"The Mile High
Series....Haoe..."
This series of caches are close to a mile in elevation. The
trails you will take run along the ridge tops at around the 5000’
range. With this series I strongly suggest that you plan ahead get
a good map, available at the
"http://www.main.nc.us/graham/hiking/rangerhq.html">Cheoah
Ranger Station, you will need the “Joyce Kilmer/Slickrock &
Citico Creek Wilderness Map”. A compass is suggested but not
necessary. The terrain you will cross can be very difficult at
times, the weather can change rapidly, and there are many trails
that lead off to other places. If you plan on doing the whole
series of Caches I would suggest you give yourself at least 6 – 8
hours to complete them. You might even want to take a tent along.
Bring plenty of food and water, the only water source is at the
Naked Ground cache. I would not advise bringing children under 10
years old. There is cell phone coverage in places, in case you need
it. Let someone know where you plan to go and when you plan to
return. If you decide to do this series you will not be
disappointed, it is well worth hiking even if they were not any
caches. The view from the Hangover is UNBELIEVEABLE!!When I
placed this series I took a tent and spent the night at the
Stratton Bald. I don’t think you can find a better place to see the
sunset. For now the trails are clearly marked, however at times the
signs go missing.
Now for the Challenge: Anybody can do a Park-n-grab
cache, and they are a dime a dozen in our area. This series is for
only the toughest and most adventuresome cachers around. I expect
to see Orthoguy, Adventurechick, mxfox, Cam man, LL100, MXCR, and
if he is in the area David Mac, racing to get the FTF’s on
these.
Now for the Cache:This cache got its name from a game my
wife and son play, called "This is easy………. This is hard". The game
is hard to explain but anyway, these last two caches are for them.
This cache is located near the top of the “Haoe”. As I understand
it, a man named Bob Stratton (Stratton Bald) used to live in this
area and used to run through the mountains hollering “Haoe” and
that is how this particular area got its name. Enough history for
now; the cache is again a red 1/3-gallon water cooler. It is hid
pretty well and there is a nice prize that would not fit into the
container for the FTF. Please try to place the cache back the way
you found it and also try not to make a worn path to the cache or
it will get muggled.
I hope you enjoy the Cache.
The other caches in this series
are
Stratton Bald,
Naked Ground, and
......Hangover