Today I decided to do some caching adding NH and ME to my list of states and doing caches in three states in one day. The plan was to take 495 to 95 and then take 95 up to Kittery Maine. Along the way I'd stop at a number of caches.
Quick Pitstop - Northbound - Found it. SL/TFTC. This was my first cache of the day. I DNF this a couple of times but had a fair idea of where it might be. Today I found very quickly about 12' from GZ. One state down and two to go.
NOAH"S ARK - Found it. SL/TNLN/TFTC. There were a couple of TB oriented caches along the way just off the highway near Ambsbery. I parked at a Dunkin's Donut and walked in on the paved bike path. The cache was a quick find but not snow friendly. Worse, there was LOTS of serious poison ivy around and in fact the cache was leaning up against a poison ivy vine! It should be moved so I posted a maintenance note. No travel bugs though.
Powwow Travel Bug Hotel - Found it. SL/TFTC. This is just the other side of the road behind a shoping area. It's a park and grab with an interesting hide. Fair winter cache. The cache had MANY TBs. I took 3 TBs but there are many left.
Welcome to New Hampshire - Found it. SL/TNLN/TFTC. Back on the road (95) and in to NH. I missed the highway entry and had to turn around and drive back. Second time I got off in the right place. NH has the nicest welcome centers I've ever seen and this one is no exception. The cache is a park and grab. The cache was wet and container should be replaced. It's not winter friendly. I signed the log and added NH to my states. Two for the day.
Liquor Cache - DNF. This is just a bit further along 95. Drove to within 20' of GZ. Unfortunately, it's in a very frozen snow bank. Don't you just love NE winters!
101 Dalmatians #97 (Oscar) - DNF. On to Maine. There were a couple of micros near Kittery Trading Post so I went there. I'd also hoped to get some repair material for my rain pants. I'd caught them last weekend on some thorns and tore a fair hole. These are good quality Goretex about 20 years old. A new similar pair would cost about $300 so repairing them is definitely in the cards. I parked about 30' from GZ. Unfortunately there were many muggles about. I checked the sign and along the rail. At this point there was a couple looking very curiously at me so I DNFd and moved along. I'm a bit suspicious that the cache has been muggled.
Farbucks 13 - Mmmmmm!!! - Found it. SL/TNLN/TFTC. This is on the other side of Kittery Trading Post. It's a lovely little walk to pond. Its well maintained with a pier. I wonder if Kittery uses the pond as a testing place for their boats? It's an easy find and winter friendly. The hide is rather clever. Third state for the day and now I can add Maine to my list!
Branch Cache #7 - Found it. SL/TNLN/TFTC. Nice park and grab. With my states in hand I decided to do some caching in Maine. 'Branch' is on the way to Fort Foster my destination for a long walk. The hide is very clever. I'd heard about these but this is the first I've ever seen. Unfortunately, the plastic bag holding the log is torn and the log is completely saturated. I was afraid to even try to unroll it. I've sent a maintenance note. The park looked interesting and I was a bit surprised that there weren't other caches there.
Fort McClary Cache - Found it. SL/TNLN/TFTC. I've driven by this park several times visiting Fort Foster. Today I stopped. It's closed in winter but there is plowed parking and room for several cars to the side of the gate. It's a short walk in. This is a neat revolutionary war park and definitely worth a visit and walk about. It took me a bit to find the cache with the help of the clue. The apple tree is certainly tempting and has a couple of nice potential hiding places but of course it's not there. I actually walked OVER the cache before finding it. Not snow friendly but a really neat place.
Troop 307 Cache - Found it. SL/TFTC. Just a bit further along is Fort Foster Park. It is also closed in winter but there is plenty of parking along the road. I've visited here a few times and always liked it. There are 4 caches here that provide a good opportunity to walk around the park. I followed trails to the bunker. The cache is on top so I had to climb one of the steel ladders to get to the top. A bit of a challenge for this old man. The cache is in good order but not well hidden. I collected the cover material and replaced it. Took TB.
Ocean Mist - DNF. I tried following a sort of trail toward GZ. Mistake. Had to back track and connect with the stone walking trail that runs along the shore. There were many muggles about even on a somewhat windy winter day, walking dogs, running, etc. I looked per the clue but DNF.
Kitty Cache - Found it. SL/TNLN/TFTC. Just a bit further along and off the walk. The coordinates are spot on and the hide is very neat although not short folk friendly. Snow shouldn't be an issue.
The Mother Lode - Found it. SL/TNLN/TFTC. This was the last cache in the park and on the way back to the car. The cache is in good order but not winter friendly. There is an obvious trail back to parking. It started out OK but soon became very ICY and somewhat dangerous. It took some time to navigate but I finally arrived back at the car and headed home.
Liquor Cache South - Found it. SL/TNLN/TFTC. Park and grab. Winter friendly. Since I was driving by I decided to stop here. One cache in a state is a bit lame, I admit. The store was doing a land office business. I drove around back and parked within 20' of GZ. This one was NOT under ice so I added it to my NH caches.
Welcome To Massachusetts - Found it. SL/TNLN/TFTC. Park and grab. Only another 3 miles along so why not. Easy find and winter friendly.
I decided to head on home after 12 new finds, 2 new states, and 3 states in one day. Things went well until I got to Lowell. Traffic just stopped. I got off 495 in Chelmsford and drove home on 27 in fading light.
Here are the photos. As usual click through to see full size images.
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