Have Cache, Will Travel (UBC Loop #8) Traditional Geocache

You are looking for a regular sized cache in the wooded and sometimes rocky hills overlooking Falls Lake.

This cache is located in a scenic corner of Falls Lake that is reasonably far from public access points and is located a short distance from a mini-lake formed behind an abandoned road crossing a small creek. The old road crossed a ravine, so the fill was fairly deep, resulting in a 20 foot elevation difference between the two lakes. After visiting the cache, take a look around the area at the end of the peninsula that the cache is on, there is a very steep and rocky shore to the NW where some enterprising hunter managed to string a cable from a tree on this peninsula to one on the other side of the thin strip of lake that divides the area.

This is a travel-game themed cache, and is stocked with various small games that are perfect for taking on a trip when you need to kill some time. Terrain rating is based upon coming from 2s + 2m = 4t + 1c (UBC Loop #7) (GC111R5), rating would be a 3 if coming from the nearby Six Forks Rd.

Note: Since this is State Gamelands, you'll want to wear appropriate blaze orange attire during hunting season, as there are definitely signs of hunter activity, such as deer feeding stations, permanent tree stands and camp sites. To complete all of the caches on this approximately 8 mile loop, which can take many hours to accomplish, you will need to cross numerous streams, steep ravines and marshy areas, and is therefore not recommended that you start an attempt to do the entire loop all at once late in the day, unless you like the adventure of bushwhacking by flashlight! Most of the creeks can easily be jumped across, but depending upon water levels at least two will require finding a safe log or ford to cross if you don't like wading.

Extra fun: This is the eighth and final cache in a series of 8 caches in a long loop around the Upper Barton Creek (UBC) basin of Falls Lake. Cachers that complete the entire series, taking notes when directed by instructions in caches along the way, will be rewarded at the end of the loop! Not all caches include a clue, most have one, and one includes two. Please DO NOT REMOVE the clue sheets from the caches or move them to a different cache in the series! The cache with two clues really is meant to have two, and the one without any really doesn't want to have a clue from another cache! Note that the reward can be found at either end of the loop, so you can either start with this cache and work your way clockwise around the lake, or with Nature's Garage (UBC Loop #1) (GC111QV) and work your way counter-clockwise around the lake. This final cache is in a much more picturesque and remote area than the cache at the other end of the loop, so the recommended loop direction is counter-clockwise starting with Nature's Garage (UBC Loop #1) (GC111QV). Congrats to Farb for completing the counter-clockwise loop and claiming the first FTL (First To Loop) "Cache is King" coin at UBC #8 on March 1, 2007 and to Luggage & Leather for completing the clockwise loop and claiming the second FTL coin at UBC #1 on March 23, 2007! Let me know if the supply of rewards gets low so that I can restock the cache for the next finder. If you leave a trackable item in the reward box instead of the main cache, please note that fact in your find log, as someone wishing to trade for that item will need to have the clues gathered along the loop to open the reward box.

The entire loop can be navigated while staying on the public watershed area, which is very clearly marked by orange banded trees on the boundary lines, and benchmarks or pipes at the corners. Primitive trails follow this boundary for portions of the loop, so the shortest way may not always be the fastest way between caches on this loop, as the lowlands near the lake can involve serious bushwhacking. Also, if you cut some corners you will be leaving public land and trespassing on private property, so please be careful and stay inside the public boundary line.

On the map below, the red line is the boundary of the public lands and often has a primitive trail following the line; areas in light green or light blue are flood-prone and may be hazardous to navigate after heavy rains due to standing water. Click on the image to display a larger version of the map in a new window, which also includes markers for the approximate location of the caches that make up the loop and the recommended parking spots. Map images are courtesy of Wake County iMaps, visit their site if you want to print detailed topo maps of the area with resolution down to a 2 foot contour line gradient.

Planning your adventure: It is unlikely that your GPSr has detailed enough information about where the lake edge is and where the atrociously steep ravines are hiding, so for most of the caches in the series it is strongly recommended that you follow the link to the enlarged map, print a copy, and take it with you! Also, don't forget that the red line often has a primitive trail following it, and the lowland areas in green can be a serious bushwhack.

Slicing up the loop: Since the entire loop can take a significant amount of time to complete in one attempt, it can easily be split up into three smaller sections with access via different roads.

• From Six Forks Rd: Nature's Garage (UBC Loop #1) (GC111QV) is easiest when coming from either the gravel turnout at N 35 58.530, W 078 39.400 or the large parking lot for the nearby Upper Barton Creek boat launch, entrance at N 35 58.650, W 078 39.420. Have Cache, Will Travel (UBC Loop #8) (GC111R6) is easiest when parking just down the road at the Wildlife Public Fishing access at N 35 58.234, W 078 39.202.
• From Peed-Dead End Rd: Grass is Greener (UBC Loop #2) (GC111QY), Bugged Out! (UBC Loop #3) (GC111R0) and Bar-B-Tree (UBC Loop #4) (GC111R1) are easiest when coming from the end of the road, park by the gate to the public lands at N 35 58.180, W 78 40.210.
• From Mt Vernon Church Rd: Over the River (UBC Loop #5) (GC111R2), What-er You Lookin' At? (UBC Loop #6) (GC111R4) and 2s + 2m = 4t + 1c (UBC Loop #7) (GC111R5) are easiest when coming from the turnout at N 35 57.610, W 78 40.715.