When we were looking for a
place to set our next cache we noticed that there were a number of
parts of the Oak Ridges Trail in our area that appeared to offer
ideal caching locations and that geocachers hadn't been encouraged
to explore to date. This cache is on one of those sections - a
rather under-travelled section even by geomuggles it would seem (at
least in winter). We had quite a trail-blazing experience getting
to the spot where wanted to place the cache - snowshoes or
x-country skis would make it a bit easier when there is lots of
snow on the ground but they are by no means essential. We knew we
were on the wrong side of the tracks and had to get across them to
find a spot off the trail path itself that wouldn't flood come
spring.
The tracks in question have trains on them only on summer
weekends, when they are used by the York-Durham Heritage Railway
that runs between Stouffville and Uxbridge. The cache is
sufficiently far along the trail on the "wrong side of the tracks"
to be perfectly safe and follow the rules for the placement of
caches near rail tracks. It is perfectly acceptable to cross
the tracks with care since the trail officially does so.
HOWEVER, DO NOT EVEN THINK OF
TRYING TO WALK ALONG THE RAILWAY LINES TO REACH THIS CACHE - THIS
IS UNNECESSARY AND WOULD BE STUPID, ILLEGAL AND
DANGEROUS
This whole area is part of the headwaters of
Duffin's Creek which makes it ideal for geocaching because
there is lots of forest around here. This is part of its Moraine
Recharge area and the forestation helps to keep the stream healthy.
Nearby is the "Uxbridge
Forest Environmentally
Significant Area (ESA)" where several rare plants may be
found.
2006-02-05: Following some DNFs we went to check it out
but could not find the cache in the original spot - and it looked
as though there had been some property maintenance work done in the
area which might have resulted in its disappearance. Accordingly we
relocated it to the other side of the trail about 20m away from the
original location and updated the coordinates on the website. The
new container is a camoed Lock 'n Lock.