ITHACA'S 'LOST GORGE' - LICK BROOK Traditional Cache
ITHACA'S 'LOST GORGE' - LICK BROOK
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(regular)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
This cache will take you to Lick Brook - one of Ithaca's most beautiful and least well-known wooded gorges.
The north side of the gorge is a Finger Lakes Land Trust Preserve (128 acres) and the south side is Cornell Plantations land – the Howard Edward Babcock Preserve (27 acres) contiguous with state land. The cache is on the Cornell side since no caches are allowed on FLLT land, but if you access from the southern meadow and stop at the cache you will have missed the entire point of the cache which is to walk along the rim trail to reach the 140 foot waterfall of the upper falls. Lick Brook has 3 major waterfalls and about a dozen smaller ones.
Lick Brook provides excellent examples of the area's geologic history. During an interglacial period, a small stream began to cut through the shale, carving out a small streambed that over thousands of years became a gorge. During the last ice age, glaciers scoured the land, sculpting the beautiful topography of the Finger Lakes Region. As the tongue of ice retreated, it filled the gorge with glacial debris. A new stream, recently thawed by the rise in temperature, began to carve a new path through the layers of shale. This stream eventually met the older gorge and easily eroded the loose dirt and rock. The shallow upper gorge and the wide, deep lower gorge are the result of these different periods of erosion. The 140-foot waterfall links the two ages, connecting the pasts.
The cache is a large 'Lock 'n Lock' container in a traditional hide spot just steps off the clearly-marked Cornell Plantations side-trail that leads up the hill from the Babcock memorial stone (N 42.23.989 W076 32.394), where the main Finger Lakes trail crosses Lick Brook. Because this is a natural area known for its vegetation, please avoid bushwacking and use this trail to access the cache.
To reflect Ithaca’s ‘gorges’ past, it is starting with a fossil and dinosaur theme but all trades are welcome. Original contents are fossilized Pleistoceine camel and horse teeth (just one per cacher please), dino mylar balloon in package, paleo cube game, dino magnet, trilobite beanie, pterodayctl, and assorted lizard and dino toys.
MEADOW ACCESS: From Ithaca, take Route 13 south. Bear left when the highway divides after Treman State Park and follow Routes 96 and 34 south. Immediately after the overpass, turn left to reach the northbound lane of Routes 96 and 34. At the stop sign, turn left. Stay in the right lane and go about 0.1 mile, watching carefully for a dirt road on the right, which leads to the parking area at N42 23.902 W076 32.739. The yellow signs and white blazes of the Finger Lakes Trail will take you east along the forest edge to the pipeline (a cleared swath) and the Babcock Preserve. On this entry route there is a stream crossing (still running briskly in late June) or you can cross on the railroad bridge (still active, please check carefully for trains).
RIM ACCESS: From Ithaca, take Rt. 13 south. Turn left on Sandbank Rd., just past Buttermilk Falls State Park. In 1.6 miles, the road forks - bear right on Town Line Road; park on right side of road just before the creek. The Finger Lakes trail, on the right, is clearly marked and runs along Lick Brook, crossing the brook at the bottom of the hill where you enter the Babcock Preserve (and the cache location).
Whichever side you come from, the walk is just over a mile roundtrip to the cache and back. The terrain difficulty rating of 4 is for the rim access with its 500-ft elevation change (rating was increased from 3.5 to 4 on August 14, 2007 due to feedback). The trail runs along a gorge and is steep but you will be on a legitimate trail the entire time. The cache can also be accessed from the meadow access which is more family friendly and would carry a terrain difficulty more along the lines of a 2.
CONGRATS to Vanelle on the FTF for this cache!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ynetr gerr pebgpu.
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
Loading Treasures