Welcome to the future Top Bridge - Coombs Rail Trail, an eagerly anticipated contiguous hiking trail that, when all is said and done, will take you more than 12km along what might be the Best-Kept-Secret trail system Oceanside has to offer! The 4km Top Bridge to Parksville section was inaugurated in 1999, and the 8km Parksville to Coombs section was opened in late 2016. In April of 2025 RDN endorsed the linking of these two wonderful hiking trails to provide residents and visitors alike with some breathtaking scenery and awesome experiences.
This geocache launches my vision to help populate this trail by hiding some interesting, and possibly confounding geocaches while encouraging others to do likewise. I have started with an unusual cache type - the Letterbox Hybrid - to remind my fellow cachers that our activity is more fun when there are other types to search for beyond the same-old Traditionals, Mysteries, and Multis. I challenge you to expand your thinking and unleash your creativity to come up with a fun and diverse assortment of geocaches. Don't be shy about borrowing from or adapting ideas learned from your past finds!
WIth this being a Letterbox Hybrid my best advice to you about finding this cache would be to stand near the posted coordinates and ask yourself, "How does the name of this cache help me? There are TWO yellow gates here!" (Also, take some advice from George of the Jungle and WATCH OUT FOR THAT TREE!)
Then I thought perhaps it would be best for me to give you some more familiar guidance, so if you'd like some help read the following:
- From the name of this cache you undoubtedly know WHAT to look at to find the cache
- If you are observant you might be able to tell the gates are made with ferrous metal which we geocachers LOVE because magnets will stick, so now you know better WHERE to look.
- I might suggest you avoid getting depressed in your search. Sometimes it pays to keep looking up at the things life throws you!