General rules: Anyone may log the caches in this series, but kids (12 years old and under) can earn special awards. Kids logging any 4 of the 6 caches in either the Long Ago But Not Far Away - Spring Mountain series or the Long Ago But Not Far Away - Fairview series and emailing the answers to the Kids' Answer Sheet will receive a certificate and a special prize for each series.
Kids earning both the Spring Mountain and the Fairview certificates will receive a special geocoin. Cachers over 12 years old will not receive a prize, certificate, or geocoin. Multiple children in a family may each receive their own awards, but each child requesting an award must have been present during all the cache hunts. Make sure you print out the Kids' Answer Sheet for Spring Mountain before beginning this project!
To claim your award(s), click “Spring Mountain Community Club” just below the cache title and send an email including:
(1) the names of the caches you found along with the answers to their questions,
(2) your name and caching name, and
(3) your age.
(Information will be used to verify your qualification and print your certificate and will then be deleted. Parents, please contact us if you prefer not to share this information.)
Other caches in this series:
Bag of Gold
Davy Crockett
Fawn Nicks
Mountains to Sea
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Rolling Stones
Please park along the side of Rocky Fork Road and cross the main road carefully.
| Weather was much more important to people in days gone by than today. Most farm families worked outdoors all day long, year round, whatever the weather. Even indoors, the uninsulated houses and cabins were only heated by fireplaces and cooled by any breezes that might come through the small windows. The small mountain schoolhouses and churches were usually heated by a single woodstove in the center of the building. |
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The weather affected farmers’ crops and livestock, too. Extreme temperatures, drought, or flood could ruin a year’s hard work in a short period of time. Such was the case in July of 1916, when almost two feet of rain fell in Spring Mountain and much of western North Carolina in one day. The downpour caused Cane Creek (the main creek flowing through Spring Mountain) to gush out of its banks, overflowing all the land along the creek. Crops, animals, and buildings were flooded or in some cases violently carried downstream. |
Flood of 1916 in downtown Asheville
Flood of 1916 in Spring Mountain
In the mid-1800s, Alfred Pinkerton, a life-long resident of Spring Mountain, had built a small grist mill (for grinding wheat and corn) on Cane Creek, near his house. The house can still be seen just up this road at N 35º 32.575 W 82º 22.872. But nothing remains of the mill except the heavy millstones. The mill was washed away during the Flood of 1916. The stones were later found about ¼ mile downstream from the mill site and eventually moved a bit farther to their present location at the end of the lane across Old Fort Road from N 35° 32.692 W 082° 23.197. Simply driving by and observing the millstones, you would never guess their tumultuous history!
If you walk over to see the stones up close, be very careful about traffic!
The area of this small stream was also flooded. Old timers say that the flat area through here was under water for a width of a quarter mile!
If you are working toward the kids' Spring Mountain prizes, be sure to write down the shape of the outer cache container.