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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
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August 6: NOTE - The road has been completely torn up, so YOU WILL NEED THE TRAILHEAD COORDS to find your way to this cache. Otherwise, you'll never spot it. Parking might be easier, though, as the road seems wider.
There is a short (10-20 metre) bushwhack at the end. Sorry!
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Excerpted from Halifax Daily News, 24 November 1997
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On 24 November 1997, Herring Cove residents marked the 200th anniversary of a 13-year-old boy's bravery. About 80 people gathered at the headland overlooking the mouth of Halifax Harbour, with the wind whipping at their backs and the fog horn sounding, to hear the story of Joe Cracker. The local orphan braved high seas to rescue sailors from the wreck of the frigate HMS La Tribune on November 23, 1797, when nobody else was willing to chance the waves. "He jumped into a skiff, and at the risk of his own life, rowed out to Tribune and managed to bring in two of the 12 survivors that were hanging in the rigging," David Flemming, president of the Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society, told the crowd. "His efforts either shamed or encouraged those who were also on the shore. They put out in larger boats, and, over the next little while, managed to rescue all that were left on the vessel."
The day before Cracker's heroic effort, La Tribune — under the command of Capt. Scory Barker — went aground at low tide on Big Thrumcap shoal off the southeast end of McNabs Island about one o'clock in the afternoon, after Barker decided not to take on a local pilot. Barker had La Tribune's 44 cannon tossed overboard so she would float free with the rising tide. "Unfortunately, he threw them over on the lee side of the vessel, and as the wind came up to gale force, the ship was battered against the guns," said Flemming. She floated free by 9 pm, but by then, there was a hole in La Tribune, and her rudder was useless. An hour later, she was aground again just off Herring Cove. She went down to the bottom fast in 20 metres of frigid water. "More than half of her complement of nearly 250 were lost immediately," said Flemming. "And the other 100 clung to life in the rigging of the foremast and the mainmast." Throughout the night, Herring Cove residents built fires on the nearby shore and called to the stranded men. But the seas were too high to mount a rescue. "By the morning, only about a dozen survivors were left on the ship."
For his rescue efforts, Cracker was offered a midshipman's position in the Royal Navy. "He served on the quarter-deck for some time, but it turned out that he wasn't really cut out to be an officer in His Majesty's navy," said Flemming. "He came back to the cove, fished for a while, and then disappears from history."
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A plaque was also placed to honour the "fisher boy"'s bravery. The path to this cache will take you past the Tribune Head Light, and the plaque. The short, but rugged, uphill hike also offers beautiful ocean views.
The trailhead is at N44 34.037 W63 33.469. The property owners on Tribune Lane have posted "Private Drive" signs, and although I believe this to be untrue, please DO NOT approache the cache from this direction. Parking is not possible on this twisty road, but is available at the nearby church building (N44 34.092 W63 33.559).
A hiking pole is highly recommended. In winter, the beginning of the trail can be icy, so yaktraks or something similar would come in very handy.
Cache is an ammo can.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Haqre n snyyra gerr naq rireterra obhtuf.