Cache container is an ammo box with Geocache sticker. Hidden very well- closeby to At&T tower, sorta not so it won't be discovered accidently by locals. Hidey-hole is in the mountainside slope concealed. Take care with your footing in the final area. It is steep so be cautious. I let my GPS average the coordinates for 5.5 minutes with strong signals from 4 satellites. Benchmark MZ1901 is nearby and can be logged also.
This cache was made with adults in mind due to elevation changes, hike length, and contents of cache. Children would have difficulty at the summit. Please no McToys. I put a variety of things in the cache for treasure-seekers to exchange. Faceted gemstones, computer programs and games on cdroms, music cds, foreign coins and other smaller items.
Ok, now the good stuff-
Starting contents:
brand new TravelBug "Bud"
small flashlight w/batteries
wham-O Super Ball
18-1 Utility Knife [swiss clone]
boxed Hematite mineral sample
cowrie shell
Excalibur $1 casio chip
whole razor clam shell
polished petrified wood
polished brecciated jasper
eyeglasses case
$1 winner scratch game
peace turtle sticker
fish stickers
wheatie penny
fishing pamphlet
CDROM SOFTWARE-
Multimedia Mania
World Atlas
Mig-29
Time Man of the Year
AUDIO CDS-
B-52's
Evening with Yes - 2 cd, 24k
Mystery Music Mix - 19 tracks
COIN COLLECTION -
29 different coins from various countries, too many to list all.. British, French, Italian, German, Luxumburg, other unknowns.
You can find the way up from several locations depending on how quickly you want to get to the tower and/or how tough you want it to be. The tower is on the Northwest side of the Pocumtuck ridge. I made my way up from 3 locations, there are likely more ways up. All were found by taking Rt 5 and then turning onto Pine Nook rd. Follow and go under the stone arch.
The first way which is 5 stars is to follow the signs to Upvall field. You have to take a left onto a dirt road that leads up to the field. Once at the field there is a great view of the communications tower and the red Pocumtuck Rock outcropping. Follow the wires up to the intersection at 42' 32.036 x 72' 35.763. Go up to the tower from there. Grade is very steep. Watch your footings.
Second way up which is 3 stars and is the shortest hiking route is to locate bottom of ski lifts at 42' 32.335 x 72' 35.714. Hike up ski run .25 mi to top of lifts at 42' 32.217 x 72' 35.462. There is a seat you can rest at with a view. From there follow dirt road up to tower.
Third way which is the easiest - 2 stars - but is a longer hike is to drive past EagleBrook school up windy road and find parking area at 42' 32.586 x 72' 35.298. Follow path to dirt road Ridge Rd. Road is marked with blue Pocumtuck Ridge Trail blazes. I would not try this road with a car, it is rocky and rutty but a 4x4 would make it to the top. WMECO may close the gate in the evening. Hike/drive Ridge Rd to the top of the ski lifts, then continue on to the towers. No poison ivy seen along the road. Biting black flies are present, however.
Bring bugspray along with plenty of water. I saw a large raptor soaring on the thermals while placing the cache. Overall this cache is a good challenge and is rewarding to those that give the effort to find it.
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Dogs Allowed
Bicycles OK
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Dangerous area - use caution
More than Half a Mile from Trailhead
Some Climbing
Steep Hike
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NATIVE AMERICAN LEGEND OF THE GIANT BEAVER
Often ancient oral legends have a factual basis. The tale of the giant beaver and the great lake is an interesting example of such fact and fable.
At the end of the last ice age, 15,000 - 12,000 years ago, a large lake covered the Connecticut River Valley (Lake Hitchcock). Also during the last ice age, a giant beaver species, Castoroides ohioensis, lived in the lakes and waterways at the glacier's margin. Based upon fossil evidence, this beaver was the size of a black bear (600 - 700 lbs). In contrast, the present-day North American beaver, Castor canadensis, occasionally attains a weight of 66 lbs. The giant beaver had enormous, convex incisor teeth, extending four inches (100 mm) beyond the gum line. Perhaps this giant rodent was the inspiration for the legends below.
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The following was written by Tammy Marie Rittenour
For inquiries contact Professor Julie Brigham-Grette, Department of Geosciences,University of Massachusetts Amherst
Native American Legend of a Giant Beaver and a Lake in the Connecticut River Valley
The first geological discussion of a large lake in the Connecticut River valley came from the personal journal of the President of Amherst College in 1822. In this volume President Timothy Dwight describes an Indian legend told to him by the elders of Northampton, MA. This legend tells of a time in the past when the river valley north of the Holyoke Range was occupied by a large lake.
The Pocumtuck Indian tribe from near Deerfield, MA, has a similar legend describing a large lake in the Connecticut River valley asociated with the myth of a giant beaver. In their legend a large beaver lived in this lake and occasionally came ashore to eat people. The Pocumtuck people didn't like this so they called on Hobomock, a spirit giant, to kill the Beaver. Hobomock chased the giant beaver into the lake and hit it on the back of the neck with a large stick. This killed the giant beaver causing it to sink to the bottom of the lake and turn to stone. According to the Pocumtuck legend, the giant beaver can still be seen today.
Its head is Mt. Sugar Loaf and its shoulders are North Sugar Loaf Mt. Its body stretches the length of the Pocumtuck Range to the north with its tail at Cheapside. The large divot between Mt. Sugar Loaf and North Sugar Loaf Mt is the location where Hobomock struck the giant beaver. Four historical accounts of this legend are reported below.
The Great Beaver (Field, 1870-1879)
"The Great Beaver, whose pond flowed over the whole basin of Mt. Tom, made havoc among the fish and when these failed he would come ashore and devour Indians. A pow-wow was held and Hobomock raised, who came to their relief. With a great stake in hand, he waded the river until he found the beaver, and so hotly chased him that he sought to escape by digging into the ground. Hobomock saw his plan and his whereabouts, and with his great stake jammed the beaver's head off. The earth over the beaver's head we call Sugarloaf, his body lies just to the north of it."
The Pocumtuck Range (Sheldon, 1983)
"The Pocumtuck range, according to Indian tradition, is only the petrified body of a huge beaver, which used to disport itself here in a pond of corresponding dimensions. This animal, by continuing depredations on the shores, had offended Hobomuck, who at length determined to kill it. Accordingly, armed with a trunk of an enormous oak, he waded into the water and attacked the monster. After a desperate contest, the beaver was dispatched by a blow across the neck with the ponderous cudgel. The carcass sank to the bottom of the pond and turned to stone. Should any skeptic doubt the truth of this tradition he is referred to the beaver itself. Wequamps (Mt Sugar Loaf) is the head, north of which the bent neck shows where fell the fatal stroke; North Sugar Loaf, the shoulders, rising to Pocumtuck Rock the back, whence it tapers off to the tail and Cheapside. All this is now as plainly to be seen by an observer from the West Mountain as it was the day this big beaver pond was drained off."
Wequamps (Abbott, 1907)
"Many, many suns in the past, here the wigwams of our tribe stood here, a great lake rippled wide and long across the land. In its waters a giant beaver sported, and ravaged all the countryside. Mighty Hobomuck, wroth, vowed that the wicked one should die. With an oak cudgel he struck across the beaver's neck – just there, O Netop, in the hollow between head and shoulders. The fearful creature sank gasping to the bed of the lake and his carcass turned to stone."
The Giant Beaver (Pressey, 1910)
"The great beaver preyed upon the fish of the Long River. And when other food became scarce, he took to eating men out of the river villages. Hobomuck, a benevolent spirit giant, at last was invoked to relieve the distressed people. Hobomock came and chased the great beaver far into the immense lake that then covered the meadows, flinging as ran great handfuls of dirt and rock at the beaver. Finally he threw a bunch of dirt so great upon the beaver's head that it sank him in the middle of the lake. Hobomock, arriving a few minutes later, dispatched the monster by a blow with his club on the back of the beaver's neck. And there he lies to this day. The upturned head covered with dirt is the sandstone cliff of Wequamps (Mt. Sugar Loaf), and the body is the northward range. The hollow between is where Hobomock's cudgel smote down his neck."