Leakage from a Cluttered Mind

I spent the morning with staff at FBCNWA, then headed off the get a cache in Oklahoma. I stopped at the first one across the border and carefully tried not to touch the poison ivy (although I sure had to step on it). Found Good 412 Caches W #1 at 2:14 PM.

I drove back across the border to Game Time (2:40 PM) on the campus of John Brown University. This one made no sense until I worked out the hint. The coords were off, and the previous logs indicated that, but no one posted good ones. This cache was well under some steps very close to the gym entrance.

I parked at the public library and walked over to a little park close to downtown and looked for Don’t Drink the Water (3:00 PM). I was LTF (last to find) on this one. It had already been archived when I found it, but I managed to sign the very wet log book (the only thing in the cache). I guess other folks didn’t want to put their head in the hole to look for it.

Imagine my surprise when the next closest cache turned out to be 60 feet away. I guess the reviewer blew it on one of these. Siloam Springs 1st Micro (3:04 PM) was an easy find.

“Time” to find a Cache (3:33 PM) was in Twin Springs park. Hico History (3:50 PM) is a virtual at a collection of tomb stones. Looks like a collection of stones from an abandoned cemetery. Interesting markers. Dogwood Springs Trail Micro #1 (was along another park trail and an easy find. My last hunt of the day was Lake Elmdale (5:45 PM). I was running out of time and I had to do a little hike for this one.

I flew into NW Arkansas late last night. I had free time today until 3:30 pm, so after breakfast I headed out for the nearest cache. Bentonville Lake is right at the end of the Bentonville airport. The lake is kind of L-shaped, and unfortunately I started walking on the wrong side. After backtracking, I drove to another parking area (which seemed like it was right in some folks back yard (they don’t have fences). Then it was just a short walk with the last few feet in some brush. I think I spotted and avoided the poison ivy.

Then I drove into Bentonville and found Down by the Station. I suspect the history is this is the old train station, although no marker explained that. The cache was hidden on the old train car. Coords were good, but the hint helped to narrow the focus to the undercarriage. It was a magnetic one.

The next cache was right downtown in the city square. Son of the South is a virtual (get the name off the placque on the statue). Of note is that Sam Walton’s original store is just across the street from the square. It’s a Wal Mart museum now, but I didn’t go in.

I decided I wanted to get at least one cache in Missouri, so I headed north. The closest was Huckleberry Ridge, which turned out to be in the woods and a pretty good hike (in the rain). I managed to find the access road (dirt) and drive about 5 miles to it, but when I got there it wasn’t obvious where to legally park or where the trail was. So I went looking for another cache that didn’t have a long of a walk, but I could not find an access road that would get me there. As I was leaving the way I came in, I spotted the trail at Huckleberry Ridge, so off I went. It was about 0.4 miles in the rain. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Very peaceful with the sound of the rain hitting the leaves of the trees.

On the drive back to Bentonville, I stopped at Bella Vista for a nice walk in a park and found Grandpa’s Christmas Cache. This one was a little difficult. It was buried way down under a rock, and as far as I could tell there was a new sprig of poison ivy guarding it. I managed (I think) to get it out without touching the ivy.

As I drove back into Bentonville, I stopped for a short hike along a new paved hiking trail and picked up N. Bville Trail #1. Then I found Stumped, which was real easy to find, although it was close to a high school. No folks around though.