Half-Past Fun in the Woods, Part Deux

After an ignominious defeat at "Fun in the Woods" (GC8PWW0) on yesterday, Robgso (a.k.a. Old Bloody Rob), Fishdownthestair (a.k.a. Natalie), and ye olde dude resolved to return to the scene of the horror this morning. After failures here by a substantial number of seasoned geocachers (other than us), the cache owner, Skyhawk63 (a.k.a. Tom), and his dastardly partner in crime, Punkins19 (a.k.a. Linda), also decided to come out and check on the cache's coordinates and wellness. This bothered the rest of us not a whit, although Tom's tight-lipped demeanor while we hunted rivaled Natalie's at her worst (which is pretty beastly). Like yesterday, coordinates on all our devices proved bouncy as hell, yet when they deigned to stabilize for brief spells, they continued to point us to roughly the same localized area. At one point during our increasingly frantic search, Old Rob unwittingly jostled the cache, making it somewhat more visible, and a few minutes later, Natalie actually laid eyes on the thing. Lord have mercy, what a monster! (The cache, I mean, not Natalie — this time.)

I'd say the coordinates turned out reasonably good; it's just that they rarely keep still long enough to pinpoint a distinct GZ. To my mind, that's why this cache is so tough: you end up with a very big search area and, within it, a vast array of alluring hiding places.

So, at least for Natalie and me, that was around 3 hours on the hunt here. Finally, a hard-earned first-to-find for Old Rodan, Old Robgso, and Ol...er... Young Fishdownthestair at 10:00 a.m. Whew.

And there we have it: Half-Past Fun in the Woods, conquered!

Half-Past Fun in the Woods

Hmm, yes that does look a little bit like an old fart in a tree. I reckon he is — old, I mean. Yesterday was another flippin' birthday, and I swear I just had one of those a couple of weeks back. It was kind of an odd one; a little weird, I guess, what with it falling in the middle of a pandemic. Still, in all, it turned out to be very pleasant, mostly relaxing. On Friday, Ms. B. and I journeyed to Martinsville, set ourselves up at the Homestead, and picked up some dinner (burgers fantastique) from Third Bay Cafe, our favorite Martinsville restaurant. Then we settled in with some wine and watched Europa Report, which we had seen a few years back, but we both enjoyed it and wanted to see it again. It holds up nicely.

We headed on back to Greensboro yesterday afternoon, and then, last night, got a nice dinner from Fuji Sushi. Since being mostly homebound these past few weeks, I have sure been missing the sushi, so it was great to be able to bring home some of the good stuff. For the rest of the evening, being in the Japanese spirit and all, we put on three of the Ju-on movies, which I have always liked a lot — Ju-on: The Curse, pts. 1 and 2 (the original made-for-TV chapters from 2000) and the theatrical feature, Ju-on: The Grudge, from 2002. That put us late into the night, but it sure made for a pleasant birthday evening.

A couple of new geocaches at the Richardson-Taylor Preserve, placed by friend Skyhawk63 (a.k.a. Tom), were published this weekend, so this morning, friends Robgso (a.k.a. Old Rob) and Ms. Fishdownthestair (a.k.a. Natalie) met at the trailhead, spread ourselves out nicely, and hiked out to the new one called "Fun in the Woods" (GC8PWW0) A few previous hunters had posted DNF (Did Not Find) logs, so we hoped we might manage the first-to-find honors. We hunted high, low, over, under, and everywhere in between, but we couldn't turn the up the damned thing. After an hour or so, we decided to move on to a couple of other targets. One of them was my own cache, "Alien Artillery #2" (GC8PVCV) which resides a little ways up in a tree. Now, friend Rob is not a tree climber (which is due less to his own lack of desire or proficiency than a profound fear of his wife should she learn he climbed a tree), so I volunteered to go up and grab the log for him. Happily, unlike on my first ascent when I hid the cache (see "Alien Artillery," April 26, 2020), I did not fall out of the tree.

After this, we parted ways with Rob and returned to the site of "Fun in the Woods," where we came upon a geocacher I'd not met before, namely MetsFanNC. We joined forces and hunted, hunted, and hunted (again), still to come up empty-handed after well over an hour. Sigh!

Well, a DNF gives me a reason to take another trail hike, which I'll no doubt do this week. Maybe I'll find myself a tree to climb, just for fun. I'm old as the hills now, so I can climb if I want to.

Up we go, and making the grab.

Alien Artillery

Yep, I put out a couple of new geocaches today in the Richardson Taylor Preserve, out there along the Bigfoot Trail (a.k.a. the Bill Craft Trail, for them what don't know any better, as I've mentioned on other occasions). Space for geocaches out there is just about used up, but I did find a few slivers of land that looked good for a couple of new hides. These, like most of mine, are themed (see images above). As with Threnody (GC8P8P4), which I placed a couple of weeks ago, the science-fiction/horror theme draws from a plethora of sources — my own fiction, movies, television series, books, short stories, etc.

So, I did fall out of a tree today. But only once, and I landed on my feet. Sure enough, one of the hides involves a pretty hairy tree climb. In this tree (that's the bloody bastard there to the left; if you enlarge the pic and look closely, you can actually see the cache), there's precious little to grab onto, and on my first attempt up, I managed to miss my only handhold. Fortunately, it wasn't a long way down, and the ground was soft from the recent rainfall. I hope prospective finders will be careful for their own sakes as well the cache's, since I don't want to have to truck out there to do maintenance because someone's reach (and grasp) fell short.

Anyhoo, the day proved beautiful for hiking, and since I was pretty far into the outback there, I barely saw a living soul today — only a couple of folks near the parking area when I was coming and going. That's my idea of a day in the woods anyhow.

Here's the write up for "Alien Artillery #2," the one in the tree. Try not to fall out of anything while you're reading.

Special Agents: Following the discovery of the nearby anomaly, code named THRENODY (Ref: GC8P8P4), an entirely new and unexpected situation has arisen. Possibly IN RESPONSE to that anomaly, an unknown party (likely the same one involved in prior incident report code named TRIPODS (Ref: GC690XE) appears to have launched and successfully made two precision strikes at coordinates very close to Anomaly THRENODY. We call the first of these ALIEN ARTILLERY #1: PROBE (GC8PVCC), the second one ALIEN ARTILLERY #2: TRANSMITTER BEACON.

On 4/14/20, Listening Post Beta detected a pair of projectile launches from the Planet Mars. LPB tracked the projectiles to their points of impact, which occurred on 4/26/20 — two sets of coordinates, both in close proximity to ANOMALY TH. (These are NOT thought to be warheads, but data-gathering pods; the purpose for data gathering is as yet unknown.)

This is case file ALIEN ARTILLERY #2: TRANSMITTER BEACON. Your task is to discover the exact location of the beacon and inscribe the requisite agent code on the mission log we believe you will find at the site (this will require you to detour some distance off the Bill Craft Trail). We predict our investigations will prove that we are on the brink of something — in the words of Special Agent Dale Cooper — “both wonderful and strange.” Please be aware that this particular case involves an element of danger. Depending on your height, agility, and overall physical ability, retrieving object at the site may require a partner or specific “tool of the trade.” You are certainly encouraged to avoid undertaking this task alone. If you are unable to retrieve and then return the object to its exact original state and location, please do not attempt its retrieval.

Good luck on your mission of discovery!
Federal Bureau of Investigation Project Director Gordon Cole

#

Here's a few shots of the woods in the area of the new hides. Very pretty out there now, it is. It's been a gorgeous spring, pandemics be damned.

Threnody

My newest geocache, placed in the Richardson Taylor Preserve near what I call The Bigfoot Trail (a.k.a. the Bill Craft Trail, for those who don't know better), is one that features a work of fiction on the cache's webpage. This one draws on lore I've included in several previous cache listings, incorporating elements from my own fiction; stories by Karl Edward Wagner, H.P. Lovecraft and others; movies such as Sinister and The Blair Witch Project; Twin Peaks, and more. The graphic above is one I put together to provide a bit of background to the cache story.

And here it is:

CASE #GC8P8P4
Recently, a digital dossier containing images and documents pertaining to certain occult phenomena in our local area came to the attention of the FBI. The dossier contained reproductions of materials dating back many decades, as well as a sound recording of an inexplicable event that reportedly occurred in the woods between Reedy Fork and Route 150 in the mid 1960s. This recording supposedly captured a supernatural "threnody," emitted from what appeared to be nothing more than an ancient, long-dead tree. Intensive research has determined that this tree was once used as part of an altar devised by an individual named Lillian Gadwick, a self-proclaimed witch (ref: The Curse of Lillian Gadwick & The Witch's Woods). Gadwick achieved notoriety in the late 18th century for abducting numerous individuals—children in particular—whom she offered as sacrifices in various black rituals.

The threnody in question is said to be a kind of code—a means of obtaining protection against the witch's restless spirit—actually produced by the spirits of the dead. Among the deities Gadwick worshipped was a Sumerian entity known as Bughuul (ref: SINISTER), sometimes called "The Eater of Souls." Some occult scholars are convinced that the threnody in question was produced by actual victims of Bughuul dating back many decades, if not centuries.

In order to protect themselves from Bughuul's hunger, ancient occultists signed their names on the Scroll of Moloch. The scroll itself was usually hidden near one of the Bughuul's "gateways" to this earth—in this case, a ancient tree possessed of preternatural power. The scroll could not be hidden at the gate, but had to be placed somewhere nearby. If you choose to investigate this case, be aware that danger is present. For your own welfare, you are encouraged to sign the scroll—if you can find it. Those who hid it took pains to keep it out of the reach of Bughuul and his minions.

#

To get the coordinates to the cache, one must listen to audio file that contains a "threnody" as well as a code provides the necessary information. The cache was published this morning and found not long afterward by friend Dave (a.k.a. Rhodorooter). Anyhoo, I do enjoy mixing geocaching and storytelling. My favorite things all in one basket.

And so. There it is.

Bigfeetz, Big Cachez, Big Bugz

Another day on the Bigfoot Trail, another geocache hidden by Skyhawk63 (a.k.a. Tom) and Punkins19 (a.k.a. Linda). Sadly, this will probably be it for a while out there; Tom and Linda put out five, which have been released over the past few days, and now I've found them all. The day proved perfect for hiking — not as hot as all that, sunny, no rain, not a living soul on the trail. Unlike most of the others in this bunch, the cache itself was a big one, with plenty of room for swag. I knew there was some alternate parking for the trail, so today I opted for it, which cut off a little distance on the hike. On my outbound trip, however, I left the trail altogether and decided to bushwhack my way back to the Rodan Mobile.

It was cool. I found some very lovely scenery I'd not encountered out there, plus a great big wood beetle, who was wandering about on a fallen log — no doubt getting in some exercise of his own.

I've gotten so accustomed to visiting the Bigfoot Trail over the past week that I don't know what I'm going to do without new caches to hike after out yonder. Well, there is some available space out there in those woods. Perhaps I'll hide one of my own.

Maybe even two.

Found a buddy.

The Green Ravine

More Green Ravine

Busted Teeth and Bigfoot Trailin' Days

Yessir, it was raining real water out there. Dumping, as a matter of fact. So I got wet on the trail
At least Bigfoot didn't get me.

But for the threat of ultimate doom hanging over our heads during the COVID-19 pandemic, this working at home/social distancing/minimum travel thing would be downright agreeable.

Apart from occasional trips for groceries, which we've mostly managed to get via the express pickup lanes, Ms. B. and I are keeping a lot of distance between us and the rest of the world. Well, except for today. Today, I had to make a trip to the dentist for a minor emergency: last night, just before bedtime, I busted a tooth. Took a bite of cereal, and — DAMN, that sumbitch was crunchy! Oh, wait. That's not cereal. That's half a freaking molar. Yep. So, first thing this morning, I hollered at my dentist; woke her up, even. Despite being a little grumpy at the disturbance, she was able to get me in at midday, round off the jagged corners, and fill the gaping gap with some composite material. The tooth will need a full crown, but we're hoping this patch will keep me in jawbreakers until such time as her office can re-open for crowning achievements.

Map of the Bigfoot (a.k.a. Bill Craft Trail)
at the Taylor-Richardson Preserve

Three days straight I've made it out to the Bigfoot Trail (a.k.a. the Bill Craft Trail) in the Taylor-Richardson Preserve just north of Greensboro. Happily, several new geocaches have come out there over the past few days, courtesy of friends Skyhawk63 (a.k.a. Tom) and his wife Punkins19 (a.k.a. Linda). Our local reviewers have wisely spaced out these releases, timewise, so there won't be a mad rush for a slew of caches all at once. As it is, these newest are located in an area that is generally little-traveled. (It's entirely possible that Bigfoot may have thinned the herd.) On Sunday, I put in over eight miles on the trail; yesterday, about four miles; and today, about two miles. My feet have complained a little, but otherwise, it's been most invigorating.

Yesterday, after knocking off from work, I headed out to the northernmost trailhead, intent on hiking after the newest published cache. I had no sooner arrived when the bottom fell out, so for the next twenty minutes I sat in the car while the bright, clear blue sky dumped tons of water and rumbled with thunder. After a while, I said fuckity-fuggit, pulled out my umbrella, and set off down the trail. After another ten minutes or so, the rain stopped and the steam began. It is one winding trail, I can tell you. Anywhere along the way, if your GPS indicates your destination is a quarter mile away as the crow flies, you can count on hiking at least a mile. Anyhoo, I did snag another nice FTF (first-to-find) after getting a couple the day before.

I had just scrubbed up, signed the log, scrubbed the container, returned it to its hidey hole, and scrubbed my hands again when I heard a Bigfoot approaching. Oh no! But wait... That's not Bigfoot. It's just friend Night-Hawk (a.k.a. Tom). OH NO! Anyhoo, we commenced the social distancing, and some pleasant social distancing it was. Once back at the trailhead, the goats at nearby farm started hollering friendly greetings at us. One of the little guys was up on the roof of a small shed, and he made like he wanted to come visit with us, except he couldn't quite figure out how to get down.

Nice little goat taking the air near the trailhead

Today, another new cache, another trip out to the Bigfoot Trail. This time, as I much anticipated, friend Robgso (a.k.a. Old Rob), being retired and all, got out there midday to snag the FTF. No matter; a cache is a cache is a cache. This one resides near an overlook platform just above the marsh out there. Now, yesterday, Night-Hawk and I got the idea that one of the upcoming scheduled caches might just be hidden by that overlook. So, on our hike back to our respective socially distanced vehicles, we detoured to the overlook and gave it a pretty good once-over to see if we could find a container. Alas, we did not. Had we expanded our search area just a tad, we almost certainly would have found it in advance of its publication at geocaching.com. But I claimed it today, and I quite relished the opportunity to get out in those woods again. There's at least one more cache out there, just waiting for publication, so I'll have soon another trip to look forward to.

And, this evening, it's back to working on New Hampshire: Ghosts From the Skies, on which I'm making slow but steady progress. I think this is going to be one fun little entry in the Ameri-Scares series.

Stay well, you.

The woods around the marsh. Bigfoot lives around here, doncha know.

Overlookin'

A view of the marsh from the platform

"Timber!" at Last

Lots of cars at all the local trails

Since getting out for exercise is one of the few legitimate reasons for going out and about under the current lockdown, the local trails are packed. Now, I frequent these trails, and I'm often out here when not another living soul is using them. I'm assuming that massive numbers of people now need alternative venues for exercise and hit the trails, rather than walk on neighborhood sidewalks and such. I had planned to come out after "Timber" (GC8NHY3; see "Quarantine Spring," April 3, 2020), which I had failed to locate last week, so about 11:00 this morning, I headed up to the Bigfoot Trail (a.k.a. the Bill Craft Trail) at the Taylor-Richardson Preserve just up the way.

About the time I got there, I received notifications on my phone that two new caches had been published — right there on the Bill Craft Trail! Thing is, the trail is almost 4 miles long, and both these new caches resided up yonder at the other end. I contemplated moving the car to the far trailhead, near Northern Guilford High School, but I decided against it and opted to put in the big hike. And... lord have mercy... did I ever hike.

I occasionally encountered folks on the trail, but in all cases, we kept considerable distance between us. After the first mile or so, I hardly saw a living soul out there. Rather than stop at "Timber," which lies at about the halfway point, I kept on trucking, figuring I might be able to get the first-to-find on one or both of the new caches ("Lake Rhodorooter" [GC8NRJF] and "The Outdoor Classroom" [GC8NRQW]), placed by friends Skyhawk63 (a.k.a. Tom) and Punkins19 (a.k.a. Linda). Indeed, once I finally got way out yonder, I managed to make short work of both, and sign the coveted FTF slots on the logsheets. Now, needless to say, since we don't want to be leaving any microscopic nasties around, I scrubbed up both before and after handling the containers and logs, and, just for good measure, sanitized the exteriors of both containers. Those caches are now probably the cleanest things in Greensboro.

Even getting back to "Timber," it was a pretty long hike. I was kicking myself for not having processed the clues that had been evident in the puzzle solution on the online geocache page. Had the obvious smacked me in the head while I was out there on Thursday, I have no doubt I would have found the cache on my first outing. As it was, armed with the knowledge I should have acquired earlier, I made short work of this lovely little hide. The very well camouflaged container is one created by friend Robgso (a.k.a. Old Rob) and hidden by Ms. Fishdownthestair (a.k.a. Natalie). No matter, I greatly enjoyed both trips out to the woods, particularly since so much other time is now spent at home. I understand there's another handful of caches soon to be published on the Bigfoot Trail, and I'm sure looking forward to heading out there again.

I did find my first tick of the season, alas. The little bastard had just bitten me but hadn't really locked on. I hope he was the only one of his nasty little kind I might have brought home. Hateful little shits.

Y'all be safe.

This not horse area. You not horse here.

The woods were beautiful today.

Old feller successfully social distancing

Quarantine Spring

Today was the first day that really looked and felt like spring. It's gotta be the weirdest spring of my life, as it's the first and only spring in which I've had to live with a pandemic as a partner. So far, Ms. B. and I are doing fine, working from our respective homes (and I pray to god our jobs hold out, else life will be an unpretty thing), staying inside but for necessary errands and some serious exercise, of which geocaching has been a most welcome part. I've had to have some major work done to the old homestead in Martinsville, so I've spent quite a bit of time here these past few weeks. Right now, the season resembles spring as I remember it growing up — brilliant, comfortable, fragrant, peaceful. It's certainly different in that mingling with other human beings brings on a risk unlike any most of us have ever faced.

I was just reading a blog from some individual whose medical knowledge appears to be nominal, and whose callous attitude pisses me off, but there does seem to be some sense in the premise that, in order to ultimately overcome this particular Corona virus, a herd immunity must be established, and that can't happen while the world is in quarantine. In order for herd immunity to happen, more humans than not, especially those with stronger constitutions, essentially need to be the guinea pigs who are exposed to it, so that antibodies will develop to counter this specific threat. It sounds logical. Yet, I am far more inclined to listen to experts in the field — epidemiologists, medical personnel on the front lines, et. al. — and view the evidence, globally, as it presents itself. There's certainly no shortage of human beings being exposed to the virus. Look how well the unintended "experiment" worked in Italy, where massive numbers of people were exposed before the country undertook serious isolating measures. Herd immunity may happen in time (likely generations in the best-case scenario), but it strikes me as both foolish and callous to think it will happen naturally without casualties and economic damage far in excess of the current, recommended alternative measures of holding the beast at bay.

Anyway, I guess that's neither here nor there. I keep myself informed inasmuch as possible, but I am no expert in the field of epidemiology, and there's plenty of disagreement among experts as to the predicted trajectory of COVID-19. I'll take the wisdom imparted by those whose expertise in epidemiology comes from years of devoted study over some dilettante on the internet. I bring it up only because, on a strictly Darwinian level, the argument in question offers some validity.

Happily, the geocaching, while necessarily on the back-burner as of late, has at least offered a few nice opportunities for both rigorous exercise and serious seclusion in the woods. Our local geocache reviewers have wisely opted to not abandon publishing new caches altogether — at least as long as the activity is legally permitted. Rather, they are approving only geocaches that are demonstrably remote. No urban caches, none in areas likely to be overwhelmed by eager first-to-find hounds. I think that's a far more reasonable approach than shelving geocaching altogether. Woodland geocaching is far, far lower risk than going to the grocery store, or even taking a walk on streets where the human population is anything but sparse. Thus, I've made a handful of outings into the deep woods and am so much the better for it.

Just hanging around at the Bigfoot Trail

Yesterday, a new puzzle cache came out, over on the Bigfoot Trail, courtesy of friend Natalie, a.k.a. Ms. Fishdownthestair. Let it be known that Ms. FDTS has a mean streak, and while I managed to solve her puzzle with relative ease, the cache itself proved elusive. And when I say elusive, I mean I couldn't find the little fucker. In my zeal to get out to the woods, I did overlook certain info that surely would have helped me narrow down my search area. Alas! Anyway, while I was searching, friend Christopher (a.k.a. Ranger Fox) arrived on the scene. We conscientiously maintained far more than the required social distancing distance from each other, but after a couple of hours searching at and around the host — a massive, massive fallen tree — we ended up abandoning the hunt. At least I was able to get out there and actually hunt something, rather than spend ungodly amounts of time trying to solve a puzzle on my computer. I go caching to get away from the damned computer, and I can't say I don't resent it somewhat when the majority of caches coming out in the area are puzzles that require (sometimes extensive) computer time before you can get out on the trail to actually go geocaching. Fuck that noise, I say.

I see that friends Old Rob (a.k.a. Robgso), Tom (a.k.a. Skyhawk63), and Linda (a.k.a. Punkins19) managed to find that wretched little monster today, though not without considerable difficulty, as recorded in their online logs. I'll head back out there sometime this weekend, I reckon. Today, after work, I went after a couple of new caches at the Knight Brown Nature Preserve near Belews Lake. These weren't very difficult, though they did involve a decent hike on the winding trails through the preserve.

This evening, I enjoyed a superb burger from Third Bay restaurant, which is one of our favorite dining establishments in Martinsville. I was pleased to find they've remained open for carryout, and even more pleased that their business is absolutely booming during this period of wholesale business closures. I hope it remains so.

I do have quite a bit of writing and writing-related business to attend to, so... for now... I'm doing a bit better than hanging in there. Tomorrow's another day, but weathering this one, and the past few, hasn't strained anything. I take nothing for granted. I'm just taking what I can as I can. I'm actually less stressed out than usual over this past couple of weeks. I'm certain it's a result of not having to deal with so much human garbage on the highways on my ordinary commute to and from work. I like people a hell of a lot better when their paths don't cross mine so fucking often.

That said, I'm gonna keep on liking most of you. A whole lot. OK?

Mom's azaleas, which have grown along the front of the old homestead for almost all of my 60+ years

View from the front porch, toward the creek and the houses above on Sam Lions Trail

You find the weirdest shit growing in the woods sometimes.

Old Rodan in happy isolation at the Knight Brown Nature Preserve near Belews Lake

Back to the Bigfoot Trail

It's not really called The Bigfoot Trail — in official (but clearly ill-informed) circles, it's known as the Bill Craft Trail — but to me, it is and always will be The Bigfoot Trail. Because Bigfoot is out there. He's big, I tell you, and he's got feet.

The Taylor-Richardson Preserve is an extensive area of pine/deciduous forest and wetlands between Plainfield Road and NC 150 in Guilford County, just north of Greensboro, and the hiking/biking trail (The Bill Craft Trail, yeah, right, ha ha) runs about four miles from end to end. Many, many times during my now decade-long geocaching career I've hiked that trail, and I've placed several caches in the preserve myself. Nowadays, however, new hides out there are rare, since space that doesn't conflict with the existing caches' 528-ft. buffer zones is limited. Happily, though, now and again some determined soul will finagle an opening, and the redoubtable 2McTwins (a.k.a. Daniel and Dustin) who have placed numerous excellent caches, in the woods and otherwise, have done it again with a new cache along the Bigfoot Trail.

I spent the morning caching in Randolph County, south of Greensboro, with regular partners Robgso (a.k.a. Rob), BigG7777 (a.k.a. Gerry), and Suntigres (a.k.a. Bridget), which was most enjoyable, but after lunch at the excellent Compadres Mexican Restaurant in Randleman, I decided I needed to find another cache. For my sanity's sake, I desperately needed to find another cache! Happily, the Bigfoot Trail isn't far from home, and with that one new cache lurking out there, I decided it would be my target.

I'm especially fond of the northern end of the trail, as it's far less traveled than its southernmost reaches. Those woods are quiet and secluded, and today, beneath heavy cloud cover, the atmosphere felt just this side of eerie (which, as you probably know, or can deduce, "just this side of eerie" is damn near the best possible atmospheric quality, perhaps exceeded only by "absolutely fucking eerie"). True to time-proven tradition, as I hiked the near-silent woods, I occasionally heard heavy footsteps in the woods around me, and once, I discerned what might have been a big ugly hairy figure watching me from a distance (there is, admittedly, some chance this was one of the McTwins spying on me to pick up a few geocaching pointers). Several times I heard what I was sure might be the voluminous roar of a critter with huge feet, but each time it turned out to be a jet passing overhead on its way to land at Piedmont Triad International Airport. Bummer, some might say, but as I do enjoy plane spotting, watching them proved a pleasant enough diversion.

On another nice note, I've been informed that semi-frequent caching partner Cupdaisy (a.k.a Debbie) believes she has found yet more free space in the preserve for a cache or two of her own, and I shall look forward to these...hopefully. One can never venture deep into Bigfoot country too often.

Shades of Boggy Creek

View from little footbridge over the stream

There's not only bigfeet, there's beavers!

Little outdoor classroom in the middle of the woods

Near the trailhead on Simpson-Calhoun Road — alpacas!

Also on Simpson-Calhoun—wee little burro and big pale horse

Confusion on the Bigfoot Trail

Several years ago, geocaching took me out to what I call the Bigfoot Trail — a scenic and secluded hiking trail through the marshes along Long Branch, a few miles north of Greensboro (see "Return to Bigfoot Country," "Bigfoot's Libary," "The Great Blue Heron Nursery"). When I came upon the trail for the first time, it was undeveloped — not much more than a deer path through the woods, and human beings, other than the occasional geocacher, were happily never present. More recently, this extensive area of land has been made into the Richardson-Taylor Nature Preserve, and the old Bigfoot trail has been extended by a couple of miles and augmented by a bike trail that roughly parallels and occasionally intersects it. The preserve encompasses one of the most primitive, undeveloped areas in Guilford County, and since it is one of Greensboro's vital watershed areas, I am glad it has been acquired by an organization that will preserve it rather than rape it. All too nearby, acres upon acres of pristine woodland have recently been clear-cut to make way for yet more hellishly ugly, overpriced, cookie-cutter houses in poorly planned subdivisions that are steadily destroying the very resources that allow Greensboro to maintain adequate water supplies. The dreaded urban sprawl, don't you know. I hate it beyond words.

For now, while the trail is still unfinished, there is plenty of nature to be seen out there with virtually no sign of human intrusion. Near the trailhead, there are the remains of several old tobacco barns, for this area along Plainfield Road, which runs east-west near Greensboro's northernmost city limits, was not all that long ago completely rural, the forests broken only by a few farms and tobacco fields. The geocaching is good out here, and I was lucky to have been able to experience this unspoiled area before the inevitable influx of less environmentally conscious hordes. Today's hike was after a new, well-conceived multistage cache that required solving a novel field puzzle that involved dynamos and circuit boards (GC5B09K; "The Box of Confusion — I Wonder"). Mr. Rob "Robgso" Isenhour and I put in a nice three-mile hike and were able to log geocaching smileys after solving the puzzle and finding the final stage.

Yeah, Bigfoot is still out there, and I hear he's kind of pissed that the trail is now called the Bill Craft Trail, which may be fitting enough, but for crying out loud, how could any sensible soul not call it "The Bigfoot Trail"? Well, whatever its official name, to some of us, it's always going to be the Bigfoot Trail, and that will be that.

Old Rodan and old tobacco barn near the trailhead

They have these newfangled bridges out on the trail now. Not back in the good ol' days; you just got your feet wet.

Return to Bigfoot Country

It's not quite Boggy Creek, but Bigfoot has his own library back here.

Almost a year ago, I discovered what I call the Bigfoot Trail, just a few miles up the road, near Lake Townsend (The Great Blue Heron Nursery, Bigfoot's Library). There's a fairly new cache on the trail, so after work this afternoon, I hiked out there to claim it. A good couple of miles out and back, and apparently a new mountain biking trail is in the works out there. I have mixed feelings about it; it's a beautiful area, and really quite suited to a new trail. I'm generally glad to see new trails going in around the Greensboro watershed properties, especially since they're all so well-used. But since I started hiking out there, the Bigfoot Trail has been isolated and almost eerie. Its most notable feature—apart from being home to the Bigfeet I've yet to actually see—is a spectacular Great Blue Heron rookery. I doubt the birds will be overly disturbed by trail bikers, but the serene, nearly primal atmosphere will surely change. While I can't lay any claim on the land, I feel a personal connection to it, a sense of being one of a relative few who have ventured into that locale in the recent past. It's the somewhat disheartening sense of having to share a "secret" place with a much larger number of people.

Fortunately, the watershed trails generally are well-kept, with scarcely any human refuse left out along them. And when trash accumulates, the local geocachers get together and clean it all up. I do love the Greensboro trails.

Today, overt signs of human activity out there were few, but somewhat dramatic. For some time now, heavy military transport jets have been coming and going regularly from Piedmont Triad International airport, and this afternoon, a half dozen or more C-5 Galaxy transports passed low over the trail in the course of an hour. Majestic things...massive...seemingly hanging almost motionless in the sky as they approach. From several points along the trail, my view of them was unimpeded, and being a long-time aviation enthusiast, I really enjoyed the spectacle.

Judging from the very fresh footprints, horseback riders were out there today. There's a new parking lot—as yet unopened—for the trail, which made for a rather disconcerting sight. But it appears that Bigfeet can't be bothered to use it because, way back there in the woods, I found the Bigfoot Mobile. Looks like a 1940s-vintage automobile, all in pieces, so ancient that the woods have completely enveloped it. Clearly, Bigfoot can't drive.

Today's hike was an enjoyable, if somewhat wistful return to a place I'm very fond of. Whatever the "official" name of the biking trail turns out to be, to me, it will always be The Bigfoot Trail.

Click the images to enlarge.

A C-5 Galaxy on its approach to PTI. The sound shook the ground around me.

Obviously, Bigfoot got his driver's license from a Crackerjack box.

I had nothing to do with the wreckage...this time.
Great Blue Heron just looks down and laughs.