Hike and Bike: A Lake Crabtree Adventure Letterbox Hybrid

Update 25/MAR/24: The old lock required replacing. The new lock is a little bit shorter, so I have added a ziptie loop to help secure the cache. Please follow the directions on how to relock the cache properly. Thank you for your help.

Update 12/NOV/20: Lake Crabtree Count Park has made some improvements that affect my cache. They have replaced the phone tour, of the Interpretive Homesite, with a cool Story Map that can be accessed from the following link: Interpretive Homesite. The Old Beech Nature Trail has also gotten a Story Map and it can be accessed by following link: Old Beech Nature Trail . The Story Maps are a great way to familiarize yourself with the different park areas especially if you geocache only with a GPSr.

Congrats to Geochicken and Bill_NCSU for being the FTF the cache. Congrats to GooseAndWitchyMama for being the first Letterboxer to find the LB.

This cache will take you on a 3-area adventure in Lake Crabtree County Park. You will need to collect information from all 3 areas to be able to access the final cache. The 3rd part of the adventure can be accessed by hiking or biking. So if you like to ride, feel free to bring your steel horse to look for this cache. Please be aware of mountain bikers and other outdoor users using the same trail. The time it will take to get to the final depends on what mode of transportation you choose. The Lake Crabtree County Park Management would like to ask that all Geocachers and Letterboxers to please STAY ON THE TRAIL when hiking the Old Beech Trail and the Connector Trail B. They would like to thank you in advance for your attention to this detail.

This hand-carved stamp was created by a fellow Letterboxer named Noydb. Originally the carve was placed as part of a series along the American Tobacco Trail, but due to road construction I had to move the carve. Please do not take the stamp or green inkpad as they are NOT SWAG. I have placed copies of the image of the stamp in case you don't want to get green ink on your fingers. Please only take one copy per family. Please let me know if you take the last one in your log so I can add more.

Please re-secure the lock by running the cable through the ziptie loop (in the front latch) and under the bottom handle. Please make sure you re-lock it with the Brinks lettering and Logo facing up (the push button will be on the left) to make it easier for future geocachers and letterboxers to access the lock. Also please mix-up the numbers of the combination before returning the cache back to its hiding place. Please do not share the combination code or post spoiler pics in your logs.

There is a geocoin for the FTF geocacher and a slab of Speedy carve for the FTF Letterboxer. Please only take one of the FTF prizes if you geocache and letterbox. Thank you.

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Lexi: "Laney...guess what I found in the library today?"

Laney: "What did you find?"

Lexi: "I was researching tobacco farming in North Carolina and I found a diary that had clues that lead to a hidden cache somewhere in Morrisville, North Carolina."

Laney: "Where does it say we should go to start looking for it?"

Lexi: "Looking at old maps and comparing it to new maps, it looks like we need to head to Lake Crabtree County Park."

The 2 intrepid explorers headed to Lake Crabtree County Park (1400 Aviation Parkway, Morrisville, NC 27560) to begin their adventure. The girls even brought their mountain bikes as they heard Lake Crabtree County Park had multiple Trails for riding.

Lexi: "The diary says to park in the first sand/gravel lot (look for the Open Play / Trail access (4517) sign) on the right after entering the park. It says to try and park on the right side of the parking lot."

Laney: "I can see Lake Crabtree from our parking spot."

Lexi: "The diary says to find and hike the Old Beech Nature Trail. The diary also mentions that folks should stay on the trail so as to not disturb any of the plants or animals found in the area."

Laney: "I see the entrance to the trail. I'll record the coordinates for the trailhead."

Lexi: "Good idea. The diary says we can use Old Beech Nature Trail Story Map or pick-up a descriptive brochure, at a kiosk, to learn about what each signpost along the trail. The diary says walk on the trail and you when you come to a split, to continue straight on the trail.

The two explorers started their journey down the Old Beech Nature Tail. They located a kiosk that had a descriptive brochure about the signposts along the trail. They picked up the brochure and stopped at each signpost to learn about the flora and fauna of the area. Eventually they came upon the split and continued straight like the diary suggested to them. Eventually they came upon a long wooden walkway.

Laney: "It has been a nice walk so far. What does the diary say to do here?"

Lexi: "The diary says to cross over the long wooden bridge and look for signpost #14. Just past signpost #14, there will be another wooden walkway leading to a bridge. The diary says to walk ~29 steps from the start of the walkway and RECORD the black painted number you see on the Tree Frog Pole Habitat to your right. The diary also says that you should not have to move or touch the pole to see the number. Feel free to peek inside the pole to see if a tree frog is home."

The two explores continued along the Old Beech Nature Trail. They found signpost #14 and then the wooden walkway. Laney counted 29 steps and came upon the Tree Frog Habitat and recorded the number on the pole. The girls continued on the trail and stopped at signpost #20 to admire the old Beech Tree that the trail was named for. After a few moments, they continued their journey and arrived back at the kiosk at the Trailhead.

Laney: "Where to now?"

Lexi: "The diary says to find the informative marker in the Waterwise Garden."

Laney: "I saw the sign to the Waterwise Garden when we pulled into the parking lot. Follow me."

The two girls walked 44 steps (in a southernly direction) from the entrance of the Old Beech Nature Trail to the marker found in the Waterwise Garden. They also studied the variety of drought tolerant plants located in the garden.

Laney: "The diary says to RECORD the Flood Control Structure number found on the historical marker."

Lexi: "Got it! I'll even record the coordinates for the historical marker."

Laney: "Where do we go now?"

Lexi: "The instructions from the diary said that we need to go across the parking lot. Then cross the street to find a nearby trail. The trail shows a picture of a bicycle and a hiker. Let's get our bikes and ride to the next stop."

They unloaded and then walked their mountain bikes across the parking lot. They carefully crossed the street and found the nearby trail.

Laney: "I'll record the coordinates of the trailhead."

Lexi: "The diary says to follow the Connector Trail B until you come to a T-intersection."

The two girls donned their helmets and rode their bikes along the Connector Trail B. Eventually they came to a T-intersection.

Laney: "That was a fun ride. Where does the diary say to go next?"

Lexi: "The person who wrote the diary talked about life on a Tobacco Farming Home Site. The sign over there points to the right to the Interpretive Home Site."

The girls took a quick water break and headed to the right where shortly they came upon the Home Site. They got off their bikes and headed in. The girls explored the homesite by stopping to look at each marker. They used the Story Map to aid them: Interpretive Homesite

Laney: "I'll record the coordinates to the Home Site to help fellow explorers."

Lexi: "The diary says as you explore the Home Site count and RECORD the number of benches that are at the Home site.

The two explorers wandered around the Home Site for a bit to learn about life on a Tobacco Farm. After they were done looking around the Home Site, they counted and recorded the number of benches found at the Home site.

Laney: "Wow...what a cool area to explore! I really liked seeing the old well. Where does the diary say to go next?"

Lexi: "I liked learning about the old White Ash Tree. The diary says to head back down the Connector Trail B and go around 2 curves. After we go around the 2nd curve, we need to start looking for a large downed tree with the branches almost touching the trail. The diary says to look at the very end of the tree near the roots for the hidden cache".

The two explorers exited the Home Site, turned to the right and headed back they way the came. Eventually they saw the Connector Trail B entrance sign on their left. They turned left and started back down the trail looking for the 2 curves mentioned in the diary. As they rounded the 2nd curve they could see the large tree up ahead. When they arrived at the tree, they carefully parked their bikes off the trail and started walking along the large fallen tree trunk. As they came around the tree, they saw an exposed root ball. A careful search finally yielded the cache.

Laney = "We found it, but it looks like it is locked. I wonder if we need to use the numbers from our exploring to open it?"

Lexi = "The diary says to open the lock: 1st number of the lock = the last digit of the number found on the Tree Frog Pole Habitat, the 2nd number of the lock = 2nd number of the Flood Control Structure number (from the historical marker) and finally the 3rd number of the lock = the number of benches located at the Homesite."

The two explorers carefully turned the numbers (make sure the numbers are aligned between the two triangles). After double-checking they had the correct combination to the lock, they pressed the button on the lock and it opened.

Lexi: "We did it! Let's see what is inside this cache."

Laney: "I am glad we brought stuff to trade."

The girls inked their logbook with the letterbox carve and then trade some SWAG. They carefully closed the cache. Then they re-secured cache by placing one end of the cable through the ziptie loop and bottom handle of the cache before attaching it to the lock. They made sure the the Brinks lettering and logo were facing up with the push button on the left. The girls then mixed-up the numbers on the lock. The two happy girls re-hid the cache and got on their bikes and made their way back down the trail.

Lexi: "That was a fun adventure. Can't wait until the next one!"

Laney: "Me too!"

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