Cadyville Fun Time

Looks like I’m getting behind on our adventures. No more delaying, on with the show!
On the 28th of May we made our way to the rec park in Cadyville. I was happy to find out that not only did this park have geocaches but it also has a disc golf course. Colette and I played disc golf in Ohio before we moved and we’re really looking forward to playing again.
DamnVanns 12th
Our first stop of the morning was at a cache aptly named Trail Side. It was a nice size container that was placed on an incline between two trails. With Zaiden on my back I was unable to get to the GZ but Zoey and my mother got there with no problem. It was a nice size container and as usual Zoey really enjoyed looking at all the treasure.
Forbidden Forest
On the opposite side of the park we continued our geocaching hunt. The woods were very well travelled and there are a ton of trails. As a result we had some trouble getting to where we needed to be. Unfortunately Forbidden Forest seems to be missing or wasn’t put back properly because we couldn’t find it. I saw a picture of the cache itself later and there was no way we missed a container that size.

Trail Side
Oddly enough the hiding spot for this cache was blatantly obvious. Either the muggles in this park are very forgiving or people only look at what is in front of them. The hiding spot is only about 15 feet off several trails and hidden in a very suspicious manner. Regardless it was a lot of fun to find. At this time Zoey decided that she was going to have a drama-filled day which would ultimately lead to cutting our day short.

Cadyville Park #2
Last find of the day was a good ways into the massive network of trails. As I mentioned before Zoey decided to be dramatic and cried our entire walk. This cache was another traditional hide in one of my favorite hiding spots. We grabbed it quickly and hurried our way back to the car to attempt to quell Zoey.

Inside the Blue Line

On May 19th Colette and I got a date day. My mother was gracious enough to watch the kids for us while we headed south toward Lake George in an attempt at a fairly difficult multi-cache called Tongue Wagger.

Schroon Overlook
On our way to Lake George we stopped at a southbound rest stop. The view from the elevated area was very nice and the rain had left some pretty scenery. This was a magnetic micro and was a quick find.

This multi-cache is located on the Tongue mountain range beside Lake George and has only been finished a handful of times. Unfortunately for us it decided to pour the entire time we were there so we decided to call off our hike only 2 hours or so into it. We were prepared for everything but non-stop rain.

The ponchos were originally swag!

We figured we would take advantage of the situation and at least get some caches that were south of us. After some exploring of the Lake George and Queesnbury areas we started after some park and grabs!

The Route 9 Building
Named such because it is a building on Route 9. Apparently it is an information station for campers heading into the nearby RV camp. Regardless it's home to a cache which Colette ended up finding. Fortunately we read the logs in advance because they warned us about the unstable terrain!

Welcome to Lake George
A very creative hide! I didn't need to get out of the car to grab it and Colette was very surprised to hear where it was hiding. Very, very cool!

Village Park Quick Cache
This was another very awesome cache. One thing that was really cool about caching this far away from home was to see the creativity that was put into the caches. The cache is in the next photo, see if you can spot it!

Super awesome cache!

We spent a little bit of time at this park since the rain had let up some and the lake was right near by. This was one of my favorite parts of our trip.

Slim Sal visits Lake Ave Hidden Beach
Another nice park and grab. Good placement in a spot we've never seen before.

Very informative!

...and the band played on...

Our next stop was in Warrensburg, NY. This cache is located near a band stand. The area is dedicated to a gentleman which is nice, but the "park" that the band stand is on is just a bit larger than the stand itself. Hopefully he doesn't mind!

Magnetic!

I-87 NB Rest & Litter and JOE 87-25
Two quick park and grabs. the NB Rest & Litter could host a CITO event, the area itself looked like a dump! The JOE series stands for Just Off Exit which we thought was interesting!

Two Parks and a Power Line

We continued our geocaching onslaught on May 11th. This time we decided to check out the caches in a park in West Plattsburgh!

Camera Cache
Not long after Zoey and Zaiden got done playing at the park we ventured off to the nearby caches. The first cache is called Camera Cache because it consisted of a camera for cachers to document their visit to the cache. At least, it use to. Now the cache just has the pictures that were developed from the first camera that resided in the cache. This fact didn't make it any less fun to find.

Look at those handsome cachers!

Hill Side, Hill Cache, Hill Top Cache
After finally locating the trail head we started toward the first cache. The recent weather did a number since there was several downed trees. Twenty minutes later we were at the GZ for the first cache. Justin ended up finding this one which was very well camouflaged. We decided to drop off one of our geocoins here and continue on.

 The next cache was another example of doing things the hard way. We exited the trails onto a power line and followed the sand path up the hill for a bit until we found that we needed to bushwhack our way to the next cache. After a few minutes of making our way through thick foliage my mother found the next one. It was after we finished signing the log and trading swag that we noticed the other nearby power line ran right next to where it was located. Hind sight and all!

I walked right over this one!

The last cache in the series of hill related name caches was not far from where the two power line trails met. There was all sorts of fun things nearby too like "don't ride your atvs here" and "keep them atvs outta here fool" signs all over. I don't think they like atvs. Anyway this cache was also cleverly hidden and Colette was the one to find it. The placing of this was also fairly inspirational and we'd like to use a similar idea ourselves in the future.

Jport's Cumberland Micro

After enjoying ourselves we had a little time left to try for other nearby caches. I thought a new set of eyes might make this DNF go away. After reading all the logs and hints we finally found it. We had visited this cache multiple times and I was very excited to finally have the smiley on it!

Finally got you, you little bugger!

To Conquer the Park

On May 10th we set out with the intention of getting the final cache at Point au Roche State Park. We didn't have much time, but that hasn't stopped us yet.

Ram's Head?
It looks like we left the best for last because this was one of the more interesting trails in the park. Due to our time restraints we didn't get the chance to walk all the trails that led to and from Ram's Head but the main path was excellent nonetheless.

A sitting area by the lake

At the end of the path there is a rock wall that consists of a 15ft or so drop with all sorts of interesting plants on it.

Pretty red flowers

The cache is hidden not too far from it among the thick cedar trees. Colette received her first geocaching related injury when the forest tried to fight her off.

Note the red mark on forehead!

We left one of the travel bugs here and headed back to the car. This is yet another place that I would love to visit again!

Cliff Haven Cache 1

In the southern part of Plattsburgh, especially around the old base, there are several caches that we just don't know how to get to. Unfortunately some cache owners don't bother explaining how to get to a from a cache or what hoops you may need to jump through to get within range of a cache. For folks that are new to the area or may just be visiting it's kind of a turn off. After finishing with Point au Roche we tried for some of these caches. Unfortunately the only one we got to was in a park. The kids got to spend some time playing on the swings and sliding then we headed into the nearby woods to find the cache. It was quite wet so I ended up travelling in alone. 

On the plus side it was a nice big ammo can with lots of swag that the kids got to go through. 

I can see your house from here!

Another Visit to Point au Roche

It looks like I'm starting to get a little behind! Going to work on that :)

On May 5th we got started late in the day but lack of sunlight doesn't slow down cachers at all! ... Well, much. I had offered to help replace a cache for a local cacher and that was our ultimate destination. But first, Point au Roche!

Booty Point
Located on the most Southern point on the Eastern portion of the park, this cache has a fantatic hike attached to it! Round trip from parking is about 2 miles but thers never a dull moment so the time flies by! Rather than explain our trip I decided to make a video log. Enjoy!


Cherish Your Heritage
This was the cache that I offered to replace. It has been disabled since December so the New York Admin has started paying attention to it. Rather than let it be archived I decided to help the owner replace it. The Heritage Trail behind the Crete Center in Plattsburgh is a fantastic walking and biking trail. It is paved and although it closes at 9pm is completely lighted. We decided to move the cache location due to it being easily found by muggles. Hopefully soon it will be updated!

Shop and Cache #2
After hitting the grocery store we headed home. When I arrived home I was happy to see two new caches had been published and one of them was down the street! I decided to go after it but Co opted out due to being tired. I stopped by my mother's and asked her if she wanted to get a FTF. She of course said yes and we were off. After only a few minutes, most of which was waiting for the GPS to wake up, we found it. This was her first FTF!

Old and New

On May 4th we got up early, as usual when you've got young children, and knocked out some laundry as well as a cache that had popped up the night before. When we set out it had not been found yet so we might just get another FTF :)

IHP # 95 Another IHP To Make You Smile!
The IHP in the caches name stands for I Hate Puzzles. I can only imagine that they aren't the biggest puzzle fans. Thats fine because we really enjoy traditional caches! We knew where the cache was going to be when we pulled up to the boat launch and parked. This cache was similar to the one we had done just a few days before. Unfortunately we missed the FTF by one :( but we did get to trade some neat swag. Also I forgot to take a picture of the find so just imagine Colette holding a neat looking container and smiling at the camera.

Old-Time Campmeetin'
After laundry we picked up my mother and headed West. Our destination was a natural reserve called The Gulf. None of us had ever been/heard of it so that would be part of the adventure. Before we got there though we stopped in Mooers and picked up this cache. This was another older cache that has done a great job standing the test of time. It was a rather easy find due to it's size but that didn't make it any less fun! We swapped travel bugs and my mother traded some swag then we were on our way.

A rather large cache!

The Little Wooden Gulf Bridge

In the Gulf Unique Area Preserve there are a couple of well made trails. Due to the reserve being so far from anything else there is a sign in area. 

The box with sign in log

After signing in we headed down the trail we hoped would lead us to this cache. There are three caches in the area, one being a multi and the other requiring bushwhacking. Unfortunately we didn't have the time to go after the other two, but that gives us a reason to go back :) We really enjoyed the trail we hiked on. There are plenty of unique sights and land formations. There were also some very pretty flowers making their way under the tree canopy. 

When we arrived at the bridge the hunt for the cache began. 

The Little Wooden Gulf  Bridge

We were all stumped when suddenly Zoey happened upon the very well hid container. Apparently I deleted the photo of her holding the cache but she was very proud of herself! I traded a CITO kit (there was some trash on the trail which we disposed of) and the others traded their swag and placed the cache back to it's home. The hike back was just as enjoyable as the one to the bridge. We all hope to visit the Gulf again in the near future, hopefully this time we'll remember some bug spray!

They can't all be Winners

On spur of the moment we decided to try for some caches in May 3rd. There are several "clusters" of caches in various locations in Plattsburgh, NY that we aren't too sure how to get to. I thought it would be fun to try and find how to get to one set not far from where we had just finished shopping.

on the block
We "attempted" three caches today. This was the first and only "success" of our "attempts". The reason I'm quoting left and right is simple. I don't believe that the cache owners care about several of the caches in this area. The trails we went on were behind the college's baseball field. The paths are well made and focus a bit more on mountain bikes than walking or running, but that didn't stop us from enjoying them. The cache we did spot was encased in a large concrete block that I assume was part of a structure in the past. There is a pipe built into it and the cache is hiding in there. Unfortunately someone thought it fun to push the cache to the back of the pipe and it is now unreachable. We logged it as found partially due to the fact that we did find it and that it will probably never be fixed.

We also searched for three more. The first we couldn't get to because we didn't have the footwear for it and the other two are logs upon logs of DNFs due to them needing repair. Overall a fairly unsuccessful trip out, but we did find some new trails!