6/5/21: Unfortunately the tree behind which the cache was hidden has fallen, and the original container (along with some really cool pieces of petrified wood) has gone missing. Perhaps the cache is buried deep below the fallen tree; at any rate, a new cache container has been placed behind the log. Please replace exactly as found, and conceal well as this is a very short distance off the trail. There is no more petrified wood here.
During the great quarantine clean of 2020, I discovered my rock collection, assembled over years of studying geology in college and just picking up cool rocks along the way. Having way more rocks than we knew what to do with, we thought it would be fun to share them with fellow geocachers in a new series along the Merrimack River: the rock collection! These 15 caches are hidden in a linear fashion along a portion of the Bay Circuit Trail which can be walked or biked, across AVIS's Deer Jump Reservation (and a couple other reservations as well). The containers vary in size, but each should be an easy find. Each one highlights a different really cool rock. Tradeables may not be left in these caches, though if you collect rocks yourself you can keep a rock from some (but not all) of these caches. Coordinates for a possible trailhead are provided, though there are many places you could begin your hike.
Petrefied Wood
These pieces of petrefied wood were found during a geology field trip to Yellowstone National Park. Though taking rocks (or taking anything) from a national park is illegal, these rocks were found just outside the park in a streambed where they had been carried downstream from their place of formation. In this instance, petrified wood was formed when volcanic ash and debris instantaneously buried logs and branches underground during an eruption event, perfectly preserving the shape of the wood. Over the years that followed the organic material slowly decayed and was replaced by silica and other minerals disolved in groundwater, forming a perfect cast of the wood. It is difficult to discern in the photo, but if you find the cache you can see the wood grain preserved in the rocks. Unless you are FTF, please do not take any rocks from this cache as we want future finders to be able to appreciate the petrified wood too!
