At the Early Summer Get-Together in Underhill, VT, I won a cache
container: a large micro, about the size of a large pill bottle,
big enough for a pencil, log sheet, and a couple of tiny trinkets.
For almost a month, I carried it around in my pack, in the same
pocket where I put my bug repellent. Not a good idea.
Then I went on a hike up Hedgehog Hill in Deering. Shortly before
the top, I had the excitement of seeing a moose, only a couple
hundred feet away, as it moved through the forest, crunching
branches and brush aside as it went. I continued on to find the
cache, but all I could think of was that moose, perhaps in close
proximity to me on the hill. As I left the summit, I hastily
grabbed the bug dope from my pack, applied it for the hike down,
not thinking what I was doing. I guess I didn't close the zipper on
the pack, because the container soon bounced out of the pack.
A couple of days later while I was planning another hide, I
discovered I was missing this container. I was starting to plan a
morning of going back to a couple of trailheads to see if I'd
dropped it in the parking lot anywhere. Checking my email, I found
a note from NE_Metalman, asking if I'd lost a cache container. I
replied, "Yes, thanks, that's mine, but you can keep it and hide it
yourself if you'd like." He wasn't inspired to do so, but his
workplace wasn't too far away, so I drove up to meet him and get my
container back.
I was still carrying my container with me today, up Red Hill. On a
particularly steep, rocky section of the trail, I got worried about
whether the container might bounce out of my pack and roll down the
hill. I needed a break from the uphill hike anyway, so I decided to
hide it nearby. And with all due respect to the Moose on Hedgehog
hill.