Leatherman's Circuit - Rattlesnake Ledges Multi-Cache
Leatherman's Circuit - Rattlesnake Ledges
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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This journey is part of a cache series commemorating the travels of Leatherman in the late 1800s. This cache is located in Cockaponset State Forest in Chester, CT.
Leatherman once roamed SW Connecticut and SE New York from 1858 to 1889. He traveled a 365-mile loop between the Connecticut and Hudson rivers. Approximately every month he would repeat his journey. The man spoke primarily with grunts or gestures and dressed in crudely stitched leather from his hat to his shoes. The suit was made of soft-tanned calfskin leather and weighed about sixty pounds. He would sleep outside year-round mostly in caves around Connecticut and New York. More information on Leatherman can be found at: (visit link)
The book "History Repeated" by Bertram Smith identifies this cave as a Leatherman shelter site. A beautiful brook runs just below the rock overhang. From "History Repeated":
'"Now this was steep climbing as the actual cave is located about 30 feet up, and we pushed through the brush, leaves, and rubble which had fallen from the ledges. It's quite large, probably one of the larger ones. It is easily 12 feet across, 6 feet high, and 6 or 7 feet deep. There is a thick overhang which affords additional protection. By the time the Leatherman had cut and propped Hemlock branches across the opening, he had himself a big cozy shelter. As usual he had picked a good spot since a brook ran below the entrance."
"History Repeated" has a beautiful topo map with an "X" marks the spot for the cave. A slight problem with that map is the fact that that the “X” is over a half mile from the actual cave location. Fortunately, we were terrible expedition planners and did not even have the map the day of our search. We did have the narrative description in "History Repeated" and that turned out to be much more accurate. Our perseverance paid off and now it is your turn to rediscover this cave.
There are two approaches to the cache. A Northerly approach that involves following numerous trails/paths that generally run in a North-South direction or the Bushwhacker’s Delight that comes in from West to East. We have taken both routes and after secret balloting, I can announce that a somewhat pleasant walk in the woods from the North won out over the up and down mountain laurel scramble. (Add another star for terrain if coming in from the West)
Getting There: From Route 9, get off Exit 7. Take the connector that runs into Route 154 to the Bushwhacker’s Delight Pull-off. Find a mountain biker’s trail you can follow for a little while, then you are on your own. (Coordinates provided below) OR continue down the connector, take a right onto Route 154 South, take your first right, take another right and go under the connector’s underpass and park. (Coordinates also provided below). Go to the culvert, cross and head into the woods and go South. If you are fortunate, you will run into one or more of the numerous trails that run North-South.
The cache coordinates will bring you (hopefully) to the cave. There are 6 "micros" hidden in and around the cave site.
WATCH OUT FOR SNAKES! This area is named Rattlesnake Ledges for a reason. There is a snake bite kit in the cache and we would greatly appreciate it being left there until such time as it may be urgently needed.
FTF gets their choice of an unactivated black nickel Compass Rose Geocoin OR a Skullduggery geocoin. STF gets the remaining coin. (TTF will have to settle for rummaging though the remaining odds and ends.)
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
cneg 1: fznyy syng ebpxf.
cneg 2: yrqtr
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
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