A Fun Hike For A Geocache

The Boy and I decided to go out for a little walk. I've been looking for any opportunity to break my new backpack in (Osprey Aether 70) and get my legs ready for my next big adventure. Even though I live in a very densely populated Southern California, there is a surprising amount of open land near my house.

We "hiked" right out our front door and headed out of the neighborhood. The local park has a nice dirt trail that made us feel like we were somewhat out of Suburbia. We crossed a busy Highway 79 and ended up on some old dirt roads.

We were soon climbing an old washed out road leading to the top of a nearby hill. From the bottom we could see what appeared to be a swarm of birds flying in a group near the summit. It reminded me of sea birds swooping down on a school of anchovies that had been pushed to the ocean surface by game fish.

As we approached the top I realized these were not birds at all. I was surprised to find a group of people flying radio controlled gliders in the wind. I'm sure they wondered why I was up here wearing a 70 liter pack. Little did they know that most of the Pack's volume was consumed by blankets and sleeping bags for a little weight. Some of the group was standing right at ground zero so The Boy and I went over to the other side for a photo op.

Ground zero soon belonged to us and I began searching the rock piles for our treasure. The Boy was watching a fire truck and ambulance scream along the road below when I made the find. It was a very cool tin container shaped like a pirate ship. Inside were many "gold coins" and a few other pirate themed trade items.

We drank some water and watched the gliders for a little while before heading back down the hill. On the way down we saw some people riding their horses in the open fields. We were soon back on our neighborhood streets and back at base camp.

We traveled just under 5 miles which is a long hike for only one Southern California geocache. I guess that's how they do it in Minnesota. The backpack proved very comfortable and I'm looking forward to putting many miles on it.