A little something special needed to be planned for our #100 cache hide. A customer that frequents the store on Sundays has told me a few stories. One was about the Platte Kill Clove and another was of an area that he frequently fishes. From a few chats with him I narrowed down the potential site. I tweaked this bit by bit and came up with a proposed coordinate that would help to guide me to this area. As luck would have it, I would not need this coordinate as my parents informed me that a hike had been planned to take hikers out to this area.
The area I speak of is on the West Branch of the Sacandaga River. When I first scoped this area out, it was in early Spring. At this time the DEC had placed boulders across the road and I made a not to myself: “Bring bikes!” It was a relief to learn that they had been removed and we could drive to the end of the road, another 2 miles down that seasonal, dirt, road. I later learned that they do this every year to help preserve the road and they remove the boulders in the late Spring. If you are doing this cache at any time other than after late Spring, you will want to bring either a bike or your skis, or you will have to hike an additional 2 miles (each way) to do this cache. Although it is not advised to do this cache when the river is high or at times when there is ice and snow, one could do it, but it would be very treacherous. When placing the cache, we did so after it had rained and some of the rocks were a bit slippery.
The roundtrip hike to the cache and back to the parking area at the end of the road is approximately six miles.
If you do not want any information about the trails that will lead you to the cache and would like to do this cache “Old School”, then do not decrypt the hint text. Those that would like a bit of help and a set of trail guidelines, go ahead and decrypt the hint portion of this cache page.
This trip would be a nice one that you could bring along a tent to pitch and spend the night. There are plenty of spots where past hikers have done this and it would be a very nice outing. Of course, I would be remiss not to say, “Bring a fishing pole!” as this is what first inspired the hide.
Also, here are some words of encouragement from my mother:
“If anybody whines or complains about where the cache is hidden, then let them know that your 62 year old mother helped you hide it!”
You have your marching orders. Go out and FIND THIS CACHE!!
Oh! And did I mention anything about $75.00 for the FTF?!?!
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