An Afternoon Geocaching With Amy

Bison tube hanging from fishing string in storage drain.

On Saturday I was able to go out for the afternoon with my fiance Amy and do some geocaching in the Clayton, NC area. This was a real treat for me and also a good way to introduce geocaching to Amy. I really wanted to see if she was going to be interested in this same game, sport and obsession as I was.

For that very reason we did not go out for the numbers, I wanted the geocaching experience to be a pleasant one for Amy. So I particularly looked for geocaches that were larger and easier in difficulty. I also added in geocaches with favorite points as well.

Amy signing a log from a pill bottle geocache.

We started out with some easy park and grabs to warm up which went really well. Amy "discovered" my automobile travel bug so that was a first for her that day as well. Then we hit something unexpected. A geocache that was labeled with a terrain as 1.5 and it turned out being much more like a 3.  We pulled up to an area that was under development and looks like it stopped for quite a while. As we walked to the edge of  the nearby holler I thought to myself that she was not going to want to do this. Much to my delight she wanted to give it a try. So hand in hand we followed what only could be described as a deer trail that wound down the steep and highly overgrown grassy side. That was part one.  Part two was more of a challenge which took a very steep 50 foot drop deeper into the expanse. It was at this time I suggested I go down and if I find it I will show it to her. She happily agreed to this.

To be honest I had wished I brought some rope for this one because most of this downhill climb I did sliding on my butt. As I was heading down the thought of getting back up the muddy slope was going to be a challenge for me but on to the geocache.

Beautiful stream setting at the base of the holler

The find for the geocache once I got down there was actually very easy. It was hidden under a root structure and plainly visible when you looked in that direction. So that was easy. I took a bunch of pictures while down in the holler and to be frank it was a very scenic spot and down right tranquil. Just wish I knew what I was getting into before going in. Happily the climb back was not as bad as I had thought. I slipped in the muddy sections but was lucky enough to have my hiking pole and some well placed smaller trees to help pull myself back up. Only took a few minutes and I was back with my fiance. She was all smiles and apparently found great humor watching me tackle this obstacle. Good to know she would have shot it all on video if it was deemed worthy.

That's Amy via the dark spot in upper left corner.

We moved on in our afternoon adventure and found a few more geocaches before taking on a greenway. It was really nice and the couple of mile walk was scenic and well worth the time together. We ended up finding four other geocaches and one DNF. I showed her how two other people also did not find that particular one and how to review such things on her phone app.

One small section of the greenway. Plenty of room for more geocaches.

It turned out to be a perfect geocaching adventure and it is my hope to be the first of many to come with Amy. She had a great time and is getting a kick out of how much fun geocaching can be. I can tell she is just itching to get the bragging rights of finding the next geocache before I do. Once that happens - look out HHH.

HeadHardHat and Amy geocaching.

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