Getting on the move - it's SPRING BREAK!

The extra daylight is definitely helping!

So, after work, I'm now going for a walk. And three times a week, hopefully, my Daddy will be joining me! So this week, we walked along the bike path by the prison to check on a cache stage, then circled back around the sewer to the truck. Tuesday and Thursday are my really push it days, so I tackled the face of Lakeview Hill and got right up to the shoulder below the summit (ran out of light). Wednesday, Dad and I walked the bike path by the freeway before class. Thursday I took on Prison Hill and found myself a nearto cave. Friday I was helping a classmate with the classes she missed, so nothing there.

BUT! Friday at 5pm I was officially ON VACATION!! WHOO HOO HOOO!!!

So, Saturday morning, early, I packed up my big backpack with all my camping gear. My goal: walk/hike as often as possible and carry all the gear to condition myself for the Tahoe Rim Trail. My first target was Hot Springs Mountain, and the three caches still left in that area.

Drove up to the last turn around point before entering the mountain itself, and with backpack on and loaded, began the trek up. Surprisingly, I didn't huff-puff as much as I normally do, which made me psyched beyond all belief. Got up to the first cache site and sat, enjoying my lunch, the view, and the funny whizzing sound that just went by... O_o wha?

And ANOTHER! BULLETS!!

I dove behind a big rock, smashed my back against it, and huddled as the ricochet came over the ridge right over and around me. Once the hail stopped, I grabbed my gear and raced downhill and around another hill to put more distance and dirt between me and the shooters.

The good thing about this, is that as I detoured the LONG way around them, I came upon a deer herd, one of whom was not happy I was there and motioned that I "keep moving" as s/he huffed at me each time I paused. That was just COOL!

Found the second cache with no problems, followed the trail from the tailings to the old rock house (our third cache find ever), talked with a guy carrying a big military style gun, and then set down the ravine to pick up the final cache. As I stood on the road to Sand Trap, I was pretty darn proud of myself as I had just hiked up and OVER Hot Springs Mountain. Whoo Hoo Hoo!!

But my feetsies were hurting, so called Dad for a ride, grabbed dinner, then headed up into the hills to try camping out on my own for the first time. Alas, that didn't work out so well as I just could not relax enough to sleep - I kept stressing myself out that "something" was out there.

Sunday, Dad and I headed up to Truckee to once again try for that bugger of a cache. A couple hours into our methodical grid search, the owner himself swung by and we had a great chat. He loved our string grid method and wanted a picture of it. Being very kind hearted, he gave us the general area to search, but another hour into that and we still had nothing. Ah well.

Back in town, we picked up the two new ones before heading south and clearing an area of Carson Valley. All was well and good until we DNF'd one near another archived cache. One log claimed the other cache was still there, just at the bottom of the well. So, we had to go look - and hey, there's a Myntz tin down there! Whoo Hoo! An hour of fishing with a magnet-filled bison tube snagged us the tin and we lifted it out with high expectations. What cache is this, can we find it and log it, ohh how fun!

Dad pried the rusted tin apart and we both saw old dead mints... Well, bummer!

Still made for an interesting day. No camping tonight. Tomorrow, Monday, I'm supposed to meet up with a gal who said she knew of a place in the PineNuts where a vein of garnets is right out in the open. Can't wait!