This cache will require a watercraft of some sort; thus the T5 rating. Without the ‘watercraft requirement’ the access to the cache is about a T3; less if you consider yourself nimble.
The Hide on the other hand should be pretty easy, as I don’t care for the idea of enticing people to go out in the boonies to look for a needle in a haystack.
Canoes or kayaks work well and at times wettable footwear would also be an asset. That being said, we hid the cache via canoe when the lake was pretty low and managed to keep the sides of our shoes clean by picking our route carefully.
A fairly close access point to the lake is from the Rocky Point Recreation Site or what is fondly known by the 4x4 community as The Mud Flats. Other options are, the Day Use area at the Lower Kearsley Creek Recreation Site & Equestrian Campsite or along the side of the Florence Lake Forest Service Road (FSR) where Kearsley Creek enters the lake.
Ease of access to the Cache Site varies immensely by the time of year. There is an extreme seasonal variation in the water level due to natural conditions and deliberate level adjustments created via the dam downstream. Be prepared for a trek across the exposed muddy bottom of the lake when the water level is low to a maze of submerged logs and deadheads when the water is high.
The subject of this cache is something that has puzzled and intrigued me for many years. Each time I saw it from a distance I wanted to find a way to get a closer look. Even the satellite view of it egged me on.
After finally having the opportunity to visit the site while canoe camping with my 1st Cloverdale Venturer Scouts, I was further teased by the lettering on it, ‘RUDY 102’.
After some internet searching, I found that the name was used on a WW II T-34-85 tank that was featured in a Polish black and white TV series called ‘Four Tank-men and a Dog’ back in the 60’s. The series was based on the book by Janusz Przymanowski and both have achieved cult status in Poland and other eastern bloc countries.
I’m guessing some loggers, possibly of Polish descent, with a sense of humour, named their Spare Tree {Log Yarder) with that series in mind.
Some of you may also recognize the name as a premium tank offered in the video game, ‘World of Tanks’ in 2015. The crew, including Szarik, the dog, are based on the series characters.
In reality, T-34-85 tanks were produced in the 1950s at the Bumar Labedy plant in Gliwice, Poland.