A Swell Spring Trip

Spring and I spent a whole weekend together.  There was no snow, no rain, no arctic blasts. . . I think it may be here finally.  Well, at least in the San Rafael Swell.  It can't be too far behind up here in the north, right?
It seems I have been missing out on a legendary geocaching tradition that happens every spring and fall.  Many stories have been told of this great event. . . Good, bad, and some that probably shouldn't be repeated.  This weekend I got to be a part of it.  My first non-just driving through trip to the San Rafael Swell far exceeded my expectations.

We camped here:

The adventures really started here.  See that great big mesa?  The cache is at the top.

My comfort zone has been increasing the distance between its borders significantly lately. . .  In case you're wondering, the current limit is just before here:

 After I made it to the top and my heart started beating again, I was able to enjoy the payoff:

Next stop was these boulders that look small but are really taller than me and supposedly have dinosaur tracks in them. 

Here are my caching buddies at the next stop. 

Next stop was Mudball Mountain.  These "mudballs" are really perfectly round boulders sticking out of the side of the mountain.

There were also some other really cool rock formations there.,

When I was learning about latitude and longitude in school it never really occurred to me to think about what was in between the lines on the maps.  As it turns out, almost everything is.  However, this cache was right at the point where North 39 and West 111 meet. . . A "degree of confluence." 

As we were driving, we saw lots of rocks, lots of dirt, and lots of cows.  This one was in the middle of the road.  I thought we were headed for a standoff but she thought better of it and ran off as we approached. Smart cow.  Taking on the Super-Subaru would have been nothing but trouble for her.

Here's the Super-Subaru waiting patiently for us. 

 We were due back for a potluck at 6:30 but Jeremy HAD to get "one more cache."  It turned out to be well worth the trip, even though we were late for dinner.

The after dinner events were unlike anything I have ever seen.  It seems that blowing up canned vegetables is a tradition for this event.  It all started late one night with one small can of corn.  Here's how it works:
1. Put a can of corn in the fire.

2. Wait and watch.
3. When the can begins to bulge, send Kim over to look at it.
4. Start filming video.
5. Send Kim over to look at it again.
6. Wait for it. . .
7. Watch in amazement as the can explodes, creating a huge fireball and sending all pieces of the fire flying all over the place.
8. Wonder if this time the cops will come looking for the source of the big boom.
9. Spend the next day or two looking for the can.
10. Spend the next 6-12 months telling stories of the event.

This year, the exploding corn has become a full-on science project.  This year's experiments:
1. See how it works with a can of butane.  (Underwhelming)
2. See how it works with #10 can of green beans.  (Better than the corn!)

3. See if it still works when Kim refuses to get close and check.  (Yes, but not as well.)
4. See which cans fly the farthest.  Mark distances with cow patties.  (The bean can won by far.)

I had hoped to post a video but since I was too tired to go get my camera, I made plans to steal it from someone who posted it on Facebook.  Alas, Facebook wouldn't let me steal the link so I have to just link to it from my page.  It's worth watching.  Can't wait to see what they think of next (from a distance, of course).

Early the next morning, we headed for home.  Caching time is kind of like dog years.  The three hour drive there took us eight hours.  It only took us six hours to get home.  I thought that was impressive.  (Nothing like a flight to catch to hurry things along.)  On the way, we stopped at the Bat Cave Salt Mine.  We never saw the bat that is reputed to live there but we got to explore the mine, and yes, we found the cache.   Here's Chris at the entrance.  Ask her how she knows there's no salt left.  Cheese can probably guess.

We spent quite a while exploring all of the different parts of the mine.  It was very cool!

 The next stop was in Aurora.  (Never heard of it?  Me neither, till I met Tracie.  It's near Salina.  Never heard of that either?  Welcome to rural Utah.  :)  )  The cache was at the gun club.  When we arrived, there was a huge crowd and more pickup trucks than I have previously seen in such a small place.  Chris and I were discussing what we thought Tracie might be doing for the weekend when suddenly, there she was!  She was participating in a shooting tournament at that very moment.  We got to watch her practice with her team. (Who knew shooting had teams or that they had to rehearse!)

 After the rehearsal, she loaded up the gun and let us give it a shot.  (Tee hee. . . pun intended.)  Chris confidently picked up the gun, discussed gun details that I didn't understand with Tracie, and shot at the pigeons.

I had to have a lesson first.  I think this picture was taken as the gun kicked me.

I missed.  The guy shooting off the pigeons said I was scary.  Funny, my driver's ed teacher said the same thing the first time I drove.  Oh well, there were no casualties.  Even the pigeons escaped unscathed.

After that, we found a pine cone that had a plastic tube inside. . . Must be one of those hybrid breeds. . . then headed for home.  I can't wait to see what happens at the Fall Event!