"Gone South" is a straight-forward, 3-stage multi in a pretty, forested parcel of Washington State DNR land. You'll be hiking about 1 3/4 miles round-trip from the gate, on gently rolling terrain. The dirt road is open to horses and mountain bikes; you'll leave the road at each waypoint, but never more than 80 feet. Of course, you may need to watch for the right fork in the road as you travel between stages! It can be very easy to miss...
This cache is dedicated to some friends who live near me during the summer and love this little patch of woods, but spend our long, rainy winters in warmer climes -- Arizona, Mexico, even Costa Rica. We think of them as native Northwesterners, and they were born here, but can they really be considered residents when they spend seven or eight months of every year as nomadic ecotourists? They enjoy exotic foods, plentiful sunshine, and balmy temperatures, while their cottages sit silent and vacant in the snow. Then summer comes, they fly north again, move back into their scenic neighborhood, put on bright colors, make music, have summer romances, feast on local cuisine, and in a few short months, flee south again when the day turn short and the nights grow frosty.
Still, they're good neighbors, and we love having them over for picnics in the back yard. Their return is a welcome sign of late spring, and their departure means winter is close at hand.
They may be summer friends and sunshine neighbors, but we're always sad when they've gone south.