Polar Plunges and I See Stars

Night-Hawk, Cantergirl, RPStew, Cassiliz, and Damned Rodan rocking the Uhwharries

Fifteen degrees at the ass crack of dawn, and five of us are heading to Uhwharries National Park, south of Asheboro, to conquer the North Carolina Star — 50 geocaches laid out in the woods in a star pattern (these are known as "geo art"), each arm requiring just about a mile hike, so that at the end of it all you come in with just about ten miles under your belt. And this is some rugged terrain, with major elevation changes, and trails almost non-existent. Tom "Night-Hawk" Kidd, Bob "RPStew" Stewart, Carol "Cassiliz" Deschenes, Jeanne "Cantergirl" Allamby, and I met and conquered the beast — all but one of the little beasts, which we figured might be missing (only to find out later it isn't) — requiring just about seven hours in the field. A few mishaps along the way; Cassiliz took several tumbles, fortunately all minor, and ye old Rodan stepped onto a log to cross a creek, only to have said log break and drop Rodan into frigid, knee-deep water. My knees did get a bit banged up, but happily, this happened only a mile or so from the end of the hike, so I didn't have to suffer all that long.

There are stars such as this in several states, including California, Georgia (just a short distance from Gainesville, where my grandparents used to live and which I still enjoy visiting), Nevada, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and others. Eventually, geo artists hope to have stars in all fifty states.

Since it turns out that NC Star number 15 actually isn't missing, I reckon I'll have to go back and redeem myself by finding the sucker. Hopefully, this time without falling into a creek.