Great Geocaching Trail Ride

Nearly a dozen new Geocachers took advantage of the Mountain Trails Foundation’s Geocaching Trail Ride Saturday, Aug. 4, logging eight training cache finds plus a ‘first time find’ (FTF) on the new Snyderville, UT ! Geocache on the Mountain Trails network at Old Ranch Road. And a big thanks to our young co-instructor Max, who at age 12 is already a veteran.

The class focused on learning how to use a GPS receiver and your mind to find hidden Geocaches. It was an excellent introduction added to the enjoyment of a beautiful day on the Mountain Trails network.

The morning started out at Starbucks at Kimball’s Junction with last-minute uploading of waypoints into everyone’s Garmins. It was a clean sweep for Garmin, with a mix of eTrex Legends and Vistas, plus some GPS Map’s. The group then headed out for the Swaner Nature Preserve cache with Chris and Michelle making the initial find. It was a good learning cache with most everyone getting their first crack at the ‘GO TO’ function of the GPSr.

The group then headed back the trail to Newpark and the Newpark Mining History micro. We had figured this one might be a bit challenging, but the group zeroed right in on it. Watch for Newpark Mining History to be activated shortly on Geocaching.com. Plus, watch for a very challenging cache, Let There Be Light, just a short distance away.

Then it was on to what proved to be the most exciting cache of the day, The Boardwalk. We love the trail and boardwalk around the western perimeter of the Swaner Nature Preserve. It was funny at The Boardwalk as nearly every group member had their hand actually on the cache but didn’t know it, starting with Max’ mom Kim. It was finally Max who figured it out.

Tumbleweed had to apologize for errant waypoints on the next two caches, Neighborhood Bridge and Swaner Nature Preserve South. But the group still had fun and had a great learning experience on how tricky cache hides can be with Neighborhood Bridge. Watch for that one to be activated too — but only after we figure out the right coordinates!

With five training caches under their belts, the group was ready to tackle the big prize of the day. A new cache had been hidden just two days earlier on the trail at Old Ranch Road. One Geocacher had logged a DNF a day earlier, so we figured the sheer numbers of our group would help. Wow, was this one tough! The coordinates put us right in the middle of Old Ranch Road with heavy Saturday morning traffic. At one point we split the group on both sides of the road. All of a sudden, another car pulls up and another group of visiting Geocachers joined us for the hunt. We dodged ants on both sides of the road before young Max, persistent as he was, made the find of the teeny, tiny micro.

The trail ride continued with Phantom Riders, Creekside (soon to be activated) and McPolin Farm before the group broke up.

A big thanks to Carol Potter of Mountain Trails Foundation for her enthusiasm, and for a great group of new Geocachers! We also all had the opportunity to meet Frank Youngman who is developing his second sound garden for Mountain Trails at a location within a few feet of the McLeod Creek Cache.

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