The Sumter National Forest is one of two forests in South Carolina that are managed by the United States Forest Service. The Sumter National Forest consists of 370,442 acres (1,499.13 km2) which are divided into several non-contiguous sections in western South Carolina. Overall, in descending order of land area the forest is located in parts of Oconee, Union, Newberry, McCormick, Edgefield, Abbeville, Laurens, Chester, Fairfield, Greenwood, and Saluda counties. Forest headquarters for the South Carolina forests are located in the state's capital city of Columbia.
In July, 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed the Sumter a separate National Forest. The Sumter is named for Thomas Sumter, a leader of patriot regular and military forces in the South Carolina piedmont during the American Revolution and war hero. The lands that became the Sumter were predominantly eroding old farm fields and gullies or extensively logged forests. Once the lands became part of the Sumter, the process of controlling soil erosion, regulating the flow of streams and the production of timber began. Over time, the land has been slowly restored and has become productive again.
The Sumter National Forest includes approximately 2,859 acres (11.57 km2) of the Ellicott Rock Wilderness, the only wilderness to straddle three states (South Carolina, Georgia, and North Carolina). The Sumter also has, as its western border, the Chattooga River, a Wild and Scenic River. The Andrew Pickens District is also home to 15 waterfalls with drops ranging from 12 ft (4 m) to 75 ft (23 m).
All of the caches you are looking for in this series are Micro caches, and are hidden in a similar fashion, with a couple of small deviants in the mix to keep things interesting. A 1/2 of a star has been added to the difficulty rating of each cache for the work of doing the puzzle. The caches were all hidden in a park and grab fashion, (except for a small handful) and it is expected that they can be found in the same way. That being said, please be safe. Be sure to pull all the way off of the road when stopping roadside, look both ways when crossing the street, and other assorted motherly nags. Likewise while the caches were placed in a way to avoiding overt muggle awareness, and are not on any main roads. Please exercise stealth to promote the longevity of the series.
Each cache in the series will have a simple puzzle to solve. To get the correct coordinates, simply take the number at the beginning of the line for the correct answer, and put it where the "X"'s are located to achieve the correct coordinates.
Note: Some of the caches in this series have parts of the coordinates to the Sumter National Forest GeoArt Bonus cache somewhere in the cache container. Be sure to pay attention and collect them all!
I never thought I would have to include this; But this cache is located on a road that only foot or bike traffic is allowed, as the clearly posted sign says!
N 34° 25.198 W 081° 33.X13
During what years was Abigail R. Kimbell the chief of the Forest Service?
5 = 1998-2001
6 = 1905-1910
7 = 2007-2009
8 = 2009-2012
