Geocaching

North Jersey Checkpoint Challenge
Checkpoint Huascaran



Welcome to Worthington State Park in Columbia, NJ. This cache will fulfill the “Huascaran” requirement for the North Jersey Checkpoint Challenge.

Mount Tammany is the southernmost peak of the Kittatinny Mountains in Warren County, New Jersey. It is 1,526 feet (465 m) tall, and forms the east side of the Delaware Water Gap. The mountain is named after the Lenni Lenape chief Tamanend and is located in Worthington State Forest. The summit can be hiked by the Mount Tammany Trail ascending the western slopes. This trail head is accessible from Interstate 80.

Parking is available at N 40 58.322 W 075 07.540. Trailhead meets this parking area near the road. Follow the red dot trail (AKA Mount Tammany trail) to the blue trail. Once reaching the blue trail, vertical ascent is basically finished. Cache is hidden in a clear, medium sized otter box; larger than a soda can, smaller than a coffee can. Light 80' bushwack from blue trail to cache.

Substantially higher than Mount Tammany, Huascarán is the highest mountain in Peru, and the fifth highest in South America. The continent's four higher mountains are all located further south along the Chile-Argentina crest, so Huascarán towers dominantly among its peers. Its two extinct volcanic summits (the lower north peak is 21,830 ft.) are separated by a huge deep saddle, upon which a hut now sits. The mountain is both high and massive, its huge flanks covered in steep, broken glaciers. In 1962 a hanging glacier broke from the mountain's northern flank, killing 6,000 people in the village of Ranrahirca. In 1970, a similar fate fell upon the villages of Yungay, Huaraz, and Aija, which were wiped out by earthquake-triggered avalanches from the mountain. Fifteen members of a Czech expedition were climbing Huascarán at the time, and were among the thousands dead. Many climbers have also been killed by icefall in the area between the two peaks. Technically, Huascarán is actually one of the easiest climbs in the Cordillera Blanca, though its ever-present hazards -- icefall, avalanche, and crevasse -- must not be overlooked. Huascarán's lower north summit was first climbed in 1908 by Annie Peck, making it one of the few major peaks in the world to be first ascended by a woman. The higher south peak remained unclimbed for 24 years after Peck's south peak ascent. Both peaks are climbed via the saddle that separates them, and the panorama from the top is unequalled. The lower north peak is less crowded, and is a slightly more difficult climb.

Official NJCC Information

The Northern New Jersey Cachers (NNJC) are sponsoring the North Jersey Checkpoint Challenge series. This challenge is intended to take geocachers on a tour of Northern New Jersey (loosely defined as north of I-78) while finding caches placed by members of the NNJC. On the tour, we hope you will find North Jersey an interesting and beautiful part of our great state.

Scattered around the area are 26 checkpoint caches and a final challenge cache - North Jersey Checkpoint Challenge (GC1NNJC). The names of the individual checkpoint caches are based on a phonetic alphabet using mountain names since North Jersey is the mountainous region of the state. The 26 checkpoints do not have to be completed in any particular order. See the NJCheckpoint bookmark for the complete list of caches.

Hidden within the 26 checkpoint caches are numbers to be used in determining the coordinates of the final North Jersey Checkpoint Challenge cache – please be sure to note them while you are there.

While there are no special logging requirements for the 26 checkpoint caches, there are special logging requirements for the final challenge cache. Complete information can be found on the North Jersey Checkpoint Challenge (GC1NNJC) cache page.

This cache is certified North Jersey