Old National Pike - Mile Marker 93 Mystery Cache

This cache has been archived.

lpyankeefan: Well! The time has finally come to lay some caches to rest! [:O] Archiving this one as of today so that it no longer shows up on anyone's Pocket Query.

Please note that even though this cache is now archived the container will remain in place until I post an "Owner Maintenance" log stating that the cache has been retrieved. If you still choose to hunt for this one note that it will be at your discretion and the possibility that the cache has been retrieved now does exist to a greater degree.

If you'd also like to place a cache here the real estate is now yours! Nudge nudge, wink wink.........know what I mean?!?! [:D][:P] Many thanks to those who took the time to seek and find this one. As of this note this cache is now deceased! [:O]

Happy Caching!

LPYankeeFan [8D]

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Hidden : 10/20/2007
Difficulty:
2.5 out of 5
Terrain:
3 out of 5

Size: Size: regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:

Part of the Old National Pike - Mile Marker Series.

The National Road, today called U.S. Route 40, was the first highway built entirely with federal funds. The road was authorized by Congress in 1806 during the Jefferson Administration. Construction began in Cumberland, Maryland in 1811. The route closely paralleled the military road opened by George Washington and General Braddock in 1754-55.

During the heyday of the National Road, traffic was heavy throughout the day and into the early evening. Almost every kind of vehicle could be seen on the road. The two most common vehicles were the stagecoach and the Conestoga wagon. Stagecoach travel was designed with speed in mind. Stages would average 60 to 70 miles in one day.

The Conestoga wagon was the "tractor-trailer" of the 19th Century. Conestogas were designed to carry heavy freight both east and west over the Allegheny Mountains. These wagons were brightly painted with red running gears, Prussian blue bodies and white canvas coverings. A Conestoga wagon, pulled by a team of six draft horses, averaged 15 miles a day.

By the early 1850's technology was changing the way people traveled. The steam locomotive was being perfected and soon railroads would cross the Allegheny Mountains. The people of Southwestern Pennsylvania fought strongly to keep the railroad out of the area, knowing the impact it would have on the National Road. In 1852, the Pennsylvania Railroad was completed to Pittsburgh and shortly after, the B & O Railroad reached Wheeling. This spelled doom for the National Road. As the traffic quickly declined, many taverns went out of business.

An article in Harper's Magazine in November 1879 declared, "The national turnpike that led over the Alleghenies from the East to the West is a glory departed...Octogenarians who participated in the traffic will tell an enquirer that never before were there such landlords, such taverns, such dinners, such whiskey...or such an endless calvacades of coaches and wagons." A poet lamented "We hear no more the clanging hoof and the stagecoach rattling by, for the steam king rules the traveled world, and the Old Pike is left to die."

Just as technology caused the National Road to decline, it also led to its revival with the invention of the automobile in the early 20th century. As "motor touring" became a popular pastime the need for improved roads began to grow. Many early wagon and coach roads such as the National Road were revived into smoothly paved automobile roads. The Federal Highway Act of 1921 established a program of federal aid to encourage the states to build "an adequate and connected system of highways, interstate in character." By the mid 1920's the grid system of numbering highways was in place, thus creating US Route 40 out of the ashes of the National Road.

Due to the increased automobile traffic on US Route 40 a whole new network of businesses grew to aid the 20th century traveler. The stage taverns and wagon stands were replaced by hotels, motels, restaurants and diners. The service station replaced the livery stables and blacksmith shops. Some of the National Road era buildings regained new life as restaurants, tourist homes, antique shops and museums. Route 40 served as a major east-west artery until the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 created the interstate system as we know it today. With the opening of the interstates much traffic was diverted away.

Placed along the road in Washington County are stone markers, each with an inscription denoting how many miles to Baltimore, Maryland. Quite a few of these markers still stand as stone sentinels to a bygone era. A few are illegible with newer cement markers buried in the ground next to the old worn markers. Some have been destroyed by automoblile accidents and have been replaced by cement markers where the old one's once stood.

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Located at the above coordinates is the original Mile Marker 93. PLEASE NOTE that this mile marker is located in the median strip of Interstate 70 and the coordinates are only used as a reference point. NO stopping or searching on the Interstate are necessary. The cache IS NOT THERE!

You've found the marker, but what about the cache? To find that you'll have to solve the following puzzle. Not a hard one by any means.

To get the final coordinates for the cache SUBTRACT .019 to the final three digits of the N latitude and ADD .122 to the final three digits of the W longitude. Be careful and remember to follow directions carefully.

The cache container you seek is regular sized tupperware container with a stash note and logbook inside, as well as some swag to start out. Trades are actively encouraged, as well as use of the container as a waypoint for travel bugs and geocoins. This one is kid friendly and safe provided that they don't mind a few briars and brambles.

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FTF honors go to MD8baller !!! Congratulations Terry!!!

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Onfr bs qrnq gerr pbirerq ol ivarf.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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