As I was already looking at this mega trail for a while it was time to start with it. I had a free weekend in the area and a fellow geocacher was also free we decided to go for it.
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| The section we covered on this trip |
Let's start with the preparations.
First thing was what to take with us for the trip?
We decided that we'll focus on the number of caches collected in the shortest time while we also wanted to enjoy the scenery and the hike, so we went with two cars, parked one at one end while the other at the other end, then walked back to the first car, drive up to the second and parked to the next part. We did the above in two parts a longer and then as it was still daylight we did the next as well.
So what else you might need for such an adventure?
Most important is a GPS device, to be honest we had multiple phones, and a laptop with GPS as well. We had backup battery, chargers, also the laptop can be used as a charger.
You will also need enough water or something to drink. I recommend water as that is the best to fill you up, and won't make you more thirsty like the others with sugar.
Bring food, not much just as much that keeps you going. I was surprised that actually I did not finish more than a single sandwich. It is wise to have some food before you go, but not too much as that will make you feel you do not want to go at all. As we went through multiple villages there is always the option to stop at some place to get some extra, but better be safe than sorry.
PEN, do not forget enough pen, different ones, ones that can even write on wet paper.
Bring maintenance kits, petling, logbooks, log sheets anything that you could think of and you can carry, of course no need to bring power tools or handsaw or anything like that.
Bring a camera, so you do not use up the battery of your phone to capture pictures.
Bring some medical kit, you cannot really predict how much injuries you'll have.
Have a comfortable and good pair of shoes that will serve all the needs you might have. (dust, dirt, water, mud, rocks, trees, etc.)
The hunt
I personally like to capture lots of images, so I had my camera with me with 2 extra batteries, the all went down to 0 by the end of the day, so I'll order two more sooner than later to be ready for the next adventure. So let the pictures speak for the story and let me add some lines in between.
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| The first coordinates point to this place |
The first container was the best, in the sense of finding it fast kicking off the feeling that it'll be a good day, and that we have the needed motivation and we already felt it will be more fun than headache.
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| You still do not see it I guess |
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| There you go, it is an easy find |
Power trails usually mean you can go fast to score lots of smileys in a short time, a good advise is to check that the last logs are all found it logs, so there is a higher chance that the cache is still in place and in good condition. Never try to start with a cache that is reported missing for a long time, that will kill the fun early.
The scenery
I highly recommend to bring a separate camera which you can use to make pictures of the hunt, you could always see nice or interesting sites. Anything might look new to you. If you see the following few images you'll see what I mean.
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| A creek, just there, might not even be on the map. |
I was sure we'll see some creeks, but that we'll see one at every turn, that I did not expect. As we wanted to finish the part we selected for first we did not have much time to check them closer, but I made some images to capture them.
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| I was hoping to find the hide under here, just for the change. |
When you are on the road for a while and see most of the hidings so similar you'd always hope there will be one that is a bit more challenging, so you'll just try to find one under any bridge. Nope, there was none, but I still went under just to make the shot and go on.
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| Yes, the road had to go up so then it can go down. |
Why would the road always go down in a hilly area? When you feel like getting tired it will always be an upwards hike, but don't give up, there is the next spot to turn to a smiley.
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| I enjoy panoramic view. |
The fun of making panoramic pictures is that you can get a better sense of the area, no electricity lines, no telephone lines, only the old road, as you see the safety concrete fences, it is not from this century.
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| More panoramic ... |
On this image you see more of the human touch, but this was closer to the next village, still you can imagine no noise, only birds, or not even them. Peaceful only two geocachers chatting, discussing pervious finds, guessing the next hide: under the phone line's pole, hanging in a tree, or just on the trunk of a tree.
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| When flowers start to bloom this must look different. |
Each area looks really different in different seasons, doing a full power trail in a single season is not what I plan to do, you have to try it when it is easier and when it is harder. And don't forget the plants, they change over the seasons, I hope to be back and continue the area when they are blooming. (of course I'll capture some pictures)
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| This tree had an X, so I might have taken its last picture. |
As trees get older and they get weaker they might be risky at the side of the road, like this big one, now there was a yellow X on it, which means sooner than later it will go down, till that it is hiding a geocache for all to come.
The plants
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| Flowers, how lovely |
Little flowers can bring back good memories, these flowers used to be in the garden of my great grandmother all the time even the not so common white ones, so I'm always happy to see them. Did you know you can also eat these? They use them in some restaurants as well.
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| No leaves yet, but you already see the shape of the tree. |
Maybe I just love trees, they grow so big, and convert lots of carbon-dioxide to oxygen, which in this area was obvious, the air was so clean, no issues with breathing. I know it was not these trees yet as there were no leaves not a single green leave, but that will come soon.
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| Ok, on this one there is something on the tree. |
Running from cache to cache, or go with a car? No way for me on such a trail, what would you see? What is this game about for you? Statistics? Nice big numbers you found, or good memories, interesting places you saw? For a while I'm already hiding geocaches out in the a more urban area, where it is not always so easy to place the caches to point which are interesting, but I always try.
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| This one was huge or more like wide. |
The more big ones you see the more you realize how small you are. Europe does not have too many really old trees, so any you see you should capture a picture of, and give them a hug or just say hi to them, they saw a lot more then you for sure.
The different hides
Even on power trails you can expect different hides, or else it would really be boring. Let me try to go over some of them.
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| In the trunk of a cut tree. |
Old cut tree trunks are always calling out for a cache when you spot them. It is mostly obvious, but we met some where there was a small piece of wood or a leaf covering the cache which gave us extra headache. Don't forget that in the woods especially when they have leaves, the GPS can go all around, so your coordinates might be off.
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| Next to the bottom of a tree. |
In some cases just next to a tree is perfect, the only thing you have to focus on is to put it back exactly where you found it. On this trail we found many cases where the hides were prepared in a way that you could not put it back wrongly, that helps a lot.
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| Just hanging there. |
Some were just hanging in the woods, as this time nothing blocking the view the first thought was how come they do not go missing, but the answer was trivial after walking for hours and only one car passed by, and later a bus, and all of them were looking at us, why? where? why here? what are we doing there?
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| Just laying between the two branches. |
Now this is easy on the picture, but think of it in autumn when some of the "let's make it harder for the next" type of geocachers go just before you and just put another layer of leaves on top.
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| In the bottom of a concrete pole with a number ... what are these poles? |
The find was easy, but I still have no clue what these concrete objects are for, who put them there? Are these showing the distance to the next big city? That could be the best explanation. In the part of the country I came from I never saw any like these, my friend caching with me was from Germany so he had the same amount of clues as me.
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| Under a telephone line's pole. (or was it electricity?) |
We quickly figured out that the are had a huge fire, not sure if it was controlled or just happened, but if you look at the bottom of the wooden pole it is burnt, just like the grass. But how happy to see that the nature is recovering the grass is already green and growing nicely. Soon there will be signs of the fire on the poles only and not the grass.
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| Magnetic on a safety rail. |
If it is a trail with roads there will be a magnetic on the rail if not more. I have some separate blogs on magnetics check them out.
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| In between many branches in a tree. |
As a last hide as an example I picked one of the harder ones we found but needed some minutes to spot. I made it simple for you it is in the middle and from an angle where it is visible... the only angle where it was visible. Would you reach in to get it? It is always wise to check the potential dangerous animals in an area such as this before you just grab all the caches you spot.
Animals
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| See the fox? |
When it comes to local animals it could be dangerous. Foxes can carry problems for humans, and the way to spot that they do carry is that they stop and come to bite you. The one on the above picture stopped, so I started to worry, but then just looked at us... might thought: 'oh, more geocachers... I let them go' and the just ran away. It happened faster than I could get him on the picture, so if you do not see him on it that could be the reason ...
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| Are you taking a picture of my backside? |
These ladies were easier, most of them even turned their heads towards us, but did not really want to move. It was getting dark, sun was almost down, but still I made a few picture of them.
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| Yeah a lot better... |
To be more fair and as it was easy I also made a picture from the side. Sorry none from the front, that would have been far too complicated to get in there and do it, and also they were on private property.
We also saw rabbits, wild ones, but they ran before I could even think of getting the camera.
We were chased by a pack of dogs... many small and aggressive ones and some bigger ones barking with that deep sound that gives you the feeling that maybe the best would be to run. So the small ones came really close, but as we did not do much, just kept on walking with the same speed they did not really know if they should attack or not. While the bigger ones were just barking from a distance being ready to move in if it gets nasty. As soon as we left their area they just watched us and let us leave in peace.
Conclusion
All who already plays geocaching knows that the game can bring all different fun, but the power trail with walking is one of them you must experience once, but be well prepared, try to look up blogs, stories on them before you pick, or ask other players who did it for details. We just picked this part to start somewhere, and we already know we'll have to go for more parts, but which will be the next? I don't know yet. When? As soon as I can spare some time and find someone to join me. Most probably in the summer when I plan to bring my best my wife to the area.
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| Status after this adventure. |
Two DNF and many TFTCs on the trail by now. A lot more to go, but that will happen at another time. This whole trail could also be fun with a bicycle, but if you are not an experienced one be prepared for the uphill.
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