CRAIG MOUNTAIN GEOCACHING

Geocaches are everywhere but to me the ones that are most rewarding are those that present a challenge, preferably with a high terrain rating. These are usually back country or wilderness caches that require considerable planning in advance. It is essential to have a good mapping program. I have Mapsource which is specifically for Garmin units and I also have National Geographic’s TOPO with a detailed version for Idaho. The Mapsource is actually two packages, one for streets and roads and one for topography. The TOPO is basically a topo map but it also has back country roads. All this software has the capability to allow you to place waypoints anywhere on the map and then download them into your GPS unit. My Garmin GPS Map 60 CSx unit also accepts memory cards with these maps. You can download the actual Mapsource maps into the GPS. There is no way that Jackson and I could have found the 10 geocaches on our recent trip without this aid.

I have been working on about a dozen similar caches on Craig mountain in the Waha area south of Lewiston. With only 3 remaining to find I made a trip up Monday with the 4 wheeler on the trailer and my mountain bike strapped on the 4 wheeler. My first search was for Mule Deer Barn which is fairly new and had never been found. The main reason it hadn’t is because it requires 6 miles of non-motorized travel on a road that is closed except for snowmobiles in the winter. There are many little roads in this area, some private and some not. On the third attempt I found the right one and biked in on a hilly and rough road. I found the cache and scored a FTF (first to find, which is a coup in geocaching). About half way back out I discovered I had left my sunglasses so back I went. By the time I had finished that cache I had logged 10 miles on the bicycle.

I had a route mapped out for What a Great Splash which is the site of Elk Creek Falls. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to me, these roads were closed to motorized traffic as well. I had already expended too much effort to quit at this point. By the time I reached the cache I had traveled 7 miles on rough steep roads, crossed 8 fences and 5 streams. Then I had to hike down a steep brushy mountain in shorts to find the cache. By the time I got back to the 4 wheeler my bike odometer indicated 24 miles. The falls were spectacular and I thought I had taken lots of pictures but, unfortunately I didn’t (I won't relate that fiasco).

I still didn’t get the third and remaining one due to more closed roads. Now that I know that those roads are closed I will have to do some more map work before going after the last one. Can you believe Hallie thinks I’m crazy having all this fun? M/W