Flower Hill FlashMob, Zebulon, NC

My first FlashMob event! What a great time had by all. Even daughter GeoPants had a great time hiking in da woods.


In case you have never heard or attended a FlashMob event before. In the GeoCaching world a flash mob is when a group of cachers basically invade an area. In this case Horsegeeks set up an event at the Johnston County area called Flower Hill. It is a 10-acre nature preserve owned and managed by Triangle Land Conservancy.




Their website states "For many generations, Johnston County residents have known about this place they called a “freak of nature,” where rhododendron and galax and other mountainous plants grow far from their nearest relatives."


It is amazing and even if we hit it past the rhododendron peak the scenery was gorgeous. Trails are well marked, up kept and all 20 of just had a ball. There were four caches in the park in which the first three were warm ups for the fourth and most challenging at a difficulty of 3.5 out of 5. Called Moccasin Creek slip and slide you had to go down an extremely steep grade trail made mostly of wet clay topped with wet leaves and pine needles. Basically it really was an over sized slip and slide as a couple of us can contest to. Thank goodness for the nearby trees or this could have been a disaster. The sides of the trails went almost straight down and for what looked like several hundred feet.



The start of Moccasin had a warning sign of which we completely ignored. We are cachers don't ya know. Besides several of us came earlier and made sure it was safe for all who dared to venture down. It was quite fun and since we took our time and was very cautious only a couple of "slips" happened.



Once we made it down the trail we were treated to the nearby creek and some fantastic scenery. The cache was made quick work of and signed as FlashMob for all of us. Then the fun and realization came to yours truly. We had to climb back up the trail. Oh Goody!



In truth I and everyone made it up with hardly a heavy puff between us. Of course in my case I actually had to start breathing to get to puffing but hey I am getting back in shape.. Well round is a shape after all..

Spent a couple fantastic hours with some new friends and I cannot wait for our next invasion. Caching by yourself or with a buddy is a great way to invest in our hobby but when you get a bunch of us together. Look out. It brings out the best in all of us.

Again I want to thank Horsegeeks for taking us to such a wonderful place. I also encourage you to come out and explore this lush and rare oasis of mountain greenness. Also a thank you to daughter GeoPants for taking so many great photos of the journey.

Here is their website if interested.

http://www.tlc-nc.org/news/Preserve%20guides/Flower%20Hill%20guide.pdf