Chemo Pond

If there's one thing I love better than geocaching, it's geocaching with people who have never been before.  I had a great time introducing my favorite activity to a few coworkers who had never been and some who had never heard of geocaching.  Usually when geocaching, you want to try to avoid muggles.  If you have read the Harry Potter books, you know that muggles are non-magical people.  In geocahing, muggles are non-geocachers.  Luckily, these weren't any old muggles, but good friends who were genuinely interested in knowing more about the art of treasure hunting.

Every summer, a group of educators get together at a camp on Chemo Pond.  We use it as a retreat and a place to unwind after a hard year's work.  We bring our kayaks so that we can see paddle around the lake and see the beaver dams.  We bring our sleeping gear and of course, plenty of food.  This year, my favorite treat was chocolate fudge with nuts and cherries. 

Last year-kayaking by the beaver dam

This year was special because one of our veteran teachers, and my mentor for the past three years, decided to retire.  I've been talking to her about geocaching all year and she has decided not only to start a geocaching account herself, but to also use her newly acquired free time to start writing a murder-mystery novel about geocaching.  She even got a handheld GPS as a retirement present to herself. 

On Saturday afternoon, the group started asking me questions about geocaching and I dug out my bag and box of Pathtags and TravelBugs.  After a few minutes of Q&A, we decided to go out and actually hunt for one.  Not far from where we stayed was Camp Roosevelt, a place where the Boy Scouts of the area come to camp and participate in different activities.  We were fortunate enough to have a Boy Scout leader with us to lead us in the right direction.  She showed us the trails and told stories of snowshoeing and hiking. 

Our first two tries led us down the wrong paths, although we did get to see the lake and a small cabin.  As they say, third time's a charm.  We walked through a mud patch and started down a third trail.  Our friend Patrice was navigating using the handheld GPS.  It was funny listening to the excitement in her voice as the distance to our destination got less.  "Fifty feet...forty feet...TEN FEET!"  Stepping off the path, there were many places where a geocache could have been hidden.  There were enormous rocks the size of sheds and plenty of trees.  Our only real obstacle was the bugs.  Four sets of feet shuffled through the leaves in search of a camo taped container with contents unknown. 

Only moments into the search, Patrice squealed in delight as she reached into a dark crevice to retrieve the plastic jar.  We congratulated Patrice and with great excitement, unscrewed the lid and peered inside.  Reading the log, we discovered that the cache hadn't been found in over eight months.  You would have thought by our reactions that there were valuable gems hidden inside.  We marveled at the magnetic band-aids, which we took, coins, pins, and a Boy Scout coin.  We left a coin as well as a bracelet in return. 

Although we were wet, muddy, and bitten by bugs, everyone agreed that they had a fun time geocaching.  Weather or not they said that to make me feel good, I'm not sure :) 



Sears Island, Maine

An experienced cacher recently suggested that I check out Sears Island for its caches and scenery.  I expected tourists, summer homes, and nicely groomed walking trails but upon arrival, I realized how little I knew about the area.

There is one road that leads to Sears Island from the mainland.  It is blocked with cement barriers preventing any traffic from traveling on the island's one "road."  The first thing I learned about this place was that they mean business when it comes to dog business.  It must be a popular place for pups and their owners to walk because not only did I see a few, but there are doggy waste bags and trash cans available. 

I parked my car on the dirt pull off with two other vehicles and grabbed my geocahing bag and a bottle of water.  It was early in the day but looking like it would turn out to be a hot one.  Behind the cement barricade is the one strip of pavement on the island.  Only having walked about fifty feet from the entrance, I started to get a very eerie feeling about the place.  The road hasn't been a road in so long that grass has started to invade some of the cracks in the tar and there are only a few barely noticeable flakes of yellow paint that used to line the road. 

I put on my brave face and set my GPS to the coordinates of the first cache.  I had to take a path off the main road to get to my destination, which made me less than comfortable.  The other two walkers chose to stick to the pavement.  It wasn't far before I turned off this path and into the woods to find my destination.  I quickly found the cache, and a swarm of mosquitoes, in the crook of a tree.  The contents of the cache, which included an old cassette tape, were pretty wet, making it difficult to sign the log. 

The next cache was down the same trail and off into the woods on the right.  Several times while looking for this cache, I walked face first into spider webs.  I couldn't bare the thought of how many bugs were probably crawling one me at any one moment.  I stopped to look under a pile of logs, and when I did, I heard something or someone crashing through the woods in front of me.  This noise was followed shortly after by another something or someone crashing through the woods.  I decided to abandon my search for the cache and got back to the main trail as quickly as possible.  I looked both up and down the path expecting to see a dog and its owner but instead I saw nothing.  My friend had told me that there were ten caches on Sears Island but at this point, I knew I would not look for them all.

The next cache I dared to do was a two stage multi cache.  A multi cache is where you have to find one or more caches that give you clues or coordinates to the final cache.  The clues were found on a telephone pole next to a sign naming the former residents of the island.  After doing some calculations and putting the numbers in the correct order, I started bushwhacking my way to the second and final stage of the puzzle.  At the posted coordinates were the remains of the foundation of a house, which was now a pond.  It had the same feeling as a cemetery. 

These were the only two geoaches I found on my trip to Sears Island.  Walking here is unlike any other place I've ever been.  I've read the expression "deafening silence" in books but experienced it for the first time here.  Not to sound like a coward but more than a few times I checked over my shoulder to see if anything was there.  Although I never saw anything, I'm not positive that there weren't eyes peeking at me from the thick woods. 

I planned on leaving as quickly as I could get myself into the car but that was before I noticed the beach.  Just as on the island paths, I didn't see anyone out on the beach.  I walked along the damp sands of low tide and collected a few shells and sea glass to take back to show my students.  Listening to the waves lap the beach, I thought wistfully of my childhood growing up on the coast.  My mom often took my sisters and I beach combing at Sandy River or Batson's Beach. 

The ocean breeze helped counter the affects of the hot summer sun.  A sea gull took the opportunity to go bobbing for some lunch, something I had never seen in my years as a Downeaster.  I then got sniffed by a soggy puppy who was doing some beach combing himself and chatted with her owner. 

Although I didn't find many caches, going to Sears Island was a nice experience.  I found some great information and history about Sears Island from this link.  I ended my day by driving into Belfast to get some lunch and stopped at Perry's Nut House, another place I hadn't been since I was a kid.  Thanks to Masterson of the Universe for the recommendation. 

**Belfast Pictures**



Unity, Maine

It's great to be back blogging now that the computer is back from being repaired.  Unfortunately, I've done a lot of geocaching since the computer has been down and now I need to start catching up!

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If you follow Route 202 west from Bangor, you will come to a small town called Unity.  Driving and walking through Unity, you might feel a bit of a disconnect.  There are modern businesses in old buildings, new developments such as the playground, and old farm houses on expansive parcels of land. 

Unity is a town that prides itself on its natural resources.  I got to see a few of the trail systems around town.  One, called the Connor Mill Trail, takes you on a winding stroll near the edge of a lake.  I think it must have been free fishing day because at every stop I made, I encountered people fishing.  Seeing as it was a beautiful day, I really can't blame folks for wanting to get out and enjoy the weather.  In one of the geocaches, I found some bug repellent wipes, which I came to regret not taking.  I ended up having to stop at the True Value in town to get a can of bug spray to keep the annoying pests at bay.  The first stop on the trail was a section of water crashing over some rocks protruding from the water.  A bit farther down was a wooden bridge with a steep set of stairs leading me across a stream. 

The other walking trail I got to see was at Unity College.  Walking across campus you can really tell how much the students and faculty value natural resources and sustainability.  There are gardens and a small wind turbine to supply power.  I started down Hubbard's Walk and it wasn't long before a buzzing black mass swarmed around me.  Even my bug spray couldn't keep these hungry insects away.  When my GPS brought me within thirty feet of the geocache, I had to pull my hood tight and use my arms as propellers to swat the black flies out of my face.  I looked at the clue right away so I could get in and out as quickly as possible.  In this case, the clue led me astray a bit because it said the cache was in a fallen tree.  It actually ended up being in a standing tree.  I think while I was trying to sign the log I managed to get five or six itchy bug bites on each hand. 



One thing you might not know about the town of Unity and its neighbor, Thorndike, is that they have a small population of Amish folks. Actually, there is another small population of Amish in the Aroostook County town of Smyrna. Some of the people now residing in Unity and Thorndike have come from Smyrna, and as far away as Ohio, Kentucky, and Canada.  There were a few caches in the area dedicated to this religious group, including a series called the Quakers, Shakers, and Amish trilogy.  Although I didn't see any buggies, white bonnets, or wide brimmed hats, their presence was definitely still felt. 



The cache wasn't where my instincts told me to look, but I found this tricky hide after just a minute of looking around.  Although it was the smallest find of the day, I think it was also my favorite.  I love creative hides like this and coupled with this rarely spotted sign, it made for a nice cache to end the day with.  A big thanks to firefighterjake for setting up some really interesting caches in this area. 

Coastal Caching

On Memorial Day, I invited my sister to go geocaching with me.  She lives in the Downeast area so we decided to meet in Ellsworth and head to Bar Harbor.  I waited in the T.J. Maxx parking lot for what seemed like hours due to lots of traffic and construction on my sister's route to Ellsworth.  Once she got there, she jumped in my car and we took off for the ocean. 

We went to the Trenton boat launch, a remote cemetery on Mt. Desert, and even a church.  We decided that our favorite cache of the day was called "Snipe Hunt."  The snipe birds, the description says, are birds that liked to hide and had to be flushed out by hitting trees and making lots of noise.  The cacher who hid this has started a series based on these snipe birds.  He also has other very thoughtful caches, including Earth caches, that are well worth a look.  Snipe Hunt was out favorite because of the thought and creativity put into it.  See if you can find the cache in the picture on the top. 



GEOrge and his nest

I had an Anakin Skywalker Travel Bug to drop off today and I figured this would be a perfect spot.  GEOrge here will be able to watch over Anakin as he tries to reach his goal of finding his lost soul.  Maybe you can help him?

As a teenager, I worked a summer in Bar Harbor cleaning hotel rooms.  Every day we drove by a small parking area for a beach.  We never did stop in there that summer but on this particular day, we actually had a reason to finally stop in!  We found a geocache that is part of the 52 Pick-Up Series.  While we were here, we dipped our toes in the ocean and collected a few shells to bring home.  The cold water and salty smell of the ocean was very refreshing on such a hot day. 

After this stop in Hulls Cove, we stopped into the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor for a geocache and a couple of other interesting sights; one of them being an enormous whale skull.  The skull belonged to a whale who died from a collision with a ship in 1983.  The whale was sixty feet long and weighed 40 tons!  I guess these numbers aren't that hard to believe when the skull itself dwarfs a person.  I think I remember reading somewhere that a person could swim through the arteries of a whale and that their hearts are the size of a car. 

At this point in the day, we were sweaty and hungry.  We were able to remedy one of those problems with a quick stop at Hannaford.  Armed with sandwiches and some cold drinks, we went to battle traffic for a parking spot down near the water.  We snagged the first one we saw and hunkered down to eat our simple lunch under the shade of one of the few trees in the area.  From our seats on our Spongebob blanket, we did some people watching and took our shoes off to let our feet do some airing out.  Once we were rested and full, we walked only a couple hundred feet away to find our last geocache together for the day.  It ended up being a tricky one. 

After a quick once over, we left the area of the cache because we didn't want muggles, or non-geocahers, to become suspicious.  We took some pictures while we waited, and in the mean time, a family went over to where we were looking.  Casually, we strolled back over and asked them if they happened to be geocaching.  They said no but were curious about what it was and were eager to help us look.  It was a neat experience as we made the find and showed them how to log your name and how you could see how many other folks had been to the cache and when they had been there.   The family asked if there might be any caches in there home area of Bucksport.  I told them that I had actually been there recently and had found several in town.  Perhaps there'll be some new geocachers because of our interaction!

My sister, Holly, is a big supporter of my geocaching hobby (or more likely habit).  She always seems eager to accompany for a find or two, or six as it happened to be on this day.  We had a great day together, talking and laughing, and enjoying heat that Downeast Maine so rarely sees.  She's already asked me when our next day trip will be, and I already look forward to having her join me!