MAJELLIN and I have been geocaching for over three and a half years. This past year has been quite different. With the birth of our daughter (Little Monkey) comes new challenges and different rewards. Read on…
Last Sunday, MAJELLIN, Little Monkey and I spent some time at Oregon Ridge Park (ZIP: 21031). Since I placed the first cache at Oregon Ridge over three years ago (Ivy Hill Cache), there have been several other fine caches hidden in this large suburban park. We prepared for our trip the old-fashioned way- paper maps. Now that Little Monkey is in our lives, we must plan our days more thoroughly. We printed topographic maps, and the park trail map. OUTSID4EVR located the caches on the trail map, for more efficient hiking later on. MAJELLIN and I hoped to find all of the caches in the park, except “Adam’s Mini-CAM”, which we planned to tackle on a separate trip.
We arrived around 12:30 and immediately fed Little Monkey. She eats on a strict four hour schedule, so we had to time our cache hunt to avoid the difficult task of feeding her on the trail. We began our hike from the Nature Center about twenty minutes later. Little Monkey was just as excited as we were to hike the trails in the fresh autumn air. She waved her arms and kicked her feet joyfully. Because OUTSID4EVR had a cold, MAJELLIN carried Little Monkey in a front-facing carrier. Our goal was to start the Rattrap’s Revenge series, and find the other Rattrap caches as we hiked the trails.
We hiked to the crest of the ridge on the red trail after finding the first cache in the Revenge series. Subsequent caches were well placed and accurately listed. We stopped at the power line clearing to make some decisions. It was getting later in the afternoon, and the wind was picking up. We had to choose whether to finish the Revenge series, or find the caches in the back of the park and replace the container for Ivy Hill cache. Without an infant, we could have done both, but because Little Monkey is with us, we must be more conservative with our hiking. We decided to finish Rattrap’s Revenge and then go for two of the other caches on the way to the parking lot. This turned out to be a good choice. This cache series is perfect for an afternoon hike. The terrain is varied enough to give some exercise. The hides are challenging enough to be fun, but easy enough to find with an infant.
Our careful planning paid off in the end. We found nine caches within about four hours. This is a record for us with Little Monkey. In addition, we were successful in returning to the parking lot before dark, and before Little Monkey’s next meal. MAJELLIN realized that we need to purchase a backpack carrier. Carrying a baby around Oregon Ridge all afternoon was tiring. We knew Little Monkey was tired too. She fell asleep before reaching the gate at Oregon Ridge.
Geocaching with an infant requires planning, patience, and flexibility. The reward for the effort is not only the trinkets in the box, or the journey and search, but the joy that outdoor recreation gives to all of us, including Little Monkey.
