FASNACHT Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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This small to medium cache is located in the quaint Swiss/German village of Helvetia. The cache is easily accessible and requires no walking or climbing in rough terrain.
Hevetia was settled in the fall of 1869 by a group of Swiss and German Americans living in Brooklyn, New York who were searching for a place where they could preserve their cultures. Traveling by horseback, wagon, and foot they found themselves in a remote mountainous region at the headwaters of the Buckhannon River. The area reminded them of Switzerland and they decided to settle there. Traditions of holidays, dance, music, and food have survived for generations due to the isolation of the area, and to this day one can turn back the clock and join the locals for festive celebrations such as Fasnacht. Fasnacht, the namesake of this cache, takes place the last Saturday before lent and is highlighted by the effigy burning of “Old Man Winter”. Thanks go to local resident Eleanor Mailloux, who was featured on a segment of the Travel Channel’s Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, for providing our cache container.
The cache is a plastic Coffee-Mate container (thanks again, Eleanor). Original contents are a couple of geocoins and a few small items found in the floor of troutfisher78’s vehicle. Be discreet. At times there could be many muggles around. If you are the First-To-Find, send me an email (go to my profile and click on the contact) with your mailing address and I’ll send you a very nice unactivated geocoin (thanks ScienceCacher for the coin).
Traveling to Helvetia can be tricky if you depend only on your car GPS. The locals tell horror stories of people who traveled miles and miles of dirt roads to get there. One story tells of a person who wound up in a mud bog, using only their on-board navigation, and had to be pulled out with a tractor. You never have to leave blacktop roads (unless you’re coming the back way from Holly River State Park. I would suggest having your route mapped out beforehand and you won’t have any problems.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
N Pnvea Greevre jbhyq or irel urycshy va svaqvat guvf uvqr.