Shipwrecked in the Chugach
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(regular)
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This is a moderately strenuous hike and is intended as a spring/summer/fall cache.
This is a cache with some real history and a story. My brother and I, separated by roughly 5000 miles, he in South Carolina and me in Alaska, share 2 things in common, scuba diving and geocaching. He has a number of caches already, all following a "Shipwrecked" theme, of which this will be without question, the northernmost of that series.
Though scuba for me was a hobby, for my brother it was much more. With more hours under the water than many people have above, he has dove some of the most incredible (and arguably insane) circumstances in search of historical treasure, specifically, Civil War relics, as anyone you will ever meet. He is an expert at both the sport and the time period. Some of those historic relics are available to first finders in this cache, in fact, some of the booty was recovered on his very last dive, one that injured him badly enough that he had to quit altogether after decades of exploring. No stranger to that, he has a tank with teeth marks on it from an alligator attack in zero visibility water, he has stories that give me the willies to hear to this day.
Well, he can't dive anymore, but you can share in the adventure of now re-finding this not-so-sunken treasure. We have teamed up for a brotherly joint cache, complete with real relics obtained on an actual treasure dive for the lucky first finders. I have included his comments on these items at the end as to time period, wreck, etc that these pieces came from. This is also my first cache hide, as new geocachers my wife and I have spent most of our time out finding, not hiding here in the Eagle River area.
That being said, true to its name, Shipwrecked in The Chugach is just that, an unplanned spot that is off course. Though you will likely utter a few choice words locating it, you will not experience the bends in its recovery, though teeth marks are a potential threat, this is Alaska and, there are a ton of blueberries in this area, bring bear spray and stay alert. Nuff said.
There is also some real hiking involved, to find this cache you will have to leave the trail and trust your skill and intuition, much as my brother did locating some of the relics. I have rated this a 3.5 but keep in mind ratings are subjective. If you have done the Milehi cache, then the begininning of this journey will be familiar to you. It is also a warm up, to the real hike that remains. Some may call this a 3, some may call it a 4, I'm splitting the difference. You will not need technical gear or skills, but it is the better part of a day getting in and back out, so plan accordingly. First finders this fall are likely to be rewarded with incredible blueberry patches along the way, we did 2 weeks ago and ate our fill.
Cache Swag:
*A handful of Civil War bullets
*2 Enfield trigger guards (brass - shipwreck salvage, see story below) - tang missing but still nice.
*A brass buttplate from an 1857 Enfield (shipwreck salvage) (see story below)
*Mardi Gras coins
*A Marble's brass pin-on compass (they sell for about 20 bucks give or take a few)
* Official Portraider cache collectible kit.
*A metal scuba tank shaped container micro cache
*Manatee dollars
* Loupe
* Caribiners
* Jungle Juice
* Water Bottle
* Pen and Keychain
* Knot Kit
* Head glow lamp
* Sunglasses Leash
* Alaska Coffeee Mug
* A few other misc but nice articles
Notes on Civil Way relics dive:
This wreck is a Civil War era transport vessel, approximately 150 feet in length. It was powered by a center-mounted steam engine running two paddlewheels, one of each side, amidships, of the vessel. It lies 23 miles off the South Carolina coast from Little River (Myrtle Beach area) in 85 feet of water. It sits upright on a flat sandy bottom. The superstructure is gone and only the boiler and drive shafts appear prominently. The deck has collapsed upon the hull and depending on conditions, the deck can be seen in places – or can be overlaid with sand.
My first dive on this wreck was June 26, 1990. It had been discovered by a fisherman the year before and was closed to all divers while various parties fought in court over ownership. From my dive log that day "Two dives on unknown Civil War wreck. Found numerous US and SNY buckles. Side paddle wheels intact. Almost virgin wreck. Most fantastic wreck dive I have ver made". Strewn about the bottom were stacked cases of Enfield rifles, still packed and stored in the shipping crates. The sandy bottom was littered with brass buttplates, buckles, knapsack parts, and lots of other stuff – all Civil War.
The wreck was first thought to be that of the "Governor" but that was later disproved as relics dating after the sinking of the "Governor" were found on this wreck. It is now thought that maybe this is the wreck of the "Suwannee", a Federal supply ship sunk in a storm.
The first year was amazing. The paddle wheels were laid on their side intact, spokes and all. The cases of rifles were a wonder to behold. There was a large pile of lead ingots and a small cannon forward. Relics abounded. That soon ended as the location of the wreck became known. Rifles were torn apart in the cases to get the brass hardware –even though hardware was all over the ocean bottom. Someone stole all the lead ingots and the cannon. I do have one of the ingots though – stamped "San Andreas" across the top. It weighs about 200 lbs.
Even though the wreck under went extreme changes and the relics became harder to find, the wreck was still good to me. Some further entries from my dive log: May 24, 1992 "Found entire crate of Model 1860 Calvary sabers, compete except for sharkskin wrap". By June 21, 1992, wrote: "tired of digging sword hilts". On July 11, 1993: "Returned to bow conglomerate. Total eagle plates recovered – 14! Gave away four and split the remaining ten with my dive buddy".
I have not dived the wreck in several years. I was severely injured in an accident while recovering (of all things) SNY plates off this wreck. My injuries forced me to quit diving altogether. However, the memories of diving a wreck such as this and of being allowed to see what a virgin wreck looks like will live with me forever.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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