Hike With Me: Louisville Swamp’s Johnson Slough
The cache is not at these coordinates. But, this is where you should start your journey. This hike will probably take a couple hours or so.
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 4.25 miles. The hike will be a lollipop hike, eventually returning to the starting point from the way you came. 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 near (about one mile) the starting point of the ride.
A slough is typically used to describe wetlands. Sloughs along the edges of rivers form where the old channel of the river once flowed. These areas are also referred to as oxbows because they tend to form at a bend in the old river bed, making them look like the U-shaped collar placed around the neck of an ox to which a plow is attached.
As for the stages ...
Stage 1 – On this Middle Road sign, how many bikes do you see? Consider this A.
Stage 2 – On the big brown "Native Prairie Retoration" sign, if you count the letters in the last two words, how many are there? Consider this B.
Stage 3 – On the Johnson Loop sign, there are two numbers. Add them together, and consider this C.
Stage 4 – At this point, how many benches do you see? Consider this D. Also, if you look closely, on the other side of the trail, you will see a deer trail leading to views of the Johnson Slough.
Then:
N44 42.DAC W093 35.BCB
Hope you had a great hike.
Earn the 75 and 150 mile Pathtag!
So far there have been 38 of these Hike/Bike/Run With Me Multi-caches - if you were to complete them all, you would have travelled more than 216 miles. Currently (August 2023), there are 33 active geocaches totaling 189 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 cachers who completed at least 75 and/or 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 and/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.