Smith Pond Bog Traditional Cache
gyork: Thanks for the heads up, Biff. Sorry to say this cache has been muggled, and I have no intention of reviving it. Thanks for all those who have visited this beautiful site.
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When not frozen, the trail to the cache can be very wet, so be sure to wear your Wellies.
The Smith Pond Bog Sanctuary in Hopkinton is a 55-acre preserve owned by the Audubon Society of New Hampshire. Smith Pond is what is left of a much larger pond that once occupied all of the present swampy area between Routes I-89 and 202 & 9. It is a so-called "kettle hole" pond formed perhaps 12,000 years ago during the last of the glacial retreats, when a block of ice broke off the glacier, was partially or wholly buried, and later melted. In most cases, such depressions were below ground water level and so, became ponds. Early Native Americans, as well as settlers, hunted, fished and trapped around Smith Pond for hundreds of years. In later times, townspeople had more uses for the area, cutting ice from the pond in winters and peat from the bog in summers. There are a few characteristics of Smith Pond Bog which keep it from being a "bog”, most notably that it has an inlet and an outlet, the presence of which brings nutrients and oxygen, and flushes the acid water. One of the most significant characteristics of true bogs is that during the entire period of growth, drainage deteriorates consistently. Smith Pond Bog has always had an outlet which allows for drainage, thus slowing the build up of peat and the progressive succession. Beaver have influenced the natural sequence by damming the outlet, but the natural course of water remains. Park at trailhead N43.11.353 W071.40.845. Follow short westerly trail to end of boardwalk sections on bog. Cache is a camouflaged rectangular Tupperware container with yard-sale-type knick-knack thingamajigs.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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