# 189 Major General Maple

Today was gorgeous! I had to get out! The NVG frequently uses a military and tree theme for his geocache hides. I would say this one was aptly named -- GC15HNB Major General Maple. And I had to be in the area for one of the kids anyway, so I decided to be productive while waiting for her.

I attempted two other caches of the NVG's today, GC15HNN Here on NVG's Isle and GC1J0VQ Twin Cottonwood Colonel's Offset. For the Isle cache, the lake was not frozen enough. We attempted this cache about a year ago, and had to ditch for the same reason. For Cottonwood, the landmark was very easy to spot. But the snow! Lots of thick snow prevented a thorough search.

I learned that walking the park was more difficult when I couldn't see what was underfoot. The snow made the leaves and sticks and path and curbs all look the same. My depth perception was off. The paths I took for Cottonwood and Maple had only one previous traveler since yesterday's snowfall -- a XC skier and his two dogs. We left around at the same time. Interesting to watch him carry and load his gear. Makes me think how it would be if it were me. My time in between caches would have been much shorter had I skiied. I don't know that snowshoes would have helped today, but skis definitely would have. I'd really like to return for Cottonwood now that I've found a new to me path.