This cache has been placed as part of a geocoin challenge, the launch of which will be/was held during the annual Tomlinson Lake Hike to Freedom (TLHTF) on Oct 5, 2024. There are/were 100 coins available, one per geocaching name until they are gone. Players need to find 4 TLHTF Trail caches and one ACHH2 geotour cache to claim a coin. The passport for recording the codes found in the caches is available here. The theme of the TLHTF Trail caches is the history of the trail.
Joe Gee and Graham Nickerson, together with a corps of volunteers, built the trail and created the hiking event which was held for the first time in 2013.
The trail followed a different route than what is in place today. Here is the description of that route which I found on the HikingNB website.
The Tomlinson Lake Hike to Freedom represents a little known part of New Brunswick history. In the mid-1800's people trying to escape slavery used the Underground Railroad to head north to Canada. Canada abolished slavery in 1834, thirty years prior to the US, so Canada was seen as a safe place. The Tomlinson Lake Hike to Freedom Trail is one of the terminuses of the Underground Railroad. There are several detailed interpretive signs along the trails telling about the history.
The trail itself starts in a field with a large fire pit on one edge. The trail goes down a hill and turns right on an old road. The road continues down the hill until it crosses a bridge. After crossing the bridge the trail enters the woods and climbs the hill to the left away from the old road. Here you will find a tree with signs pointing to all of the places that would have been important 150 years ago.
The trail follows along a stream. There are some steep sections along the stream, and the mud underneath can be quite slippery so use caution. The trail climbs a hill into a softwood stand. At the top of the hill you will find a replica of a Pit House. If you were thinking slaves had it great when they reached Canada you would be wrong. They arrived in a place where they had no land and landowners didn't offer much for work or pay around their farms.
They survived the winters by building these very small huts in the woods that could be easily abandoned and rebuilt somewhere else if they were caught on someone's land. These small huts were built out of small logs over a dug out hole in the ground.
Just past the pit house the trail begins to descend the hills and meets another old road that goes down the hill. At the bottom the trail once again enters the woods and follows the stream. After crossing another bridge in a steep ravine the trail comes to an access road at the end of the Glenburn Road.
The pit house was added in 2018. Check out this link to read the story of the one that Graham Nickerson constructed at Kings Landing.
The squatters log cabin was added in 2019. Here is a photo of it.
Captain No Beard and the Pi Rats placed the first geocache - GC88YRP Next Stop Freedom! - along the trail in October of 2023. Read the logs to see more photos and, despite some of the challenges of the trail, the very positive experience that visitors had hiking it.
The current trail around the lake is not quite as physically challenging as the old route but warrants a terrain rating of 2.5 due to the wet conditions that may be encountered at different times of the year Sturdy water proof footwear and a hiking pole is advised.
Take your time and stop to enjoy the serene setting that a host of birds and other wildlife call home.