First of all, let me take this opportunity to wish each and everyone of you a very Happy New Year and a safe and prosperous 2013! May you be blessed with an abundance of caches to find and weekends filled with great weather in which to find those caches. We did a little better finding caches in December than we did in November. We found five caches and attended two events. Any one of those would have been an improvement on November which saw us record a big goose egg, which seemed to shock many people, both geocachers and muggles. Nonetheless, the caches we found in December, although few, are worthy of three star material
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Christmas In The Park
Let’s hope this becomes an annual affair. (Click to enlarge)
Our first star for December has to go to the
Christmas In The Park (GC41RBE) event! The event was held by
Gilligan and MaryJane, along with
Pip’n’Tif. It was held in Chamberlains Park, a beautiful wetland area that is currently being developed into a wonderful walking trail. Conditions were perfect for the event. A light snowfall had covered the ground which made the event location easily accessible. Upon arriving at ground zero, there were decorations in the trees and a real, live Christmas tree! Not an artificial tree or one that was cut down, but a Christmas tree that should be there next year. In a Kris Kringle type of Christmas, everyone was asked to bring a gift and place it under the tree. If someone forgot their gift, the hosts made sure there were enough presents for everyone. Names were drawn to give each cacher a turn to take a gift from under the tree. I opened mine to find a complete, ready-to-hide geocache container. I will have to find a spot in nature to hide it sometime in 2013. Gilligan and MaryJane had hot chocolate and Christmas cookies for everyone! Yum! It was truly a great idea, and one I hope will become a Christmas tradition. It was great to connect with cachers, both new and old. There was even time to get three caches that were scattered throughout the park. A big thank you goes out to the hosts for a job well done!
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Hospital Hill
It was a little too dark for me to attempt by myself. I will return with backup! (Click to enlarge)
It is true that geocaching often brings us to beautiful places, historic monuments and places we didn’t even know existed. They can also teach you something you never knew before. This can be said for our Second Star for December. The cache is placed by
POKOS and is called
Hospital Hill (GC3V35X). To quote the actual cache listing,
In 1941, the U.S. Naval Base in Argentia commissioned a 100 bed hospital for the operating base. It was fully functional and had all the facilities of a complete hospital, with the added protection of being in the ground to keep it safe from bombing. The hospital is said to be three stories, although only the first floor and lookout point is available for exploration today. I never knew this before and was really intrigued! I found the cache at the main door which was blocked by boulders. I climbed up the hill and found the lookout. Once inside, I seen a stairwell heading down to the top level. I was tempted to explore but I was alone and my flashlight battery wasn’t the best. I will return with fellow cachers and a brighter flashlight to explore this underground hospital. Remember, if you decide to explore the hospital, you do so AT YOUR OWN RISK! You do not need to venture inside in order to find the cache.
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Firing Range
Awesome! Amazed at the reported accuracy of this gun! (Click to enlarge)
Across the main road from Hospital Hill, is a little parking spot that leads to another spot I didn’t know was here. The cache deserving of our third star is another one placed by
POKOS and is called
Firing Range (GC3V2Z4). To again quote the cache listing,
Located right next to an abandoned bunker that is rumoured to be the old, underground jail, this gun was once intended to protect the U.S. Naval base in Argentia from enemy attacks. These cannons were able to fire 105 lbs of armor-piercing projectile up to 25 kilometers with a high degree of accuracy. At this time, there are only six guns in the world that are comparable. The cache was fairly easy to find and it was fun exploring the bunker. Be very careful of the open pits while walking in. You wouldn’t want to fall in one.
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Caching Heaven 