Geocaching and the Night Cache

Good morning everyone.  As the year draws to a close, what area has been the busiest placing new geocaches?  Here in Canada, Ontario is the leader in that category (they also have a larger geocacher population) with 5,686 new listings.  Manitoba ranks 7th in Canada with 1,298 so far with three days remaining.  Down South, (no surprise here), California tops the list with 7,866 new listings.  Texas is second with 6,964.  North Dakota is in the 40th spot with 377 new geocaches.

A couple of weeks ago, I was inspired to attempt a newer night cache that's here in the city.  This came about from the last Cache Advance Cache Crate I received that was night cache themed.  My plan was to go Friday after my staff Christmas party, but I stayed longer than planned and the park closes at 10pm, if they actually close the park.  There are gates to close off the park, but I'm just not sure if they will actually close them.  It's a park that I'm not too familiar with, but based on what they do at Kildonan Park (they do close the gates for that park) I didn't want to be trapped inside the park.  I did make my way over there early Sunday evening.

I have done night caches before.  They are fun to do if it's set up properly.  I remember the first night cache I attempted.  I got as far as the third fire tack and lost sight of any beyond that point.  I never did finish that one, and it's now archived.  Another one that I did, I did it with another geocacher, AF Girl and her dog Romeo.  We kept losing sight of the fire tacks, but somehow managed to pick up the trail again.  I'm not really sure how we found the final, but we did.  That one is also archived.

I arrived at the parking lot shortly past 5:30pm.  The night cache I'm attempting is 'Crescent Park Fireflies (Night Cache)'  GC8EBM3.  It took a few minutes to locate the first fire tack.  My girlfriend, sm66 had messaged me just as I was starting the night cache.  That becomes relevant later.  Off I go, following the trail of 'fireflies'.

You can see one of the 'fireflies' on the tree, near the top of the picture, above where my flashlight is pointing.  That had to have taken some effort to place the tacks that high up.  Having them lower might be hard to find in the summer months when all the foliage is in full bloom.

Off I go, meandering around on the trails.  With this park, there are several trails that dissect the wooded area and crisscross with each other.  There was a few times where I had found a 'firefly', carried on down the path to nothingness.  Backtrack to the last 'firefly' I had spotted and discover that the trail took a turn onto a different path.  

I'm guessing that the reflective tape I spotted on the fence was part of the trail.  It did guide me along until I lost sight of them.  At this point, I did notice a muggle coming up from behind with his dog.  He was curious as to what I was up to.  I explained that I'm following a series of markers that will only show up at night.  Turns out he knows about geocaching as a co-worker use to do it.  Cool.  We parted ways and I backtracked to the last 'firefly' that I had found.  That's when I discovered that the trail took a hard turn to the left.  Back on course, I was able to follow the tacks for a bit, until I hit a fork in the path.  Do I go left or right?  It's a 50/50 chance that I'll either be right or wrong with my choice.  I chose to go right.  After going a small distance and not seeing anymore 'fireflies', I concluded I made the wrong choice and went back to the fork in the path.  Now I'm taking the left path.  After going a small distance that way, I couldn't see anymore 'fireflies'.  What the (fill in the blank)?  Back to the fork in the path.  I pull out the phone and pull up the cache page for this nightcache.  The final is marked with three standing on guard.  Only one log mentioned anything about losing the tacks, but finding the cache and a geo-trail.  Back down the path to the right, looking for 'fireflies' that maybe off the actual path.  I even checked out a couple of lesser deer trails.  Nothing.  Back tp the fork and double check the path to the left.  Other trails intersect this trail, but no sign of another 'firefly'.  Back and forth I go until I finally toss in the towel.  I'm DNFing a night cache.

I head back down the path that went to the left to return to the parking lot.  I did hear some noise in the bush.  Four deer have crossed my path.  That is one thing that I like about geocaching.  Coming across wildlife in their habitat.  When I returned to my car, I noted the time was just over an hour after I got that message from sm66.  I'm thinking that I spent about half an hour going back and forth on those two paths looking for 'fireflies'.

Will I come back and take another crack at this night cache?  I don't know.  Geocaching isn't just about finding the hidden container, it's also about the adventure.  Even though I didn't find this one, it was still fun while it lasted.  Until next week, be happy, be safe, hug your geo-pets, enjoy life, and most of all, have fun.  Peace out.

(can I not sit in peace without you taking my picture?)