Gathering Moss Again Traditional Geocache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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This is an ammo can hidden between the canoe and backpack camps at Shades State Park. This can be accessed by a 2.5 mile hike one way or a 15 mile canoe trip (or maybe shorter). Terrain on the trail is mostly flat with some hills and stairs. Cache is hidden near the trail in compliance with the new DNR geocaching policy.
There was a cache here years ago, called Gathering Moss. Mr. and Mrs. Rushkateers found it in September of 2006 (when we were the ThreeRushkateers) while we were staying at the canoe camp on a 15 mile paddling trip. We loved the cache and canoe trip so much, we brought our little guy on the day trip a few weeks later and the cache was gone. We were disappointed to see it missing!
Then in the summer of 2008, we decided to do a family camping weekend at Shades and thought we'd see about placing a cache in the same spot, since the old one had been archived. After getting approval from the DNR, we packed an ammo can with goodies and headed out to camp. We hauled Mrs. Rushkateers' parents, sister, brother-in-law, niece, nephew and all Four Rushkateers out to place the cache. The hike isn't bad, but we had an interesting time taking a two-kid jogging stroller on the backpack trail (the stairs are a bit narrow for that... pictures attached LOL). We found a spot to put the cache and then headed back to camp. Hopefully this one will last a while.
Since this is in a state park, you will have to pay an entrance fee. Also, be careful, there are stinging nettles in the area directly by the cache (but not on the trail). We had a hard time getting good reception at the location, since there's quite a lot of tree cover. If you find the coords to be way off, let us know, but the hide shouldn't be difficult otherwise.
The cache was re-hidden on 10-29-12 to comply with the 25' rule. This cache will be temporarily disabled from Nov. 1 through the first week of April each year, since this area is closed during that time.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
ubyybj ybt