Current at 11/6/2011 (Online waypoint URL) You have already found this cache! Master Index    Nearest Caches #17 by georgette (1/1.5) (Archived) N50° 00.437  W96° 54.980 (WGS84) UTM  14U   E 649302  N 5541521 Use waypoint: GC1HTTW Size: Regular    Hidden on 11/2/2008 In Manitoba, Canada Difficulty:     Terrain:         This is our typical ammo cache. It is not located on a trail system and the best way is to enter from the field. Major bushwacking is not neccessary. Please tread lighty and trade fairly!

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6/14/2009 by Kabuthunk
Man, do I ever wish that I had read the cache description prior to going after the geocache. Major bushwhacking may not be necessary if done correctly, but I evidently had taken a completely different path than was intended. However, there was little to no 'whacking' involved, but it required a looooooot of detouring down animal trails and weaving in and out of dense, bushy areas.

And so, we begin our long, long, winding journey to the cache. Since I had just finished finding the "Kudlowich 2 - a Hunk o' Junk" cache to the Southeast, I was coming up towards this cache by way of the road. I was actually completely unfamiliar with any other roads on the other side of the bushes, and thought it was pretty much all boggy forest until you started to get close to the lake. Mental note... come out to Bird's Hill Park more often and get to know the area better .

Anyhow, after following the curve of the road and finding I was getting no closer than about 250 meters, I was also somewhat dismayed to see that there was no packed bike trails leading into the forest like in so many other places throughout the park. Thus, picking a decently large animal path, I headed inwards! Not long after getting down the trail, I had to dismount my bike and walk the rest of the way with the bike beside me. Which, for the record, made it a lot more difficult to weave my way down animal trails. Thankfully, virtually all branches were over my head, and I had little problems getting my bike through any of the 'tighter' spots. On one or two occasions, I ended up having to hoist the bike onto my shoulders to avoid tearing up the bushes. But all in all... workable, but probably took about 20 times the effort than it should have . This cache was rated as a 1.5 terrain? Oh, I probably jacked that up to a 2 or 2.5 with my route .

But... after a solid half-hour of weaving my way through the trees, I began to near the cache. Sweating, tired, and slightly scratched up, I soon found myself at the cache container. I had to leave my bike about 20 meters away, since there was a fairly dense wall of bushes between the path I had chosen and the coordinates. However, signing up the logbook, I tossed in a chainmail ball (my last regular-size one to boot!) and signed the logbook.

Of course, since I found the cache container so easily, I never thought to check my palm pilot for the cache description. Thus, having zero knowledge of a ridiculously easy path to leave the area, I went back to my bike, and... you guessed it... made my long, long, long way out back the way I came .

I think that for this cache, it was probably nearly an hour spent on it alone. Or maybe it just felt that long... after all, the road IS only about 250 meters from the cache (although I probably turned that into 750 or 1000 with my weaving). I can't recall if I ever checked my watch during this time.

In either case, thanks for the interesting adventure, and a lesson I shan't soon forget. Although I can't say that TOO much, since two caches from now, I'd end up repeating nearly the same thing... except it was only in one direction, not both .

Took: Nothing
Left: Logbook entry and chainmail ball