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Ride to the Hide Traditional Cache

Hidden : 4/13/2009
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
3 out of 5

Size: Size:   regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:

Pull out the mountain bike, dust it off and head out to Smithfield for a bit of fun, because this is a cache where you can ride to find our hide.

The cache is hidden along a fun mountain bike trail, most of which can be handled with your K-Mart variety mountain bike, but inexperienced cyclists may have to walk sections of the trail. Some parts are smooth and fairly easy, but much of the track is criss-crossed with tree roots, there are ups and downs, a few creek crossings which may have water in the wet season and a few narrow bridges. Having said all this, the less adventurous can explore on foot also, but watch out for cyclists who may be descending the hill at speed and in either direction (despite the signs).

Park at the carpark at the uphill end of McGregor Road, just short of AJ Hackett (co-ordinates below). You will easily find the trailhead- follow the blue arrow in and head to the right (anticlockwise on the circuit- if you follow the whole circuit, you will reappear up the hill). There is an easier entrance to the trail just downhill of the carpark which immediately joins the main track, but the choice is yours. Follow the trail through the pine forest (if you're going uphill, you're going the wrong way!), along a meandering trail through lantana, down through a steep creek crossing, over a small bridge and along more trails. You'll get to a point with a post where a road crosses your trail (it takes us around 5 minutes on bike to this point). If you have a look at your GPS here, you will see the cache is not far off.

If you proceed straight ahead from the junction, continue along the mountain bike trail. Watch for a large post on the track which marks the next junction, park your bike off the track and start hunting. If you choose to follow the road at the junction, head right then continue around and left and look for a large intersection marked by a post with three blue arrows. Park your bike and start your hunt.

Once you have signed the log, there are a number of options available. You can continue along the mountain bike trail that you started on, completing the circuit. You will cross another creek and a very narrow bridge or two, and if you choose there is even a seesaw to ride over! The whole circuit take us less than 20 minutes, but took much longer at first.

If you walked, you might want to use up a few calories by exploring one of the roads up the hill before you head back.

Alternatively, continue along the low road (car tracks) around the edge of the rainforest. From this road there are a multitude of options to head into the rainforest (left), follow the 3 green arrows (right), or for a much longer (2-3 hours) ride, continue in a generally straight direction along this road until just before the road hits a properly formed road, then go bush up the hill. The trail winds around the hill and up again, and eventually hits a very steep sealed road. Go down the hill, rejoin civilization and follow the cycle path by the highway (unfortunately on the other side of the highway) back to where you started. Or for something more adventurous (you made it this far!), push your bike up to the top and continue till you find a trail back down, most of which reconnect to the small trail and end at the carpark.

There are many many tracks in the area, most of which seem to link together. They can be slippery and/ or very muddy in the wet. Puddles grow across the bush road from side to side in places, and the creeks run with water- sometimes it is necessary to get wet while crossing. Take care and have fun exploring.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Gur pnpur vf uvqqra haqre n snyyra, oheag-bhg gerr. Vg vf ba n fubeg genpx juvpu ehaf orgjrra gur fgrrc ebnq naq gur zbhagnva ovxr genvy

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)