Our Cache Was Stolen....

In the fall I noticed a small garbage can in the desk accessories at a Target. I immediately thought cache container. After some persuasion, Ali agreed it would be a good cache container. Our Cache Is Trash was born. We placed the cache in a nearby Cleveland Metropark along a section of trail where we could cover it well.

The cache made it almost five months before it was discovered and taken. :-( Luckily for us, the thief did not take the container home. It was merely moved to a social trail over a quarter-mile away. Our luck was even better since a local cacher who also runs and had found the cache happened to catch a glimpse of the container when out on a run.

With the information sent in an email, I headed off to the park with our intrepid geodog Gwen. We were able to spot the .2 mile side trail quickly, but had to walk back and forth on the trail four or five times before I finally spotted the tiny trash can in a tree down a ravine. The new hiding spot had raised the terrain rating significantly. The person who spotted the cache indicated it was eye level from the trail. That was correct if you were standing on the trail, but the cache was up in a tree part way down the ravine. The person who moved the container must have scooted along a downed tree and reached across to the upper branch to locate the container. I was really glad I had Gwen along for this retrieval as she is a very patient dog on the trail and gave me time to recover the cache.

I was lucky to spot the small container in the tree branches. The trunk below is the one needed to reach the container.

It was interesting to see how much the basic cache had changed in the few months since it had been placed. We never expected the trash can to be the container and had placed a pill bottle with the log book inside the trash can. Someone had taken the pill bottle (I guess the big orange label with the words "Cache Log" on the outside of the pill bottle wasn't clear.) The log book was located in the trash can which had gathered a few pieces of swag.

The container will live on in a different Cleveland Metropark with its new title, Our Cache Was Trashed. Hopefully, it will have at least another five month run before it is exposed.