Geocaching, Hiking, Hunting, and Fly Fishing in the Fraser Valley

Been a while

2010-11-11T22:25:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since my last post. I guess life is getting busier which is a good and it also means i'm getting out more and off this computer. Scouts has been wonderful. The kids and I have jumped right in and are participating to the fullest. We have been to all the meetings and 2 weekend camps as well. Today had us marching in the remembrance day parade and a front row seat at the ceremony making for a wonderful experience. I have completed my leader training and have been welcomed into the fold nicely.

On the home front we have been experiencing our up's and down's. My truck blew it's engine and is ready for the grave. The Van failed aircare and needs repairs, and to top it all off my TV in the den has died. But i'm still smiling and counting my blessings even when the front door knob came apart in my hands just this morning :)

Nothing that time, money, and a little effort won't fix. We all still have our health and can get out and enjoy Gods wonderful creation.

2010-09-25T22:40:00.001-07:00

So I had a friend of mine hinting towards trying Scouts out with the kids last year. Well things didn't pan out financially then but this year we gave it a shot and went to a couple meetings/outings. The kids seemed to love it so we are going to sign up with the help of my parents financially God bless them. I am training to be a leader in their Cub pack so I will be going along everywhere with them. Our first camp-out is next weekend and I think i'm just as excited as the kids lol. I know this will be fun for us and the kids will learn allot at the same time so a win win in my books.

My First Hunt

2010-09-20T20:51:00.001-07:00

Finally the season has arrived albeit not without a little bit of a set back. I was all set to go having been up in Princeton the weekend before when two days before the trip my oil pump goes in the truck. I tried to scramble to get it fixed but couldn't make it happen in time so the plans changed and off in the mini van I go.

I can't complain though as I still made the trip and we still got out hunting. We used my Step Dad's 2 wheel drive pickup which got us mostly everywhere we wanted to go. No top of the mountain 4x4ing mind you but we still had a blast and I'm really looking forward to my next trip.

The Big Hike is Complete

2010-08-24T00:21:00.000-07:00

Well all those months of planning, hiking, and hiding of Geocaches and the day has come and gone. I couldn't be happier with the results. The weather was perfect, the people were perfect, and the trail was perfect. There were 26 participants on the hike and over 30 at the dinner. I had a blast and by the sounds of it so did everyone else.

There were a few moans and groans as we all pushed our way up and over the mountain climbs but it was all worth it in the end. We found a beautiful spot for lunch and the weather was just the way I like it. Cool in the trees with sunny spots along the way to warm you up. The mosquito's were all gone from the heatwave the week before so we were bug free :)

There has even been a few comments by attendees of what they hope will be another hike next year. Well if Jeff and I can find another trail like this one to place caches along then I'll try and make it happen. Here's to hoping for another lost trail found again.

The Great Copper Rush

2010-08-05T20:57:00.000-07:00

This past weekend had us Geocaching in Princeton and it was awesome. We have been waiting for this event for over a year and it finally came. I took the family up early and got the only shady spot in the entire campground which was at the local fairgrounds. We grabbed the spot beside the race track pit shack. I was very pleased to have some shade as we needed it all weekend with the sunny weather.

The first day was Thursday which got off to an interesting start as evening rolled around. We noticed some deer wandering around in the fairgrounds but didn't think much of it as they were at the far end of the grounds nowhere near any of us campers. Well when dusk came we did not notice that they had started to wander closer and closer until my dog Milly noticed one of them and the chase was on. Milly wanted to play and figured the deer running away was a sign of just that. To our horror the deer started to freak out running into the fence over and over again and then ran into a metal gate followed by a head on smash into the corner post of one of the other campers utility trailers. I believe the gate was what did this poor deer in as it hobbled away with what appeared to be a severely injured if not broken leg.

My first thought was to get Milly tied up and then go check out the damage to the trailer. I knew I wasn't going to get anywhere near the deer and if I tried it would only hurt it's self worse trying to get away from me so I let it be till morning. Luckily the trailer was not damaged save for a bit of mud smears from the deer. So A quick apology and the offer of a beer and us two men shook hands and parted way's. A gracious and understanding outdoorsman for sure.

The next morning I took my truck over to the far end of the fairgrounds to see if the deer was still around and it was. Sadly it was to far gone to be saved so I called the Provincial Conservation office to have someone sent out to put the animal down. By the time all that was said and done I wasn't in the mood for any Geocaching so we just hung out and relaxed at the Rootbeer saloon. Yes there was an actual Rootbeer saloon as well as many other cool things during the weekend. The kids got to do a Rootbeer brand tasting challenge, bowling for Rootbeer, outdoor movies nightly, a Geocoin show and shine, and so on.

Saturday was 4x4'ing day as I was scheduled to drive one of two offroad vehicles up one of BC's toughest trails. This was by far the highlight to my trip. The Jeep I was driving worked flawlessly and I really enjoyed each obstacle I came across. The other truck was fresh out of the shop from a bunch of modifications so we had some trouble getting it to perform for us. We had to stop and make some modifications a few times but to me that is all apart of the fun and memories of a 4x4'ing trip so I was fine with it all. We got delayed due to another offroaders broken down truck on the hardest section of the trail so we rolled into camp a couple hours late. There was a poker game scheduled and was being put on hold as we had the organizer with us on the trail lol. We got it underway and I managed a second place overall and won Dusty 12 new Geocoins which made the stress of a day alone with the kids all worth it.

Sunday had us up relatively early for a day of finding Geocaches. We picked our route and headed into the hills. The day went fairly well save for a few minivan trashing roads and some whining from the kids. Turns out they would rather have hung out back at the fairgrounds with all the other kids than go caching but hey we adults needed our fun too right. We ended the day with a wedding and awards night. Yep there was even a wedding. The event organizers used this event weekend to had a quick and informal wedding. It was actually pretty fun to attend.

If there was one downside I would have to pick it was the cool nights we were not quite as prepared for as we would have liked. My back was acting up as a result of this and made for three pretty sleepless nights. Finally by Sunday night I was so tired I guess the need for sleep caught up with me as I was told by everyone around me that I snored pretty good the whole night. I felt like I had a good sleep which was a good thing as it was time to head home and I did not want to risk driving while exhausted. We stopped by the river in Princeton to wait for Dustannes mother who decided to drive down from Okanagan Falls for a quick visit with the kids. It has been a couple years since we have seen her (long story) so this was good for the kids and Dustanne. On our way back we stopped in at the rest stop in Manning park to visit the ground squirrels and Marmots then made the final push for home. All in all a pretty awesome weekend.

Annual Fly Fishing Trip

2010-07-15T20:19:00.000-07:00

Well I was lucky enough to make it to my annual Fly Fishing trip this year after all. I was almost certain with all my job troubles these past months that this wasn't going to happen. I’m so happy that I was able to squeeze it in. A bit of a change this year however, as my regular yearly partner being my brother did not come this year. Instead I had the pleasure of taking my step father Bryan up to my secret little fishing hole. I was pleased to be able to have him come along as we had a great time. I have been drawing closer and closer to Bryan lately through all of my outdoor adventures. Truly a blessing as he's become the only father figure I’ve ever known in my life albeit a bit late in life. We share the same interests and I just know I can learn allot from him. I never quite realized all these years how much I have missed out on when it comes to the father/ son bonding that happens. That is if you’re lucky enough to have a father worth spending time with.

Some of you know but for those who don’t well I grew up without a father but for the most part I didn't feel I missed out on anything nor did I regret not having one around. My mother did a wonderful job filling in for both rolls as best as she could. Lately though I have come to realise some of the unknown experiences a son can have with his father and now have come to cherish each and every opportunity I get to gain some manly experience and bonding with Bryan. Part of me wishes the opportunity would have come a little earlier in life but hey I still have a few years left in me and am a firm believer in lifelong learning so I will soak up everything I can get.

Well that's all for now but stay tuned as the wife and I are gearing up for a week away in Princeton for a huge Geocaching event we will be attending. Watch for the report and picture movie soon.

Working up a storm

2010-06-14T16:43:00.000-07:00

My first week went very well. I was introduced to the layout of the shop and had a brief safety meeting then got right to it. There is a whole shelf of piled up repairs for me to dive into and that's just what I did. I am so happy to be back fixing things for a living as I really did miss it. There's such a great feeling of satisfaction in taking something broken and repairing it back to working order. Not to mention it's a blast testing all the different equipment out at the shop. Drilling things here, grinding things there and so on :) I'm truly blessed to have this opportunity and feel this is going to be a great fit for me in the long run.

Things are happening!

2010-06-03T23:40:00.000-07:00

I've been offered a job with Status Electric as a maintenance mechanic at their tool crib in Aldergrove. I am so excited to get back to what I love, working with tools and fixing things. No more selling parts just lots of grease and tools. Once I got the word and had accepted the position it was time to get the ole pickup truck insured and back on the road (an ego boost in it's self)then it was off to the local Marks Work Warehouse to grab me a fresh new pair of steel toed boots. Talk about feeling like a man again. I just had to give the ole arh arh arh grunt once I climbed into the truck the next morning sporting my new steelies for the drive over to go see my new home away from home for what I hope will be a very long time.

If that wasn't enough to put a smile on my face there was the fact that I've just finished and successfully passed a weekend of training to acquire my firearms license. I've done this at the request of my step father to position myself as the inheritor of his firearms collection if and when he passes in the future. This was a huge concern for him as otherwise his guns would likely be seized by the RCMP and sold/destroyed if not claimed by a licensed family member. Needless to say he is very relieved now in knowing his collection will be in safe hands and kept within the family for future generations.

Less than 2 weeks has passed since completing the firearms coarse and yet the word has already gotten out that I've become licensed and now there's a bunch of men at my church who have all become very excited to hear the news. Why you ask well I've just found out that there is actually an unofficial little secret brotherhood of hunters in my church to which I have been informally invited into and have been encouraged to go one step further and take the CORE course to acquire my hunting license as well so they can include me into the annual deer hunt this fall. I was very honored to be so readily accepted into the fold. So between hunting with my step father and the guy's at church i will definitely get my fill this upcoming season.

Looking to the future I can honestly say that I definitely feel blessed by God and am pretty lucky to have such great influences available even at this late stage in my life. Coming from a single parent home hasn't offered me the luxury of a manly influence growing up yet through my new step father and these great bunch of guy's at church I am getting some solid advise and examples of how to be the best father and husband that one can be.

So stay tuned there definitely going to be some exciting posts to come as this new page and chapter begins,

Kelly

Roche 2010

2010-05-21T16:10:00.000-07:00

Another year and another Men's fishing trip in the books. It was a great weekend for weather and a not so bad weekend for fishing. I got a pretty nice fish the very first morning but couldn't connect with any more that weekend. I'm not complaining though as one fish is better than no fish and the time on the water couldn't be beat. I'm looking forward to what we can do next year at the very same resort. I will try and bring my truck so I can get to some of the out of the way lakes to catch more fish next time. Stay tuned for next years report to see how I do.

Here's to hopefully moving on

2010-04-26T20:28:00.000-07:00

It has been well over a month now without any back problems. I have gone on a few longer hikes with complete success. Do I dare say that i'm back to normal. My doctor has approved me to start looking for work again so let's hope i'm back in the game very soon.

One thing that5 troubles me I have had all this time to sit and think about what it is I want to do for work now but have not come up with anything. I guess if I could geocache for a living that is what I would do. Most of my heartfelt desires for work involve many physical attributes that I have been advised to stay away from.

Not sure how this is going to play out but I'm simply going to trust the Lord will guide me along the way and the opportunity will present itself through my searching.
So i'll sign off for now and I thank all those who continue to follow my little corner of the internet.

Kelly

Steady as she goes

2010-03-22T14:32:00.000-07:00

A quick update if you will as I haven't posted yet this month. I am very slowly recovering with the odd mini hike here and there. I have been shacked up again the past week and a bit with a nasty chest cold and cough.

I used my down time to create a new 6 cache series to which I got out and placed 3 that have now been released. The focus of these caches is the world of Microbes. I found a fun little website to gather my information from and built the cache pages from there. Looks like the first three have been well received and I'm looking forward to getting out and hiding the final three.

I heard back from my doctors office regarding a date for my MRI. August 2011 is the projected appointment date. I laughed when I got the news and figured I should just suck it up and find a job that won't stress my back to much. I mean what else can I do when my appointment is that far away. I have been told I can get onto the cancellation list at the hospital but even that is a long stretch.I have an appointment with my doctor tomorrow so I am going to discuss it all with him and see if there is anything he can do for me.

Well that is all for now. I 'm just so thankful that the Lord is keeping me and that i'm at least able to get out and about even if for only a brief stint at a time.

Taking A Chance

2010-02-28T07:09:00.001-08:00

Pretty exciting day yesterday as I was feeling well enough to challenge the family to a walk on a trail to do a little caching. I loaded up my day pack and my walking stick to tackle the afternoon. We got to the trail head and planned our first geocache stop. Half way to the first cache I reluctantly had to pass off the day pack to my wife as I was noticing a little bit of lower back pain. It might have been simply due to my first real walk but none the less I didn't want to chance it so off came the pack. The farther we got along the trail the better I felt so it must have just been the lack of exercise I have been getting that made me feel so stiff in the beginning. We managed 4 geocaches and probably about a kilometer of walking pretty good for my first day out.

So with careful consideration I am on my way to recovery and getting myself out and about again. Perhalps later on this week we may finish the rest of the caches in that park and onto other areas soon enough. Keep tuned to see how it all goes.

Big Setback

2010-02-22T16:33:00.000-08:00

Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse. I went to see my regular doctor today now that he is back from holiday's and found out some pretty crappy news.

It would seem the ER doctor wasn't disclosing just how bad my back has become. My regular doctor had a look at the CT scan then looked at me and said wow that's pretty serious. You have two bulging discs at L5S1 and L45. Your L5S1 bulge is putting pressure on the spinal cord which is causing the cord to bend out of shape around it. That certainly is what has been causing all your leg pain not to mention the arthritis I see evident in your back.

So my spinal cord is out of wack and I have arthritis. What's worse is that the Doc has ordered an MRI scan and mentioned surgery. Not what I was hoping to hear at all. It looks like i'm going to have to switch over to medical EI and wait to see what the MRI reveals. All this will definitely put my plans of fishing and hiking this summer on hold for the time being if not forever. Depending on how I heal over the next few months I might have to accept that i'm simply not going to be climbing any more mountains and will have to be very careful with any physical activities from this day forward.

My only option as I see it is to take it easy, eat right, lose weight, carefully exercise, and leave the rest in Gods hands.

Getting out

2010-02-14T19:51:00.000-08:00

Well today was a very promising day. I got up and went to church and was able to walk in and get to my seat with only a slight bit of pain. During the service I had moderate aching which had me shifting position in my seat constantly although this was quite bearable. Apparently it must have been written across my forehead that I was in pain because I had allot of inquiries as to what was wrong resulting in many people praying over me.

After church I had to make good on a promise I had made with my son a day or so ago to take a trip to Walmart so he could spend his birthday money. I grabbed a shopping cart from the parking lot as a walking aid and did a few laps down the isles inside. Felt good and resulted in some very beneficial and long over due exercise however I had a couple worrisome moments while walking as my knee gave out completely in mid stride. I think this is due to the legs not being used all that much for the last 2 weeks. Anyway's overall a very encouraging day that I simply plan to build upon until I'm back in full force and ready for that expedition to the top of Everest this summer:P

When will it end?

2010-02-13T06:55:00.000-08:00

Well as I approach week 2 I'm comforted with the fact that the new anti-inflamitory pills I have are sort of working. I do have allot less pain as before. I know this as for about an hour prior to the time I have set on my iPhone to remind me to take the medication I am in agonizing pain then once taken I feel relief shortly after. Now at the same time this worries me that the pills are giving me a false sense of healing and that my pain is only being masked. I'm left wondering if the healing process is either going really slow or not happening at all. All I can do is heed the doctor's advise and simply give it time. At least with this pain relief I can now attempt to start the exercises suggested to hopefully retract the bulge in my bad disc.

I Love Dell

2010-02-10T13:57:00.000-08:00

Thought I would share with you all my complete satisfaction with the Dell company. I just had a conversation with a technical support rep about my keyboard failing. A couple of the keys are not working properly and one has even popped off completely.

Before I get into that you should know that when it comes to computers I always purchase the extended service plan. I did so for the first two Dell computers I bought for the wife and I. I repeated this for the second set we bought just a couple years ago. I was able to put the first plan to use after my 3rd year of owning the laptop. This one had a hard drive failure and Dell sent out a new drive without question. I was worried I was going to be in for the fight of my life to get a new drive from them but was completely shocked with how accommodating they were. They shipped me the new drive and even had a technical service rep walk me completely through the removal and installation of the new drive. The rep didn't hang up the phone until the computer was back up and running and I was completely satisfied.

So when I called today regarding my second computer and it's keyboard problems I was only a little worried whether the great service I got the first time those many years ago now would be repeated. Well to my delight it was. The tech rep was very accommodating and assured me right away before I even began explaining what was wrong that they would solve whatever issue I had with my computer. So I explained what was happening with my keyboard keys and he setup a replacement keyboard to be shipped to me right away and even assured me it would only be a couple of days to arrive. While the rep was on the line he walked me through the removal of the keyboard so as to be able to replace it once the new one arrived. I was actually very impressed with how easy it was to remove and even more impressed with the professionalism the tech rep had. He was very patient and stopped every so often to assure me that if I was having any trouble at all understanding his instructions to advise him right away so he could explain it in better detail if needed. Now that's what I call exceptional customer service. I cannot think of one reason for why I would ever stop purchasing from Dell in the future for my computer needs. Thank you Dell for your outstanding service.

Emergency

2010-02-08T22:12:00.000-08:00

Hello all:

I've got some sad news. It would seem according to the emergency doctor I saw last Monday and again today that I have aggravated my herniated disc in my lower back again. It is bulging and pinching against a nerve sending shock waves down my left leg giving me excruciating pain to the point where I haven't been able to walk or even stand for over a week now. I'm starting to feel a bit of relief though and am hoping this is the start of my recovery. I had a CT scan done today and it looks like my bad disc has a little brother now. I guess I should have listened to this Anonymous person about taking it easy do to my bad back wink wink thanks mom. But in my defense I haven't felt like I've been over doing it on the trails. Note to self alway's take your mom's advise they are seldom wrong :P

Well I will update soon as to how i'm progressing so have fun for now

Vedder Ridge

2010-01-17T21:51:00.000-08:00

Well if 10K wasn't enough last weekend I just had to do another 11K this weekend. I simply had to as a whole new set of Geocaches were published on the top of the mountain I hiked last weekend. This route follows the very top ridge of the mountain and ends up at the very highest point (Peak) of the mountain. I was really hoping this was the route my fellow cachers were planting new caches on and to my delight it was. I rallied up the troops and we set off for the day. This hike started off similar to the other with an uphill climb for the first bit followed by a smooth hike with some minor ups and downs along the way. There were a few more things to see on this jaunt such as three ponds, some man made steps,a boardwalk, and a couple of rope climbs to get to the very end. I'll post a picture video of snaps from the two hikes for you and add a link to a video of the rope climbing we did to summit the mountain.

10k hike

2010-01-12T20:33:00.000-08:00

Well a string of Geocaches were published just before the weekend. 13 in all spread across a 10 kilometer stretch of mountain trail in Chilliwack. This stretch was on the Eastern side of Vedder mountain. I called up a couple of friends to see if they wanted to join me at finding these geocaches and they agreed. First thing Saturday morning we decided was to be the day. We made a plan the night before and at the suggestion of the cache hiders to drive and park one vehicle at the end of the trail then drive back park the other vehicle and start our trek. It was an overcast morning with a little fog as we set out. The climb was slow going at first as the grade was pretty substantial. This seems to be a normal occurrence i'm finding the more hikes I take on. All uphill for the first stretch then evening out after a while with a nice gradual downhill to finish. I decided to lightly pack my larger backpack for this trip as it was to be a long 10k hike and I wanted to start conditioning myself as well as see how the pack preformed. If you remember I had a short 3-4k hike a month or so ago where I fully loaded this particular pack. I can say that both trips have been a success. I'm very happy with the pack and it's fit.

We managed the hike in 4 hours including the 13 stops at geocaches. I found I was stopping allot less than my previous hikes and my body seems to be getting used to the hiking. A good sign in my books that's for sure. I even used less water this time around. Sunday morning came around and I went on another short 2k hike with a few friends where I went back to my small day pack. This was more of a test at how I would feel hiking again the next day after a long hike. I felt really good and had no problems. This is a good sign that an overnighter isn't far off for me and is definitely doable. So If I keep this up I will be weekend hiking and backpacking with the kids this spring for sure :)

My first Interview

2009-12-30T23:32:00.000-08:00

I was the lucky receiver of an invitation from tracksandtrails.ca to do an interview. It has been published for all the world to see and you can view it here:

Did I just See That???

It was fun answering the interview questions and got me thinking of what's still to come in my life this spring. The kids got a bunch more gear to help ready them for Scouts like Headlamps, Mini Mag flashlights, Dry Sacks, Sporks, Batteries, and tin mess cups ect. I am looking at an upcoming interview at the end of January with a couple Scouts leaders to make sure i'm a fit for a leader role in my local scout unit. Then in February we will get the kids going and join in on the fun. Stay tuned!

Our first mini backpack trip.

2009-11-28T02:31:00.000-08:00

Well we got the packs and as promised we went on a little mini backpack hike. We went to the Straiton trail area on Sumas Mtn and grabbed a couple of geocaches then hiked for a bit. Here is a couple pics don't they look just so cute with their lil backpacks hee hee. They were so excited to be able to load a pack on like dad usually does at a trail head. I love the passion i'm seeing in them as it is a passion I share too.

Went to the candy store today!

2009-11-27T02:13:00.001-08:00

I haven't been to MEC in over ten years. WOW has that place ever changed. I knew I was in for a treat but I could not believe or at the very least could not remember just how much stuff they have. I almost started to drool as I literally felt like a kid in a candy store. We went down there to pick up a couple kids packs so I can start scouting with them this spring. But oh how I just wanted to unleash the wallet and pickup half the store. They even had my membership number on file from almost 20 years ago now. I thought for sure i was going to have to signup again.

I truly believe that my kids are both about to change my life. I was chatting with a buddy about his kids and how he is Scouting with them and it dawned on me that might be just what my kids are looking to get into. They both hate sports but love geocaching with me so I thought what a cool fit. It's funny how so many people including myself forget that Scout groups are still out there. I never got the chance to be apart of Scouts when I was a kid as we loved soccer but probably would have loved it too.

So now that I have mentioned it the kids are all over me about doing it. We went to MEC today as mentioned and grabbed them each a packpack. We got home and they both started cramming their sleeping bags and other stuff into them and of course wanted to go hiking right away. I had to calm them down and promised a hike for the weekend. I printed off the equipment list for scouts Canada and the kids went all over the house trying to find what they could from the list. Little do they know Grandma and Grandpa are in on this for Christmas to. The whole time they were tearing the house apart searching I was thinking this could change my whole upcoming year as we start this new adventure. I just sat back with a smile thinking my new found love of hiking is going to get even better now.

My first backpack adventure - Pioneer trail

2009-11-04T21:14:00.000-08:00

I have just gotten into hiking and bought my first large backpack the Outbound 60L Canyon pack. I plan to use it for some overnighters and cub scout hikes with the kids next spring. So I decided today to try it out for a short run to see how I do. I loaded it with all the gear I would be taking for an overnighter minus the second set of clothes and food. Everything else sleeping bag, tent, stove, and water were all packed up. I got to the trailhead and slung the pack up onto my back and headed off. It was pretty slow going at first getting all the adjustments set and getting used to a heavy bag on my back but then I started to get the hang of it and felt pretty good the whole way up and back down. The pack adjusted well and centered the load right over my hips as it should. The adjustments worked great again in keeping the pack glued to my back with hardly any flopping around. A successful first mini run and looking forward to an actual overnighter with a longer hike to get there.

Stuck in a Rut

2009-11-01T23:24:00.000-08:00

Well it's been a while since I have blogged. Not much happening right now as I lost my job in the middle of September thus have not had the funds, truck insurance, or really the motivation to do anything right now. I have taken this time to sit back and review my situation and have been trusting in the Lord to guide me to my next challenge in life.

On a positive note I have been able to concentrate on my children even more and have been working on setting up a routine with them and their schooling. I really enjoy homework time giving encouragement in their studies along with time for some fun which has been working very well to the point where most day's Teryn actually get's excited to do homework. We make a game of some of the tasks they have to do like speed timing Teryn's math pages and his guessing of the Spelling words order I call out to him. Sometimes I go from top to bottom or bottom to top or I start in the middle and work outwards. Ariana has been really enjoying a series of books "Goosebumps" And I encourage her to read out loud to me so we can both enjoy them together as she stops at point's to discuss certain moments in the book and we sometime laugh or ponder together at what is happening to the characters.

Now don't get me wrong there are times when I get the Grumpy whines of "Aw do we have to do homework?" but it alway's changes a few moments into our study time once they remember the fun we can have doing it. It's all about consistency and patience which I have been learning to achieve more of in these sessions. Yes I to am learning something through all this which tells me this is a win-win endeavor for sure.

As far as Flyfishing and Geocaching I guess the season has wound down for now.I get out to the odd Geocache here and there but my true desire right now has been turning towards Hiking. As in hiking on longer trails with Geocaches on them or trails without caches(You see I can hide one just as easy as find one on the trails that are cacheless). So for now I have been surfing the net for hiking gear and trails to do this spring as we get through the rainy winter in the valley here. I have been strongly considering putting the kids into scouts this spring as well to have a chance of getting us all outdoors more and learn a few things along the way.So stay tuned as i might be down and out for now but Lord willing will be back up and out again very soon.

Hiking my way to 1000 Geocache finds!

2009-07-30T23:49:00.001-07:00

I knew it was coming and was starting to wonder what I was going to do to celebrate the milestone. Perhaps I could submit an event I thought. A hiking event to some cache out in the wilderness for all to enjoy. One that I could get all my friends together and do so I picked out the spot and created the cache page to be submitted and was all ready to go. Well most of the responders said they couldn’t make it or that they didn’t like the hike idea or the pay parking in the park. Basically it was looking like a no go on the event. So now what?

Well the perfect opportunity arose as a good friend of mine was going on a hike to celebrate his 900th cache and wanted to know who would like to join him. This particular hike had been on my mind for quite some time as it was a long and challenging one which had a geocoin of mine stuck up there placed by another good couple of friends of mine who were taunting me to go retrieve it. The only problem is that I’m new to the longer hikes and do not like going at them alone. So when Paul mentioned he was going for it I said hey mind if I come along and make it my 1000th cache. He graciously agreed and we set the plans into motion. Another buddy saw our plans on twitter and said he could come and make it his 800th cached as well. How about that three milestones on one hike 800, 900, and 1000.

I was so excited I was going to rescue my geocoin and I get to try out my new hydration backpack I just got. So we all met up at Paul’s for 9am well a little past 9am but close enough. We got to the trail around 10am and off we went. As for the challenging trail that was an understatement. This sucker went straight up and basically never stopped. I was totally exhausted by the time I reached the cache having made at least 2 dozen badly needed rest stops along the way. The rest of the better shaped group comprising of Geo_canuck77, Teddy2kk, Grafinator, and Hellraisers were kind in waiting for the old husky guy trying to recapture his youth. We got to the cache and they let me find it then we took our pictures and I dunked my head in the creek nearby to celebrate and cool my over heated body down.

We decided to go back to a lookout area a little ways back down the trail for a bite to eat then made our way back down. I thought down was going to be easy well it wasn’t I started to get rubber legs about half way down and ran out of water as well. Mental note the 2l water bag needs to become a 3l one before my next hike. One good point was that the saying "The trip back always seems shorter"held true cause we were back down the trail faster than I thought we would be. All said and done we were about 4hrs there and back I believe. I felt exhausted yet like a million bucks at the same time. I am really starting to enjoy this style of geocaching and look forward to my next hike and milestone.

ACA Sheridan Derby

2009-05-28T23:52:00.000-07:00

Well another year for the Abbotsford Christian Assembly men's fishing derby. The weather was perfect for another great weekend of fishing. First day and we hit our favorite little lake Higgins in high hopes of catching allot of fish. Well the timing seemed off as we only managed a few fish each. Perhaps we were a little to early after ice off. So we packed up and went back to the cabins for dinner and a new plan of attack.

Day two saw us at French Lake trying for the big lunkers we have seen in there in the past. We must have fished the entire day with not even a bite. We decided to pack up and try for a hike in lake we heard about that guaranteed huge fish. Well we got into some nasty 4x4ing and just couldn't find the way in. So plan B had us at Irish lake a lake we had heard got winter kill last year and was not producing any fish but we decided to try to finish off the day there.

Well the fishing was slow at first but then bang I got a huge fish on. He jumped out of the water right away and the mouths dropped on all the guys around me. It was huge and took a huge run right off the bat. I reeled the fish to the surface and he bolted again peeling line off my reel until I was into my backing (reserve line) Well just as he was peeling line off my reel stopped spinning and the line was all caught up. I quickly wrapped my pointer finger around my fly line and the backing snapped away from my line. So now I have this fish on the fly line that is barely wrapped around finger and he wants to make another run. I hold my finger tight to the fly line as he bolts for the bottom of the lake straight down. I figure he will break off with all that pressure but he didn't. I was able to start stripping in my line by hand now instead of by the reel. I get a huge pile of line stripped into my lap and off he goes again headed for the bottom. All the line I just stripped in fly's through my rod and then I get a huge tug on my finger as it gets to the end. I hold firm and begin stripping in again so by the time I strip in the entire length of fly line he is finally done and I'm able to net my prize a 4.7 pound rainbow trout and bring him home. I got him on the stringer and floated around while I fixed my fly line and attached it back onto my backing and reel. During my repairs I got to watch one of my buddies catch a somewhat smaller fish and then a good sized 3.2 pounder. We all tried for a while longer but eventually it started to get dark and he packed it in for the day.

Once back to camp all the talk was about my huge fish and that I was a shoe in for the biggest fish trophy. It felt good but I tried not to let it go to my head. I also was a shoe in for another prize of best fishing story due to my reel mishap. I shared that prize with another buddy as he was crazy enough to strip down and wade into a lake that day to retrieve a fishing lour he had just bought and hooked onto a log. That water must have been pretty cold but us fishermen are crazy that's for sure.

Day three had us packing up camp and hitting another lake before we came home. Well Irish it was as everyone else wanted a crack at a big fish like mine. One buddy caught a small one but that was it so we just slowly came back in and called it done for the weekend. With a big smile and a shiny trophy I headed home to the family I love.

The Great Coal Rush

2009-05-28T23:24:00.000-07:00

What can I say about such an awesome event, Dustanne an I had an amazing time. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves each and every minute of the event. To sum it all up I am going to share with you my post for just one of the 34 amazing caches we found that weekend which pretty much says it all. May 16 by TESKELLY (896 found) FTF May 16th 2009. Ok this will take allot of words to describe this find so I’m sorry for those who hate long logs. Just as we were getting close to the cache we find ourselves stopped at a point as far as we could on the road. There were trucks with snow mobile trailers parked right at the beginning of snow on the road. I snuck past them and parked in front of them all in case they wanted to leave before we got back. Nothing like an angry snow mobiler who can't go home cause of a 4x4 is blocking his way. So with that nightmare smartly averted we surveyed what challenge we had before us. The distance didn't seem so bad and the area had not even one foot print to be seen ten feet ahead of where the snowmobiles took off from. I looked at Best Red and said to her in as confident a voice as I could muster "If we do this cache I can guarantee you an FTF on this one as I believe no one has been there yet". I know I know what a huge chance I was taking of being wrong and getting the beating of a life time from my wife if I was. Somehow though it all just felt right in my heart that we would truly succeed. So we loaded up with water, food, and an emergency kit into my pack just to be safe and wrote down our departure time of 2:35pm on a card for the dash of my truck. Off we went and well it started off kind of sloppy as we were sinking down a foot or so with every step. We quickly figured out that if we followed the snowmobile tracks we only sunk down every so often as the snow was somewhat compacted from their tracks. Although this was working somewhat we did notice each time we sunk down it was getting deeper and deeper. We past a side road on our right at about 1.4 miles away from the cache but did not see any snow mobile tracks going down that road and the cache was still showing somewhere along the road we were on. I said let’s continue straight and we did until the compass arrow finally took a turn to our right and was showing 500ft to the right into the forest going downhill. Well we looked for an entrance into the forest or any signs of a trail but could not find one. I looked at Best red and said that the snow would get much deeper if we try to hike into the cache from here and it was a long 500 feet if we were going to even try. She agreed that was asking too much and she opted to head back to the other road and see if that would get us closer. We got back to that side road we found on the right of us and decided we would walk down a way’s to see if the countdown to the cache improved and it did. So we were back on the hunt to find the cache. A little ways down we got a reading of about 500ft or so and we saw what we were looking for a trailhead sign naming the lake. I yelled out yes honey there it is the entrance to the lake trail. Well we looked down the trail and again I said to my wife it’s going to get allot deeper in there once we set in. She being the trooper that she is said that’s fine lets go. We took a first big step each and sunk down to the bottom of our hips. I said to Best Red we will have to take pictures of this first step when we come back up. She agreed and we continued on. As we were trekking in I could hear running water under the snow every so often but couldn’t quite judge exactly where the running water was under the snow so I proceeded to sink down and step into the rushing water under the snow about half a dozen times along the trail. 450 feet or so later and I could see a green roofed structure ahead. This became comforting as it was now 3:23 and the clouds were rolling in and it was getting darker out. By no means was it sunset yet, however the light change was significant enough that we wanted to hurry up and get done with finding this cache. At this point I also started to hear the freaky creaking of the trees that sent shivers down my spine. There was quite the gust of wind blowing across the still frozen lake which wasn’t helping the situation. We zeroed out at the structure which was now discovered as a snowmobilers open concept cabin. Inside was a wood burning stove and a few other furniture pieces. My hunt began and took like what seemed forever but I just couldn’t find the cache. We didn’t have any info with use as far as a hint goes so we were starting to get discouraged. The wife was getting mad and at one point mentioned we were not leaving here until we find it as she was NOT accepting a DNF on this hugely fought adventure. I kept looking and looking until bingo I found it. We opened up the ammo can with HUGE anticipation and I gasped and shouted out yahoo first to find. My wife broke out in a huge smile and threw up her hands for a big high five. I can’t remember the last time we were so closely bonded in excitement for an achievement we shared together and I felt so proud to have her with me accomplishing this together. She was such a trooper and didn’t complain even once during all the trouble she was having keeping up to me on this trek as she endured soaken feet, a few falls face first into hip deep pockets of snow, and many painful knee twists during some of those falls. Well it was now 4:15pm and I said we better get back before someone notices we have been gone over two hours. We came out the same way we went in and made it back to the truck by about 5:15pm. We looked at each other and I thanked her for being so brave and taking on the challenge. I also told her I loved her and felt very proud to be her husband. We kissed and climbed into the truck and smiled the entire way back to the tent with a deep sense of accomplishment and pride on a truly awesome adventure indeed.

Abbotsford Cito event

2009-05-06T07:44:00.000-07:00

Well it went off without a hitch. The weather was perfect as there was a nice breeze and just enough cloud cover so the sun didn't burn a hole through us. There were about a dozen cachers who came out to attend my very first Cito event (Cache in trash out) and helped clean up the park around Albert dyke lake. My hidden prize containers where a hit and the kids had a blast running around all over the park. Best Red (Dustanne) and I each hid a brand new geocache in the park which was a bonus for those who came out. The kids hard hats donated by Lafarge were fun as even a few of the adults where wearing them for kicks.

The same morning before my Cito there was a Flashmob event being held at another park close by so we got up early to attend that one before heading over to the lake. What's a Flashmob you ask? It's a quick 15 minute event where a spot outside is chosen as ground zero, then a mass group converges to it at a designated time. Once gathered we do a few quick activities, draw for some prizes, and sign a log book. Then exactly 15 minutes later we all dispearse leaving the area empty again. In and out like a flash if you will.

Looking back I can definitely say it was a busy weekend with all the preperation that was involved and of coarse the event itself seemed to fly by. With that said I still am glad we did it and will be looking forward to attending or perhalps organizing another one next year.

Wack Area Event.

2009-04-25T11:14:00.000-07:00

Well I just successfully held my first Geocaching event. I am a part of a forum called "Wack Area Geocaching". the groups plan is to hold a get together event every 2 months just to gather with friends and talk about Geocaching. My event was the second one to be held. My beautiful wife held the first one and it was hugely attended. I followed just a little over two months later and even though we decided as a gruop the events would not have anything special done at them like prize draws or contests I wanted mine to be memberable somehow. Well Lord willing I got an extra special "Will Attend" post that would do just that.

It just happened that a special Geocaching duo was in town doing some local caching and would be able to attend before returning home to the Kootenay’s. The Kootenay’s you say well it must be the one and only Kootenay Pirates. Yes it was indeed you see this Geocaching couple are the current Geocache find leaders in the province and very close to the top finders in Canada. They have found well over 6200 geocaches since starting way back in the 80’s.

That seemed to put the icing on the cake so to speak for the event. They sat in the back corner and I introduced them so everyone attending would know who they were. Well they didn’t even move an inch the whole event as Geocacher after Geocacher waited for their chance to sit with them and talk shop. It’s not every day you have the chance to meet such a seasoned couple of Geocachers as they are. To put it in respective most of us are lucky to have 500 to a 1000 finds. Once in a while we run into a few that have 2000 or more.

I have been wanting to hold an event for a while now so I could have the recognition and experience of saying I have done it. Well that’s accomplished so now I plan on a different style of event in a few weeks known as a Cito event. This style of event is a park land clean up event that geocachers all over the world hold yearly to give back to the environment in which we play. I chose an area that has some history to it as it once was a gravel pit used by the Lafarge Cement Company that they converted into a lake and park area for the public to use. They are the main sponsor for the event along with the British Columbia Geocaching Association with the many Geocaching stores that support them through prise donations. The Cito I will leave for its own blog post once completed so for now I am off to find some more Tupperware in the woods.

Tailspin Rally

2009-03-30T00:55:00.000-07:00

What an awesome event we went to this weekend. It's like the Amazing Race for Geocachers. Our team was comprised of Dustanne and Myself along with 2 other geocaching couples the Curnews and the two ladies known as Tite Lines. All six of us trudged through the rain and muck to each geocache and preformed various task at each one.

Some of those tasks included puzzle making, maze solving, picture coloring, but my most memorable one was the rubber dingy ride Sharron and I took to a small island on Butzen lake to find a cache. This was the first cache to start the day and it was raining so needless to say we got soaked from the knees down to start off the race. It didn't take long though to semi dry up and with all the hussling I never managed to get cold.

We had a passport book we had to fill with stamps from each cache to prove we were there and had found it. We got them all and placed 6th out of 20 teams. Not bad for a day's work. This was the second year Dustanne and I have participated and we can't wait for next years rally to improve our placement.

At least this time it wasn't my whole family trying to navigate the waters of the Burrard inlet panicking all the way there and back as the current was taking us farther and farther away from the location we needed to get too. We learned alot that day and this time around it was smooth sailing.

Fearcacher 101

2009-03-14T11:45:00.000-07:00

What an interesting evening. This event tops any other I have been too. It was also the largest crowd I have seen at an event. The night was full of creepy things, hotel exploring, and all out gooeyness. The kids had an absolute blast to the point of almost being uncontrolable. Think about it a kid let loose inside a hotel to explore. I only could dream of something that fun to do when I was a kid and to be able to stick my hands into gooey things what a blast. The Contant team was able to complete the whole challenge and earned our Fearcacher 101 certificate of completion yah team. Well I will leave you with a picture movie of some of the fun things we got into and saw. I can't wait to see if this comes again in the future as I will definitely be there.

I'm a twitterer!

2009-02-23T23:09:00.000-08:00

How many of you out there are into this Twitter thing. I found this site online a while back and I’m hooked. It's kind of like you status board on Facebook where you type something to let others know how you’re doing, what you’re doing, or just what's going on. You sign up with an identity and then start posting. You’re limited to a certain amount of characters or letters so as to keep the posts short. You can follow other twitterer's and see what they are posting and they can follow you to read your posts. Oh ya I should get the terminology correct they are not know as posts but as "Tweet's" funny hey. I guess the best part about this site is that you can have it on your smart phones like the iPhone or Blackberry and when in a meeting or on the bus and your bored you can send a tweet or catch up on other twitterer's tweet's. Yikes say that 10 times fast. So if you’re interested check it out and follow me.

http://twitter.com/kellycontant

Events this weekend

2009-02-22T21:57:00.000-08:00

Well what a weekend indeed. First thing Saturday morning I attended a fishermans breakfast with about 30 of my fellow fly fishermen from church. We had a huge breakfast and they announced our yearly fly fishing weekend destination of Sheridan lake. This will be the third and final year for that area as we plan on fishing Roche lake for the 2010 trip. I am excited though as I have been trying to get my brother to come up with me and fish Higgins Lake for three years now and this time I believe he is coming. This little lake has consistently provided a 30+ fish day for us all for two years running. Kirk has never experienced that many fish in a day and I really want to provide that kind of experience for him. Directly after the fishermans breakfast I was off to a Geocaching 101 event where I had the opportunity to take out a brand new to geocaching couple and their daughter to a pair of close by geocaches. It was fun watching them experience finding the caches and showing them how to use thier GPS. Once back to the event room I had the pleasure of showing some of the attendees the iPhone geocaching application. My presentation was well received and I fielded quite alot of questions. I really enjoyed doing the presentation and teaching a couple new people all about my beloved hobby of Geocaching. Sunday we attended the Coquitlam Geocaching 101 event and had a chance to catch up with a few of our geocaching buddies from that area and I got to take out yet another newbie and show him the ropes. I think I am really starting to enjoy this teaching thing. Missed my calling perhaps? Who knows hey.

PS: Oh ya I also was lucky enough to get three FTF's (First to Finds) on three brand new just published Geocaches to top off a wonderful weekend.

Caching with a newbie

2009-01-26T20:03:00.000-08:00

Well it's been a while as it was a slow, snowy, and cold December and January. It looks like we might get another blast soon as they are calling for more snow tonight. Anyways we have been getting out for a few caches here and there and I have started my winter fly tying albeit a bit late this year. Still I have plenty of time before the lakes thaw to fill my fly boxes. I got a new 4wt rod and reel thanks to a fellow cacher and fly fisher Northlang of Galilee Fly Shop. Can't wait to get out there and try some casts with the new setup.

We recently had the priviledge of sharing some first caches with one of geocachings newest members brfoster. He tagged along with the Contants (that's us)to a few caches in the Chilliwack area. Boy did we have fun. I also at the same time got to test out geocaching with my new iPhone. Not to bad of an experience but it does lack in battery life when on long walk geocaches.

Best Red and I have had the pleasure of and are currently Beta testing an up and coming geocaching application for the iPhone soon to be released. A fantastic application to say the least with many great features. Well that's all I have for now. Stay tuned as I update you on a few caches I am working on and I'll try to get some of my fly tying creations into a photo show for you and post it up here on the blog.

Cheer's for now & until then keep on cachin or castin.

Lucky Lounging Legion Cheerers

2008-12-20T22:46:00.000-08:00

Man did we ever have fun. We are getting to know so many people that we chat with now. It's funny to watch the shuffle of people every so many minutes as they are tring to see everyone for a little chat and cheer. Dustanne (Best Red)was having a blast and even won a nice big plush koala bear Travel Bug that Catapult Jeff ever so cleaverly stole away from her. She made this pouty face that I will never forget which made me almost pee my pants with laughter. Together he and I decided we would have some fun and make the bear a keep away from Dustanne TB. I activated it and gave it to Jeff to take on a trip then hand off to the next person. Should be lots of fun watching were it goes and who it see's for the next little while.

700

2008-12-13T21:30:00.000-08:00

Well I finally got there. Number 700 and counting. I have been creeping up on this one for quite a while now. With the weather getting crappier and the day light hours shorter and shorter I have been slower to get to this milestone than others in the past. On top of that I have been keeping busy with a brand new job stealing my daytime hours away but I cannot complain as I feel as though I have found a job I can truly grow into and look forward to a 20 or 30 year career life ahead of me.

As some of you know I have also been concentrating on placing caches rather than finding them as I just wrapped up hiding an 11 cache series this past month and a half. That meant many a night after work searching for 11 separate locations worthy of a cache placement including the best possible spot for the final cache location. The sites all seemed to go over well with all who found them so well in fact that I have decided to start work on another series with a much different twist to it this time. A multi cache series with a mystery ending. I haven't seen a series like it so far in my travels that involve all the caches in the series as multi's with a mystery final. The average series has a mix of mostly regular caches with perhaps one or two of them as multi's or mysteries. So I am hoping to create a first in the geocaching world with these ones.

I am planning to put forth quite a bit of research into each of these caches and will be raising the difficulty levels on them much higher than I normally do on one of my caches in hopes of maximising the enjoyment for everyone who takes on the challenge of finding them. I know that these ones will not make everyone happy who decide to try and find them but this series is going to be geared towards those who love a difficult challenge and the thrill of finding the cache once the effort has been made in completing the challenge of each mission. Stay tuned!

Buttons

2008-11-19T22:34:00.001-08:00

Not sure how many of you have seen these in local caches as of late. I have these awesome custom buttons made up at World Caching in Port Coquitlam. I sent in a black and white template and they came up with the awesome color scheme for me. I have a new batch being made so let me know if you haven't found one yet as I would love to send one your way.

Shoo Fly Don't Bother Me

2008-11-19T17:18:00.001-08:00

Well I haven't been on many adventures as of late. I have been busy placing caches rather than finding them. The latest a whole series consisting of 10 regular caches and a puzzle cache final. The caches have a fly fishing theme to them as I have been really missing fly fishing as of late.

Now that the winter season is upon us the fishing will become very slow. Although we have the luxury here in the lower mainland of soft water (No Ice). I just might be able to get in a few Saturday mornings of fishing to hold me over until spring. Working with this series has given me the desire to dust off the fly tying table and get to tying some new patterns for next season.

This geocaching series has been fun to watch unfold so far and I am excited to find out who will be among the first to finish them all and win themselves one of the prize packs I have put together. Eight out of the ten have been release so only time will tell who will succeed.

Lights Out in Lynden Geocaching Event

2008-11-02T21:39:00.001-08:00

What a fantastic time we had down in Lynden. There was a huge crowd at the event in anticipation of the great geocaches we were all set to find once the meet and greet potluck was finished. The food was good and the comraderie fantastic. The kids had a great time playing and seeing the other kids again that they met at the last event. They even scored a few goodies to take home along with the ever popular glow sticks for the creepy night caching to come. The caches certainly did not disappoint as each had an excellently creepy theme to them and this time around they were all loggable caches to boot. We were able to find all thirteen and even had the FTF on three of them as well. I can't wait until the next event and will definitely attend next years Halloween event for sure.

The Coins have arrived

2008-10-17T02:40:00.000-07:00

About 2 months ago my wife was telling me about these coins she bought for us that we can hand out in caches or to fellow cachers we meet. Well they have finally arrived. Unfortunately they are not trackable but hey they are for keepsakes right. So keep an eye out for these little Parrots at a cache near you soon or if I bump into you ask me for one while supplies last. Well it's been at least a week since my last post but nothing has really been happening as of late. We have been going out when needed to find the 100 Acre woods series caches we are working on as they are being released. Dustanne and I did find a couple spots for her to place some caches which have already been released and the FTF done within hours as usual. There must be a placement slowdown cause I can't remember ever having a cache submitted and released the same day let alone just 2 hrs after being submitted. Well I'll sign off and hope to see you out on the trail in the very near future.

When Animals Attack 61

2008-10-07T13:01:00.000-07:00

You never know what might happen when out Geocaching. What surprises you will run into on the trail or deep in the bush. For one Turtle it was an all familiar horror. An animuggled geocache.

This was not his first experience with the true horror of what he was about to witness. Torn flesh and puncture wounds all throughout the body. What kind of creature could do such harm. This mystery we may never know but at least he knew he had the skills and knowledge necessary to do something about it.

From this reporters view it looked like a complicated and detailed operation requiring highly tuned skills, a steady hand, and the use of all the latest specialised equipment. The surgeon had some emergency transplant materials brought in to complete the life threatening surgery. After many procedures and a few tense moments the surgery was complete. Although a complete success this geocache will soon have to be retired and a new one brought in to replace him. He has done his duty and will receive an honourable discharge for his services in the fulfillment of joy and accomplishment felt in all who found him.

Lions, Tigers, and Bears oh my!

2008-09-27T20:34:00.000-07:00

Well we were out doing a little bit of caching today and we finally had our first Bear sighting. Luckily it was while we were still in the van and not on the trail. This gave me enough courage to stop and take some pictures as they were way to busy eating whatever was on the ground in this Port Coquitlam backyard. They seemed uninterested in us in the least bit only looking up if i moved the van closer but then sensing no threat went right back to foraging and even lying around.

The kids were ecstatic as we seemed to sit for nearly 15 minutes watching them. My dog was whimpering as she just wanted to jump out of the van and play but alas I didn't think that would go over to well with the bears and wasn't willing to find out what would happen if I did.

Needless to say it was very exciting to finally see not one but 2 bears up close and just the way I want to find them in the van and not on the trail. I know one day we will probably run into one if we keep on travelling down trails and paths but I guess we will deal with that when it happens.

Cito's

2008-09-25T18:59:00.000-07:00

We attended two consecutive days of Cito events (cache in trash out)this past weekend. The first one in Port Coquitlam at Lions park along the Coquitlam River and the second at Iona beach by the Vancouver International Airport in Richmond. The Poco event was an albeit soggy event as it rained the entire time. Thanks to the guiders for the tents.

We managed to collect quite the pile of garbage for the event and everyone seemed to be quite cheerful considering all the rain. Perhaps that was due to the great scavenger hunt that this cleanup included. We were able to find every item on the list which made the kids very excited indeed. Another bonus perhaps was the addition our team contributed in the form of a wonderful birthday cake we provided to celebrate out daughters upcoming birthday. To wrap up the event a bunch of us got to head over the the world headquarters of World Caching to mull over a few items we just needed to have if you know what I mean.

The next day found us all the way out to the Airport in Richmond. We had quite the walk in to the event site and then an even longer walk if you wanted to find the caches offer near the event area. of coarse we indulged in the opportunity to find them while grabbing garbage along the way. The weather was sunny and warm a nice change from the rain the day before. I was worried the kids would last with all the walking involved at this event but they managed really well with very little complaining. It might have been the fact that they were at the beach instead of a river with sand and the ocean to play in and the amazing planes to watch coming and going from the airport.

Harrison 4x4 Run

2008-09-25T10:13:00.000-07:00

Well we all started off at my favorite place Tim Horton's for a quick breakfast as promissed. Then it was off to get gas where a few cachers were able to grab a quick PLC of my wife's before we hit the road. We all met up a the Chehalis fish hatchery parking lot to combine rides from the cars to the trucks. The road was pretty tame for the most part until the very end when it got a little more challenging to get to the final cache just before the logging camp. The weather was perfect and the views spectacular. TJGUY98 gave us a great run with alot to see and do and we look forward to another run hopefully very soon.

Tailspin Rally

2008-09-25T09:50:00.000-07:00

We recently attended this geocaching event and what an event it was. We started off in a North Burnaby parking lot and proceeded on a round trip adventure that took us into deep cove and North Vancouver and many parts of Burnaby. The cache hided were challenging with many exciting twists to solving the puzzle. My entire family attended the event and we truly learned to work together especially at the canoe cache. The day wrapped up with a wonderful barbeque atop Burnaby Mountain. We are so looking forward to the next Scruffster event as this one was a very memerable one.

Stoyoma what an adventure

2008-09-24T17:52:00.000-07:00

We had an awesome time. I haven't been 4x4ing like that in over 10 years. Sure brings me back to my glory days. We got there with very little effort and without any problems (knock on wood). The camping site at Cabin Lake (base camp for the hike to Stoyoma Mtn) suited us just fine. It was a little rough setting up in the rain but we managed.

The hike was a bit of a challenge for us newbies to terrain 5's. We went along pretty good and the Turtles gave us plenty of breaks which was nice of them as they could have just went ahead of us and had us catch up later. The trail was an even and steady climb up and around the bends until we opened up into a big bowl just before the face of the mountain.

Once we hit the face of the mountain it was an errie sight to see just how devistating the crash must have been with airplane parts strewn everywhere up and down the face of the mountain. We got to one of the main parts of the plane and found the cache. A good moment to sit and rest while signing the log and taking in the view.

With the cache found and all the pictures taken we headed back to camp. Just as we got started back it started to hail then snow. What is going on it's August for Pete sake. Well luckily I packed the jackets just in case so we were able to bundle up which was weird seeings how just half an hour ago it was sunny and hot and we were peeling layers off. The Turtle reminded us that this kind of weather change is par for the coarse for this type of altitude change. All in all it was an awesome adventure and we can't wait to go on another Tulameen Turtles adventure in the future.

Here we go. My launch into the blogging world.

2008-09-24T14:41:00.000-07:00

Finally I have entered the Blogging world. This is just the start so I hope you enjoy it and look forward to many more additions in the very near future.