2011 ICE WALK - Fifth Annual Event Cache
2011 ICE WALK - Fifth Annual
Hidden
:
Saturday, February 5, 2011
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(not chosen)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
It does not look too promising for crossing the ice this year.
\see the January 31 update
The fifth annual Ice Walk to Shediac Island will be held on
Saturday February 5, 2011. If you wish to experience winter
caching, this is the event for you.
You will be able to cross the ice to grab caches on Shediac Island
or on Cocagne Island. If you have done those caches, bring your
snowshoes anyway, because there will be many other new caches in
the woods and on trails in this area. If that is not your kind of
caching, then venture out on our country roads to pick up some of
the many caches or, you may want to do a bit of urban caching in
Shediac or try some puzzles in the Shediac to Bouctouche
area.
YOUR CACHING DAY
The walk will begin at Ma & Pa's place at 9:00 am. The event
will be going on all day so feel free to start later if that suits
you better or if you already have many of the caches. You can park
in the driveway or on the street, but please leave room for our
neighbours to get by. Please check in with Ma & Pa before going
out on the ice. Reference to a map may show you a shorter trip
across to Shediac Island from roads to the west. One option is
parking at Belladan's Water's Edge cache on Edgewater. The waypoint
is below.
If heading to Cocagne Island, you may be able to carpool and we
have provided a waypoint for a parking spot across from the
island.
When you get back from walk, come in, relax and enjoy the company
of fellow cachers and trade stories of your day. We will have warm
comfort food, hot drinks, treats and sweets waiting for everyone.
The following link will get you to
THE FOUR PREVIOUS ICE WALKS
CLOTHING, EQUIPMENT AND ICE
SAFETY
The walk across the ice to Shediac Island may take up to 45 minutes
(less if crossing from Edgewater) and you will not be protected
from the elements. The walk across to Cocagne Island will take a
bit less time. You will spend a lot of time looking for the many
caches on the island and then you will have that same walk back.
You should pace yourself and start back if you feel tired. After
all, it is a long walk back.
Please dress for the weather. Layering your clothing is the best
method of staying warm. This would include long johns and/or snow
pants for your legs. We recommend that you include additional
clothing items in your backpack. Extra mitts or hand warmers could
be helpful as you will be exposing hands to open caches and signing
logs. Because of the length of the walk, you should bring a lunch
with you and also bring plenty of liquids. Snow is usually not deep
on the ice so snowshoes are often not necessary to get over there.
Once you are on the islands, snowshoes are very helpful.
The conditions are always changing but we will keep everyone
informed. We never venture out on the ice without being as positive
as we can about safety. We base it on the activity on the ice and
the weather and we also venture over ourselves before the event. We
will cancel if there is any doubt. Every year we wait until the
commercial fishermen have been out on the ice with their
trucks.
If heading to Shediac Island, cross to the North side from Ma &
Pa's place or to the west side. On the island, travel from the
North to the South along the trail on the West side of the Island.
When you have done the caches on the South, return the way you
came. DO NOT GO ON THE ICE ON THE SOUTH AND EAST SIDE OF THE
ISLAND.
NEW CACHES
Many new caches have been placed in our area since the last event
and there are more to come before the event.
Jim52 has recently placed 52 new puzzle caches on trails in the
Moncton area.
We placed a series of 20 traditional caches on a hiking trail in
the Cocagne area. The series will be published on January 31, just
before the Ice Walk.
If you have not cached in the area before, or if you haven't cached
here in a while, you will be surprised with the number of
caches.
UPDATES On a regular basis, we
will be providing updates on ice conditions, on the weather, on the
event and on caches. So check back often. We will also be providing
updates on three area geocaching sites. Click on their logo on the
bottom of this page.. .. ..
JANUARY 31, 2011
It does not look too promising for crossing the ice this
year.
It has been extremely cold lately and it should remain so for most
of the week. We had record snowfalls this January and they are
predicting 35 more centimeters for Wednesday and 10+ cms for
Saturday. The fishing shacks are out on Shediac Bay and snowmobiles
have been out on the ice near shore. The bay is completely snow
covered and is a beautiful winter scene.
However we have been informed that the ice is very thin this year.
We checked at Edgewater in Shediac Bridge area which is generally
the safest place to cross and the fishermen confirmed that the ice
was thin when they cut their fishing holes. Nobody there is aware
of any snowmobiles having crossed to the island. They also said
that the snow on the ice surface is slushy because of the water at
high tide. Despite all this, we have decided not to cancel our
event.
There are many caches in the area including our 20 new caches on
the Cocagne trail. However we understand that some people may have
to change their plans as a result of the conditions and/or the
weather. If you decide to come, you are welcome any time during the
day. We will have hot drinks and snacks and sweets all day and
there will also be Chicken Fricot and Chili starting around
noon.
JANUARY 28, 2011
Despite the recent bitter cold weather and the heavy snowfalls, we
have yet to see any signs of individuals or snowmobiles venturing
over to Shediac Island, although there have been snowmobiles out on
the ice. CRLYL is checking activity at Cocagne Island and has not
reported anything to us yet. We will keep checking and will report
back in a few days.
In any event, we intend on having the event on February 5, whether
or not we can cross to the islands. There is an abundance of caches
in the area, including the 20 new caches coming out Monday noon on
a trail in Cocagne. Hopefully we will have good news before the
event
JANUARY 19, 2011
We are pleased to announce that the organizers of this summer's
MEGA event in Alberta have provided us with a beautiful coin to be
given away as a door prize at this event. You should sign the log
early in the day, to ensure that your name is included in the
draw.
Here is a link to the MEGA event coins CLICK
HERE
JANUARY 9, 2011
There was a fisherman out on the ice with his ATV this morning,
tending to his nets. We were surprised as we thought it was too
soon. There is still a bit of open water close to the island.
JANUARY 1, 2011
We have placed 19 new caches on the trail in Cocagne. Cache-Tech
has approved the caches and will publish them on January 31, i.e. 5
days before the event. There are actually 20 caches on the trail
GC1CJ6B is an older cache on
the trail and we have renamed it as Cocagne Trail 5 NO BISON
.
NOVEMBER
The creation of the new series in Cocagne will mean the archiving
of a Micro Logic Puzzle. ML 12 GC1XTY2 will be archived in
early January. You will have until then to claim the cache.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)