SwtM - Gull Rock Traditional Cache

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The Mitten Crew: Thanks to all who visited the 2012 SwtM series.

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Hidden : 5/30/2012
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:




The bay on the eastern side of the Keweenaw Peninsula offers protection to mariners from the prevailing northwestern winds on Lake Superior; however, the passage by Gull Rock, a tiny islet about one-half mile off Manitou Island's western tip, proved a serious threat.

With that in mind, in 1866 Congress appropriated $15,000 for lighthouse construction on Gull Rock. Construction began in 1867 and the light was put into service on November 1 of the same year. The lighthouse shares its design with that of Granite Island Light and Huron Island Light Station.

Two hundred and fifty feet in length and one hundred feet in width, the highest point of Gull Rock stood less than twelve feet above the water under the calmest conditions, becoming virtually invisible in the gray darkness of stormy days when vessels were most likely to be threading their way through the passage.

The rocky shoals claimed six vessels, namely: Spokane (October 28, 1907), E.N. Saunders (May 30, 1910), L.C. Waldo (November 8, 1913), Taurus (November 27, 1918), Samuel Mather (October 19, 1923), Charles C. West (September 7, 1926). All were salvaged and removed to sail another day. The likely culprit was low visibility due to fog. The failure to place a fog signal would have been a factor. It is said that this was a low priority area, used by relatively few vessels, “as a short-cut . . . to find safety on the lee side of the point during northerly storms, [and not] a normal traffic route.”

In 1901, a 40-foot retaining wall was built northeast of the structure to protect the lighthouse from waves washing over the island. In 1913, the light was automated and responsibility for care of the light was transferred to the keeper of the nearby Manitou Island Light Station. Since that time, Gull Rock was all but abandoned and the station fell into disrepair. In 2005, the station was transferred to the Gull Rock Lightkeepers, a nonprofit organization. They are working to restore the lighthouse, which is still an active navigational aid.

The lighthouse exterior was recently repaired and painted, while the interior had been left open, and is in ruins with the removed roof jettisoned into it, and it suffered extensive water damage. It has been gravely endangered by erosion and wave action and it is on the Lighthouse Digest Doomsday List.

Visit 14 geocaches in the SwtM series. At each geocache collect a letter and number combination. Insert them into the phrase FiTS LIKe A GlOVE. Use the coordinates from the phrase to find the final geocache and become a Mitten Master
2012 Smitten with the Mitten caches
Whitefish Point Sturgeon Point South Manitou Island Grand Island
Rock of Ages Point Betsie Old Mission Point Little Sable Point
Holland Harbor Gull Rock Seul Choix Point
Crisp Point Big Sable Point Au Sable Point Mitten Master

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Ng onfr bs gerr

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)


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