This cache is located near the east end of Letchworth State Park, but NOT at the above coordinates. To determine the location of the hide you must investigate the numbers at the bottom of the page.
I thought I would start my summer here with a nice, easy regular sized cache full of goodies and hitchikers.
There are many great caches in Letchworth State Park. This cache is not one of them. Many of those caches give part of the history of the area. I thought since you will be taking a sort of tour of this beautiful park, I would add a small tirade of history for those of you not familiar.
Letchworth Sate Park is a New York state park located 35 miles southwest of Rochester and 60 miles southeast of Buffalo in Livingston and Wyoming counties. The park is roughly 17 miles long, covering 14,350 acres of land along the Genesee River. Within the park there are three large waterfalls on the river and perhaps as many as fifty waterfalls found on tributaries that flow into it; the gorge formed by the river, with rock walls rising up to 550 feet in places and which narrow to 400 feet across above the middle of the three falls, prompted the area's reputation as the "Grand Canyon of the East".
The park is named after William Pryor Letchworth, who bequeathed the 1,000-acre estate that forms the heart of the park to New York State in 1906. There are entrances to the park near Mount Morris, Perry, Castile and Portageville. A modern and well-maintained two-or three-lane road follows the west side of the gorge, allowing many scenic viewpoints for the geologic features.
The three major waterfalls --- called the Upper, Middle, and Lower Falls --- are located in Portage Canyon, the southern section of the park. The Seneca called the land around this canyon "Seh-ga-hun-da", the "Vale of the three falls"; the Middle Falls ('Ska-ga-dee") was believed to be so wondrous it made the sun stop at midday.
The only trail bridging the Genesee River across the Portage Canyon crosses a stone bridge just below the Lower Falls. The Middle Falls is the highest, and the Upper Falls has an active railroad trestle crossing immediately above it, providing an even higher vantage immediately above the falls.
The highest waterfall in New York State is located in the park. It is a spectacular ribbon waterfall that is located on a tributary creek a short distance east of the Inspiration Point Overlook, 0.4 mile west of the park visitor center. Known as Inspiration Falls, it has a total drop of 350 feet. While impressive in its height, it is seasonal and often appears as only a water stain on the cliff. The falls faces to the south-southwest and has a crest that is only one foot wide. Taughannock Falls is generally recognized as the highest waterfall in the state as well as in the northeast.
The bedrock that is exposed in the gorge is Devonian in age, mostly shales, with some layers of limestone and sandstone. The rock was laid down in an ancient inland sea, and many marine fossils can be found. The landform of the section of the Genesee River valley represented by the part is geologically very young, caused by a diversion of the river from the old valley by the last continental glacier, forcing the river to cut a new section of valley.
William Letchworth first purchased the land near the Portage Falls in 1859 and began work on the Glen Iris Inn. He enlisted the services of the famous lanscape artist William Webster to design winding paths and roadways, rustic bridges, glistening "lakes" and a sparkling fountain.
In 1906 he offered the Glen Iris and his 1,000 acres to the State of New York as a public park. Letchworth State Park was born in 1907. Letchworth made the arrangement to deter commercial business from damaging the fragile nature of the gorge and the surrounding woodlands.
Letchworth, having earned "life-residence" at the Glen Iris, died there on December 1 1910. He was buried in nearby Buffalo, NY at Forest Lawn Cemetery.
Flood of 1972: One of the greatest natural disasters in Genesee valley History took place in June 1972. Hurricane Agnes came ashore on the panhandle of Florida on June 19, and moved north through Georgia and the Carolinas. She went back out to sea, recharged her energy and hit Southeastern New York State on June 22.
Although Agness was only a category 1 hurricane, she soon stalled over north-central Pennsylvania. Caught up in a slow moving low pressure system, the storm drifted slowly northeastward into New York State. The area, having already been soaked by showers the week before, could not absorb the six to twelve inch rainfall that fell over Pennsylvania and New York. Known locally as "The Flood of '72", the event would have a tremendous impact on Western New York and Letchworth Park.
Although the Genesee River and Letchworth Park was not hit as hard as the Susquehanna Valley and other areas, the impact of the Flood would be felt in the Park for many years. The Lower Falls Bridge and trail to Sugar Loaf did not officially reopen for several years. To this day visitors can still see some of the natural "scars" left by the flood waters nearly forty years ago.
The Old Portage Bridge Fire: The Erie Railroad Company built a wooden trestle brige over the Genessee River just above the Upper Falls, Construction started on JUuly 1, 1852 and opened August 16, 1852. At the time, it was the longest and tallest wooden bridge in the world.
In the early morning hours of Wednesday, May 5, 1875 the great wooden railroad bridge was destroyed in a tremendous fire. The bridge was a total loss, leaving only the concrete bridge abutments.
The Current Portage Bridge: Immediately after the fire, officials of the Erie Railroad Company moved quickly to replace the wooden Portage Bridge with an iron and steel design. Construction began June 8, 1875 and opened for traffic July 31, 1875. The bridge is 820 feet long and 240 feet high. It is still in use today.
Popular local rumor contends that this bridge was used for the famous scene in the movie Stand By Me. Although the bridge looks similar, the bridge used in the movie is actually the Lake Britton Bridge in McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park which is near Redding, CA.
Mt. Morris Dam: Found at the North end of the park, the construction of the Mount Morris Dam was begun in 1948 by the US Army Corps of Engineers under the Flood Control Act of 1944. The dam was completed in 1954. The Genesee River became wider and deeper upstream for a way as a result, but areas downstream were spared yearly flooding which destroyed valuable farmland. The Mt. Morris Dam is the largest flood control device of its kind (concrete gravity) East of the Mississippi. It is 1,028 feet in length and 230 feet from the riverbed. The dam proved its worth during the Flood of 1972, saving thousands of acres of farmland from flooding.
THE PUZZLE:
Alert! Updates have rendered the original puzzle usless. I have found a way that I don't believe updates can affect. Good luck!
Find these numbers: N42 4A BCD W77 5E FGH
A. N42 44 25.82 W77 53 25.98 - In "street view" looking Southwest, use the 3rd number on the green sign at the park gate.
B. N42 44 06.64 W77 54 27.61 - In "street view" looking South, how many chairs do you see at the Mt. Morris Dam Observation Area? (-1)
C. N42 35 57.00 W78 01 47.14 - In "street view" looking East, the first number on the green plaque.
D. N42 38 24.49 W77 58 59.85 - In "street view" looking East, how many letters "O" do you see in the name of this beautiful area?
E. N42 35 23.67 W78 00 44.41 - In "street view" looking West, count the letters on the sign in this fun place and divide that number by 13.
F. N42 43 39.70 W77 55 19.57 - In "street view" looking West, how many "H"s do you see in the building name at Highbanks Recreation Area?
G. N42 35 05.04 W78 02 32.21 - In "street view" looking East, the first number on the green hanging plaque.
H. N42 35 03.20 W78 02 33.56 - In "street view" looking North, how many brick chimneys do you see? (+1)
Thanks to Wikipedia for a plethora of information about the park.
THE CACHE: Is a well stocked large lock-n-lock container. There is a "Lucky" deuce for the FTF, a ready-to-go cache container w/log, 1st aid kit, carabiners, lots of kid stuff, 2 TBs and 3 geocoins. In summer months you should be able to drive within a couple hundred feet. In winter, depending on where you choose to park, you will have from a .1 to a .5 mile hike. The short hike is steep terrain. The longer is a fairly level and easy hike. I'm sorry, but there will be NO NIGHT CACHING on this hide.
I hope you find something interesting about Letchworth you didn't know and you enjoy the search. BYOP in case.
Good luck and thanks for stopping by.
FTF: Congratulations to Paleoman52 for cracking this tough puzzle and being the first one there.
You can check your answers for this puzzle on Geochecker.com.