My trip to pick up “Bernie”

About a week or so ago I asked Tamara if she would like to take Easter Monday and go out caching with me down in Riverside-Albert. She enjoys caching but has not had a chance to go out with me much in the last year or so and there was a specific cache that I wanted to go get and thought it would make for a great walk for me and Tamara. She said sure and so yesterday we headed off.

Now, my original intention actually was to pick up a whole pile of caches that were placed down there along a single road. It would have made for a nice few numbers to pick up but instead, I chose to go for quality over quantity this time. In fact, for me, it was all about spending the day with Tamara regardless of how many caches we got.

The first spot we stopped actually was quite a distance from where we were heading. I had gone caching with Alex a year or so ago and we stopped for one cache along the side of highway 114 and I remembered how nice the view of the river was from there. We climbed down the bank and took a look out onto the water and indeed it was pretty nice. Only downfall was the fact that there was a LOT of garbage there. Now, funny thing is I was sure this cache was a cache that was tied to a rope but as it turns out, it was stuffed under a tree and Tamara found it by accident. Pretty cool. She hadn’t cached in a long time and the first spot we go to, she finds it before I did. Way to go Tamara.

We proceeded according to the GPS’s instructions since we wanted to see where it would take us. Turns out it took us down this weird road in the middle of what I am sure was farmland but we managed to snag a cache attached to a fence and then proceeded to continue along the road. The map I had said that we were going to hit water and nothing indicated there was a bridge but sure enough, a small causeway was there and we hit the road we were looking for.

We pulled into what I believe was the Shepody Wildlife Preserve which is where we were going to be for a few hours. To have a better idea of where we were heading, check out this Google map. You can see where Mary’s Point Rd sort of makes a sharp turn and then heads towards the left. Well shortly after that turn we turned left into the reserve and proceeded to walk to where the “A” marker is on that map. The total walking distance from where we parked the car to there was about 2.5-3 kilometers. The first 300-400 meters was a nice walking trail until we hit the beach and then we basically walked the entire coastline.

Most of the beach area was good old sand and rocks like you would expect. In fact, it was quite a nice beach and coast area. Although the map shows nothing but water along the coast, it was actually a lot of sand and what appeared to be traversable mud. We decided to try and take a shortcut across the mud to try and get to the tip of the coastline a bit faster. In doing so, we found ourselves in a real muddy situation. As you can see by the photo here, we got ourselves quite soaked in mud. There were many a time when I lifted my foot and my shoes almost came off because the mud was sticking so well. Let me tell you, when we started to realize that the mud was too thick, we headed back to the sand and walked along the rocks and coastline, skipping the mud.

When we got to the “tip” of the coastline, we took a few minutes to enjoy the scenery before we began our 700 meter walk towards the actual geocache that we were trying to find. The sun was shining but there was a good breeze happening as well so it was getting bit a chilly but as soon as we would start walking, we’d warm up.

The eastern side of the coastline had no sand. It was all rocks. This was quite a trek over a lot of rocks to try and get to where we were going. Tons of moss and lots and lots of rocks. Wow.

Eventually, the GPS said we were within 50 meters of the cache. Not sure of where it might be, I put my pack down and decided to climb a few rocks and look to one spot that I thought it would be hiding. No luck.

I then thought that perhaps the cache had been hidden up on top in the wooded area so I did a bit of a detour and spotted the cache. Grabbed my pack and climbed up and we found the ammo container. Let me tell you, I was some happy to get all the way there and actually find the container. I would have not been impressed if I had gone all that way and not find it.

We sat down, had our lunch, signed the log and looked at the cache contents. I didn’t realize that Bernie (the name of the cache) had been named after a dog. As it turns out, it had been exactly 7 years and a 1 day since the dog for whom this cache was named after had died. Seemed a bit sad but it was still cool to see that Bernie lived on in some fashion via this cache. We packed our stuff up and then had to decide how best to return to the car.

See, the tide had started to come in while we were walking the rocky beach and Tamara was getting a little concerned that if we tried to go back along the beachline we might have some problems with the water. So we decided that perhaps we could go through the woods and come out the other side where there was a LOT more shoreline and more likely to have time to walk on there to get back to the car. Well, let me tell you, the bushwhack was a hard one.

In my over two years of geocaching I have gone through a lot of wooded areas but NEVER have I seen THAT many fallen trees. It was THICK and very hard to get through. We broke more branches off more dead trees than I can count. We did a little bit of a detour around several large obstacles and even found a trail which seemed to end in the middle of the woods. We hit a swampy area where Tamara was fascinated by the moss on the ground but our feet got a little wet trying to get through there. We eventually popped out the other side and it was very clear that we would be able to walk the beachline all the way back. As it turns out, when I check my track log on the GPS, it actually took us half the time to get back to a specific spot on the beach than it took us to get from there to the cache. I guess going through the woods paid off after all.

We then proceeded to finish off our trek to the car by walking another 1.2K along the beach. By the time we got to the car, Tamara’s ankle was hurting bad and I was feeling pretty tired. Let me tell you, sitting in the car never felt so good as it did after that walk.

In total, we walked about 7.2 kilometers that day, at least according to the track log on my GPS. Let me tell you, it was a real good walk.

Now, one thing that I have not mentioned is the biggest reason WHY we went after this cache. This cache was originally hidden in 2001 and is one of the very few “traveling” geocaches that remain. These types of caches are hidden, then found and then moved to a new location and then found again, and so on. These types of caches are no longer permitted on the official caching website so the few that remain are cherished by cachers.

I had heard about this cache on the ACGA web forums and since I knew it was pretty close, I figured I would go grab him and take him somewhere else. The other thing that was good about it was the fact that there was a geocaching event last night which was to celebrate Spring’s arrival and give out prizes for the winter hide contest that was going on here in the Moncton area. I took Bernie to the event and those there were able to log a find on this cache.

I have not decided where to hide this guy but it is my intention to find a good spot and hopefully someone else can pick him up and move him along. I am thinking that Nova Scotia would be a good spot to bring him down to but I may have to talk to a few other cachers to get some feedback. He’s on loan to a fellow cacher who was taking him to another cacher today who’s been ill but really wanted to log a find. Once I get him back, I’ll figure out where to take him.

All in all though, it was a real good day. In fact, I would dare say that this is one of my more fond caching experiences and DEFINITELY what caching is all about. I had the chance to snag probably 20 caches yesterday but instead I chose to spend the day with my awesome wife who came out with me to a fantastic spot (thanks KD_Cachers btw) where I got a real good cache and had a fantastic time. At the end of the day, I logged 4 finds which included Bernie, a small one on the trail to Bernie, a micro in a farm area, and the event that evening. Four finds but a hell of a day.

It’s treks and days like this that remind me exactly why I love going geocaching.