Adventure of The Lost Protykus - Secret Trail #1 Traditional Cache

The Adventure of The Lost Protykus

The Secret Trail #1

Long ago, in a millennium that time has now forgotten, there lived a birdlike animal that scientists have long sought to truly understand.  It was given a name – The Protykus – but no fossils of this bird have ever been found.

Besides being reclusive, this bird was believed to be quite aggressive and like the Pterodactyl, it was one of the most feared of prehistoric birds.  What made the Protykus especially unique was that it laid two rounded eggs over the course of its lifetime.  One egg was gold and the other was silver.  We believe that the Protykus had the ability of not needing to sit on the eggs.  The “magical” nature of the eggs meant they grew and then hatched when the time was right. 

Kroner Giggly is perhaps the world’s expert on this long lost mythical bird.  Kroner has always been fascinated by the magical and mythical.  Kroner is a professor at a renowned university and is a tenured member of their archaeological program.  When he was a youth he studied at the “Indiana Geones” school of adventuring and he has been credited with numerous wonderful and unique archaeological finds around the world.

Most recently Giggly has been working feverishly, but secretively on his “Protykus” project at the university.  Privately, Kroner relayed his concern to another colleague that a rather unsavory ornithologist (Tick Bramble) is trying to muscle in and take credit for his work.  Tick is renowned to be a shady character who is only interested in fame and fortune.  In the past Tick has used his henchmen to track down possible archaeological finds, silence the finder (by paying them off or “making them disappear”), and then taking the credit for the discovery.  

Kroner recently learnt that Tick has become aware of his “Protykus” project.  Clearly this would be a remarkable archaeological find and Tick wants in.  Four days ago Kroner set up a solo video and photography expedition.  “I have found something so magical that I can’t describe it using words.  I am going to film it before I say anymore so I have the evidence and the site is not disturbed” – he was heard to say to another trusted faculty member.  With that he had packed his bag with his recording equipment, grabbed his walking staff, GPSR, compass, back-pack and tent and headed off.

That was the last anyone heard from him.  It has been four days and he is still missing.  His office has remained closed, his door has stayed locked, classes have been missed, and people have become concerned.  

Security was called, and upon opening his office door they were met with Giggly’s papers all over the floor and his handwritten notes on the walls.  It was a real mess and they did not know where to start.  As they sat down to go through the papers they found a business size white envelope.  In bold capital letters on the front were the words: "IN THE EVENT I DO NOT RETURN"  (See attached photo)  Inside was this note:  

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Welcome to the Protykus Forest (or Mianus River State Park).  In order to begin your quest you will need to:

• Be able to sight/ project a bearing (using a compass or GPSR) and then walk on that bearing/ to that projection.
• Park your vehicle at N 41.06.912  W 073.36.696.  The powers that be have closed the parking area for these woods so you will need to park along the side of the road or at one of the small pull offs.  If you park along the road please be sure to pull in close as the road is quite narrow.  I typically reverse into the spot highlighted in the parking coordinate as getting out from head in can be tricky. NOTE - DON'T PULL OFF INTO THE SPOT IF THE GROUND IS WET - YOU MAY GET STUCK! STAY ON THE ROAD AND PARK ALONG THE SIDE!
• Once you park I suggest NOT starting off by bushwacking the .44 miles to the first stage.  Rather, walk along the south side of the stone wall.  Follow that trail till you hit a trail running North to South (maybe 3-400 feet into the woods).  At that point head North.  This will make the first stage much easier going!
• To complete the entire Adventure of the Lost Protykus you will need to hike approximately 3 miles - hence the difficulty rating for the later stages.
• When I walked the course for the final time, it took me about 1:45 mins so I would allow 2-3 hours to complete the series.  Items in the caches are oriented towards kids (dinosaurs, pterodactyls etc) - so you may elect to start this with them one day and then come back another day to finish.
• After the first 10 finders I will consider giving out the coordinates to the final cache if kids do not want to do the full hike.  However, these are awesome woods - no one uses them, wildlife is abundant and it really is a great place for a hike.  Aidan (my 6 year old) loved placing this series.
• I suggest taking a picnic with you and taking a break at the Vista stage... (about 45 minutes in)
• There is some bushwacking, but nothing too extreme and there are several stream crossings and some steep grades/ rocks. 
• I have provided my phone number at the first stage which you may want to use if you get stuck along the way.  I can't promise to answer.   None of these hides are meant to be too tricky, but you never know - critters can run off with things!

A few other miscellaneous things...

• Read Kroner's notes in the caches - there are hints included in a couple of the notes...
• There are 5 distinct caches in this series – each counts towards a smiley.  You will need to do the caches in the numbered order as each cache contains the coordinates to the next stage.
• The trails in the wood are maintained by The Greenwich Riding Trails Association so you may run into a few of our equine friends as you walk the trails.  Please note horses do tend to make things a bit muddy so be prepared for a bit of mud as you walk these woods.
• Nothing is mentioned about dogs, but I suggest you keep them on a leash as we do share the woods with horses and I'd hate to scare them.
• At one of the stages there is a drop-off and if you do bring little children please watch them closely.  Kroner is kind enough to warn you when this is an issue.

• * *A huge thanks to Lostboy1966 who provided "schooling" for several caches in this series.  I only hope this series is half as good as his are!!* *

  
   
  This cache has been chosen as a top pick in the "Caching Series" category on the CTCachers Forum