June 17, 2009: Token Creek, Wisconsin

All work and no play makes Chris a dull boy. It had been a month since I was able to get out and hike last, lots of work around the home to do this spring. I took this week off from my job, with some traveling to do this weekend. I did make one day to find a pair of geocaches that have been eluding me since February. The now infamous (to me) Culver Conservancy in Token Creek is my destination.

This is how it looked last February.


Now here is what it looks like in June.




I had the park to myself when I first arrived, but after taking a couple of photos and walking to the first cache site, some other people arrived. One geocache was relocated to a different spot since I was unsuccessfully searching last. Apparently I was not the only one having issues. As I just began searching the new location, I heard and then spotted another geocacher walking directly at me where I was searching. I just automatically went into "stealth mode" and strolled off and took photos. I saw another car in the parking lot too, so I just decided I would go to the other unfound cache a half-mile away, then work at this when I come back.

The last time I came here the path was too muddy and flooded to walk on. The time before that, the geocache was under a mound of snow. Today, I found it easy enough.







When I reviewed the logs before going here today, there was some notes that a geo-muggle had gotten into the cache (a non-geocacher found the box and vandalized it) and a new log was needed. I brought along a notebook in a ziploc bag to start a new log and put it in, as well as some trade items for the next finder. It actually was better stocked than I was expecting.

I put the cache back and took some more photos of the spot.





Some sights along the trail.




Now back to the first cache site. It's now at a fairly obvious landmark.




I did conceal it a little better under the bricks than the last geocacher left it. That guy just did a true cache-n-dash, and kind of noisy at it too. Not my style, I like looking around and being discrete.

All the geocaches are now logged for the park, let's explore the rest of the area that I didn't do my last 2 trips.




I'm starting to get the hang of discovering these homeless camps in parks.




That completes the trails I could follow on this part of the park. Reading the information kiosk, I noticed that there is another section a couple of miles away down the road and around the corner. I drove there and further explored.



That's a historic cemetary in the background, and it is eerily close to that house back there.


Lots of war veterans buried here, some identified from the War of 1812.


Marker of a Civil War vet.




Judging by the open spaces between markers, there must be a couple of hundred or more unmarked graves.

Here's a bench with obstructed view.


A historical marker I never noticed before. Almost disturbing that I've never seen this since I drive very near by nearly every day commuting to work.


A fishing spot by the marker.








Turn around and there's civilization down the street.



I'm not done exploring nature here.










Right after taking this photo, another photographer (with a big lens on a monopod) snuck up to me on the walking path and scared the crap out of me. It had been so peaceful and isolated.

Here's the route on an aerial photo. I forgot to turn off the gps receiver while driving between the spots, so I actually did not walk that part along the roads.