The Stick-prints of a...giant hound?

A while ago I posted about a simply gorgeous walking stick a very special person made for me. This past weekend, the Stick of the Baskervilles went on its maiden voyage, so to speak. We went caching.

We'd been asked to sort of "beta test" a cache that has been placed for an Indiana DNR Geocaching contest called "Spring into Geocaching" (and no, we didn't take along the Game Piece, nor did we take anything from the cache itself. Left our signatures, though), details of which can be found here.
So, even though we had plenty to do at home this weekend, Friday and Saturday were such gorgeous days we decided to go geocaching - and benchmark hunting. Friday was our day at Pokagon State Park. We loved the cache location...but...the trails were still covered in snow. Slick, wet, heavy snow.
I was never more grateful in my life to have a hiking stick than I was Friday! The dog wanted to go, go, GO!!!, and I didn't want to slip and fall. So all along the trail, I left little circular marks where my new hiking stick got planted, to keep me relatively vertical.
We did find the cache, and then it was off to the Pokagon Nature Center to talk to the Land Manager, and to get OUR cache in the park re-permitted. We went to check on our cache, and the stick helped me so much that the dog was sliding around more than I was! (Of course, HE didn't have the benefit of an ATMouse Original Stick, either.) I can safely say that this is the FIRST time I've walked on a Pokagon State Park boardwalk while it was wet and I wasn't afraid I was going to fall on my kiester.

Yup, that stick got a great "maiden voyage", and I predict I'll be using it for years to come. (Especially if I can find an Eye of Sauron that'll fit in the top of the stick. Then I'll have an Eye of Sauron....on a steeck.)