Recycled Leashes

Our Geodogs got new leashes recently from the store at the Geocaching.com web site. The leashes are made from recycled bike inner tubes, they are made in the USA, and they seem to work well for the dogs. We've been off the trail with some health issues and the recent snows, but these new leashes should get a work-out in the next ten days.

With their leashes and new trackable Log My Dog Tags, Gwen and Eva are ready to strut their stuff on the geotrail.

Challenges... They Deserved Better

I was saddened today to see the end of Challenges. They were killed without ever really being given a chance. We enjoyed them. We will miss them. A better package would have been a much better received product, but that has now all passed. Before they disappear, these were our stats:

We tried to pick interesting places for our challenges. In the end, the 17 Challenges we posted logged 119 completed visits. Not amazing, but the oldest Challenge was 15 months. Our most visited challenge was a unique art project at Kent State University. It was visited 25 times. Our second most visited challenge took cachers to the last remaining World War II land-based training ship.

The USS Recruit was posted in October 2011 and was visited 18 times.

Our Challenge to visit a remaining section of the Berlin Wall was popular with its visitors.

The irony of the end of Challenges is our first two geocaches placed in early 2005 we had 27 and 16 visitors total for each of those caches. 43 people visited our two most popular Challenges (the exact same number) Maybe a little patience and nuturing could have grown this to a second, fun past time. Nothing stays the same... everything changes... usually not for the better. Goodbye Challenges. We barely knew you.

A Use for Micros

I've seen a number of caches in multiple states recently which have a log container in the cache container to provide additional protection for the log. It seems to work well as I can't remember any of those logs being wet.

365 Dozen Challenge

Eva and the Cone

Our attempt to qualify (and therefore be able to publish) the 365 Dozen Challenge is on the shelf for a long while. In April we hid the 366x10 Challenge after we filled our calendar with 10 finds in each day of the calendar year. We were working on twelve-a-day with the hopes of hiding the challenge cache in Pennsylvania in the spring. We were keeping up until last Friday. Last Friday, our Geodog Eva returned to the vet for a second surgery after a return of cancer. Somehow not being able to continue the 12 per day challenge effort didn't really matter. It's been a rough stretch for our geodogs. They have bounced back and forth from Gwen's surgery to Eva's first cancer surgery, Gwen's partial ACL tear, and now a return of Eva's cancer. We're hoping Eva is able to return to the trail soon.

The Geodogs the summer with their 900th find

We missed two days this week making certain Eva was safe and comfortable.

In the meantime, there are twenty-five more days with fewer than 12 finds between now and spring. The short days should once again be a big challenge especially with only three weekend days in those 25 days.

New State

We started the year with finds in 29 states. We were thinking we might end 2012 with finds in 33 states by adding Montana, Colorado, Wyoming, and Florida. We recently added Arizona for our 30th state with a cache found. It will be the only new state this year. If you can only add one state, Arizona is a really great choice. We were too far from the Grand Canyon and the days were too short to make a trip we both want to make, but the area near Tucson is special enough to give a wonderful destination each day. I was on business for the first few days, but Ali joined me for a super, if short vacation. For 2013, who knows. There is a good chance Nevada and Utah will join the list. I still have hopes we add Colorado on a long weekend when I am returning from Spokane.

The first find was a multi at a church behind the resort where my meeting was being held. I had a few hours free after the flight west and was able to walk to this one.

Dinner at Tohono Chul Park yielded a nice find on day 2. The southwest has the best sunsets.

Catalina State Park

Pima Air Museum

Kartchner Caverns

The only images you will take from these amazing caverns are wonderful memories. No cameras are permitted inside the caves. You can, however, visit this sloth to complete a challenge and log an earthcache with a little work while at the caverns.

Queen Mine Tour in Bisbee

San Pedro Riparian Conservation Area

Patagonia Lake State Park

We hoped to rent a canoe for a few paddle caches here, but didn't get to the park early enough to pull it off. Instead we enjoyed a few hours on the trails.

In the end, we have 43 finds in the state, three more state parks with caches found, and a thousand memories. If luck is ours, we'll be back for that much desired visit to the Grand Canyon, a chance to tour the Rotunda Room at Karchner, another visit to see the birds and butterflies at San Pedro, one more walk with the zombies in Bisbee, and maybe take that paddle at Patagonia. I'm almost certain we will pass on another visit to Tombstone.

Jif

We found a cache recently with this label. It was quite creative and fun. The label is in good shape for a four-year-old cache.

Moving Cache?

There are some big ammo cans on this Harley, but I think it counts as a moving cache. ;-)

Great Lakes Seaway Trail

We recently finished the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Geo Trail. We capped a week in New York state with a visit to the Niagara Falls Visitor Center on Saturday afternoon. It was a super trail. There were five sections and five coins. Each section got a little better heading West to East.

This trail is about the history of the trail and the areas where it passes. For me, it was all about the water and the wonderful places to see. If your a lighthouse fan, you won't regret doing this trail. The trail is getting a little old and is probably nearing its last days, but it was an awesome adventure for us. We spread the trail over almost two years of journeys. The images below move you from west in Erie County Pennsylvania to the eastern end of our journey at the Saint Lawrence.

1867 Erie Land Light - Erie, Pennsylvania

Barcelona Lighthouse and a cold Barcelona Beach - Barcelona, New York

Beach and sunset west of Buffalo, New York

Caching Buffalo

Hiking the Gorge at Niagara Falls

Sailboats Racing Off Shore in Wilson, New York

The park at Bear Creek Harbor

Stream Near Beechwood State Park

Sodus Point

Chimney Bluffs State Park

Fillmore Glen State Park

Phoenix Bridgehouse

Sandy Island State Park

Tibbets Point

Cedar Point State Park

Keewaydin State Park and Glacial Grooves

Basford Falls

Harper's Falls

Visiting the Eisenhower Lock

The Algoma Spirit enters the lock.

Rising in the Lock

At the top of the Lock

Leaving the Lock