This cache is near the summit of Noonmark Mountain, near Keene Valley in the Adirondacks. This mountain is one of the easier mountains to hike in this area, but offers a pointed, open rocky summit with a spectacular 360 degree view of Keene Valley, the Great Range, Dix Mountain, Giant Mountain and other highlights of the area.
The hike is only about 2.5 miles from the parking lot, but steep and rocky. Sturdy footwear is recommended, as well as enough time (allow yourself 5 hours if you want to hang around on the summit for a while, more if you are not in good hiking shape), enough water, and clothing that will keep you comfortable in the stiff breeze often encountered on mountaintops.
The cache is in plain view at the base of a tree. You can find it based on the waypoint alone (which had 14m estimated position error on the GPS) or you can go to the following coordinates, which are on a rock plateau on the trail itself: N44° 07.770' W73° 46.374' (wide open sky here, 5m estimated position error on the GPS) and look toward the summit of Giant Mountain (on your left if you are facing uphill). The tree that is taller than its neighbours that is inline with the summit, is the one.
Initial cache contents are:
- Rubber ball that flashes when bounced
- Plastic slinky
- Travel backgammon game
- Grow bug
- Marge Simpson PEZ dispenser
- Retractable telephone cord
- Plastic giraffe
- "Clapping hands" toy
- Toothpaste extractor
- One of those frustratingly hard wire and string puzzles
- A 1984 Canadian Dollar coin (not the current "loonie" kind)
- Telephone handset cord untwister
- Goofy earrings suitable for a little girl
Because the cache may well have to survive a snowmelt before first being visited, the contents are carefully bagged against moisture. The log is double-bagged, and there are a couple of new freezer bags included as spares. When visiting, please do what you can to ensure further survival of this cache in this suboptimal container. This includes storing no food items as those cause animals to destroy the cache.
This cache was placed as part of an overnight stay on the mountain to observe the 2001 Leonid Meteor Shower. We counted several hundred meteors.