It would just take longer to dry.




When that's dry then you need to paint the secondary colors of your camouflage. This really depends on what you want. For this can I randomly sprayed light beige (ColorPlace..cheap at Wal-Mart) and then went back over part of it with some Krylon camouflage beige. I also reapplied some OD green in some places I felt were too light. I try to stay away from the edges when using the lighter colors. You can also get shades of your color choices by varying how close to the can you hold the spray paint. This takes some practice (I'm still working on it. LOL.) but it is worth it.




Next I'll choose some leaves and/or grasses to use. This again depends on where you're hiding the cache or just what you have available. I use some small maple leaves I picked up in the crafts department at Wal-Mart. I've also used grasses form a nearby field and leaves from a neighbors bush (shhh..don't say anything). Just anything you want would work. First I'll hit the edges of the can with black and then lay whatever material I'm using on the can and Highlight around it with the black. I really recommend the Krylon black since it dries faster and you won't get any streaks from moving your material around but you can use the cheaper stuff, just be real careful! Keep repositioning and spraying until you have the look you want. Remember that the lighter colors will darken after a couple of hours. Don't be afraid to experiment! You can always repaint the can if you're not happy with it. Here's what I ended up with:



The lighter colors darkened some after a few hours and I was really pleased with it. You can affix a geocaching label to it or make a stencil and spray one on there. Which is what I do. You can download a PDF at Sissy-n-CR's website. I just bought some blank Mylar sheets at Wal-Mart and, using the copy I printed from their store, laid the template under it and cut it out with an exacto knife. It works okay. I'm going to buy some later. Just so I don't have to cut anymore out. They have both Geocaching and Terracaching stencils available so check them out.

Well that's all I've learned so far. I keep experimenting and so far I've made a lot of improvement. I've also had some abysmal failures. You should have seen how my attempt at digital camouflage came out. Ugh! LOL. It was horrid. I'm currently working on trying to paint an ammo can to make it look like bacon!? I'm almost there. Happy Caching!

Scout Falls

This is a little late but it has been so busy here. I finally got the time to write about our little adventure.
On the 20th my wife and I decided that with the kids in school that day it would be perfect to go and hunt the Slate Falls cache (GCRRD0). There had been a record amount of rain recently and had even stormed the night before so we were excited at being able to see the falls flowing.
We hadn't traveled far up Poteau Mountain road when we met some Forest Service workers clearing debris from the roadway. They told us that due to seeing some other vehicles heading the other direction that they thought the road was clear ahead. Well, after driving a few miles we sure enough met with a large tree blocking our progress.
Another Forest Service worker pulled i next to us a short while later and together we waited for the work crew to reach us.
As we waited, she told us about a cave nearby known to locals as "Belle Stars Cave." It was also known as the boy scouts cave as they used to camp there in the 40's and 50's and had even built a rock fireplace for warmth inside the cave. She told us how to reach it and after seeing that we wouldn't have time to reach Slate Falls we decided to visit the cave.
We began our hike from the road and hiked down the mountain to rock creek. With all the recent rains it was REALLY flowing, enough to take your feet out from underneath you if you weren't careful, and it was cold! After crossing the creek it was a short distance to the cave and suprisingly a wonderful 20+ foot waterfall!!!
The whole area there is a protected archaeological site. We explored the cave behind the falls for quite some time and even hiked further down for awhile just to see what was there. Time was getting short though so we had to haul back up the mountain which was rough.
My wife and I had a wonderful time and we plan on returning later. We found another trail leading in from the North that hold who knows what treasures.