Six miles. That's how far we ended up walking yesterday on a geocaching adventure which netted a "first-to-find," two gloves from Big R and a few laughs with a squeaky piggy.
After finishing our respective morning errands, Bill and I set off for Grouse Creek, northeast of Sandpoint. It's become our back yard outdoors area ever since we moved to Selle seven years ago.
The Grouse Creek drainage offers beauty and a wide assortment of places to go for horseback riders, geocachers, hikers, hunters, anglers---you name it.
The Wiley Knob Trail about five miles up the main road drew our attention yesterday. Janice Schoonover, owner of Western Pleasure Guest Ranch and enthusiastic geocacher, had placed a cache 45 minutes by horseback up the trail.
Janice had recently placed the cache while trail riding with friends, and nobody had recorded finding it on the geocaching website. So, Bill was hoping to be the first.
Clue for the cache: you don't have to cross the creek.
We had a pretty good idea where the cache was as Bill, the dogs and I had gone up that trail on the Fourth of July about three years ago. I rode Lily while Bill walked with the dogs.
That day, we arrived at a pleasant little grassy opening where Wiley Creek flowed and went just a little farther before finding an "iffy" spot in the trail with holes and concerns of the ground giving way underneath Lily's feet.
Yesterday's walk kept reminding me of how good I had it that day being atop a horse rather than going by foot up that steady incline. I hadn't done a lot of uphill walking for some time, and my knees were reminding me so.
Still, I kept the faith that once we reached the geocache, it would be downhill all the way. Along the trail, we scared up a grouse, but other than that, we both noticed and appreciated the silence.
When we came out into the open, I walked over to the creek side, and before Bill had a chance to even start searching, I yelled, "Gotta find!"
That's always the fun part for me with geocaching---see if I can find it before the folks with the tech stuff do. A few geocaching adventures lead to a trained eye for where someone might want to hide a cache.
Anyway, Bill opened the cache and pulled out an adorable squeaky piggie. I tried to talk him into selecting it for the doggies back home, but he wanted the nice pair of Big R gloves, so the pig stayed for another day/geocacher. By the way, the cache also contains a yo-yo, so it's worth the walk.
When it was time to head back, Bill wondered if I wanted to take the full loop, which meant no back tracking.
"Why not?" I said, "It's nice to see different country and it will be downhill." Well, we both figured we'd made a wise choice as we walked a fairly level, wide pathway for the next half hour.
Just when I was thinking we were probably close to the pickup, Bill commented that this route may be a lot further than the trip up. Soon after that, the "back woods boulevard" we'd so enjoyed turned into a narrow path, partially blocked by a lot of wet branches.
At some points, we'd come to intersections, wondering which way to turn. Fresh horse tracks and apples kept us on the right trail. When we came down into a dark, very dark, wet canyon, I asked how much further.
"One mile," Bill said, adding that we'd already walked five miles. As we moved out of the canyon, the trail turned into a very rocky creek bed, requiring ultra vigilance in choosing each step taken.
After another twenty minutes or so, I asked, "How much further?"
"Half mile," Bill said.
"Yeah, sure," I muttered. "I know from experience how those geocaching miles tend to extend themselves."
Eventually, we ended back on the trail that had taken us up the mountain. Soon, we were walking down Grouse Creek Road with soggy shoes and wet pant legs.
The pickup was a welcome sight, and once inside, I agreed that it was a "nice little hike." And, it was.
Bill had a "first-to-find" and now has some new gloves to wear. And, my knees aren't complaining too much this morning.
Now, we have to see if it's gonna rain or turn nice for a horseback ride up at Priest River.
Happy Sunday.
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