The event will be held at the posted coordinates, rain, shine or snow, in the Rockingham Recreational trail parking lot (across the street from the Fremont Library).
Come join us from 4 - 5PM on March 8 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the placement of the iconic Camp Nasty cache! We won't be hiking to Camp Nasty as part of the event. This is an outdoor event so dress appropriately for the weather. For Camp Nasty veterans, come and share your favorite Camp Nasty adventure story. There will be an area set aside for trading trackables and a raffle for a special anniversary coin.
CACHE HIKE
There is an informal hike planned to the cabin before the event, weather permitting, For anyone interested, meet at the posted coordinates at 1:45PM. The hike will start at 2PM sharp. Feel free to bring a snack and something hot to drink at the cabin remains. The group is planning on spending about 15 minutes at the cabin remains before heading back out again.
CACHE HISTORY
The start of the Camp Nasty legend dates back to March 8, 2003. Plothound2, upon the recommendation of his father, decided to place a cache at an old rabbit hunting cabin. The cabin is nestled in Spruce Swamp, an 824 acre boggy marsh located near the middle of a 1,706 acre forest. At that time, the cabin contained a logbook for visitors, a table and chairs, wood stove, and benches big enough for a person to sleep on. The open shelves contained pots and cooking utensils. On one of the shelves was a small cardboard box with a death certificate and the ashes of Ralph Crocker, a hunter who enjoyed visiting the cabin. Outside the cabin, about 50 feet away, was a toilet seat cover on a pole over a hole. About 200 yards behind the cabin was a hunter’s tree stand which towered 40 feet high above the ground.
The Camp Nasty legend began with the formal placement of the geocache, GCE0D5. Over the years, visiting Camp Nasty was a rite of passage for intrepid geocachers from all over. Many people visited multiple times over the years, mostly in the winter months when the swamp was frozen. There were a few brave souls that visited the cabin in the warmer months, as well. As of this month, 415 people have visited the cache.
Any way the cache was visited, it wasn't an easy trek. First you had to hike, cross-country ski or snowshoe for 1.5 miles on a snowmobile trail. From there, you needed to bushwhack approximately 800 yards through a swamp thick with pepperbush undergrowth. It was always more challenging if you were the first person to break trail in the winter. By mid-winter, there was a well-worn path through the undergrowth which easily led you to the cabin. In 2018, the camp succumbed to Mother Nature's elements. The ruins are still in place, slowly being absorbed into the swamp. The cache itself was moved from the cabin ruins in December of 2018 into another location nearby. The legend lives on!