The River City
Geocaching and Dining Society invites all interested geocachers,
their families and friends to join us at our gathering at the Bear
Valley Picnic Area on August 30 2008.
This picnic ground is located at an elevation of 4500 feet in a
beautiful alpine valley of the Sierras.Our group will have the
exclusive use of the picnic area all day. Dogs are welcome but must
be well-behaved and on leash. During the day, there will be plenty
of opportunities to seek some of the existing caches in the area,
pitch horseshoes, play volleyball, relax, play cards & games
(some using GPS), swap geotales with other cachers, and generally
have a good time.
The Sierra
Discovery Trail, a self-guided, handicapped accessible nature
trail, is adjacent to the picnic area. It's a nice place to take an
informative stroll.
Facilities
include picnic tables, a "kitchen" area with barbecue pits and a
wood stove, swings for the children, five horseshoe pits, a
volleyball area, and a fire ring around which we will stage our
monthly meeting, toast marshmallows, and have a sing-a-long. We
suggest that you bring folding chairs for comfort around the
campfire since benches are limited in that area. Let's eat. This
will be a true "Potluck". Each family is asked to bring their
"Favorite" dish to share, an appropriate serving utensil to serve
their dish, their own beverages, and whatever kind of meat they
prefer, if any, to barbecue for themselves. We will have the
charcoal glowing in the barbecue pits just after noon. There is a
refrigerator in the kitchen area, but since it is smallish, we ask
that you bring ice chests to keep your items cold when possible.
There is an icemaker there as well, a real luxury! We plan to have
lunch at 1PM on Saturday. Parking is available across Bowman Road
from the picnic area. Please caution the children about crossing
the road as there is through traffic. There is overflow parking in
the Sierra Discovery Trail lot just beyond the picnic
area.
For those
desiring to camp, we have reserved the tent camping area for the
nights of August 29th (after 6pm) 30th and 31st at no cost to
geocachers. Tent camping space is limited to fifty people. Limited
trailer parking is also available without hookups. Although plenty
of food and supplies will be available PLEASE plan ahead and bring
everything you need for the campout if you plan on spending the
night. Get ready for some fun!!
Previous Bear
Valley events include
Bear Valley
004
Bear Valley 006
Bear Valley 007
Bear
alert:
I forgot to mention a "minor" detail. When we talked to the camp
hosts they mentioned a nightly visitor around the area, named
Cinnamon due to his hair color. Cinnamon is a black bear that has
an affinity for beans, even in a can. So far he hasn't been a
problem but precautions should be taken into account when packing
up for the night.
- All ice
chests in locked vehicles, hopefully covered with a towel or
blanket.
- No foods in
tents.
- No garbage
left out at night.
- Remember,
anything and everyting that is aromatic (strawberry kiwi shampoo
probably not a good idea) or looks like food (including ice chests)
are at risk.