2021-08-25 42 -78

Location

In the woods, near Cold Creek State Forest

Participants

Pedalpusher
Simon the dog
Myka the dog

Expedition

With plenty to do, I thought, why not try for a Geohash instead of being responsible and adulting, so after work, I packed up the dogs and we went on an adventure! I thought there was a good chance this would be posted, but I have never been here before (although recently, I did visit Lost Nation State Forest which is right next to this State forest).

I followed my phone GPS to the Forest Road and noticed I needed to travel about a mile (1.6 KM) to my turn-off closest to the Geohash. I found it and pulled off the main road. I planned to park here anyway, but would have had to anyway as the gate was closed, but also the 'road' was so overgrown, I wouldn't have been able to get very far anyway. There was somewhat of a path and I could avoid the more thorny sections without too much trouble. About halfway to the hash, we got into a clearing which was very thick and overgrown. I opted to move into the forest and things got immediately easier. The forest floor was very open and while there were signs of swampy areas, they were mostly dry.

As we followed my GPS, I found the State Forest boundary where it jutted in. I saw this was going to be another No Trespassing, as there were signs right away along the boundary. We continued along, staying on the State Forest side of the line, but as we approached the closest point to the hash, there was a Posted sign right there. How did they know???

I got a couple pictures and we started back toward the car. I should note that while the day started out pretty clear, it was very humid and hot. On the way to the hash, I heard some distant rumblings of thunder, but it didn't look bad above us. The sun was even still trying to peek out from behind the clouds. About halfway back, we heard a loud crashing through the woods that made me jump a little. I figured it was probably a White-tail Deer which was confirmed a moment later when it snorted at me. Getting back to the car, we still had some time, so I decided to walk on the road deeper into the State Forest.

We ended up getting to the end of the road before my alarm went off to turn around. I could have kept going, but the trail/road was extremely muddy and stank when the dogs walked through it. So we just headed back to the car and for home.

This is where things get interesting. On the drive out, I noticed that the road suddenly got very damp about halfway back to the main road. I realized the thunderstorm that built up missed us by a kilometer or so! We never felt a drop when we were walking earlier. Thanking my luck, we were able to see the huge storm cloud on the way back after we crested a hill with a view in the right direction. It looked like a very localized but heavy downpour. I was happy we avoided the Drowned Rat for nothing (or at least not being able to make it to the hash).