Treasure caching

Peter and I drove about 50 miles east of Fort Collins past the town of Ault to Highway 390 for the start of our geocaching adventure.  Our plan for the day was to meander along the Pawnee National Grasslands power trail and head north toward the town of Grover, CO picking up many caches.   Caches are hidden about a half mile apart.

 Our normal process is  to consult the GPS, count down the feet to ground zero, stop the car with both of us getting out to look for the hidden treasure. But  the constant repetition due to the relative closeness made this too time consuming.  So I took over the driving chores and  Peter hopped out each time I stopped.  He located the cache, signed the log and hopped back into the car. This worked out better.  We stayed on the dusty dirt  roads traveled only by  us and the occasional oil rig truck , cattle trailer or pick up truck.  The road followed the edge of the Pawnee National Grassland.  We saw windmills with water troughs, oil wells surrounded by cattle, prancing pronghorn antelope, grazing sheep, and cottonwood trees along an occasional stream crossing.  We are thinking that this would be a good place to come back to for pictures in the spring time.

 We discovered and signed over 120 caches for the day.  Our little blue Prius was coated with dust.  Our floor mats were plush with gravel and stones.  Exhausted and tired of the confines of our little car we head north to Wyoming (almost to the border by this time) and stop for a bite to eat at the local truck stop in Cheyenne.  All told, we set a personal record for number of caches in a day.

Upon reflection, the farmers, ranchers and settlers of this austere grassland must have been hardy, dedicated, self reliant folks.  They must have felt comfortable with themselves and have been highly motivated to endure the demands of this national  historic treasure.

Geocaching in West Bend

What do you do while you're waiting two days for your 50th Grade school reunion to happen?  When you're Peter and Renee Skiba you geocache!

We traveled to Milwaukee the second week in August to attend Peter's Grade School Reunion.  Having graduated in 1961 from St. John Kanty meant that you lived in very close proximity to about 60 other children during many of your formative years.  We learned together, we played together, we went to church together year after year.  We formed relationships that have lasted decades.  But the event was not going to happen until Saturday evening.

Since we had time on our hands we decided to participate in the 4th Annual West Bend Geocache Bash starting in Regner Park.  Geocaching is a world wide phenomenon wherein cachers seeks out hidden treasures using a Global Positioning System (GPS) device to guide them to the location of the cache.  We registered at noon on Friday with our caching handle, Pixelmagic, and learned that we were to be among a total of about 1600 teams participating in the event.  66 new caches were published specifically for this event in and around the greater West Bend area. 

Friday afternoon we headed to the northernmost caches and followed roads, trails and paths to get to the caches.  A sports themed series through the woods led us along buggy, shaded, hot trails to find a baseball cache at the end of a long branch propped against a tree and a basketball cache high in a tree trunk complete with hoop and net.  The themes and placement were well thought out and funny.  We met Dan and Vicki at registration and caught up with them in the woods.  It took some serious walking and hiking to complete 30 caches in the afternoon.

Saturday we were back in the rainy West Bend area attempting to get our share of the caches along with several hundreds more walking along the paved and not so paved trails.  We had a blast in West Bend.  Thanks for the cache.

Another adventure on Greyrock

90+ degrees here today and Peter has gone up to the Mountain for some relief. 
But he did not find it!
Just returned from about a 9 mile hike.  He claimed 2 more caches on his way up there, finished all of his water that he brought along, ripped his pants from the bushwhacking he did, but came back with a smile on his face.  Such accomplishment!  I am lucky to do my 2+ mile walk in the morning.  Has been very hot here of late.  But oh so cool in the late evening.  Wonderful sleeping weather. 

Youngs Gulch Trail

We left home this morning intent on finding at least 3 geocaches in the Poudre Canyon on the Youngs Gulch Trail. The first one was to be a multi cache with 3 parts and the 2nd and 3rd were traditional ones.

We drove to the trail head, parked, got out our walking sticks, packed up our backpacks and headed out on the trail by 9:30AM. We knew from descriptions written that we had to walk about 2 miles in and would have to cross a stream several times over. Seems to be a popular area as there were several cars in the parking lot already. Peter had hiked the complete route (8 miles round trip) a couple of days earlier to be the First to Find a new cache that was hidden on the trail.

As we came to the stream crossings, it was comforting to know that "someone" had thought ahead and placed large boulders in the water to use as stepping stones. Some were covered in water but for the most part they made the crossings easier. As I stood on one side of the stream I had to talk myself into crossing to the other side. Fear of falling is a big part of my hesitancy, but I made it.

Along the way we were blessed to find many new wildflowers blooming. Some we had not seen, but many that were known to us by name....Pasque Flower, Golden Banner, Larkspur, Shooting Stars, Colorado Columbine (first one to see this season) and the Star Flower. We're sure there were others, but too many to name. We came across many other hikers along the way with dogs of many varieties.

We only went off trail to find the clues for the caches and to grab a bite to eat. Then we pressed on to the next stop.

We were doing fine. I was counting the stream crossings and had made it to 12 without any problems. Then # 13 came along. Must have been getting tired, or it was just an unlucky number....anyhow I slipped. Landed on my left fingers and knees. Then somehow landed on my chest. Peter came to the rescue. Finger started to swell and was painful, but we had places to go....so we continued on our way! Before reaching the cache at the end of the trail, we counted a total of 18 crossings. Some more difficult than others. Later in the hike we came across another hiker who had a large "bite" taken out of his straw hat. Asked him what happened, and he said a pterodactyl swooped down and bit it off. Said he had to fight it off! We then wondered if that same pterodactyl was responsible for knocking me off the boulder in the 13th stream crossing. Amazing! So nice to have a worthy explanation of what happened and not think that it was just me being clumsy!

We did accomplish our task that we set out to do. Found all of the caches, had a wonderful hike in the wild, did not break anything and enjoyed each others company. What more could you want on a spring day in Colorado?

Visitors from Wisconsin

This week our dear friends Paul and Maris Fried stayed with us in Fort Collins, Colorado. They drove one thousand miles to visit and spend time together. We had the opportunity to show them around the Front Range and do some hiking in the Poudre Canyon. They joined us seeking out geocaches in town and in the surrounding regions.




Paul and Peter took the hike to the top of Horsetooth Rock and Renée and Maris hiked the trail to Horsetooth Falls.

Paul was able to complete a Earthcache with information he gained from signage at the top of the Rock.

The Rock overlooks the City of Fort Collins to the north.

Exploring Craig, Colorado

As it has been raining/snowing in the Steamboat Springs area we decided to head West and explore the small town of Craig, Colorado. It is about 45 miles west of here.

We did some caching for the day and actually exceeded our old record.
We are working on a 100 day straight challenge. Finding at least 1 per day for 100 straight days.
We are now up to 98 days. Really never thought we would get to this point.

There are so many places to see in the Craig area.
We started the day in the hills above Craig. Peter chose to do the climb above the town. It was muddy from all the rain and snow melt. I took pictures of him from down below. As I was waiting for Peter to come back down, 2 local police cars pulled up. Thought they were there to see if I needed any help (which I did not). Oh no, they were there to say that they had reports of "someone taking pictures of kids in the area". We were parked near the high school. I cleared up the issue. They seemed satisfied after taking my license information, but I did not like the process at all. Soon after that I drove the car to another location to pick up Peter from the other end. Sometimes local Police can be too vigilant. We have been stopped before, but not for taking pictures!

Heading back west again today as it continues to rain/snow here.

Reconnecting with Family

Wednesday morning we rose slowly. Sue and Tony still had to rearrange their personal clock for mountain time.

Following breakfast and of course the puzzles, we started to look through old pictures that had been stored in a trunk for many years. These were a mixture of pictures from Grandma and Grandpa Skiba, Sister Gabriella etc. They had at one time been in Grandma & Grandpas house. When their house was sold, we became the keepers of these memories. It was time to share with other family members who would appreciate these mememtos. Peter & Sue took charge of sorting out the pictures, and putting them into different envelopes for siblings and cousins. Sue and Tony will bring them with them when they return home. Some will be dropped off in Albuquerque on their visit later in the week to see John & Pat. John & Pat moved from Milwaukee in Spring of 2010. Seems like the entire Skiba clan is moving away from Milwaukee. Can Sue and Tony be far behind?

Weather had warmed by noon and looked to be a delightful day. We headed West a couple of miles to explore one of Fort Collins' Natural sites. Our hike was to be in conjunction with discovering a couple of caches along the way. We figured we must have put in about 4 miles traipsing up and down the trails, fighting the weeds, the brambles, crossing the river a couple of times........

When the outdoor escapade was completed we headed into Old Town Fort Collins for a treat. What better place to go then Ben & Jerry's? Peter & I were able to find a wonderful smoothie that was dairy free while Sue and Tony indulged themselves with some ice cream. It was even warm enough by then to sit in the square and enjoy our treat. But we couldn't go home yet....oh no! One more cache to find a couple of blocks from where were sitting! Euraka! That completed, we headed home for dinner and news and a game of Dominoes.

A delightful day. Tomorrow we head to Rocky Mountain National Park.

Rocky Mountain Raptor Program

Peter and Renée visited the Environmental Learning Center while geocaching in Fort Collins on Wednesday. They noticed that the were fenced in enclosures on the premises that had wild birds of prey within. Pretty cool wild birds!

Two geocaches remained to be found when we quit for the day. We returned on Thursday and found the caches on the trails nearby. When we returned to the parking area we noticed some volunteers near the enclosures with something flapping huge wings. As we approached we saw that the flapping wings belonged to a golden eagle that we learned was ill and unable to fend for itself in the wild. It is being kept and trained as an educational ambassador for the Program. We were treated to a special opportunity to learn about this eagle and about the Program which has a rich and successful history. Originally linked to the University (CSU) it was spun off and now has a home of its own right here in Fort Collins. Volunteers travel the State with the birds and provide educational opportunities for lots of folks. They treat and release raptors like eagles, owls, hawks and falcons. Since 1979 the have cared for over 5,000 injured raptors.

Rocky Mountain National Park

Peter & I got off to a very early start this morning. Alarm went off at 4AM. Our plan was to get to RMNP for a sunrise. We arrived at about 6:30AM. Drive into the park was uneventful....no large animals in the roadways! Arrived in the park before the staff was there to check us in. Our plan was to look for elk today, photograph a sunrise and do some geocaching.

Initially went to Bear Lake for the sunrise. On the way up to that point we first came across some wonderful glistening frost on the low lying plants. As we progressed farther up, the frost turned to snow. Lovely to look at with the aspen trees still glowing their beautiful golden hues. There were about 4 other cars in the parking lot when we arrived. One was covered with snow so we presumed that the occupant (s) had spent the nite up higher on an overnite hike.

Peter proceeded to walk to Bear Lake along with another photographer who arrived at the same time. Said the water was not calm, so not terrific for reflections, but still beautiful with the recent snowfall.

Sunrise at Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park


Sunrise showing alpenglow at Bear Lake a few minutes after the initial shots.


Large bull elk taking a rest. Alone. Before or after his harem duties???!!!

As our car was almost empty of fuel, we then headed back to Estes Park to refuel the car and ourselves. We stopped for breakfast at a small restaurant called "The Other Side". Hearty breakfast of shared Denver Omelet, Blueberry Pancakes and coffee.

Following breakfast we decided to do some geocaching in the area. I had looked up about 10 places the night before. We were ready. We found all but one. Perhaps it had floated down the river or been taken by someone? Will never know. But the places we did get to were interesting.

Left this morning when the temperature was a mere 28 degrees and returned to Fort Collins where it was 70 degrees! What a pleasant way to spend a fall day!

Geocaching near Vail, Colorado

On Wednesday, we decided to do some geocaching in the area.
For those who have not done this, it entails using a GPS to find hidden objects in sometimes unusual and out of the way places. It gets us to go in areas that we may not have explored previously.

We started our day at Vail. The plan was to go West and then South, perhaps as far as Leadville. We never made it to Leadville, but will go there today (hopefully).

Our first find of the day was at Dowd's Rapid right off Hwy 24 and Hwy 6. Well hidden.

Our second one took us to Grouse Creek/Grouse Creek Trailhead a short distance further. This one was a bit more difficult to locate. Peter's persistence paid off when he discovered it in the middle of a beaver's dam! Eureka!

From there we headed south to Minturn and stopped for a BBQ lunch at Kirby Cosmo's BBQ. Enjoyable lunch to complement the pleasant weather.

We continued south to the old mining town of Gilman. Closed to the public but viewable from Hwy 24 overlook. Here too we found a cache hidden in the railing.

From there we headed to our most difficult find yet at Homestake Creek Camping area. I eventually gave up but Peter again persisted by hiking farther back and scrambling over rocks. The area was a great environment for moose (as the sign at the start indicated), but alas they kept themselves hidden from our view.

Our last 2 finds of the day were near Camp Hale where the soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division trained during WWII. We found the first easily enough, but the last one escaped our eyes and we will return today. Interesting place.

View of moose habitat in Homestake Creek Camping Area.