This Cache is placed as part of the New York State Park Saratoga/Capital District Regional Geocache Challenge. There are 62 geocaches hidden within 18 state parks and historic sites in this parks region, and geocachers finding 40 or more will be eligible to enter their names in a drawing for valuable prizes. The first 75 people to find 40 or more caches will receive a special geocache challenge coin. If you are interested in trying the challenge, you can pick up a geocache passport at any of the participating parks and sites or download it at www.nysparks.com
This cache contains a unique stamp which must stay with the cache. Use this stamp to mark your passport. This stamp is NOT a trade item. Some of the items in the cache are park souvenirs and do not need to be replaced with a trade item.
Raccoons used to be regular occupants of the park. They enjoyed free meals from most of the stone fireplaces. Raccoons and possums enjoyed knocking over the garbage cans that dotted the park landscape years ago. According to “Raccoon Nation”: Christopher Columbus is the first individual we know of to have written about the species. A series of studies in the mid-to-late-twentieth century show that a raccoon can remember solutions to tasks for up to 3 years. The English word “raccoon” is an adaptation of a native Powhatan word meaning “animal that scratches with its hands.” We do not see many raccoons in the park anymore although the old stone fireplaces still remain, some of them beginning to blend into the fauna. Remember it’s all in the name.