Bonded By Bushwhacking – A Father & Son Story
Among the things I enjoy the most, I would have to say that geocaching is pretty high up on the list. But above that I would have to say that spending some quality time with my son Dylan is at the top. Not too long ago, I had the opportunity to take him out for a round of caching in Irishtown Park. I wanted to share my experience with our readers.
Dylan has gone out caching with me since long before he could even walk. The first time I went out caching (after having been shown the sport by FunkyNassau), I actually brought along my wife and Dylan who was only four months old and happily joined us in his stroller. Several times afterwards, we’d go for walks in Mapleton Park and we’d push Dylan in his stroller and enjoy the time out in the air.
When Dylan finally learned to walk and started wandering around the house, he came upon one of my infamous “crayon” containers that I use as caches from time to time. (Anyone who’s done my series on Gunningsville Blvd in Moncton will be familiar with these). He asked me what it was so I told him it was a cache. I told him that I would hide caches and that people would find them. It eventually lead to a game we would play outside where I would “hide” the container in the bushes in the front yard and Dylan would go “find” it. He’d “bushwhack” through the bushes, find the container and bring it to me. We’d open it up, look at the goodies, then close it up and Dylan would re-hide it. We would then proceed to do this all over again and again and Dylan enjoyed it every time. Not long after I took him out with me to find a few caches here and there. Even at less than two years old (at the time), he never balked at going through the woods, stepping over stumps and logs. He just plowed through like a real trooper.
Now, as we got further along the trail and we came to the “enchanted” portion of the trail, it became quite obvious why Argus chose to call this the enchanted portion of the woods. The trees are extremely tall and narrow and the view, especially right now with just a touch of snow around, was absolutely beautiful. Dylan kept looking at the trees and I found myself smiling as I was able to share being in such a beautiful place with my son.
We eventually did find the cache after going over several trail-type bridges, skating a bit, doing a bit of bush-whacking here and there and when all was said and done, it was time to turn around and head back to the car.
I stopped us to have a little break as Dylan was getting hungry and I needed to re-hide one of the caches we had found a bit better than I had found it. Dylan enjoyed his snack and had a drink or two and we just paused for a few moments to enjoy the view we had, where we were, and the fact we were out together. It was at this time a huge smile came across my face.
Geocaching is about a lot of things, but one thing that rarely gets mentioned is how it bonds people together. I’ve written before about how geocaching can be a very social activity, but it wasn’t until my little trip with Super D that I realized that it can be something else as well. It can be an opportunity for father and son, mother and daughter, brother and sister, and even friend and foe, to bond.
Dylan didn’t care where he was that day. All he cared about was the fact that he was hanging out with his dad. I could have easily just stayed home and watched TV with him, or let him play his own games while I sat and did my own personal thing. But for me, in this instance, I chose to bundle him up, and take him out caching with me. He was so excited to be able to go out and see the woods, and do some “bushwhacking” and maybe find a toy or something in one of the containers. He even said after the last cache that we had to get something from that cache for Megan (his sister).
In the world we live in today, a lot of young kids are becoming obsessed with technology, video games, and other activities that keeps them from going outside and enjoying the wonder that is the world we live in. Being a technology guy, you’d think my kids would be swimming in it. In fact, I’ve taken an opposite stance on the subject. They watch a very limited amount of television, never play on my computer, and only use my phone or iPad once in awhile. I’d rather them spend time doing actual “playing” versus having their head glued to a screen. Geocaching has provided me a great way to take my kids out of the house and expose them to being outside. Fortunately for me, they love it so it works out well.
When all was said and done and we were back in the car heading home, I couldn’t help but think about the fact that had it not been for the sport of geocaching, I would likely have never gone into Irishtown Park. I would not have been enchanted, and I would not have had such a great experience with my son. We talked, we walked, we bushwhacked, we signed logs, crossed bridges, and just had a great time being outdoors. Of all the things geocaching can be to people, giving me a chance to bond with my son has got to be the best of them all.
BIG thanks to Argus2 for the caches. You’ll never know how much I really enjoyed going out and doing them with my son.
I have the same experience with my son and geocaching. Although he’s on and off the caching bug he loves going out with a group as much as going out with me. We did all 30 of the Fredericton Geocaching Tour caches together – he wouldn;t let me do it otherwise. One of his highlights was cycling with TheRetiredHiker&SpruceGum and finding out that they have the same first name. Our biggest bonding moment that he’ll tell you about is the roundabout way we got to Concrete Igloos (http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=f80324be-8560-449b-b3c5-bc256e61bf87) we were still rookie cachers then.
Anyway I agree with the sentiment here Zor, let’s get the kids out of the house and away from the electronic devices…which is hard for us since we’re both geeks :-).
i am 100% with you here Zor.
as i have said before, we hike and love it anyway, but this gives my boy something to do now too. he gets to use YOUR old etrex on the missions and has a new touchdown dance for every find.
seems the more we hunt, the more he’s getting in to the idea.
he tells everyone we meet about our adventures in the woods and finding the cool spots.
He may have spoiled the hint to quite a few muggles about GC1ER7K but hearing him tell other adults the story about finding that is just hilarious. thankfully my son is not yet the story telling type so most people have no clue what he’s on about.
he’s already infected a close friend of mine who wants to come out on a future excursion too.
i love being outside and having a reason to have my pockets filled with gadgets and spare batteries. makes me feel like the scouting i did in my youth was worth something i guess. dex likes to be part of the hunt and have some gadgets like dad. superwife likes that we all shut up 🙂
here’s to lots more finds until our young sons get old enough to think we’re stupid!
Great stories guys. I am so looking forward for the same with my two little ones. I think my little Sophie was only 3 weeks old when she attended her first event. She will be 2 in March. William was a bit older at his first event, maybe 6-7 weeks or something, He is 3 months and a half now. Our hiking have slowed down a bit because of their age, but I can’t wait for it to pick up again. Great times, and more great times to come.
Love it !! We enjoyed caching with our granddaughter until she reached the teen years, now she’s not so interested, our loss.
My kids are too old to want to go in the woods with their dad so when I need the feeling of taking a kid out in the woods I call Nemo.
LOL. I am touched. I bet you must be referring to when we found scope it out.
I love this story. Our kids are teenagers, so they are not so interested in caching now. We have taken our neice and nephew out caching. They love it! Once we were out with them and as we were getting close to a cache we asked our nephew if he could smell it. He whole heartedly agreed that he could smell the cache. We asked what it smelled like. He very happily told us it smelled like a geocache!! lol
I can so relate, Zor, and am happy for ya. I too treasure the time that I spend with my son ourdoors, and especially caching. It’s a great time with just he and I. No TV, PS3, newspapers. Just the chirping of birds and the sounds of the forest. From an early age, I taught him to appreciate the aroma of the woods, and the sounds he may hear.
Now, at 14, he doesn’t get out with me as much, but when he does, he sometimes stops, and says “Dad, the woods smell great around these pines”.
You can’t buy that kind of education.
Here he is on an adventure a while back. Spoiler alert! http://youtu.be/HFoHrM3pzuE
I can totally relate to this story, my oldest enjoys getting out for the find, and my 6 year old will have his moments but I think I found the way to help him enjoy it even more by getting him a metal detector. I may have to drop some coins or stuff to help him from losing faith on those walks in the woods but long term and the interest he has shown in the detector will keep us close the the beauty nature shows us. I find it amazing the lessons we learn from the kids, nature, and everything else we cross paths with on our search. THanks
Yup. All the reasons above is why I take my son, Snake9 with me. He has been caching with me for 2 years now, but has only had his own caching name for about a year and a half. He is getting close to 700 logged finds but really has more than that.
Being 12 now he doesn’t go with me as much, but still does make the odd trip out. He is also great for those urban caches, but actually likes the trail caches more. This way he can find sticks to use as a sword or to beat the living heck out of it. As soon as we stop for a cache I look for a container and he looks for a stick. Well, he actually does help me sometimes. But being out in the woods is fun for us both.
What a wonderful story, Matt.
I didn’t meet my kids until they were 17 and 19, when I met their father, so have not been blessed with moments such as this. But I do remember these moments with my own father; ghost stories around a campfire, him baiting my fish hook with a wiggly worm and being snuggled on his lap watching Hockey Night in Canada with him.
That’s the flip side to your story, Matt. Dylan will carry these memories with him and cherish them for the rest of his life.
dex and i went out at 8:30am to check on GC3AB3D after dropping superwife @ superstore.
we didn’t really need to check on it, but since it’s about his ‘girlfriend’ (and he asked that it should be) he wanted to see where it was. it was a great walk over the snowbank and into the park. was a lot more fun than sitting in the van watching videos.
he really likes this one.
We did tons of outdoor stuff with our kids and now our daughter sends us her kids so we can do the same thing with them.
We certainly agree with your sentiment on this Zor but I certainly cannot say it as well as you did here. BRAVO.
Great story Zor.
In this generation of PS3, Nintendo, etc… it is sometimes a challenge to get the young ones out. But when they do, it creates some of the best memories ever.
Thanks for posting this!
My girls are 6 and 10 and I love when they go out geocaching with me as well. They have learned so many life and science lessons while we are out and of course you can’t beat the fresh air and exercise. Can’t think of a better way to spend time with my kids! My only wish is that sometimes I wish I could get to that cache first and stock it with a doodad that they had hoped for. Just tried some of the Duck caches near Fredericton with them a few weeks ago and their enthusiasm is back!