IDENTIFICATION

GC16ZFP	NS West #2	N 49° 40.349 W 112° 52.813
	Difficulty 1.5; Terrain 1.5; size - micro. Creator: Mr. Clean and Pinkey. Date First Hidden: Oct 26/07 Date Last Found: Sept 27/08.	West Lethbridge
Description	Take a walk in the park and enjoy the view. I think this lovely place could use a few more.
Hints	none
Comments	This one was tough ... nice quick find ... went back and found it

The aerial photo of the map suggests the cache is near the end of the bridge to the large island in Nicholas Sheran lake. I have had 2 previous attempts at this without any success. I have had some difficulty with a bouncing GPS but on my second try it seemed to be on the west end of the bridge. I will see if I can find the cache without using my GPS unit and only my eyes. Then I will try to see if I can get a more accurate position using my GPS.

PLANNING

This will be my third serious attempt at finding this cache. It will be the second test of this form to help focus my efforts. It is encouraging to note that it has been found within the last week. I also see that others have also had difficulty with this one. I have downloaded the coordinates of the site from the MyGarmin web site. I have my Garmin nuvi 850, a pen, camera (battery charged) and gloves (in case it is in a spruce tree). Plus a clipboard for holding this page.

OUTCOME

DNF. I spent an hour looking in a very small area and still couldn't find it. I tried approaching the area from both directions and zeroed in on an area on the bridge. This was my third try at the very first geocache that I tried to find (GC16ZFP NS West #2) which is either on, or near a bridge to an island in Nicholas Sheran park. As with my first two efforts this was still a DNF (Did Not Find). Fascinating. I know the cache is a micro, but even so, I thought I carefully looked at every square inch within a radius of 10 feet of where my GPS said the cache was hidden. Nothing. Even being meticulous didn't help. I touched every bolt on the east end of the bridge - a few were slightly loose and one actually came off, but it was still a bolt. I thought I looked in every possible place that anything of any size could be, but I clearly missed one. This cache was found a couple of times on September 27 so I am fairly confident that it is there. My GPS was quite stable, indicating it was near the east end of the bridge. On my first attempt, a couple of months ago, it was bouncing around but seemed to indicate it was near the west end of the bridge. I focused my attention today on the east end but it continues to elude me. 3:30 A technique that has worked well for me when birding looks like it may also work when geocaching. I took a photo of a feature that I thought looked promising, and which I had tried to move, without success. But looking at the photo I am confident that it is the cache. Now to go back and try again to "open it". ... One thing worse than a muggle is a muggle who fishes, right near the cache. I will try again in a couple of hours. Now to glean the comments on geocache. quick find nice hide ... My first micro find, thanks for hidding a micro in an easy place for us beginners. ... Quick find (nice hide) ... Sure have to be flexible to get a look at this cache's finding spot. ... Found it, and sat down on the nearby bench to sign the log ... The cache was nicely hidden, but dead on coordinates making the hunt a blast. Great spot and cache. ... We zeroed in on the cache quickly and made the find. ... Had to do a little bit to get this - but did ... There is a bench near the east end of the bridge. The coordinates are accurate. Flexible? Had to do a little bit? An easy place for beginners? nicely hidden. The weather was okay - the wind had died down and it was not too cold.

PHOTOS

Hmmm. That third picture was a photo of one of the features that looked promising. It still looks promising. I tried to move it without success but now I will go back and give it one more try. This time I will take a small screwdriver to help me pry it up.

This corresponds to all of the comments and it is spot on for the coordinates. Nope. I received an email from a friend saying this was not it, and to consider the magic word "under".