Alissa's Secret Traditional Geocache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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Moderate to arduous hike (depending on starting point) along little-used trails to a hidden, deep-woods location on the north side of the Holyoke range. Not far from humanity, but seems worlds away.
The Holyoke Range State Park (and adjacent natural area) is a classic New England woodlands along one of the very few east-west running mountain ranges in the world. Within the park is an extensive network of trails suitable for hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding and cross-country skiing--a wonderful, four-season playground for the outdoor enthusiast. The area includes marshlands, meadows, mixed hardwood and pine forests, heavily wooded hills, a long roller-coaster ridge trail and several mountain peak outlooks.
Alissa's Secret cache is hidden in a little-used area of the park close to the Holyoke Notch but on the north side of the range along Bare Mountain and the Seven Sisters. Mountain bikers love this area, and some trails were specifically made for biking by a local sportsman legend, Earl. But in spite of its natural beauty and relatively low trail traffic, few hikers venture into this area of the park preferring, instead, the trails along the top of the ridge and the larger area south of the range. This geocache entices you to venture into an area of the park you may never have thought to explore.
From Reservoir Road, a larger trail, part of an old overgrown network of logging roads, leads steadily upwards and branches right onto a smaller trail going deeper into the woods. Near the cache, you'll have to do a bit of bushwhacking up a hillside to an intimate location that feels a world away from where you started.
From Chmura Road, you are facing a very tough hike straight up a steep hillside to a nameless peak. Over the top, trails meander to the area of the cache but some bushwhacking in fairly open forest is still needed.
Granddaughter Alissa, age 7, hid this one really well.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ybbx sbe pebja bs ovepurf.