When the Cache and Release - 2024 (CARW2024 for short) caches were published, it was this treasure trove of “out there” caches on Ministik Lake that really caught my eye. It took a while to come and get them though: first there was the snow and frigid temperatures, later the alignment of schedules. Today was the day our group of three made the trek clockwise around the lake and I have to say, despite the occasional “creepiness” of 💧💧standing water💧💧 in many places around the lake, it was an excellent day to visit.
After visiting a few caches along the way, we got to the shoreline and … gulp … were faced with what looked like standing water. Before this there’d been a brief text exchange with an intrepid, earlier-rising group ahead of us and key information was that there were “wet spots”, but the ice was solid.
When we reached the shoreline a large pool of water greeted us, but when we ventured out onto the ice we soon found, despite little screams of 🛑 STOP, YOU FOOL! 🛑 inside the brain, the ice was indeed solid.
And seeing the other group across the lake at one point gave us proof that they’d visited the same caches were going to visit and they were still living. So, we very often intentionally followed their tracks across the ice toward hides: they’d walked this way and lived so the odds were we would too. 😆
All that said, the experience on the lake itself was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Coming out today meant there was above zero temps, and no snow to trudge through and it was really straight-forward to make our way from island to island. It was just a joy to be out in the fresh air with geocaching friends. At far end of the loop, near a cache called “Ding Dong Doorway” we had a great, relaxing, chatty sit down lunch complete with beer-y refreshments supplied by VP.
The Route Today#
Gallery#
