This is a run to celebrate my 1000 finds. A really big thanks goes out to Butterdish, my Father-in-Law who got me hookedon this great game. Not all caches will be alike so think. Below isa little bit about the area the locals know as Bone Valley.
About Bone Valley
Millions of years ago, river and streams flowing to the sea carried material washed from the land, including the remains of land animals and marine creatures inhabiting the coastal waters. Florida's phosphate rock reserves likely formed when dissolved phosphorous solidified and combined with sea life remains.
Geologists have dubbed the ancient fossil bed that now resides 20 to 40 feet below Central Florida as Bone Valley. It sits atop the Hawthorn Formation, a layer of clay and sandy limestone deposited long ago when the sea covered the state and the coastline curved around the modern-day Lake Wales Ridge as much as 60 miles inland. The Hawthorn Formation extends up the Atlantic Coast to North Carolina.
Bone Valley is a window to Florida's prehistoric past, when massive sharks and whales plied the waters, sharing the stage with land animals like the threetoed horse and giant sloth that are believed to have made the trek to North America from Asia across the Bering Strait land bridge when sea levels were lower.
Download a map which includes lands mined for phosphate since 1975, subject to mandatory reclamation. Reclamation of lands mined prior to 1975 (not included here) is voluntary. Although several companies are referenced in the legend, only three phosphate mining companies remain in Florida: Mosaic, CF Industries, and PCS Phosphates, located in northern Hamilton County. Only a few potential future mines are identified. In almost all cases, wherever a gypsum stack is noted, there is a fertilizer processing plant.
2/17/2011
All the Bone Valley Series Caches have had logs or the cache itself replaced. PLEASE DO NOT ADJUST THE LOCATION OF THE CACHE. I saw some serious cache migration today. Also, For those that need gas or a bathroom there is 1 and only 1 bathroom with sandwiches and odds and ends. This is located in Bradley Junction between Cache 19 and 20. There is absolutely nothing else along Rt 37. If you have an emergency, you can turn on RT 674 and head 7 miles to Fort Lonesome but keep in mind you have to head 7 miles back. I am going to add the waypoint to Bone Valley #1. Enjoy and happy Hunting.
