Well, here we are again, the closing of another chapter, what some might call "First Night" (actually "the Last Night," thereby joining the growing list of things we can't agree upon). The caches in this series are not intended as night caches, even though published tonight. I am doing you a favor by having them published late so that GC'ers everywhere do not have to awake with the dreaded occasion of a new cache published New Year's morning, having to drag themselves out of bed, get dressed and head out without breakfast to chase their FTF. No, you can go to bed now with the dreaded prospect of having to get up tomorrow morning...etc. etc. etc.
These four caches in this EOY 2023/BOY 2024 series join three others placed over the prior years which are still active: Portals to the Park (Mill Creek, Westbrook), Hedgehog Mountain (Freeport), and Clark's Spawned (South Portland). For this series, let's get started:
I love maps and have before me a quadrangle map issued by the USGS for Portland West, Maine. The Portland East quadrangle maps are where we live, but most locations are in saltwater, so won't do for the purpose. So, the Portland West, Maine includes four corner areas, each with its own character. The object in this series is to navigate to each distinct GZ and compare, contrast, appreciate - for your own edification (i.e., not a requirement for logging the smiley) - the geographical footprint of each corner.
BTW, the caches in this series:
GCAFYR4: Four Corners - Portland West, ME. - NE
GCAFYRG: Four Corners - Portland West, ME. - SE
GCAFYRN: Four Corners - Portland West, ME. - NW
GCAFYRR: Four Corners - Portland West, ME. - SW
The geographical feature is Red Brook, which empties East into Clark Pond. Before WWII, Clark Pond was a popular ice skating spot. The Red Brook tributary was skateable upstream to Pollywonkie Pond, which disappeared under the construction of the Maine Turnpike and - what was then Exit 7, the Portland exit. With construction of 295, Red Brook was rerouted to its current channel, which disgorges through a massive culvert under 295. (Visit GCA38G5: Clark's, Spawned 3.1). Red Brook now is an "impaired" waterway, suffering from rainwater (and snowmelt) runoff from roads and other impervious sources. Also there is an unknown source of PCB contamination, all of which is carried to downstream destinations.