Another Roadside Attraction Geotrail

North Carolina - Hermit of Fort Fisher

This cache cannot be accessed from I-95 - It can be reached from the side road that parallels the interstate. There is nothing better than a good road trip: driving down the open road, eating at tiny roadside diners, going 150 miles out of the way to take a selfie in front of …. the Peachoid water tower! Oh Say, can you see … me with the world’s largest frying pan?

This geotrail honors those unique, odd, bizarre, fun, historic, campy, weird, and just downright interesting roadside attractions in North and South Carolina. The caches aren’t meant to be hard, it is a power-trail after all. None of the caches are hidden at the posted locations - but answer the question correctly and you will have a working set of coordinates. All of the hides are preform bottles.

Robert Harrill became a hermit in 1955 at the age of 62 after a string of unsuccessful and unsatisfying jobs and a failed marriage. Harrill hitchhiked to Fort Fisher on the North Carolina Coast after escaping from a mental hospital where he took up residence in an abandoned WWII Bunker.  Living near a salt marsh on the Cape Fear River, he was able to gather much of the food that he needed from the salt marsh and the nearby oyster beds. The Fort Fisher Hermit was not a hermit in the truest sense of the word, Harrill was far from isolated, and in fact had many visitors every year, where he would teach them his "Common Sense" Philosophy.  His guest registry, a notebook held down by sea shells, recorded a total of over 100,000 visitors from all fifty states and at least 20 foreign countries.  In fact, his bunker became the second highest tourist attraction in the state in the early 1970s.

 "Everybody ought to be a hermit for a few minutes to an hour or so every 24 hours, to study, meditate, and commune with their creator...millions of people want to do just what I'm doing, but since it is much easier thought of than done, they subconsciously elect me to represent them, that's why I'm successful..." the hermit once told a reporter.  The hermit died of mysterious circumstances in the spring of 1972. The story and legacy of Robert Harrill lives on today through the efforts of The Hermit Society, formed in 1993. His story can be learned through books, a documentary film, and an adapted stage play.  The hermit bunker is still standing and can be reached from the Fort Fisher Hermit Trail at Fort Fisher State Recreation Area. 

N 34 30.ABC W 79 17.298

Where is the Hermit's Bunker?

A. Onslow Beach, NC - 865

B. Topsail Beach, NC - 507

C. Ocracoke Island, NC - 198

D. Kure Beach, NC - 924