Gaspereau Valley from the Stile EarthCache
HondaGirl2006: Respecting that this location is now in private hands it is best to archive. Thanks to all who visited over the years.
Gaspereau Valley from the Stile
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(not chosen)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
The Gaspereau Valley is located south of the town of Wolfville surrounding the Gaspereau River. The name "Gaspereau" is often used to refer to all of the communities thoughout the 15 km Gaspereau Valley. However the individual communities that populate this Valley are White Rock, Gaspereau, Melanson, and Wallbrook.
An interesting geographic feature in this area is the classic example of river capture shown by the Gaspereau River. The Gaspereau, with a lower base level, has cut back towards the Black River, which originally flowed directly northwards through Deep Hollow to join the Cornwallis River. The Gaspereau eventually captured the headwaters of the Black River, leaving an undersized stream to flow through the original valley and a wind gap at Deep Hollow just north of White Rock. See Slickenside Cache on Deep Hollow (GCVAZQ)
Gaspereau Valley is underlain by Halifax slate (Cambrian -Ordovician) interfolded with White Rock Group volcanics (mostly ash) and sandstone (Silurian); and Torbrook sandstones and siltstone (Early Devonian). The slates, sandstones, siltstones, and ash deposits are truncated to the south by contact with the South Mountain Granite. To the north they are overlain by soft Triassic deposits in the Annapolis Valley. They are therefore intermediate in hardness and form a dissected shoulder to the granite next to the low-lying valley floor. The Gaspereau River follows the fold axis and flows parallel to Annapolis Valley sandstones before emptying into the Minas Basin. In the Gaspereau Valley the reddish-brown shaly loams have produced Morristown soils. In addition to several Ablation like Kame Deposits rich in poorly graded clasts. A mining example is found on Grand Pre Rd to the East of Stiles Park The very steep slopes along the river valleys throughout the area have unstable soils with seepage spots.
In order to claim this Earth Cache please post a picture of you &/or your GPS at the Stile with the Valley in the background. Also email me the weather conditions in the Valley at the time you are there and how or what in the valley do you think contributed to what you consider the most prominent feature.
The name is derived from the Gaspereau fish (Also spelled Gaspereaux, where they run in New Brunswick), Alosa pseudoharengus, which migrates up the river every spring. When the Acadians came here around 1680, they named the fish and the area, Gaspereau. The fishing of Gaspereau has been important to human settlement of the Gaspereau Valley for hundreds of years. There is still a commercial fishery for Gaspereau in the river. The Gaspereau River supports abundant fish spawning runs of Gaspereau, and Striped Bass are known to also feed here. The Valley also provides Bald Eagle wintering habitat.
Gaspereau is also home to a canal (referred to as "The Canal" or "The White Rock Canal"). It is mostly used for swimming, but the canal is also the site for the yearly Duck Race in which rubber ducks are floated down the canal. People purchase tickets on a Duck and if their duck wins they get a $5000 gift certificate. The top 10 placing duck owners all receive prizes decreasing in value as you move down places.
The Gaspereau River is also known for its tubing, using an inner-tube and floating down the beautiful river during the hot summer months when residents or visitors of the valley are over heated and the river is high.
It is primarily an agricultural community, hosting dairy farms and apple orchards. In recent years a number of grape vineyards have been established and there is now a large winery in the village.
A good location to view the Valley is from the 15 acre Stile Park, located on ‘The Ridge’ above Wolfville was built and is maintained by the Rotary Club of Wolfville and overlooks the beautiful Gaspereau Valley and the South Mountain in the distance. A modern day Stile has replaced the wooden one from days gone by. Check out the Stiles Park Geocache (GCQX12) while in the area.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
Loading Treasures