Tornado Alley Traditional Cache
kingsting: Time for this one to go. GZ has been cleared of most of the fallen trees and branches and most of the undergrowth is poison ivy. Strangely enough, the cache was exactly where we left it and the container was still in good shape.
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Central Pennsylvania is not known for tornadoes but in 2004 a few blasted through the area and made quite a mess out of some places. It appears that a section of this park was one of the spots that got hit.
The cache is hidden in a nice large park. There are ballfields, basketball and tennis courts, playground equipment, a pavilion, a jogging trail, a dog walking area, plenty of parking, and even a nearby 7-11. The container is a heavily camouflaged plastic decon box which is about the size of a band-aid can and contains a logsheet, a pencil, and a few little trade items. There is room in the container for a small travel bug too. This is a new style of hide for us and may give some newbie cachers a hard time. After you find the cache, be sure to snap the container lid on tight and rehide everything exactly as or better than you found it.
There is an active railroad line that is adjacent to the back of the park. There is no need to go near railroad property. You will need boltcutters and mountain climbing gear to get to the tracks anyway.
The cache location is a goldmine for lost softballs, golfballs, tennis balls, and other things. (I found a nice handball back there.) If you're questioned by one of the residents from the nearby houses as to why you're snooping around in that area, you can always tell them that you're looking for a superball that got away from you.
We have a well-hidden spoiler clue in the park. Seek it out only if you are desperate and need a lifeline.
The terrain is mostly a single star rating up to about the last 40 feet from ground zero.
**Summer update**
This cache was hidden after the undergrowth had died off and was fairly easy to locate. Now it's a slightly different story so I'm adding a few additional hints. The cache container is no more than 40-50 feet from the treeline. There are some fallen trees back there. The container is on the park side of these so you shouldn't have to climb over them unless you came in from the wrong direction. The hint will tell you what kind of object to look for to find the cache. Long pants are a must for this one.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Pyhr uvqqra ng:
A40 15.463
J076 48.095
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
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