This area has a little mystery. The old railroad bed was built for two trains and is elevated above the Baraboo River floodplain. Every year the river rises out of its banks, flattens the grasses, and floats the picnic tables; but the trail stays dry. The grass in the trees is the last high-water mark.
The Baraboo River seems to parallel the bike trail in this area. Usually rivers and streams develop meandering courses as they erode opposite banks during high and low water levels. Look at the map below. Why is this section of the river channel so straight?
If you look off the south side of the trail, near the rock, you can see the south end of an oxbow lake near the cache. On the river side of the trail, if you look closely, you can also see a dry river channel that is now empty. Near the oxbow lake’s north end are several isolated ponds and other dry channel-like features. These do not appear natural. What happened here?
Imagine that it is 1870, and you are the railroad construction engineer for the Chicago and Northwestern Transportation Company. You have been excavating material from the sides of the track bed to raise it above the flood plain; but now the Baraboo River crosses the alignment three or four times in front of you. Bridges are expensive and you may need several large ones to build the track through this area, unless… After some thought you realize that you can solve two problems at the same time.
Did it happen that way? Who knows; but some say that on warm, quiet days, when wind is blowing just right, you can still hear the sounds of men and horses working in the sun.
And of course, now like then, there are many many mosquitos. Be sure and bring your the DEET with your lunch when you visit.
The cache is in an almost waterproof ammo box chained to higher ground to keep it from floating away during high water. (The stump hole is deep, dangerous, and gets filled with water.) So be careful and check the weather before you go.