There are 50 geocaches hidden within 16 state parks and state historic sites in the Saratoga/Capital District region, and geocachers finding them all will be eligible to enter their names in a drawing for valuable prizes. If you are interested in taking up the challenge, you can pick up a geocache passport at any of the participating parks and sites, or download the passport at www.nysparks.com.
This cache contains a unique stamp which must stay with the cache. Use this stamp to stamp your passport. This stamp is NOT a trade item. The items in the cache are park souvenirs and do not need to be replaced with a trade item.
To reach this cache drive up North Long Pond Road and park along the side of the road at N 42 46.8214 W 73 26.6093 . Take the crossover trail into the woods approximately 4/10ths of a mile. When this intersects with Spruce Bog trail, take a right. Shortly after that, you can take a left onto the Spruce Ridge trail, marked with yellow markers. Follow it for a short way to where you’ll find some conspicuous signs of a past winter’s fury. The cache is hidden along the trunk of one of these downed trees.
Foresters look at a downed tree or clusters of them, laying in the same direction, and can interpret what type of weather event caused the trees to fall. In this case, all these Black Cherry trees are facing south. This indicates the wind was blowing from the north. You’ve heard of Old Man Winter? Well his winds blow down from the north too, so these trees likely fell during a big blizzard in a recent winter.
Have a Great Grafton Day!