*RECOMMEND accessing this cache from the upper trail in the woods. Although originally placed to be accessed by the lower trail, PI has taken over the lower trail margins and now the upper trail is the best route. However invasive vinca has really spread here. :-( There is SOME PI mixed in which I've tried to take care of.*
NOTE 2016: Due to the devastating July 2016 inline storm, a lot of the terrain in this park has changed including where this cache is located. My exact cache location was spared but the most logical (upper trail) route to the cache is a little more...challenging. Have fun with it! Choosing a more angled route could get you there without too much trouble. Nature and fungi in time will change the landscape yet again. Cache on!
*Do NOT remove cache container from it's camo please!* The cache is placed so that you can remove the *entire camo/container combo* for better access.
***Always watch where you are stepping and exercise caution in a woodland setting as you can encounter spiders, snakes, bees, hidden holes, large rocks, etc.*** In other words, DO take your eyes off the GPSr!
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This is one of a series of caches placed in a little-known recreation area with a nature trail. This hunt will take you on an easy walk, about 10-15 minutes with a short bushwhack. I’d recommend a “web whacker” in the summer and some bug repellent. Nature abounds! Butterflies, flowers, fungi, mosses, frogs, lizards, deer, ground hogs, turkeys, coyotes, fox, goldfinches, blue birds, hawks, owls, PILIATED WOODPECKERS and more can be seen! Cache has swag and is large enough for small TBs/coins. Sign the log please so we know “HOOOOOO" was there!
STOP AND LISTEN...AND YOU MIGHT HEAR... what you think is a dog barking but if you listen carefully, you might be hearing the call of a barred owl! I usually hear/see them near the lower trail but you can hear them all over the area, sometimes singular calls and sometimes duetting with partners which is really cool.
The owl’s call is a low-pitched but loud "hoo-hoo-hoo hoo hoo" or "who cooks for you." Although owls have keen binocular vision, they cannot move their eyes, so an owl must swivel its neck a full 270 degrees in order to see in other directions. Owls also have sharp stereo hearing which helps detect prey and, with 500-pounds-per-inch of power in their talons, they make for fearless hunters. The birds hunt at night swooping from a high perch to grab prey which is predominantly other birds or small mammals. Owls choose a mate by December and then lay a clutch of two eggs. Young birds do not separate from the parents until the next year’s clutch is laid whereupon they become "floaters" until they establish their own territories where they will remain as permanent residents.