Terrace Pond North Multi-Cache

This cache has been archived.

Harry Dolphin: The party's over. It's time to call it a day.
Ah! I used to love this area! Great geology! Great scenery! But this cache does not meet with the new State Park Guidelines. Will remove the cache when I get the opportunity.

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Hidden : 11/5/2005
Difficulty:
3 out of 5
Terrain:
3.5 out of 5

Size: Size: regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:

Located in Wawayanda State Park, in West Milford. Park on Clinton Road at N41º 08.575 W074º 24.418.

Once upon a time, I used to maintain this trail. This was my trail. Terrace Pond North Trail (blazed in blue) from Clinton Road to the outlet of Terrace Pond. Come hike it with me. (Feel free to pick up any beer cans that you see along the way.) The first two stages are small, round plastic containers with white tops, containing the coordinates to the next stage. The final is a large Lock And Lock.
First Section: The trail heads east, going though a swampy area. The stepping stones were placed here by the West Jersey Crew of the NYNJTC. Thanks!! Next the trail goes through the remains of a hemlock grove. Eleven years ago, when I started maintaining this trail, this was a beautiful section. Hemlocks are magnificent trees. This was a murky, chocolatey grove, so different from the rest of the area. Now, they are mostly dead, due to hemlock wooly adelgid. HWA is an insect pest imported from Japan. It’s only natural enemy is the Japanese ladybug. (Please support ISPM-15!)
user posted image


I encountered severe signal bounce here. This cache/trail is difficult enough as it is, so look in a log about fifteen feet to the right of the trail for the container.
Second Stage: Bearfort Mountain is a concentric, oval series of ridges and valleys. (Check it out on Google Earth!) It is composed of purple puddingstone (West Milford conglomerate). Millions of years ago, this was a giant sand dune, now metamorphosed to a hard purple sandstone with white quartz inclusions. (The purple is due to manganese.) Bearfort Mountain looms on your right. Soon we climb the first ridge on a pipeline, and hike along the ridges, and across the valleys. The soil is sparse on the ridges. Many of the pitch pines are stunted. We call them the bonsai trees.
user posted image

The photo shows my favorite one. It is probably about seventy years old, but only twelve feet high.
Final Stage: Keep following the trail. (Remember, these are ridges and valleys, and if you start bushwhacking too soon, you will regret it. The final stage is a 250 foot bushwhack off the trail. Make sure that you are on the right ridge before bushwhacking!) We pass several glacial erratics along the way, including my favorite that seems to be balancing on a smaller rock, but it was too close to the bonsai tree to put a waypoint here. Soon, we arrive at Terrace Pond.
user posted image

It is a twenty acre glacial pond set in the arc of one of the ridges. It is a beautiful spot. (As tempting as it might be, do not swim here. It is illegal to do so. Three people have drowned here in the last seven years. Swimming in state parks is only permitted at areas with lifeguards.) If you proceed a short distance ahead on Terrace Pond Circular Trail (the white trail), you will find my favorite spot to sit after the climb. Head back to TPN, and continue along the northern part of the pond. This section can be quite difficult. Now, you may begin the bushwhack to the final stage! One of my least favorite plants grows on Bearfort Mountain in profusion: a lily known as greenbriar. It is a nasty, thorny vine. You do not have to bushwhack through much of it, if any.
This is an exquisite area, and now you know why I love it so much. In the spring, the mountain laurel is spectacular, transforming the whole mountain with white and pink blooms. There are pink lady’s slippers along the trail. In the fall and winter, the witch hazel is in bloom. (If this whole cache page sounds like a love story, that’s because it is!) Other caches in the area are BrianSnat’s Terrace Pond, and Terrace Pond South Caches, Coiler’s Terrace Pond Adventure Book Cache, and pheligan’s GC5.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Fgntr 2: haqre n ebpx ntnvafg gur orqebpx oruvaq gur obafnv gerr. Fgntr 3: haqre n chqqvatfgbar obhyqre/bireunat.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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