I completed my Jasmer at Geocache 612 (GC36) on July 6, 2019. The boat ride to Power Island (GC35) came afterward. It was quite a way to celebrate an already excellent morning.
Two old caches were important reasons for this Michigan trip, but they gave us very different experiences: a quiet early stop on the mainland, followed by a trip across Grand Traverse Bay with more geocachers and an island full of possibilities.
North Through Michigan
I was traveling with CanisMinor and djpd1023. Our route included New Buffalo, South Haven, Grand Rapids, Cadillac and Traverse City. My logs describe a mixture of nontraditional caches, highly favorited hides and a few dates we wanted for our Jasmer grids. Naturally, we made room for other interesting stops too.
At South Haven, South Pier Overlook (GCJYR1) gave us a waterfront stop during the drive north. Our photograph from that evening has the three of us in front of the water and the pier. It was a pleasant change from looking at the next stretch of road.
CanisMinor’s account of the overnight arrangements is less glamorous: we slept in a motel parking lot. There are many ways to organize a geocaching road trip. Apparently, ours put a little more emphasis on the next cache than on luxury accommodations.
The Last Empty Month
The Jasmer Challenge asks you to find a cache hidden in every month since geocaching began in May 2000. It is a different way of looking at a map. Instead of asking only what is nearby, you start asking where you can still find a hide from a particular month many years ago.
Geocache 612 was placed on August 21, 2000. That made it much more than another stop on the way to Traverse City: it filled the last missing month in my grid.
We reached it early in the morning. CanisMinor remembers the short walk, the meadow and having the place to ourselves at sunup. djpd1023 recorded the important part plainly in his log: congratulations to me for completing the Jasmer here.
That camouflage-covered container represented a lot of earlier trips, searches and planning. I was glad to have both friends there for the final piece. We took the photograph, enjoyed the moment and still had a boat trip ahead of us.
An Invitation Across the Bay
dnfu and superior_o had invited us to join the outing to Power Island. We met up for the boat ride and exchanged the road for open water. After all the driving, getting out on the bay felt like a fine upgrade.
Power Island is a wooded preserve in Grand Traverse Bay, reached by boat. It has trails and shoreline to explore, and a narrow connection to nearby Bassett Island. The county’s description gives the geography, but arriving at the dock makes the appeal much easier to understand.
The cache that drew us there was placed on July 16, 2000. Power Island was another surviving link to the hobby’s first summer, only a short time before Geocache 612. Finding both on the same day made for an unusually satisfying pair of old GC codes.
It is tempting to compress the day into one big milestone and put the island at the center of it. But 612 had already completed my grid. Power Island was its own reward: a historic cache, a boat ride and time exploring with friends.
Room for a Few More Finds
We did not cross the bay for only one container. Other island stops included Power Island ~ Lucky 13 (GC4M5XG), Power Island Paddler’s Cache (GC89A2) and Power island wierd tree (GC3VW3D).
The Bassett Island Isthmus (GC54DFF) EarthCache also directed our attention to the land connecting the islands. Between the trees, the water and the changing shoreline, there was plenty to look at while we moved from one search to the next.
CanisMinor’s log remembers about an hour and a half on the island, followed by celebratory beers and a tour around the bay. His grid was getting closer to completion too. We had good reasons to enjoy the ride back.
A Grid Filled, a Good Day Kept
Later that day, I also logged The Jasmer Challenge (Michigan Edition) (GC2EGP9). The challenge listing required the month-by-month coverage I had just completed. Finding that cache gave the day a fitting final connection to the goal that had helped bring us north.
I enjoy having the completed grid. I also enjoy remembering what filling it required: the travel, the places and the people willing to come along. On this trip, the last square came with a morning photograph, and the celebration included an island.
That is a pretty good return on a spreadsheet full of dates.
Field Notes
- Adventure: July 5–6, 2019.
- Location: western Michigan and Grand Traverse Bay.
- Road-trip companions: CanisMinor and djpd1023; island outing joined dnfu and superior_o.
- Jasmer completion: Geocache 612 (GC36), July 6; placed August 21, 2000.
- Island historic stop: Power Island (GC35), later July 6; placed July 16, 2000.
- Challenge cache: The Jasmer Challenge (Michigan Edition) (GC2EGP9).
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