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Upper St. Clair: Then and Now Adventure Lab Bonus Mystery Cache

Hidden : 12/9/2020
Difficulty:
2.5 out of 5
Terrain:
3 out of 5

Size: Size:   regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:


The posted coordinates are for the parking area for Wingfield Pines which is one parking option.  

In order to find the cache, you must complete one stage of the Adventure Lab, "Upper St. Clair: Then and Now".  Typically you have to visit all of the stages and totally complete the Adventure Lab to get the coordinates, but for this cache you really just need to visit one location out of the 5.   GIven the posted coordinates, figuring out which one shouldn't be hard, so I am not telling you which one, but the Adventure Lab makes it clear.  This one stage is a little bit of a walk, but, if you complete it, you will have the coordinates to the final and find yourself in a great place to start from if you so choose.  

The Adventure Lab brings one on a tour of the lesser known historical sites of Upper St. Clair.   Most of the stops are near other established geocaches, so if you haven't been to Upper St. Clair before, you can make a full day of it.  Bring a picnic lunch and enjoy it in one of the parks.  The adventure lab can be done in any order and doesn't have to be completed all at once.  The tour highlights the site of a 1937 plane crash, the site of a memorial to the victims of a 1994 plane crash that happened in Hopewell Township, the site of an old Monogahela Indian Village, the site of a 1928 bridge collapse and a parcel of property that has seen many uses over the years and is luckily, now, a property owned by the Allegheny Land Trust.  

NOW ON TO THE SPECIFICS: The cache container is a medium sized lock and lock that is clearly marked as a geocache.  Inside there are many items of varying value as well as a small prize for the first two finders and a TB of our own that i recently found in a cache without its hitchhiker.  I added a new one and left it here to start traveling again.  Hopefully it moves along and I don't find it in another year still in the area. 

From the suggested parking it is a fairly easy walk on trails although, depending on the amount of rain, this one could become harder and harder as this property is a known flood plain and many times your path might just turn into a swampy mess.  The distance is over a mile round trip, but just stay on the main trails and you shouldn't have any issues.  There is one major water crossing...but it shouldnt be too hard to cross over.  I watched someone do it while carrying a 4 year old.  If you really want to avoid that major crossing, you can head back to the car after acquiring the coordinates and park at the alternative parking lot if the park is open.  The entrance to the park is on Chartiers Street.  This will make the walk a little shorter, but not nearly as cool and on wet days, there might me no avoiding the water hazard anyway.  

After finding the cache and signing the log, I encourage you (depending on the weather) to continue walking just a little further and explore the site.  If you would like any information about any of the sites you visited while doing the adventure lab I would be happy to share my links and research.  I really enjoyed doing the legwork for this one and hope you are intrigued as well.  

NO SMILIE WITHOUT A MARK ON THE PAPER LOG!  Logs that state you didn't sign the log will be deleted.  Be creative...find a leaf and a stick if you forgot a pen.  The logbook is a rite in the rain book.  

GEODOGS:  Dogs are not allowed on the WIngfield Pines property because people weren't responsible and couldn't follow the rules. So, the way the cache is intended to be done, dogs aren't permitted, but if you leave them in the car for a few minutes to acquire the coordinates, you can park at the alternative parking coords and bring them along for the walk.  


If you haven't yet downloaded the Adventure Lab Cache app (which you will need to gain the coordinates for this cache), you can find it here:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.groundspeak.react.adventures&hl=en_US
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/adventure-lab/id1412140803

Upper St. Clair: Then and Now 
https://adventurelab.page.link/An1c

 

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

fyvtugyl hcuvyy va gur pebgpu bs n snyyra oenapu pbirerq jvgu onex

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)