Today was a geocaching day for me, and a hot one at that (it hit over 100
degrees out there). I headed down early this morning to meet a couple of the
No-Dead-Weight Irregulars—friends Debbie (a.k.a.
Cupdaisy) and Scott (a.k.a. Diefenbaker)—at the
Cane Creek Mountains Natural Area, a few miles south of Burlington, NC. There were six newish caches on the
hiking trails, which range from moderate to rugged; we managed to find them
all and put in a little over three miles on the trail.
For me, the highlight of the hike was reaching the relatively new Monadnock
Observation Tower, which rises 80 feet above the treeline at the summit of the
mountain, offering some stunning 360-degree views of Alamance County. At first
sight, the tower doesn't look all that tall, but after a 1.5-mile,
semi-strenuous hike, plodding up those hot metal stairs took some doing. I
hung out up there taking pictures as long as I could stand it—about ten
minutes—for that sun was blazing. At least below, we were mostly under tree
cover.
Once done at Cane Creek, we drove up to Mebane to have lunch
at Catrina's, our favorite Mexican restaurant in the area. The
steak and chorizo street tacos with diabla salsa are to die (or maybe even
kill) for. And the margaritas are mighty good (unlike so many places, they
have a decent amount of tequila in them).
After lunch, we went after a handful of nearby park & grab caches, and I
finally headed home. And now I'm gonna sit back, have a beer, and wilt, for
the heat is hot.
