I've probably ridden my bike at Great Swamp a dozen times, and never gotten lost. There's one way in and out, and 4 trails in between. Give or take. How hard could it be? Famous last words...
KATnDOGz and I came out here in May searching for my favorite LPC. It got lost in the shuffle of the recent timber harvest. It was her second trip looking and my first. We searched for a good hour with no luck, but a plethora of cuts and bruises. And, for me anyway, utter shock at the sight of it all.
While out here that day I intended to put Bait & Switch back in place. It was to be a simple ride to the other side of the swamp. Well, simple for anyone paying any sort of attention to what they were doing. I led the way around "to the other side of the swamp" and promptly missed the turnoff to the trail and kept on going to...you guessed it, Hangar Queen. When we got to the end of the line I let out an exclamation not suitable for publication. Luckily, KnD needed that cache (I'd been with the CO when it was placed) so it wasn't a completely lost effort riding all the way out there. She signed the log, we went back up the fun-to-ride-DOWN hill and headed back toward the other side of the swamp. Or...so I thought.
I made the turnoff to the trail to the other side and downhill we went again. Though, it wasn't the familiar downhill I'm used to seeing, and...no water in sight. And before you know it, stopped by swampy trail in front of us. Distance to Hangar Queen...300ft. That exclamation was equally unsuitable for publication as well. Where did THAT trail come from?!?!?!?! I had never been on this trail before. Someone snuck that one in there on me. So....back up that hill, and by now I was certain KnD was surely going to kill me. But, I did notice this really nice boulder along the way (hey, you have to find a positive in there somewhere, right?).
At the top of the hill, I re-evaluate the maps on Raoul to figure out where I went so wrong only to discover I had no clue. I suppose that's not really news, other than it's a different time of day of a different day of a different week. Off we go again to backtrack down the trail to the absolutely correct trail to the other side of the swamp. But by now there is NO WAY KnD will believe anything I say. I mean, why would she? I'm 0 for 2. I don't think *I* would believe me, except for the fact it's the only trail left in the place! I always joke about how people are trying to kill me on my mountain biking adventures, but I can assure you I wasn't trying to kill KnD. It would just appear that way.
We did finally make our way over to Bait & Switch, set it up and head back. Later in the week we talked about kayaking the following weekend. I suggested heading out on Worden Pond to grab the cache there, and it would also give KnD a chance to see Hangar Queen from a different angle--since I knew how much she loved it and all. And we did, in fact, kayak Worden Pond. LPC was found, and we made yet another biking trip out to the Great Swamp to pick it up. But it was a quick out and back--no crazy adventures out to Hangar Queen, much to KnD's displeasure.
I did, however, drag her with me when hiding this cache today. I didn't want to deprive her of reliving the experience of riding this trail one more time--just like the movie, "Look kids, Big Ben, Parliament!" What was amusing about today's ride is I intended to find that boulder again--the one we found the first go-round. I plucked some coordinates from Google Earth that "looked about right" and headed for those. And KnD had absolutely no faith in any of it! LOL Me? I just said, "Come on, I know it's down here." Famous last words, right? Well....guess what? I was 300ft off. How about that?
I told KnD at dinner tonight that I have all the confidence in the world in my decisions, right up until the point they are wrong. I also got to thinking tonight that I've now shown KnD Hangar Queen three times by land and once by sea. She hasn't seen it by air yet. So if anyone knows a pilot, maybe we can hook her up with a fly-by. That would certainly round out her Hangar Queen experience for a lifetime, don't you think?
This one's for you KATnDOGz, you've certainly earned it!
Orange required during hunting season.