Cache on the line Mystery Cache

Tuckahoe State Park is the venue for this twist on a traditional cache hide. Along the way you will enjoy great trails and you'll have the opportunity to bushwhack and hike your way through an example of the beautiful Eastern Shore lowlands.

Your prize is a 9.5 quart lock-n-lock that is sitting there for the taking - it's not concealed - but is not exactly out in the open. You will need to be within an few feet of the mark to see the cache. Read on:

Imagine a STRAIGHT LINE drawn on a map spanning from "C1", that being N38 55.605, W075 56.639 (the coordinate which is posted for this listing), and ending with "C2" which is N38 56.236, W075 56.872. You would have a line that is approximately 0.75 miles long.

C1 is a tree marked with a single blue blaze (see photo) very near the beginning of the Tuckahoe Valley Trail. Access to this trail head is best from Cemetery Lane - turn off RT 404 at mile 7.5 and proceed north onto Cemetery Lane all the way to its end.

C2 is a very large Tulip Poplar tree with a trio of trunks (see photo)

NOTE WELL: Portions of this line is located in a flood plain for the Tuckahoe Creek. Depending on the time of year and the amount of rain/snow melt, you may find the entire area under water or at least VERY mucky & muddy going.

Note also that there is seasonal deer hunting in this area. Check online for season information and ALWAYS wear some blaze orange to be safe.

There are several ways to tackle this cache. You could:

(1) use a topo map and a manual compass to try to "sight" your way down the line as you search

(2) you can use a series of projected waypoints every 50 or 100 feet or so to keep your line straight

(3) you could search along with 20 of your best Geocaching friends until you stumble upon the prize...So gather your geo-friends and give this one a go!

In the interest of full disclosure, there can be some areas where you will find difficulty getting a signal - as I marked each waypoint involved in this cache I had a consistent accuracy of +/- 17'

To provide you with one additional field-based clue, look for a very freaky looking Sycamore Tree that is near (but NOT on) the line. The hint contains a distance, but not a bearing from this tree to the cache location.

My intent in designing this cache is not to frustrate you, but to get you off the well groomed trails and into the heart of this great park and provide a challenge that is different from the usual forest-based cache. Because the challenge is greater than normal, the swag has been upgraded to some really cool stuff. Please remember to trade even or up so that this cache continues to be a prize worth the trek.

Please use care to close the container properly, and re-hide exactly as found for the next cacher since its placement is the key.

This could be a good cache for the kids provided they really love to cache (it is a long walk) and they are not afraid of a little mud -- Enjoy a nice long hike in a beautiful area. GOOD LUCK!

CACHE IS STATE PARK APPROVED - PLACED WITH PERMISSION FROM PARK MANAGER.

1. Don't try this alone unless you can dedicate a very substantial amount of time to the search. A GROUP EFFORT is the suggested way to approach this cache.

2. Wear long pants and bring plenty of bug spray - ticks and chiggers were encountered by everyone (use DEET)

3. Know your equipment - this cache will challenge you to use your GSPr to project routes and waypoints.

4. Print the photos and the logs - and take them with you for the search

5. Allow plenty of time - bring plenty of water.

For more information on Tuckahoe visit: http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/eastern/tuckahoe.html