Disclaimer: The cache is not located at the posted coords.
This is meant to be the world’s easiest puzzle cache. When you arrive at the posted cords, you are looking at a man-made stone wall dam and earthen wings. The dam created a pond whose main purpose was to supply ice to be cut in the winter and stored until summer to use in iceboxes to cool and preserve food. Near the point where the water now flows over the dam, there is a birch tree with something(s) leaning against it. The number of items leaning against the tree equals “X”. To find the final cache location, use these cords: N 44 34.376 W072 4X.X76.
This cache is near the last inhabited building in what is now the town forest. It was the only residence in the group to have electricity. You will see the cellar hole and to its south, the foundation of a barn. The home was abandoned in the mid 1950’s and in the 1970’s served for a short time as a snowmobile clubhouse. Two owners of note were Soloman and Usula Stowe, husband and wife. They owned the property from approximately 1848 to 1888. Two of their sons were Charles and Chester. Charles was wounded at the Battle of Cedar Creek in Virginia in 1864 and died in Baltimore. Chester purchased some land from his father, you will be visiting that property shortly. All of these people are buried in the Mountain View Cemetery in Morristown Corners. After many property transfers, owner Jesse Sulham sold this property to the Town of Morristown in 1958.
YOU WILL NEVER HAVE TO, NOR SHOULD YOU EVER, MOVE ANY OF THE ROCKS ON THE FOUNDATIONS OR WALLS TO FIND A CACHE. DO NOT GO DOWN INTO THE CELLARHOLES. EVEN IF THE GATE IS OPEN, DO NOT DRIVE BEYOND IT. TO DO THE ENTIRE SERIES PLUS SIGHTSEEING WILL PROBABLY TAKE A MINIMUM OF 2 ½ HOURS, PLAN ACCORDINGLY. WALKING DISTANCE IS OVER TWO MILES TOTAL, ROUND TRIP.
In 1856 the Vermont legislature dissolved the town of Sterling. It was divided amongst the 4 neighboring towns: Morristown, Stowe, Johnson and Cambridge. The remoteness of the Morristown section, and in particular one 340 acre area, continued to be a problem for 100 years. At one time there were as many as six homesteads in the area but by the 1950’s it had been reduced to two families and when Town Road 43 washed out in the mid-50’s (also cutting off Town Road 42), the Town of Morristown decided to buy out the properties rather than repair the roads. The property purchased was used to establish the Morristown Town Forest in the very late 1950’s. In the 1970’s the roads were designated for snowmobile use and the last remaining house was used as a snowmobile clubhouse. It later burned leaving only stone walls and foundations as reminders that people had ever lived in this area. Besides the stone cellar holes you will see stone walls which serve as road right-of-ways, property lines and lot lines of the original sections of Sterling. White signs with black numbers on trees mark the original lot lines. The Morristown Conservation Committee is now working to identify and preserve the history of the area. A trail map, guide and history brochure has been created and is available at the gate and numbered markers will soon identify historic sites. They have given permission for this series of caches.