Hike With Me: Bloomington Ferry Trail
The cache is not at these coordinates But, this is where you should start your journey.
This is the next of Hike/Bike with Me caches that I have started since moving to MN. Since most of my cache finds are done while exercising, I thought I would offer this delight to others. These caches will not necessarily be hard to find, but you will have to put some miles on the legs for them. So lace em up, grab some water, and come join the fun.
Totally, this Hike will be about 2.5 miles and will probably take an hour or so. The hike will be an out and back hike on this trail to its endpoint. The waypoints are all on trails, which can be accessed all year long. The final coordinates for the cache are placed in a winter friendly place not too far from the starting point and outside of the National Wildlife Refuge.
The 358-acre Bloomington Ferry Unit features wetlands and floodplain forest along the MN River. Within the unit, Opus Marsh provides habitat for waterfowl and other water birds, as well as views of otter, turtles, and dragonflies.
All Refuge lands are open from sunrise to sunset, 7 days a week. Trail conditions on the Refuge vary throughout the year. Be prepared, as you may encounter changes in trail conditions while hiking, including periodic flooding, wet or muddy areas, thorny vegetation, and rough ground. Trails are ungroomed in winter and may be snow-packed and icy. To protect wildlife, please stay on designated trails and keep pets leashed at all times while visiting the Refuge.
Also, please remember that hunting is allowed on certain areas of refuge lands. Please beware of local hunting regulations.
As for the stages ...
Area Closed Sign – In the first month listed, how many letters are in the word? Consider this A.
Blue Numbers in the Sky – If you look to the heavens (above the two overhead streets), you will see three numbers inside a pentagon. What is the middle number? Consider this B.
Red White Sign – Here is where the trail ends. On this sign, how many letters are in the second word (starting with a P)? Consider this c.
Then:
N44 47.A6B W093 22.A6C
Hope you had a great hike.
Earn the 75 and 150 mile Pathtag!
So far there have been 37 of these Hike/Bike/Run With Me Multi-caches - if you were to complete them all, you would have travelled more than 210 miles. Currently (August 2023), there are 32 active geocaches totaling 185 miles (This includes three Hike With Me Adventure Labs). I wanted to give something to the geocachers who have "put a big dent" in trying to find these. So I created two pathtags for all cachers who completed at least 75 and 150 miles while trying to get smileys on these caches. On each of the cache pages, I mention how long the travel should be for that cache. They vary from just a couple miles to a 20-mile mountain bike ride.
Here is a bookmark list of all of the caches.
So, take a look at your finds, add up the miles, and if you are more than 75 or 150 miles, let me know. You can either PM me, email me, or just grab me at an event. You do not have to show/prove anything to me about you qualifying. I will give you one if you say you have qualified.