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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
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in our disclaimer.
This cache is located on a private inholding within the Frederick Watershed in a wilderness area, outside the limits of nearby Gambrill State Park. A trailhead parking lot for hikers/mountain bikers/fishermen is located nearby, at N39°29.411' and W77°28.414'; it is best to park there and hike in along the trails. Please be sure to park in the trailhead parking lot and NOT in any nearby driveways or parking lots of homes! Elevation is about 853 feet.
IMPORTANT: The coordinates can be confusing, because the maps sold for most GPSrs, as well as most topo maps, are based on old and flawed USGS topo maps, and the stream portion runing E-W will often be shown in the wrong place. Thus, maps and GSRs will often show the cache as being on the north side (uphill) of the stream. This is not true. Rather, the cache is on the south side. Do not clamber up the steep northern shore of the stream looking for the cache -- the cache is NOT hidden in those overhanging rocks up the steep cliffs. Yes, they were considered, but for this one we decided to avoid steep cliffs and precarious climbing.
One or two stream crossings necesary.
The cache contains: 1) letter explaining geocaching, 2) log book, 3) plastic mouse, 4) rubber lizard, 5) refrig. magnet, 6) key fob, 7) new pair gloves, 8) pocket puzzle and 9) button.
The residents of the nearest home to the parking lot -- a house diagonally down the street from the parking lot and cache -- are aware of geocaching and they do not have any problems with seeing an occasional geocacher hunting on the trails in the forest across the street, in addition to the existing mountain bikers, hikers, hunters and fishermen, who have been using this wilderness area for years.
Located in wilderness area: poisonous plants, thorns and briars, snakes, ticks, ants, lizards, fox, coyotes, bears, bobcats, cranky turtles and an occasional rabid groundhog or raccoon.
Hunting allowed in season. Falling rocks.
Rough terrain, sharp rocks. Trail hike and off-trail hike; moderately rough hike. Takes less than 1 hour.
Not wheelchair accessible. Trek not very kid-friendly, but possibly okay for some.
Available 24/7 but not recommended at night.
Legal parking available nearby. No fees. Parking illegal at night.
Some climbing/clambering.
Camping and campfires not allowed. No telephone nearby.
Available in winter if you can find safe and legal parking.
No camping. No drinking water. No rest facilities.
Do not park in driveways of nearby rural homes.
Have fun!
Congratulations to vyper4 on FTF! Great chlorophyll note and singature! The logbook will become a collector's item! Our apologies for hassle -- we added extra pens and pencils to prevent a recurrence of "missing pencil" syndrome.
Also a brief acknowledgement that at least two geocachers have found the cache and signed the logbook but never filed official reports at geocaching.com. So far, the list includes "Lawman", "Eve W." and "Leapfrog", all during mid and late-2005.
I am a happy member of the Maryland Geocaching Society (aka MGS), which is a great group of cachers from Maryland and surrounding states. The many members of MGS offer great support for cachers, both old and new, and great advice on hiding and finding caches as well, and also plenty of local get-togethers where you can rub elbows with other local cachers. If you wish to learn more about MGS, please go to the MGS website at www.mdgps.com -- see you there!
Enjoy!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Fbhgu fvqr bs arneol fgernz. Ybbx sbe zrgny.