by Wes Skinner (NorthWes)
A springtime visit to Homer gave me some time to get out and perform owner maintenance visits on geocaches I’ve hidden around the community. As usual, the most common need was or a new logsheet in the cache. However, one cache site a few miles out on East End Road towards the head of Kachemak Bay gave me an opportunity to perform a CITO site cleanup that recovered 16 glass & plastic bottles and 27 aluminum cans, as well as a slew of other garbage. The trash was all collected within 50 feet of ground zero, at the edge of a small pullout alongside the road. It appears some travelers stop here to slam down a drink (or two) long with cannabis products and then throw the evidence out their vehicle window, based on he trash I collected. After crushing aluminum cans I was able to fit all the debris inside a single paper sack I had along with me. The CITO activity took me only 20 minutes to perform, with very little physical effort required. Leaving the outdoors in better shape than how we found it is perhaps one of the most positive impacts we can make on our community through the get-outside game of geocaching. Sharing that CITO effort helps underscore our ommitment to the “Leave No Trace” ethic we support in our game.
This particular cache is located on the paved East End Road at 1,400 feet of elevation above Kachemak Bay, and the dramatic view here of the head of the bay to the east and Halibut Cove and the bay to the est are simply incredible. It’s especially lovely when fireweed is in full bloom, as they carpet the hillside descending down to Kachemak Bay. If you’re headed to Homer this summer, be sure to come out to GCA57GC East End View for this easy to find micro cache as well as the incredible view!