Northendean Letterbox Letterbox Hybrid

This cache has been archived.

offline.cacher: The general rule reviewers use to archive a cache is that the cache owner has been notified (through a log entry) by the reviewer and that no response has been forthcoming. This is the case with this cache. As a result it has been archived.
If the owner would like to discuss this issue, please contact me through my geocaching.com profile. Include the GC code for the cache.

Thanks
offline.cacher
Virginia geocaching.com reviewer

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Hidden : 9/14/2015
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
4 out of 5

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

Northend Point is the very northerly tip of the City of Hampton's beaches.  For a while it was a spit (a small peninsula), then it was an island.  Now, it's a spit again, forming part of the mouth of the Back River where it enters into the Chesapeake.  This is approximately a six mile round trip letterbox, give or take, depending on where you were able to park, with no water or restrooms. Notes about the attributes are listed at the bottom of the page.

This letterbox adventure will take you to two historic locations along Grandview Beach. First stop will be near the location of the Back River Lighthouse, built in 1826 and destroyed by Hurricane Flossy in 1956. The final location will be somewhere on Northend Point (also called Factory Point, Northendean Point, and Back River Point). You are looking for two small watertight containers (one holding the stamp and the other the log and ink pad) lashed together by a short cord. BRING A WRITING UTENSIL - it's a really long way back to the car...

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Timeline
1800: The American Coast Pilot mentions "Back-River-Point" in sailing directions from Lynn Haven to York River.
1827: Back River Pt depicted on Edmund Blunt's nautical chart of the Coast of North America, Chesapeake Bay Entrance inset.
1833: Back River Lighthouse constructed (scroll down to the Bs if you click the link).
1858: Updated Coast Survey provides sailing directions, light characteristics, and currents about or in the vicinity of Back River Lighthouse.
1863: "Back Riv. Lt. Ho." prominently displayed in a Military Map of Part of the Peninsula from Fort Monroe to Williamsburg.
1889: The First Edition of the US Coast Pilot, Atlantic Coast, Part VI, Chesapeake Bay & Tributaries lists full sailing directions for reaching back river and describes activities on the back side of Northendean Point.
1916: Updated US Coast Pilot describes the importance of Back River to local fishing and oystering.
1936: Back River Lighthouse deactivated.
1956: Hurricane Flossy destroys the lighthouse.
1998: Back-to-back nor-easters in Jan & Feb breach the narrowing spit, turning Factory Point into an island.
2009-10: City of Hampton funds a Precon Marine project to rebuild the spit.
Today: You're going to go geocaching at a place that housed a lighthouse, hosted a fishing factory, turned into an island, rebuilt into a spit, and is now home to all kinds of birds, bugs, and reptiles!

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Stage One - find the Benchmark
A. When you make it to the beach, turn left and follow the beach to the north-northeast. After a quarter mile of walking, you'll see that you're approaching a turn in the beach. If you look off to the right, you'll see a large pile of rocks. The pile marks Lighthouse Point, where Back River Lighthouse used to stand. As you come abreast of the rocks, stop.
B. Turn to your left to face the dunes, keeping the rocks directly behind you. 20-40 degrees to your right (1-2 o'clock), you will see a 3-foot tall concrete pillar. Atop the pillar is a 6 -inch steel rod. The rod is capped with a benchmark. If you don't immediately see the pillar, it's probably hidden by a stand of cordgrass. Just walk toward 2 o'clock and you'll eventually find it. Find that benchmark! You'll need to know who placed it.

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Stage Two- find the Final
The letterbox is on the remade Northend Point, which consists of a series of crescent beaches protected by rip rap breakwaters. As you leave the headland, you'll reach the 1st crescent beach, then the 1st breakwater, then the 2nd crescent beach, then the 2nd breakwater, and so on. The cache is somewhere between the 3rd crescent beach and land protected by the 4th breakwater.
A. If the benchmark was placed by the Virginia Fisheries Laboratory, then the final is located on the landmass behind the 4th breakwater, 32 paces inland from the breakwater, along the imaginary line formed when the middle and northern piles (posts) from the 3rd breakwater line-up (cinder block).
B. If the benchmark was placed by the Army Corps of Engineers, then the final location is between the two dune access signs in the middle of the 4th crescent beach (the one formed between the 3rd and 4th breakwaters) on the right hand (north) side as you cross the dune from east to west (plank).
C. If the benchmark was placed by the City of Hampton, then the final location is along the imaginary line between the southernmost pile of the 4th breakwater and the first "Protect the Dune" sign north of the dune access sign on the 4th crescent beach, two paces beachward of the grass line (embedded crab trap).
D. If the benchmark was placed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1991, then the final location is on the landmass directly behind the 3rd breakwater, 45 paces inland from the breakwater, along the perpendicular line bisecting the breakwater (base of post).


** FTF - KWRIGHTVA, curator of bird houses (an EPVF cache) & other caches of repute **
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Here are some notes about the attributes:
1. No bikes allowed ever. This is too bad because The Everplaids have one of those sweet fat tired bikes specifically designed for beaches, but rules are rules.
2. No night caching. The Nature Preserve is open year round from sunrise to sunset daily.
3. There are no restrooms or water fountains along the way. Six miles - highly recommend bringing a water bottle.
4. Pets are banned on the main beach April 15th - September 15th and on Factory Point April 1st – September 15th, all other times pets must remain on leash.
5. There actually aren't ticks. BUT there are some seriously tenacious biting black flies and other critters that find humans tasty. USE BUG SPRAY. You know what, carry it with you during the summer, even if you doused yourself with it at the car. Personal experience... Also, bring sun screen.
6. If the tide is higher than 2.8 feet during your visit, you might have to wade. This is the path: pavement, soft sinking gravel, maybe wading, more sinking gravel, paked sand, soft sand, packed sand, maybe wading, dodging cordgrass and spiky seed pods, dodging collections of seaweeds, peat, and other decaying seathings. Pick your footwear wisely. As I write this, I have skinned the tops of 6 toes and have a blister fully covering the bottom of my right big toe from visiting the letterbox location at near astronomically high tide during a storm. It was totally awesome.
7. The views are very cool. So are the threatened or endangered seabirds. If you access the dunes, PLEASE do so only at allowed access points.
8. Obey the NO TRESPASSING signs, and treat the "Protect the Dune" signs as if they mean no trespassing! We're always prohibited from accessing the dunes unless we're at specifically marked "Dune Access" areas. Also, mid spring to mid fall, we're prohibited from going out to the very last break water to the northwest, the one that's perpendicular to the other breakwaters. It's a sensitive nesting ground. The "no trespassing" signs note when we can't go out there. Following the "no trespassing" signs helps us minimize our impact on the local wildlife.

Thanks to City of Hampton Parks for letting us cache out here (permit #29)!

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