Bushwacking in the Mountains - Lost!

It's almost like a miracle when I can convince my two nonchalant teenage boys to do something I want to do. Such was the case this morning, when I talked them into finding a geocache with me. We set out after a cache that was supposed to be hidden by the G on the mountain behind our home.


The view from our house and the trail behind it, is fabulous. Even the boys exclaimed (in cool, undertones) how awesome it was. About this time, Dave was stung by a huge black bee. I'm sure it was not a pleasant experience, but he was extremely manly about it, and he persevered in our hunt.


Unfortunately, I attempted to take a road that I thought would intercept with the trail to the "G". Even more unfortunately, Dave took a deer trail that he though would intercept with it quicker. Before we knew it, we were bushwacking straight up the mountain.


We were all hot, thirsty and exhausted and lost. The boys and Dave managed to maintain an air of dignity and didn't complain much ... to my astonishment. The boys did express their desire to give up a few times, and did point out the futility of our walk a few times. I personally found it very exciting and Dave said later that he pictured himself as Indiana Jones.


Zero didn't complain aloud, but did pant and look confused a lot as if to say, "what is the point of wandering in circles over the mountain through this tall grass?"


There was no trail and the ground was rocky and covered with grasshoppers. Bees and flies buzzed around our heads, and we all seemed to sweat profusely. The two teenage boys forgot to wear deodorant and in spite of being in the great outdoors, I had no trouble know where they were from the wiff of teenage pit juice.


Lost or not, the view was inspiring. Dave and the boys pointed out landmarks from the valley below, while I endeavored to take photos with my iphone.

My plan with all this treasure hunting is to use my iphone for a GPS, camera, ipod and everything I need (except a water container). However, because I was a professional photographer for several years, it is a little humbling to be limited to an iPhone camera which is in a case that causes a dark circle vignette around my photos. Nevertheless, I WILL not give in and start lugging about my professional cameras! I shall stick to the plan.


After bushwacking for an hour or so, we finally gave up and trapesd down into the gully, intercepted with a horse trail, then followed it until we found a road.



We ended up next to a farm. There were large, beautiful mules to greet us. From the farm we found our way on backroads to our home. It was disappointing that we didn't reach the geocache, but the adventure was good for our souls... and for our lazy bodies which needed the exercise.

My assessment of this hunt: 3/4 stars for family adventure and getting lost