Saturday night I was doing some yard work. My next door neighbor was also outside planting his garden. He hollered over to me asking, "Have you ever been to the Ice Caves?" I asked, "Why?" He said his daughter and three other teens had gone on a prom date out to the Rexburg Ice Caves and that she was supposed to call him when they got out of the cave. He hadn't heard from her and was starting to get a little worried.

I asked him if he knew for sure if they went to the Ice Caves or if they went to the Civil Defense Caves? A lot of people get the two caves confused and claim they are the same thing, when in reality they are two totally different caves. He said he wasn't sure, but that he thought it was the ice caves. He then said that if he didn't hear from them within the next couple hours he'd give me a call. I told him I'd be more than willing to go caving.

About five minutes later, he received a text message from his daughter. She said the cell reception was bad in the area so she couldn't call, but her date lost his keys in the cave and they were locked out of the car.

Thankfully the night turned out good for all involved, but it's just a simple reminder that caving can be dangerous. Always let someone know where you are going, GPS coordinates of the cave location, and when you expect to be out when you go in to a cave. It may just save your life, but it won't save you from an upset dad when you bring his daughter home late from prom.

I am often asked by new people in town, "Where's a good place to go for outdoor activities." Instead of having to explain to each of them the location of the Civil Defense Caves or where good places to go camping are, I built this web site to allow everyone to share.

Backcountry Secrets allows users to post GPS coordinates of places to participate in outdoor activities. Other users can then search for places by state, city, and within a certain distance from a town. It's a new site and we'll see if it goes anywhere, but I thought it would be fun to try and I learned a lot building the site.

Oh, and it's free to use.