Opekiska Geocaches

Autumn is my favorite season, despite the fact it ends in winter and winter is my least favorite. Autumn is my favorite because the days are still warm but the nights are cool (consider that even in the dead of winter the ceiling fan swirls above our bed because we are both furnaces) and there is nothing prettier than the Appalachian mountainsides blanketed in hundreds of shades of yellow, orange, and red. Taking advantage of yet another perfect autumn day, Chris and I headed to the Opekiska Lock and Dam trailhead on the Mon Trail South, the rail trail that follows the Monongahela River, to seek out two geocaches.

GC2RCC1 – Paul Bunyan’s Lunch Box

We chose to come to the Opekiska area because of this cache, which at the time of this writing, has 18 favorite points. Once a cache hits about 10 favorite points it really captures my attention. But Opekiska is interesting and unique for a few other reasons: you can get very close to the lock and dam, the road out to the trail is beautiful, and it is less congested and busy than trailheads in more populated areas.

The cache was a few feet off of the rail trail and did require navigating over a small ditch filled with water, but once we located the cache it was clear why it had so many favorite points. The container was not unique, but it was placed within a custom-made host. Given the size of the host (hinted to with the reference to Paul Bunyan in the title) I am still not sure if it was made elsewhere and brought to its location or if a dedicated cache owner came out to the area numerous times to craft the host.

GC1EYNN – lock n lock at the lock

Looking at the map, it seemed as if this cache would be hidden similarly to the previous cache. We were wrong in so many ways. First, while the distance off of the trail was only a little bit further, it involved substantially more vertical terrain. There was also more overhead foliage, which interfered with satellite reception and accuracy of our GPS units.

We spent 30 minutes going up and down the hillside, trying to find the cache. After being on the hillside for six years, the area around the cache had changed somewhat so the hint was less useful than it likely was in 2008. As we were about to throw in the towel, I realized I was standing on a nice, flat rock. I lifted it up and found the cache quietly waiting to be found.

Sore from moving up and down the hillside so much more, it was nice to be back on level ground. When we made it back onto the trail, it looked like there was a twig on Chris’s shirt. But then it seemed like it was moving. I was puzzled. My lack of confidence in what I was seeing led Chris to pull off his hoodie in a hurry. It was a walking stick insect. I had never seen on before. So it truly was a twig that was walking. My eyes weren’t deceiving me. Making these discoveries is just one of the multitude of reasons why walks in nature are so rewarding.