WSU vs. Idaho State, Caching and Clarkston

We got up and had a quick breakfast before we got ready to go south to Pullman for the game.  We stopped  by Subway to get a sandwich to bring with us to the game because it was cheaper than buying food at the game or waiting in the insane lines once we got to Pullman.

On the way down we stopped near Steptoe and grabbed Horn School  Rest Area (GC1WHK0).  There, we used the bathroom while we waited for a muggle to figure out what they were doing and so we wouldn't be seen.  It was a walk from the bathrooms so we did look somewhat obvious.  It was also near the road so people driving by could also see us.

We got back in and followed Hwy 195 further down towards Pullman.  We decided to stop one more time at Pyramid Peak (GC2X9G7).  Or better known as Steptoe Peak...which it was renamed that in 1858 during the battle of the Indian Wars.

 We got back in the car and headed the rest of the way to Pullman.  Of course we could have stopped many more times but we needed to get there and meet up with his sisters plus we had to find some parking.  We got there, luckily found a place to park and walked up towards The Bookie because there was a caching challenge there as well.  You had to take a picture with the cougar logo in the front.

We got our tickets out and headed into Martin Stadium.  It was a beautiful day for some Cougar football!  I haven't been to a game in two years!  Mostly because I have a crappy car that I shouldn't drive very far.  We met up with his sisters and the husband Brad.  We were at the east end opposite the band...the cheapest tickets.

Basically we destroyed Idaho State.  The final score was 64-21.  The season seemed promising at this point.  We were very wrong.  We loitered around talking to his sisters before we decided we wanted to drive south towards Clarkston since we needed the county and the DeLorme square for the challenges we were trying to complete.

On the way down US 195, we stopped in Colton and picked up a cache called In Loving Memory of Jay (GC1P4AP) by Ogeo.  It was basically some town art about jay walking.  I thought the nearby high school clock was pretty cool.

A little further south towards Uniontown, we stopped for a virtual, Wheels Around (GCD7B1) and the barn is used for art and crafts.  We went inside to look around after we took our necessary picture and found out what the number on the house was to prove we were there.

We went further sound and decided to go into Idaho to grab a cache since it was close by, it was a cache called Geo-Pusher (GC2QR03) by our friend quadsinthemudd.  It was a quick park and grab guardrail.

We were finally on our way down the hill into Clarkston.  We parked the car at the bank and knew where Welcome to Clarkston LPC (GC2GE3X) was before we even got out of the car. We found the cache, signed it and put it back. We then took pictures because the Clarkston sign is just way awesome and the salmon were cool. A few minutes later a couple walk through the cross walk and over to us. I told Derek to hurry up because there were people coming. I turn over at the right time and see that they had a gps. "You guys must be doing the same thing we are!" Sure enough, they were geocachers.  It was Ihavecats and Redgoat67.  We chatted with them for a while.  She told us about the Cooperation Challenge (GC2DQFF) in Oregon so we started that day. We then decided to part ways with the rest of our evenings.

 

We got back in the car and headed back up the 195 back to Spokane for the night.  My friend Rebecca was still living in Spokane so I asked if she wanted to meet up while I was in town.  She said that would be awesome and we met up for drinks at the TwoSeven.  We were there for a couple hours and then parted ways.  It was really nice to visit with her since I hadn't seen her in a while.  We went back to his parent's house where I logged my finds and uploaded my pictures to the internet.  We went to bed shortly after.

Next Adventure:  Danekas Loop, Pig Out in the Park and the Inferno

Geocaching I-90 Eastbound

Derek's sister and his dad got a few free tickets to the WSU Cougars game against the Idaho State Bengals.  This was one of our games where we were suppose to blow out the other team.  We've been bad for over five years now so anything was possible.

I got up early, like I always do on Fridays, went to work and did a few chores afterwards.   We got home at a decent time so I continued to get my stuff ready and still had some time to make macaroni and cheese for me and my mom.  He wasn't able to get out of work as early as he liked so we left later than anticipated.  I drove up to Lacey and unloaded my car and put my stuff in his car and we were off.

Traffic was awful getting to Hwy 18.  It took us forever.  Once on Hwy 18, it was smooth sailing to I-90.  We tried to get some mileage behind us since we were going to get to Spokane really late as it was.  The first stop was after Vantage at the horses.  We wanted to do the challenge.  We had to write the date on a piece of paper and pretend like we were riding it.  It was a good time.  We already got the cache that was up here a few months back.  We walked back down to the car.

Our next stop was in George, Washington...a small town nestled along I-90.  We stopped and did the challenge there.  We were to take a picture with the George Washington head statue.

While we were there we decided to get a few caches that were in town.  One was called George, Washington (GC112N7).  It was dedicated to the 4th of July celebration that the small town had every year.  We found it inside a tiny park.  We had to be careful because there were some kids running around.  We found the small micro near a building.

From there, we went down the road to the next one on the list, Martha's Inn (GC28H2C).  The Inn was opened in 1958 for travelers who needed a pit stop.  It was torn down but never forgotten.  We found the green micro cache in the nearby tree.  It was hard to see in the dark but we prevailed!

And for the last one, because it was getting late and it was literally the last cache in town, The Sign (GC28T6T).  That one was tricky.  At that point I had only seen this kind of hide one other time.  We wandered around thinking it was a magnetic hide and then I got an idea.  The hose that was wrapped around it.  I unscrewed the two ends and there it was!

We got back in the car and our next stop was Moses Lake for some dinner.  Since it was late the only places open were the fast food restaurants amongst the gas stations.  We chose Burger King because it was cheap and near a cache.  We ate our food and then went and got Gemini One (GC2X99C).  It was hidden on a power line sheath.  

We got gas and back onto I-90 east towards Spokane.  We finally saw the lights of Spokane around 10:15.  We drove out to his mom and dad's house south of Spokane.  There, we unpacked the car, logged our finds and got ready for bed.  I got the bed downstairs in the basement.  I got my computer connected to the WiFi and logged my finds and challenges.  Then I passed out.  It was a long day.

Next Adventure:  WSU vs. Idaho State, Caching and Clarkston

Fossil Rock with Barlow

Lindsay called me and wanted to know if I wanted to go with her out to Fossil Rock, a popular climbing spot in the local surrounding area, with her.  She wanted to do some scouting on how well and maintained the area was for climbing.  I wasn't doing much of anything so I said sure, it would be a fun adventure.  She wanted to park at the gate (it is Weyerhauser land) take the bikes along the dirt road and lock them up at the other gate that takes you up to the destination.  I went and got my bike and the bike rack and safely fastened my bike to the car.  I grabbed some water, the camera and some snacks and was well on my way to meet her at the said gate.

When I got there, she wasn't too far behind me.  We parked the cars away from the gate, just in case a logging truck or the staff needed to get in and out of here.  We unloaded the bikes and made our way down the gravel road towards the fossil rock gate.  Find out how far the gate is from the parking area.

Once we made it to the gate, we took our bike locks out and locked them to the gate.  You can never be to sure around these parts especially since we are near the Clearwood area with all of the interesting people living out this way.  We started our hiking portion of the adventure.  In some places it was pretty steep.  We walked past a large boulder that seemed to have made its way here when this area was covered in glaciers thousands of years ago.  We stopped to take a few pictures.  We moved on.

As we reached the base of the rock, it was a steep climb.  The area was surrounded by molting Madrona trees and some areas you had to pull yourself up by the trunks.  It was hikable without having to actually climb, but the grade was at least 60%.  Plus the leaves and bark that fell off of the trees were slippery when you lost your footing.

I came out here last year with another friend and I remember it was tough to climb even back then.  When we finally got to the top I grabbed a handful of the tree debris and threw it up like confetti.  I showed her where the cache was and she signed it mostly because she wanted credit for finding it.  We took a lot of pictures.

This time you could clearly see Mount Rainier to the east unlike the hazy view I got last time I was up here.

We were up here for a bit.  The second half of our visit was checking the climbing areas out.  We followed a trail to the backside of the rock while she looked at her climbing maps.  She explained to me what everything meant on the maps and what we were looking at.  Each climbing area had its own name and difficulty.  I found it interesting but at this point could not afford the gear to actually start doing it.

Within the hour, we made our way around the entire base and managed to follow this very narrow trail that led us right back down the trail near the giant boulder we passed on our way up. As we made our way back, we enjoyed the warm weather and the conversations.  We talked about needing to get together with our friends in the next few weeks or so before the weather turns.

We reached our locked bikes, unlocked them and rode our way back to our cars.  I thought we might run across other people who knew about this area.  Each time I've been out here I've never run across anyone.  We put our bikes on the cars, said our goodbyes and went home.  It was a fun little day adventure.

**Update:  As of August 2013 Weyerhaeuser decided to close all of their land and you only have access with a permit or winning a hunting tag through a lottery.  I'm still not clear on if you can access Fossil Rock without a permit or not.  I really never needed to go back there unless I was going to climb with some people.**

Next Adventure:  Caching I-90 Eastbound