“Look at that bear!”
—–
Now, when we’re out hiking and a few miles from the car, there are a lot of things my wife can say to get my attention, but, upon reflection, very few of them are as effective as, “Look at that bear!”
Quick aside: why don’t exciting things on the trail happen near the car?
Anyway, she might say, “Hey, Tim, take a look at this,” or “Hey, Tim, look back at me.” She could even leave off my name, and just say, “Hey,” going so far as to leave off the exclamation point, and I’d still look back. She would have my attention.
But, no, “Look at that bear!” is what she went with last night.
When I heard her, I immediately spun around, but–kind of in mid-spin–I was already thinking, “Wait, there’s not a bear up here.” I mean, theoretically there could be, but I’m pretty sure we’d have seen it together, as bears aren’t known for their quiet nature.
Then I thought, “Oh, she means a bare spot on a tree where a buck has rubbed.” That’s a common occurrence, and we’ve seen them often.
But, no, as my eyes fell upon it, I realized she meant a bear.
Well, sort of.
It certainly looked like a bear: a very small bear, maybe 18 inches tall, jet black, in a sitting posture, looking away from us.
Unable to control ourselves, we both moved toward it. It didn’t move, which wasn’t a surprise, as it quickly became apparent we were looking at a piece of lawn statuary.
And it wasn’t a bear at all. It was a dog; it sort of looked like a lab, but it was hard to tell. The paint was flaking off, the bone in its mouth was broken, and a welcome sign hung nearly out of site between its legs. There was a piece of cord around its neck, with a large blue chew toy affixed to it. A small silver cylinder was visible inside the toy, just barely visible.
It was a geocache.
Props to the person, or, more likely, people who carried that thing nearly two miles up the trail with around 400 feet of elevation gain. Lisa took a look inside the cylinder and discovered that the cache had just been placed a few months ago. It’s a good one, definitely worth the walk.
If you go looking for it, be aware that once you spot it, it will have your attention!
Yet There is Method 
I love this story and how you tell it in this post! Thank you for sharing!
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Thank you!
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I love your tone as you tell this story you thought improbable from the start! I have only been geocaching a few times and it is so fun! I wonder if there are any here…
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Erika, it wouldn’t surprise me if there were some geocaches in your area. The geocaching dot com website shows 71 in the region. Unfortunately, they’re all about 9,000 miles away from me!
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I am glad it wasn’t bear, but a great hike ending. Things are always more exciting away from the car.
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They certainly are!
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Great lead-up to a story on geocaching and being surprised! I love geocaching! My oldest son and I went last spring here locally. I have wanted to place a new one up near our cabin and have it all set to go but we have to think of a good place to hide it and the reason for putting the cache where we do! Thanks!
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I enjoy geocaching, but haven’t been in a while. Our Land Trust has some “official” caches, so I’m going to have to blow the dust off the ol’ GPS and get out there soon. Good luck with your cache!
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We were not allowed (according to the by-laws) do make or lead geocaches on our conserved lands. It’s too bad. I always thought the adventure would be a good way to connect people to the land and have them really “look” for things besides the treasure or cache. I hope you can get out there soon!
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We have caches, but I imagine damage might change that in the future. I guess traffic will drive that decision. I do hope to get out there soon!
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Geocaching is a father-daughter thing between my brother and one of his daughters. Your story has the same fun as they enjoy sharing.
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I loved geocaching with my daughters!
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Geocaching fascinates me, although I don’t quite understand it all, not having experienced it firsthand. I am so glad it was not a BEAR bear… yikes! You structured this so well, and the details of the little dog in disrepair really add to the mystery.
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Thanks, Fran. It’s a lot of fun since it combines being outdoors with a bit of a treasure hunt. I hope you get to try it sometime in the future!
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You had me guessing from the very beginning. The conversation you were having with yourself build my curiosity even more. I’m glad you took a photo–proof it wasn’t anything to worry about.
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I thought that post needed a photo, so I’m glad I took one! It was a bit of a surprise to see the dog, and I don’t doubt it will sneak up on me again in the future.
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