The Four Seasons of Caching

When it comes to living in Illinois and caching all year round, it is safe to say that we cachers experience something different in each season of hunting. Me personally would choose to cache in late fall to early winter any day over the summer months. My explanation is simple; I am extremely allergic to poison ivy. Every time I go out to cache in the late spring and summer I am taking a very large risk of infecting myself with some of the nastiest outbreaks of poison ivy I am pretty sure you have ever seen. I guess the cliché is true though: “with no risk, comes no reward.” Although I do cache in the summer, I attempt to make sure the caches are less in the area of dense forest and close to paths and even more urban. If I am to get poison ivy I am out of the game for at least a couple of weeks and it will spread like a fire all over my body. Yes, it is not comfortable at all and I do everything in my power to avoid being put in that situation. None the less, there are other reasons for enjoying the hunt in the winter as well. For one, all the undergrowth in the forest’s are dead making it easier to walk through what used to be thick forest. Now, instead of trying to find the best route to the cache you can walk straight to it with no problem. Some cachers will argue that this makes the sport too easy. My response to that is that you have to play the weather in your favor. If there is one important thing I have learned while caching it is that each and every weather scenario has an advantage to cache in. The hard part is determining which situation works best with the particular weather. I have yet to figure it all out yet, but I am confident it will come with more experience. If you have any hints feel free to let me know as well. I am always up for good advice.