For Carrington Place, find the trailhead at N43 30.747 W80
12.377. Follow the trail which turns to the southwest, then south,
then south-west and finally bends sharply to west/northwest. About
40 paces before you are opposite the first townhouse on your left,
you’ll see a trail going downhill also on your left at 210
degrees. At the bottom is a trail heading southeast; you should be
at an obvious trail junction at N43 30.555 W80 12.545.
For the Terraview Cresc. entrance, park on the bottom end of
Terraview, where you’ll see the trail entrance opposite #60.
Walk straight SW on the gravel path, and follow it into the woods.
The trail curves to the south; follow it to N43 30.477 W80 12.819,
where you should see a less obvious trail heading east/southeast at
110 degrees. The trail is just after a short half-dead hemlock, and
a large maple tree, but just before a large beech tree with a
sprayed ‘X’ on its trunk. If you reach a bridge over a
small stream, you’ve gone 150 steps too far.
Follow the trail about 125 metres SE til it bends to the
northeast at about 50 degrees. After about 325 metres (450 paces?),
you’ll be at N43 30.555 W80 12.545, the junction mentioned
above from the Carrington Place entrance.
From here follow the trail southeast past the first large
stonepile. The trail wanders southsouthwest generally til you come
to a second large stonepile. There’s a little stream on your
left which floods, and could be a hazard for little kids. We are
also visited by stacked stone people regularly; say hello to them
if they’re there (but a little kid could be hurt if they
knocked one over on their toes!). I also see deer in the area
almost daily, and you can always see their fresh tracks –
usually a small herd of 3 or 4 – early morning or early dusk
is the best time.
From the lone pine in front of the stonepile, at N43 30.462 W80
12.533, walk 38 steps WNW; then head approximately 60 steps
southwest to find the cache at the third big stonepile. If
you’re adventurous you can crash through the brush to a
fourth stonepile further west/northwest.
I struggle to imagine in my own mind the work that went into
building these stonepiles, in the days before tractors, when this
was a working farm. All the stones you see would have been
hand-picked in the fields, then dragged by horses pulling a
stoneboat, to these piles, then unloaded by hand. My first geocache
is a tribute to these pioneer farmers for all their hard work! A
little bit of our cultural history.
There are other geocaches nearby on the trails you’ve
walked; search by map at geocaching.com to check them out.
Check the Hanlon Creek trail maps on my blog, Hanlon Creek Journal, Jan. 26, 2010
posting.