We believe geocaching is about the places we go, the people we meet and the memories that we create.  Our 2500th find was all that and more.

The evening of July 17th would find us pulling in to Tulameen with only 2496 caches found.  We planned to head out in the morning to do 3 new caches in Princeton and then head to Copper Mountain to grab a "first to find" for our 2500th.  Well nothing goes as planned when geocaching.  The new cache at the airport wasn't going to be found to today because of airport days.  Muggles, muggles everywhere.  So back into town.  On our second find we saw the names of Grafinator and Gearhead.  What are two Abbotsford boys doing way up here???? The FTF!!!!!  No time to wait the Turtle Tank was off, as fast as we could and as fast as the speed trap would allow us.  As we bombed down Copper Mountain road Jordy was looking for signs of a Honda (missing pieces of cousre).  There were none to be had.  Hmmm...... We drove up to the cache location.  We searched and then Jordy found it.  With our heart stopped he opened the cache.  On the inside page of the logbook  was..... it was blank!  We did it!  The FTF goes to the Tulameen Turtles!  So with 2499 caches down we headed back to the Six Pack Shack to .... drink beer.

Cabin Lake is more than just a place of serene beauty – it is a gateway to an important piece of BC history.  We get to enjoy our outdoor lands, the trails, the trees & the mountains but one must take a moment to step back and realize the sacrifices that are given in order to protect that.  Cabin Lake is the portal to the Heather Basin Trail – about 2 hours from here you will find the remnants of the plane wreck of a fallen Hero – Eric Yuill. 

He was flying a Conair bomber through these mountains in 1974 helping fight the forest fires that were ravaging the trees – helping those that were on the ground  - There is a Geocache there dedicated to him – and we highly recommend making the effort to see the plane even if you’re not a geocacher.  An account of our adventure from Sept of 08 can be found here : Conair @ Stoyoma.

Before I move on to our motley crew – I want to recount the words that we recently heard from a someone who has a personal recount –

I was at the Blue Lake resort the day that the plane went down. He buzzed over us a few times and we could tell he was having difficulties. I was with the Forestry fire suppression crew boss and he was relaying the bombers position to the tanker base at Abbotsford, Unfortunately the pilot was unable to find any clear sky. He was reported overdue about an hour later and as I recall was not located for about three weeks.(anynSR.)

Day 3 – Shea Lake

Close your eyes for a moment and picture this.. a field of pure gold waving in wind, you've laid down on the ground with not a soul in site.  The sky a pure blue, with the whisps of only a few clouds in it, a slight breeze blowing in the wind and the sounds of nothing but the whispers of the long grass in your ears.  A place where you can close your eyes as you lie there and feel nothing but harmony, peace and the warmth of the sun.  That’s what Shea Lake makes me think of, not the area where the picnic tables and “civilized” area is, but if you continue on around to the meadows on the other side where the old structures are.

You’ll pass by the “alien invader” or so we call him, and happen chance upon a few really neat old structures that still have the remnants there.  Reminds me of being 7 or 8 and living out in an area like this, but up in the Caribou with the remnants with a tarp over them as our shelter.  But it was summer so it was ok.  Where there was no worries, no expectations nothing but the innocence of a child being amazed that they could disappear and lie down in the fields where nothing else existed…

One can ask where one day ends and the next begins.. for me it’s when we set up camp.  Setting up camp signifies the end of the one adventure and the starting of another..  Sometimes that adventure starts that night – or at 2 AM in the morning..

After we had tried to find the backroad to Tulameen from Wells Lake with BushPiggy we headed back to the campground and thought it might be time to join in the fun.  We grabbed the marshmallows and headed down with the others to see what was on the agenda and see what a “group” camp involved – the smells off the grill were intoxicating.  There was a lot of commotion as people were settled in, Gavman and his friend Raymond had just shown up with a couple Toyotas following – so there was no midnight rescue missions of going back that would be needed.