Night Caching in Nesbit Park - 11/14/2011

I don't get many opportunities to go night caching with a group, so when I heard about a plan to hunt Night Time Squirrel Hunt by Tuck Sackett, Hoot Owl, Gibbenator (GCR91D) organized by jeffbouldin, I immediately signed on to go. Even though I've been on this hunt twice before, I figured it would be a fun way to spend an evening. After signing up, I checked the weather forecast for Monday - 70% chance of rain.

I checked the weather forecast at several points on Monday and each time I checked, the rain had been pushed off until later in the evening. By the end of the work day, I knew we'd be clear of rain chances, so I went home and packed my gear and relaxed before heading out to Nesbit Park.

I arrived at the parking area around 8pm, about 30 minutes early. I paced around in the dark until nelms3 pulled up. The others (jeffbouldin, giardia_boy, and shandrum) all arrrived just before 8:30pm. My understanding for our late start was that we were waiting for bitbrain to get off of work, but it turned out that he couldn't make it, so just after 8:30pm, we set off into the woods.

[ heading into the unknown ]

I figured that since I have found the cache before, I'd hang out in the back and watch the others spot the tacks. I was prepared though, with Gatorade, a hand-held flashlight, a headlamp, and a small LED flashlight. It had been a few years since my last visit and it seemed like there were a few more ditches and gulleys than I remembered. The temperature was moderate - around 68 degrees, and there were few bugs out (other than spiders).

[ nelms3 lights up one of the many spiders we came across ]

Since there had been no rain, the terrain challenges were minimized. Still, stumbling around in the dark has its risks. I had no memory of how many sets of tacks we passed or how many trails we crossed - only a rough time estimate of how long it should take.

[ some of the gulleys were deep ]

Finally after about 50 minutes of hiking, I heard the sound of an ammo can being opened. I looked over and saw the jeffbouldin had discovered the cache. He signed the log, replaced it, and stood back to let the others eventually find it. It took some a bit longer, but eventually everyone found the cache and signed the log.

[ nelms3, jeffbouldin, giardia_boy, and shandrum find the cache ]

Invigorated by success, the group decided to hunt a few other caches before leaving the park. We found CWL003 - Bartlett Stash by CWL (GCG409), Just Off The Yellow Trail
by cgeek (GC1AJ9F), Tango Base Three by ttowery (GCN5R8), and Stanky Creek
by itsmebigd (GC16NMB) - not in that order. It was a good selection of caches, and two of the four caches were among the oldest in the park.

Because it was getting late, we deviated from the Yellow Trail when we got fairly close to the parking area and ended up leaving the park just after 11pm.