Welcome to Livingston County’s Bicentennial GeoTrail!
My name is Find R. Fox. I’ll be your guide to super-sleuthing the hides at these amazing, historical locations all around our beautiful 200-year-old county!
To make your travel through history a bit easier, imagine yourself in a Time Machine (your best mode of transportation will do). Set the dial (your gps unit) to the first year (coordinates) listed below, check the waypoints for Parking and push the navigate button! Whirl your way there then switch your coordinates as needed to navigate to the geocache to sniff out the container and sign the log sheet. Good Luck & Enjoy the journey!!
Permission has been granted to collect information (driving along the road, stopping at each waypoint, without blocking driveways) and finding the final cache (park at edge of road and approach on foot ONLY as far as necessary to retrieve the cache) between 8 AM - 9 PM.
We do NOT have permission to walk from the Greenway on the East side of the property across the fields or the driveways to River Road on the West side!
Hunting is allowed by the local sportsman club, who have posted the Abbey's land. However, you will either be on a road or very close to a road at all times. However, the landowners requested that we warn geocachers about the hunting.
The Abbey of the Genesee is a Roman Catholic community of contemplative monks belonging to the world-wide Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (O.C.S.O.) more commonly known as Trappists. We are part of the larger Cistercian family consisting of monks and nuns founded by Sts. Robert, Alberic, and Stephen in 1098. We were founded from the Abbey of Gethsemani, Trappist, KY, in the spring of 1951. The natural beauty, silence, and solitude of the verdant Genesee River Valley, so conducive for the contemplative life, provides an ideal location for the monastery. As Cistercians, we follow the Rule of St. Benedict and so are part of the larger Benedictine family as well. Our lives are dedicated to seeking union with God, through Jesus Christ, in a community of sisters or brothers.
Nearly everyone has a share in the various tasks of the monastery including: baking, forest management, landscaping, cooking, maintenance, hospitality, formation and care of the infirm, to mention some of the many tasks in a moderate sized community.
Necessary to the contemplative, monastic vision is creating and maintaining an environment conducive to contemplation. To this end we observe silence, speaking in a limited way when necessary, and exclude the use of radio and television and other irrelevant media. Internet access is available according to personal need. Our well-stocked library of over 50,000 select volumes is designed to foster growth of the interior life. A few select journals, magazines, newspapers, keep us in touch with current events. Prayer for the needs of the world, and the Church, and for special intentions is an important aspect of our apostolate of prayer.
Those called to our way of life, after suitable formation, commit themselves to obedience, conversion of life, and stability in the community for life. It is in such a setting that we gently encourage and support one another in a spirit of fraternal love according to Chapter 72 of the Rule of St. Benedict.
Since there has been a felt need among many of our friends and associates, we have formed a lay group affiliated with our community known as the Genesee Lay Contemplatives.
Note: Effective December 30, 2020, in our continued efforts to protect the health and safety of our elderly monks, the Abbey has been closed to outside visitors. When we can safely reopen, we will.
Source: From the Abbey of the Genesee website.
You are collecting information about the Abbey. You will drive down the road from the listing coordinates to WP2 and then continue to WP3, turn around, and come back to WP4 where you can park on the side of that driveway to check the puzzle solution before going after the final. (We think it would be easiest to take pictures at each stop and then complete the puzzle at WP4, but it's your choice.) At the starting coordinates and each waypoint, you will discover the answers to fill in the puzzle, where the final is hidden at
N 42 MO.NKS, W 77 5P.RAY.
Starting coordinates, M = number of letters in first word on large sign as you face it
Starting coordinates, O = number of the letter D (small and large) on the large sign as you face it
Starting coordinates, N = number of letters in the third word on the large sign as you face it
WP2, K = number of the letter K (small and large) on the sign as you face it
WP2, S = number of the letter R (small and large) on the sign as you face it
WP3, P = number of the letter B (small and large) on the sign as you face it
WP3, R = number of letters in the word on the sign minus the normal vowels (AEIOU) p>
WP4, A = number of the letter E (small and large) on the sign as you face it
WP4, Y = number of the letter A (small and large) plus letter O (small and large) on the sign as you face it
NOTE: Yes, an answer COULD be zero.
Once you have the puzzle solution (within 25 feet of River Road), we recommend parking in the nearest drive (off to one side) on the East side of the road and walking to the cache, as walkers are frequently seen along this stretch of road and will generate the least amount of attention. We also recommend wearing long pants and a long sleeved shirt for the recovery of the geocache, to minimize exposure to ticks.
For those not using the checker: A + M + O + N + K + S = P + R + A + Y (Yes, the A is used twice.)
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.
This cache is 1 of 36 caches comprising the Livingston County Bicentennial GeoTrail (LivCo200) placed in the summer of 2021 in honor of Livingston County’s Bicentennial by members of the local geocaching group called the Bee Hive. For more information about Livingston County’s Bicentennial, visit the County Historian’s Bicentennial web page on the Livingston County New York website at https://www.livingstoncounty.us/1115/County-Bicentennial
