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Monday, July 29, 2013

Motocaching the Top of the Big Sky – Day 3



I got my usual pre 6:30 am start this morning but I skipped breakfast.  I always carry snacks such as trail mix so I’m not totally without.  I headed towards Glasgow where I would turn north toward the Canadian border.  I picked up a cache at a rest stop before Glasgow and then had a DNF (did not find) at a Case dealership.  I had already had an unsuccessful attempt at a Pacific Recycling center in town but I went back and tried again.  Even though the description said it was outside the fence the coordinates took me well inside the grounds.  I finally asked one of the employees and he showed it to me in an old tire hanging on the fence.  The coordinates were off about 100 feet.

I left Glasgow and turned north toward the tiny town of Opheim and that’s where the fun began.  I hit rain and this wasn’t a thunderstorm but a gray sky all around long term wetting.  I was cold and wet but there was nothing to do but press on.  Geocaching in the rain is particularly troublesome because it’s nearly impossible to keep the logs from getting wet.

I was eager to find one in Daniels County so I could make time out of that part of the state.  I did find a neat cache hidden at someone’s house in the very small community of Richland with a café and nothing much else.  While I was stopped one of the locals in a pickup apparently felt sorry for me because he stopped and invited me in to the café for coffee.  I thanked him but declined because I didn’t want to prolong my misery.

The next real town I encountered was Scobey.  I found a couple of caches there and I was so cold and wet that I did go into a café for a $3 small cup on hot chocolate.  It seemed like those Montanans jabbed it to me every chance they got.

From Scobey I continued a little farther east into Sheridan County before turning south.  My next stop was at a little ghost town called Redstone.  It was the kind of place that would bring back memories.  The cache was in what had been tiny Redstone Park.  The next town

was Plentywood and I found a couple of caches there.  I found a couple more caches in Culbertson and that took care of Roosevelt County.  Now the rain had quit and the sun finally came out.  It got hot quickly but I’m not about to complain after all the cold and rain.

Just out of Culbertson I crossed the Missouri River and that put me in Richland County.  There was a cache a short ways off the highway on the bank of the river.  I found another one hidden in a bottle just a little ways down the road.  I had to use my knife to get the log out of the bottle neck.  That took care of Richland County.

I was now getting close to Glendive where I had reservations at the Riverside Inn.  Just out of Glendive I found “Glendisaurus” which was a big plaster Stegosaurus located at a little public pond.  Before checking into the motel I tried for another one but I’m sure it was gone.

I don’t know why my motel was called the “Riverside” Inn because I didn’t see a river anywhere near.  After settling in at the motel I ventured out and got a couple more caches for Dawson County.  Then I got a decent meal at a Subway and had a bit left over for lunch the next day.  I had covered 376 miles (my shortest mileage day) and believe me, that was plenty for this day.  [To be continued]  M/W



4 comments:

  1. I'm enjoying reading about your trip!

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  2. I don't know how he does it without me! I call these trips "self-imposed agony." He doesn't get a lot of sympathy from me.

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  3. That was probably THE ONLY available cup of hot coco within 200 miles, though.

    Maybe we need to invent something that will make geocaching in the rain easier. Maybe a pocket sized free-standing umbrella that leaves your hands free to write in the log book.

    ReplyDelete