The Caribou Hunters Traditional Cache
valleyone: This one was totally muggled, after kids built a fort right beside it. It's been replaced by the new 'Caribou Hunters'.
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Difficulty:
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Size: 
(small)
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This cache celebrates the discovery of native campsites dating back to 7000 B.C. in the southern end of the Hanlon Creek area of Guelph, Ontario.
THIS CACHE WAS MUGGLED AND HAS BEEN RE-ESTABLISHED WITH NEW COORDINATES IN A TOTALLY NEW LOCATION. PLEASE USE NEW COORDINATES N43 29.990 W080 12.250 UNTIL I GET THEM OFFICIALLY CHANGED.
An exciting archeological discovery in this area was announced in 2008. Native encampments up to 9000 years old have been discovered near the southern end of the Hanlon Creek area, during excavations in the nearby subdivision and the business park. These rare finds are of hunting camps, then located in an arctic landscape after the glaciers had receeded, and the hunters were hunting caribou, at least for the first few thousand years. Later camps become more plentiful, and deer became the primary target for native spears. Spearpoints, scrapers and wedges have all been found. As the coming of early native agriculture began about 1000 years ago in southern Ontario, temporary hunting camps in the Hanlon Creek region disappeared. Perhaps the always-flowing nearby Hanlon Creek spring helps account for the nearby camps.
This cache is provided to celebrate this discovery. Cache is a small cammo'd lock-n-lock box, in the roots of a dead cedar.
The cache is best found from the entrance off Clairfields Dr. W. using the trail at the constructed wetland between Jean Anderson Cresc. and Keys Cresc. This trail goes west to the main Hanlon Creek spring; from here veer left and follow the trail in a curve behind the houses, into the dark forest. As you pass between the spring and the houses on your left, you can easily picture a native camp of 6000.B.C., just uphill from the spring. Note the old farmhouse now incorporated into the subdivision, also located right beside the spring.
Follow the trail curving to the right until your GPS shows the cache at about a right angle, then wander to the NE through the pine plantation to the corner of the more open deciduous forest. Approach the clump of dead cedars from the right (the swamp side), and don't tear them all apart to get the cache! It's about 10 minutes in and out.
[You can also get to the cache from the northern entrances to the Conservation Area, from the dog park, Kortright, or Terraview, but the walk will be much longer – about an hour and a quarter from the Terraview entrance.]
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Va gur ebbgf
Treasures
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