London, Ontario that is. I recently got my Garmin GPSMAP 60C back from being repaired and I didn’t realize how much I missed the little toy. So lately, it’s been getting a lot of use geocaching in Winnipeg and now in London.
I’m out here on a little business trip and it was a nice evening and I had a Travel Bug to drop off, so I was off in search of GCMF2MT – Greatest Treasure of All Time which was the closest cache to my hotel. This morning before I left Winnipeg I downloaded map detail for the London to Toronto corridor, but for some reason the GPS doesn’t have any map info for the city, just major highways. However, with the waypoint for the cache loaded, I just started walking cross country to try and locate the cache. For this one, it worked out well an I was able to find the cache without too much trouble. The next one would be a little different.
The next closest cache was GCNV25T – River Stroll Series – Foxway. The description put it on a walkway along side a river, just off the path. After walking several blocks, I come across a river, the Thames no less, and proceed down the river bank on the side closest to me as I approached the river. The GPS is indicating about 750m down the river. I go down a street for half a block and then there is an access path to the river bank where I find a nice mowed path right on the edge of the river. This must be the trail. As I get closer to the destination the heading starts to swing to the south and point across the river. You guessed it, I’m on the wrong side of the river! There is no bridge close by, so it’s back the way I came and up the other side. This time the path is a nicely marked, asphalted trail and after a 1.5km “opps” I’m able to find the cache. Well, that’s enough for one night and I take the trail back all the way downtown and back to the hotel.
One of the great things about geocaching is that it takes you places you might not normally go. While this is only my second time in London, I’ve seen a lot of the area that I might not noramlly have seen. Who knew that London has a “forks” area similar to Winnipeg’s “forks“.