On Sunday, I tried out a new place that seemed to have some nice hiking trails and was saturated with a ton of geocaches. It didn't disappoint. Nick was with our co-raisers so it was just Hope and I and we had a wonderful day. We hiked about 5 miles and found 12 geocaches. It was so good to be out hiking again.
I thought it was going to be a cold day as when we left Folsom, it was cold, misty, and foggy. Cronan Ranch is in Pilot Hill off of Highway 49, but I guess above the fog line as it was sunny when we arrived. It didn't take long after Hope and I started our hike that I was peeling off my fleece jacket and long-sleeved shirt. I ended hiking the whole day in a short-sleeve shirt; hard to believe it is December! I guess the day wasn't so nice in Folsom as when we got home, it was still foggy and cold; glad we went for the hike instead!
We went up a trail called West Ridge Trail that slowly climbed uphill and gave us a great view of the valley around us as well as a great view of the South Fork of the American River far below. This was an area of the river where I've rafted before. I even saw the famous "Lollipop Tree" that I learned about while rafting, it is a tree all by itself at the top of a hill that resembles a lollipop that marks the beginning of the "Gorge Run" on the South Fork where all the fun Class III rapids begin.
Since it had been so long since I have gone caching, I was wondering if I would have my "geo-sense" to find any caches, but I found every one I looked for that day. It was nice to be out caching and hiking again, although my lungs are nowhere near the shape they were in when I was training for my trip to Peru. Geez, am I ever out of shape!
I really enjoyed spending some quality time with Hope too, she was happy to be off leash for most of the hike and stayed right next to me most of the time. Not bad for a dog who used to bolt and had no recall as a puppy. I did have to put her on leash a bunch as there were lots of horses sharing the trail (and lots of horse poop to step over).
And speaking of horse poop....here was the first geocache we found, it was called "End Result"...get it?
Hope sniffing it out and wondering is it real or is it a geocache?
Hope says it's the "End Result" alright! The hint for the cache was "don't step on it" and the container was a metal container hollowed out underneath the fake horse poop. Too funny...some people are way too creative.
Here's a little video I took showing where we hiked...We had a great day and it was nice to be out on the trails again!
1 comment:
Way cool video! It was great to see the hills again - and to know that you're still out hiking them.
Terry - 90 degrees in El Salvador
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