Cretaceous Period: in geologic time, the last of the three
periods of the Mesozoic Era. The Cretaceous began 145.5 million
years ago and ended 65.5 million years ago; it followed the
Jurassic Period and was succeeded by the Paleogene Period (or, in
some geologic time scales, the Tertiary Period). The Cretaceous is
the longest period of the Phanerozoic Eon. Spanning 80 million
years, it represents more time than has elapsed since the
extinction of the dinosaurs, which occurred at the end of the
period.
In general, the climate of the Cretaceous Period was much warmer
than at present, perhaps the warmest on a worldwide basis than at
any other time during the Phanerozoic Eon. The climate was also
more equable in that the temperature difference between the poles
and the Equator was about one-half that of the present. Floral
evidence suggests that tropical to subtropical conditions existed
as far as 45° N, and temperate conditions extended to the
poles.
Most if not all of the flowering plants (angiosperms) made their
first appearance during the Cretaceous. Although dinosaurs were the
dominant animals of the period, many modern animals, including the
placental mammals, made their debut during the
Cretaceous.[Quoted from
Britannica Online Encyclopedia]
Last year when I went looking for the cache Bushwhack, Bogs,
& Bogs (GCVAQC),
I hiked through this area and thought it was very interesting. In
talking to Rexrider98 (the owner of BB&B), he said that he had
called this area "Return to Cretaceous". The area is a dim pine
forest with lots of ferns, near a swamp. I thought that it would be
a good place for a cache, and with Rexrider98's blessing, I decided
to call it "Return to Cretaceous."
My suggested parking spot is on North Liberty St (see the waypoint
below). This parking spot is called P10 on the Bushwhack, Bogs, and
Bugs page. Alternatively, you could park at any of the other
Boxford State Forest parking places listed on the BB&B page,
but I think that P10 is the most direct route (though this stretch
of N. Liberty St. is unpaved and quite bumpy). If you do come from
one of the other parking places, please mention it in your
log.
Parking at P11, near the quarry off Sharpner's Pond Rd. is probably
the next best parking spot. Look for the small trail off the main
Woods Rd at N42°38.453 W071°1.177. (If you get to bridge, you went
too far.)
The hike from the P10 parking spot is approximately 0.80 mile on
trails, and then less than 0.1 mile of light bushwhack at the
end.
Muggles use this area, so please conceal the cache well after you
find it (it is a flat, 2"x6"x6", plastic Lock-n-Lock
container).
I really like deep woods caches, and my favorites are in tranquil
areas near water, with a nice "sitting rock" nearby. This is such a
cache.
There is a prize in the cache for First To Find, as well as some
trade items. I hope you enjoy my 2nd cache hide.
Congratulations to yukionna on First to Find! (And on the first day
listed, in the rain!)
The Lynch Three get to claim "FTF from P11". :-)
I put up a map of one of my tracks to the cache on
EveryTrail.com. In this case I parked at P10 and hiked to the cache
along the trails. On the way back, I took the trail part of the way
back, and then bushwhacked thru the woods to intersect with the
main trail back to P10. Enjoy!
Return to
Cretaceous on EveryTrail.com