Apr 17/2010
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Geocache Activity 638 |
FIND 580 |
IDENTIFICATION
Difficulty 2; Terrain 1; size micro Creator: PASSTRACKER Date First Hidden: 2/16/2009 Date Last Found: 4/2/2010 Description BYOP as this cache is a micro. This cache is located at what used to be a bridge crossing into the Greenhill Mine site. The mine started working in 1913 and closed in 1958. At it's peak production, the mine employed around 600 men and produced 758,000 tons of coal in 1946. The mine sit is situated in the northwest corner of Blairmore and a spur line went from the mine to the main CPR line to the south of it. A rail bridge used to cross the Crowsnest River from the mine on the north side of the river. The main structure of the bridge was removed decades ago, all that remains are some deteriorating abutments. Take the time to enjoy the scenery and the history of the area. This cache site can be a high muggles area in the spring and summer, so please use stealth. Hint What the trains ran on! Comments
PLANNING
This morning I planned to attend a photography field trip in the Crowsnest Pass. I then thought I would try to combine this with some geocaching in the same area. There are a number of new caches in this area and since it is almost an hour and a half drive to get here, I wanted to make the most of the trip. This time I was going to focus on the Bellevue area. I am slowly working my west through the Pass. Since I had no sense of how long the photography field trip would last, I decided to make notes for only 4 caches in the immediate vicinity of the field trip.
OUTCOME
The photography field trip took a break at noon for lunch. I decided to leave the group at that point and spend the afternoon geocaching. This was my 7th search. Since I had only made notes for 4 searches, I relied on my iPhone to provide me with the cache description, hints, and coordinates. This worked well. I felt both ends of the rail and found it at the right end. Time of find: 3:00 PM.
I drove along a road that was beside the pathway and stopped when I was opposite the cache icon on my GPS. I did not access the hint on my iPhone but as I approached the end of the former bridge I decided to begin by seeing if I could see (or feel) the cache along the metal frame. At the same time I was scanning the ground for possible hiding places. I didn't see or feel anything at one end of the frame so I went over to the other end and as soon as I put my fingers on the far side of the metal bar I could feel the container which was fastened to the bar by a piece of wire. I unscrewed the base of the container (which contained the logbook) and returned to the car to fill it in. I had to roll the log very tightly to fit it back into the base and then I screwed this combination back into the cap which had remained on the metal bar. This entire process was made much easier by the absence of muggles walking on the path at the time I was there.
Here is my posting to the geocaching.com website:
I was lucky to find this one as quickly as I did. No one around at the time (Saturday afternoon).SL. TFTC. Here are three photos:
cache area
cache site
nano container
I am now 7/7 for today.
