This cache is placed in memory of Katie Driscoll, a fallen Colorado
cacher. Miss Katie has been the beautiful half of the poudrecacher geocaching team,
gracing our hobby with her electrifying, delightful smile and her
quiet enthusiasm. For those of you who have enjoyed the outstanding
"Nature Bats Last" series of caches, Miss Katie was delighted with
the comments of excitement about the hides that you made in your
"Found" logs!
Miss Katie And Sturgie At A Favorite Cache
In recent years Miss Katie’s passions have included a host
of special pursuits, some extending from life-long interests.
Primary among them have been her life partner Stevie; her
remarkable dog Sturgie; her family; her devotion to the University
of Iowa Hawkeyes; her excitement about many rock-n-roll artists and
their marvelous music; her enthusiasm for the Boston Red Sox; her
enjoyment in riding her motorcycle and being a
“regular” at the annual Sturgis Rally; her love of
frogs; her appreciation of reading, relaxing, and being with Stevie
and friends on their deck overhanging the waters of the Cache la
Poudre River in Poudre Park; etc.
Over the past few years Miss Katie’s life has been further
enriched through her enjoyment of the magic of geocaching–to
the extent that 2 years ago she decided to forgo attending one of
those other jewels of her life, the Sturgis Rally. Instead, she
purchased a high-end GPSr with the money that would have been used
at Sturgis! And then last year Miss Katie sold her motorcycle so
she could devote additional time with Stevie to this new treasure
in her life.
This cache is for Miss Katie, and it’s also for you. The
container is a large-sized ammo can, and it’s filled (thanks,
the other half of poudrecacher, Stevie, for stocking the swag and
for the wonderful photo!) with items consistent with certain of
Miss Katie’s passions. It also has a laminated photo of Miss
Katie and Sturgie at a cache site that was particularly special to
her. Make certain that you leave this photo in the cache, so others
can appreciate it. The cache is located along the Hewlett Gulch
Trail close to her home. When you park at the trailhead you will be
½ mile from Miss Katie’s Cache, but the trail and off-trail
portions will require a round trip hike of about 1.65 miles. Most
of it is on the well-maintained and heavily-used Hewlett Gulch
Trail. Hike it, and enjoy. This trail attracts many hikers, so you
won’t be alone! I needed to hide the cache a fair distance
from the trail, so the oversized ammo box would not be discovered
by muggles. But you should have little difficulty in getting to the
cache site and finding it.
After leaving the maintained trail, hike up an easy, grassy
slope dotted with scattered Ponderosa Pines--head for the twin
junipers where you’ll find the cache. Prickly pear cacti are
abundant in this grass, so carefully avoid them. Dogs are allowed
in Hewlett Gulch, and some days the people-to-dog ratio is close to
1:1. But it’s probably unwise to take dogs through the cactus
on this slope unless they have previously learned to walk and run
through prickly pears! Some dogs, including my puppy Teewinot, do
this very well.
The cache box is filled with theme items, as indicated above.
Please come prepared to trade pieces aligned with Miss Katie's
passions. Sign the log in the cache. Think about Miss Katie. Enjoy
your outing. That’s what geocaching should be about.
When you've found the cache and signed its log book,
you’ve completed the easy part. Now it’s time to log
your “find”. If you follow the intent of this cache,
logging your find can be especially fun for you [although I do
understand that imposing Additional Logging Requirements (ALRs) is
no longer allowed]. You don't need to do so, but please consider
including one or more of the following in your “Found”
note:
1) Miss Katie loved rock and roll music and certain of the
remarkable RNR bands. One was Aerosmith. At her memorial service,
“Sweet Emotion” was played. Before writing your log,
listen to and witness it here, on You Tube Aerosmith Sweet emotion. Keep Miss Katie
“Rockin”! She’ll forever appreciate it. Write in
your cache log if you have watched this.
2) Or, Miss Katie loved frogs. Around our world, essentially all
species of frogs are in serious population declines. What is your
favorite species of frog? Why? Where in the world does it live?
3) Or, research the performance of the University of Iowa in any
intercollegiate sport, and mention some fact or statistic about the
sport (my specific sport interest for the Hawkeyes is
Wrestling–I never lost a wrestling match to a Hawkeye, but
that statistic would not have thrilled Miss Katie!). Most of you
will probably cite a football stat, but if you review UI's
wrestling statistics you will be amazed at their performance at the
national level over decades.
4) Or, mention in your log a specific statistic of the Boston
Red Sox or one of its past or current players. For example, how
many fans can Fenway Park seat? Miss Katie knew!
5) Or, write in your found log about some other subject that
supports the interests that Miss Katie enthusiastically subscribed
to!
Enjoy this cache. I'm sure that you recall and appreciate all
that Miss Katie has done for your geocaching enjoyment through the
Nature Bats Last cache series, and through her interactions with
some of you. She was so special.
Two weeks after Miss Katie's unexpected death she found her
final cache very close to where she had worked for many years. Read
what she wrote in her last log on March 1, 2011 in the Cell Tower
10 cache GC2NV7B