This is another one of our caches designed to get you out of the hustle and bustle and into "The Real Florida."
Your search will take you on a short hike by the Little Wekiva River. While you'll hear the roar of traffic on I-4, S.R. 434, and Markham Woods Road, you'll have the distinct feeling that you've entered another, less hurried time. Here, you can play in the mud like you were a little kid again.
Take a good look around you, because residential development is rapidly causing the disappearance of such places in Central Florida. In the summertime, kids come here to take a cool dip in the river. Wildlife abounds. Looking around, you see a great blue heron patiently awaiting a fish meal and a large river turtle sunning itself on the bank. Perhaps you will want to stop and sit for a while, watching the river flowing by, eventually to meet up with the big Wekiva River, about six miles downstream.
Depending on where you enter the area, you might find a short, beaten footpath that is relatively high and dry. However, that trail ends a couple hundred feet before you get to the cache, at which point the terrain gets muddy. You might have to cross some small streams. BEWARE! Footing here can be treacherous! Do not underestimate this mud, which is the reason for us rating the terrain three-and-a-half stars. During the "dry" season, you'll have thick, black, sucking mud--"Florida quicksand"; in the rainy season, much of this area might well be underwater. The usual swamp hazard warnings apply: the aforementioned mud, bugs, poisonous plants, wild animals, and perhaps a character or two out of "Deliverance."
Suggestion: Create a waypoint where you enter the swamp so you can navigate back to it or if your GPSr has a backtracking feature, learn how to use it so you can go back the way you came in. Once in the middle of the swamp, disorientation is likely because it all looks the same!
(Hey, nobody said it had to be easy!)
The cache is in an ammo box wrapped in the obligatory black plastic garbage bag. Its initial contents are:
- Bottle of Deep Woods Off!
- Genuine Irish Claddagh tie bar
- Genuine Spanish arthritis bracelet (hey, we're geezers!)
- New, three-piece ditty bag set
- Orlando Magic notepad/decals
- Two pack of toothbrushes (soft bristles for old gums)
- Flexible map/reading light
- Screwdriver
- Carved teak elephant
- Credit card toolkit (very handy)
- Thai black lacquer/gold leaf jewel box
- Blue paisley bandanna
- Two fresh AA Duracell batteries
- Logbook and two pens
So, lace up your swamp boots and happy hunting!
P.S.
Based on the experience of Belwig and Survivor Florida detailed in the chronicles below and the accompanying photograph, I would strongly suggest that you do not wear white clothing when attempting this cache. I'm adding one-half more mud star in their honor.