We decided to go to Shubie Park since there had been some new caches placed since we were there last. Shubie is one of our favorite local parks with lots of intertwined trails.

We started our trek near the camping area and then down through the lock system, into the no-leash area that circles Lake Banook. The caches we were looking for today were in a series following a trail that skirts a highway and one that we had never walked to the end of before. We followed several different trails back, making the round trip almost 11kms (7 miles).

Here are some more photos:

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Our hike took us up the Jodrey Trail, then out on to the Look-off Trail and then we came back down the Woodlands Trail and then on to Borden Brook Trail.

The Look-off Trail is a short trail, only 1.6 km (1 mi.) that ends at a viewing station that offers views that makes the whole trip worthwhile. You get a great view of the Minas Basin as well as Five Islands Provincial Park which is located about 24 km (15 mi.) across the bay.

The Jodrey Trail is a 6 km (3.7 mi.) long trail that skirts the 183 m (600-ft.) sea cliffs with numerous viewing stations along the way overlooking the Minas Basin. This trail winds through a sugar maple, yellow birch and beech forest and near the park’s only bog. At Indian Springs Brook, a cairn commemorates the gift of 162 ha (400 acres) to the park by the late Roy Jodrey.

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Santa Fe is New Mexico’s state capital and the fourth largest city in the state.

It’s about an hour’s drive North of Albuquerque by car but since we didn’t have a car we hopped aboard the Rail Runner Express at the Alvarado Transportation Center on 1st Street and Central Avenue in Albuquerque.

This turned out to be one of the best values that we had ever got, anywhere. For only four (4) bucks you get a fantastic hour and a half ride from Albuquerque to Santa Fe. You just sit back, relax in the comfort of the smooth riding and quiet Rail Runner and sight-see all the way there!

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One of the places that we wanted to visit while we were in New Mexico was the Sandia Mountains via the Sandia Peak Tramway.

The Sandia Peak Tramway is the world’s longest passenger aerial tramway. It also has the world’s third longest single span. It stretches from the Northeast edge of the city of Albuquerque to the crestline of the Sandia Mountains at 10,378 feet (3163.21 meters).

We almost didn’t get there but once again the awesome New Mexico Geocachers came through! We weren’t renting a car on this trip and while making our plans we couldn’t find any information regarding any type of public transportation to the Tramway. We inquired on the New Mexico Geocaching website forums about this and were told that we were correct, there was none. This was disappointing. Then came a post from nclinnm saying that she would be happy to pick us up ad take us there! (We told you they were awesome!)

Here are some photos of our day:

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Locally, the term ‘Dingle’ is also synonymous with the Dingle Tower, the landmark ten-story tower located in the park, which serves as a memorial to the development of parliamentary institutions in the British Empire, now the British Commonwealth.

Situated on Halifax’s North West Arm the 95 acre park has a couple of small beaches, a boat launch, large picnic areas and several walking trails that skirt the water’s edge and meander through second-growth woodlands. The trails are groomed and graveled, for the most part, with lots of interconnecting pine needle covered footpaths.

The Loop Trail takes you around a small drumlin where, in addition to Spruce, White Pine, Red Pine and Hemlock trees, you will find a smattering of Jack Pine, the third of the three native Pines in Nova Scotia. The Jack Pine is not as common as the other two and this is one of the few places in the province where you can view them. You can identify the Jack Pine by their twinned needles and curved cones. Here’s a couple of photos of Jack Pine:

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In addition, there is access from the park to a great woodland trail that runs through a peninsula that splits the lake. The trail is a well-worn footpath that travels over rock and through bog areas culminating in a area that offers some great views.

We had to do a bit of bushwacking to reach the cache at the end of this trail and we were glad that we chose this time of year to visit. It’s likely that once the leaves come out slogging across the boggy areas would slow one down. We were also glad to have our waterproof hikers.

Here are some photos we took of our visit:

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The entrance to the park is not hard to miss since it is fronted by a large red barn. This barn would have been used when the farm was in operation. Now it stands as a testament to another time, another way of life. It also makes a great landmark for finding the park and the parking lot is right beside it.

The seven main trails range from open fields to canopied forest with a couple that skirt the beach. There are many benches available for resting or just taking in the beautiful scenery.

The Main Trails include:

Heritage Trail
Running the length of the park, this trail is accessible from many points. It is the only trail within the park where bikes are permitted. Because it is relatively flat, it is a good choice for wheelchairs or strollers.

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We got out yesterday for our first ‘official’ Geocaching outing this year, and the first one in a long time! Sure, we got out caching with the kids a couple of weeks ago but we really couldn’t count that since we weren’t looking for ‘new’ caches.

It was such a beautiful day here with the temps reaching to almost 10C degrees that we decided to go to Shubie Park. The trails were pretty much open to the gravel walks. Those that weren’t were melting fast.

It wasn’t only us that thought going to Shubie today was a great idea. There were lots of other people out taking advantage of this great weather. There were parents pushing strollers, dog owners with their dogs, joggers and walkers. We also met a couple of other Geocachers.

The park’s wildlife was out in full force too. The crows were cawing, the chickadees were chirping and the squirrels were taking full advantage, as they always do, of the abundance of free offerings available to them from the park’s visitors.

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We visited our son and his better half in their home near Castlegar, located in the West Kootenays of British Columbia, a couple of weeks ago. Our daughter and her boyfriend were able to come along with us too. It was the first time that we were all together in a couple of years. This, of course, gave the opportunity to do a bit of family caching.

We had gone Geocaching with our son and his girlfriend several times but our daughter and her boyfriend had never been caching before. We wanted their first caching experience to be positive as well as allow our son to have some fun so the plan was that we would do a couple of caches that mrs_go and I had already been to. This way if the snow was too deep we would know it was a waste of time looking or we would be able to ‘help’ them a bit. Then once they had a few caches ‘under their belt’ we would continue on to some that none of us found.

Our first stop was near the Brilliant Dam just North of town. Here you can see our son reaching in deep for the cache:

This spot is a nice little rest area on the banks of the Kootenay River. It offers washroom facilities, a picnic table or two, a short trail and lots of great views of the river:

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The main part of the Shearwater Flyer Trail is a 5km (3 mile) well groomed, flat trail located between trailheads on Bisset Rd. (N44 39.436 W63 26.926) and Caldwell Rd. (N44 37.568 W63 28.951) in Dartmouth, NS. It continues across the road from this point for another 2-3 km and leads into the Shearwater area. The Bisset Road trailhead is located just across the road from one of the trailheads for the Salt Marsh Trail.

The Shearwater Flyer follows a portion of the former railway route that connects the Salt Marsh Trail and Atlantic View Trail. Because of the trail’s ideal round trip length of 10kms (6 miles) it is a very popular trail for walkers and bicycle riders. There are several wooden bridges that go over small waterways that lead to larger lakes in the area.

There was a fair amount of wildlife on the trail. We saw butterflies, grasshoppers, a snake, caught a glimpse of a rabbit and found hints of bear. Here are some photos:

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