A
pleasant 3.5 to 4 mile loop hike or a challenging mountain bike
ride through the woods and hills typical to the region. BE SURE TO
TAKE ALONG A FULL COPY OF THIS PRINTOUT. THE PDF VERSION SKIPS
PORTIONS OF THE TEXT
This cache
hunt explores the undeveloped portions of the campus of the
University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. The route uses portions of the
Jonathan Lee Groft/Kevin William Thomas
Memorial Bike Trail, the Idzkowsky
Trail of the Rocky Run Nature Area, and cross-country running
course to connect an eight-stage multi-cache patterned after the
Mt. Nebo Excursion Geocache,
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=1015927e-45b3-4b5a-9865-424c1d77b8e7
Caches are along the
trail..."park and grabs" if you're
biking!!
Parking is
available at the track/baseball field parking area located at
40-15.988/78-49.720 and accessed through the campus (not through
Met Life). The mountain
bike segment of the loop will test your ability to follow a
trail. This
will become increasingly difficult in fall and winter, but
bushwhacking will be easier at that time, when you do get off the
trail. Clues of this
route include infrequently placed small round silver & blue
markers on trees and sprocket tooth marks on or ramps over logs
fallen across the trail. The entire route is
“bikeable” but is not actively
maintained by UPJ as a bike trail. Numerous blowdowns require minor
detours.
Each stage
of the hunt consists of small Tupperware containers with the
coordinates/clues to the next stage, along with some additional
intermediate waypoint clues. These stages are just to keep you
going in the right general direction to make the trip to the final
cache. Stage 4 is a
good place to stop for lunch or a snack if you bring
them.
Each stage
is subject to varying levels of muggles
and flooding. Please
reseal and rehide the containers as
good as possible. Stage
coordinates are provided only in minutes based on N40 and
W78.
Restrooms
may be available at the track adjacent to the parking area or at
the main entrance of Living and Learning Center (upper side) that
you pass on the way in.
You may
need some of the intermediate waypoints listed below for key
trailheads between clues.
Be sure to
pass by the pond ~100' north of stage 1 site on the way to stage
2. Pond is a popular
photography site, but relocation of stage 1 pulls you away from
this feature.
Due to
potential muggling of individual cache
clues, we have created the following work-around that will allow
you to skip a single stage and calculate the coordinates of the
subsequent one. This
will not give you the hints or intermediate waypoints to guide you
on the way to the next stage. Stage 1 will still have to be
there for you to get anywhere. Add the listed values below to the
coordinates of the first intermediate (LETTERED) waypoint mentioned
on the preceeding clue sheet (stage 3 =
coords of 1st waypoint on stage 2 clue
sheet plus listed values). For one stage w/o a waypoint, use
the coordinates of the stage that is
missing.
Stage 3 =
waypoint _ coords +
(-0.355/-0.328)
Stage 4 =
waypoint _ coords +
(-0.020/-0.296)
Stage 5 =
waypoint _ coords +
(+0.378/-0.275)
Stage 6 =
waypoint _ coords +
(+0.357/-0.132)
Stage 7 =
waypoint _ coords +
(+0.139/+0.066)
Final = waypoint _
coords +
(-0.282/+0.448)