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THE LISTED COORDINATES IS NOT THE LOCATION OF THE CACHE, BUT RATHER THE STARTING POINT FOR FOLLOWING A LIGHT TRAIL TO THE CACHE.
This cache is designed to be located in the dark of night as the first cache in the Dark Forest nighttime series: Dark Forest One, Dark Forest Two, and Dark Forest Three. You can find the cache by itself or you can locate it as the first cache of a nighttime experience where you will have the opportunity to find all three. For a fun and adventurous evening I recommend doing the series.
You will travel part of the way on well marked trails, but the fun part will be trekking through the forest guided by reflective fire tacks. The instructions that follow are rather detailed, and should be clear. Please read the directions through carefully before starting and take a copy of this cache page with you.
For safety’s sake DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS CACHE ALONE. Geocaching in the dark can be scary, romantic, or merely adventurous and fun, depending upon your perspective and who your partners are. It’s more fun geocaching with someone else anyway. Regardless, anything done in the dark is more dangerous than when done in the daytime.
The paths are clear and you can walk briskly if you choose. However, when following the fire tacks in the woods you should walk slowly and deliberately. There are downed trees and limbs and stump holes, and the terrain is steep in places. Depending upon the frequency and volume of recent rains the way to DF 2 might be a bit soggy. At the worst you will have to hop a small rill and skirt a very large puddle. Regardless, I recommend that you wear shoes that, upon returning home, you can throw into the washing machine - or away. The full route to find all three caches and return is about a mile and a half. Every member of your party should have a strong flashlight. Dress appropriately for the evening hours which are usually cooler than the daytime in any season. Mosquitoes can be a summertime annoyance. Long pants and a long sleeved shirt are strongly recommended. This cache series is not recommended for young children.
There are over a score of caches in the Boyce Road / McAlpine Creek Greenway Parks. You may wish to find a few in the daytime before attempting this one. Depending upon which ones you attempted you will have a better feel for the parks’ paths when you walk them in the dark. Dark in the Park (GC1DAJ2) is another nighttime cache that you may want to try before this one. It is not as difficult and is good fun.
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1. To begin your after-hours adventure park along Old Bell Road off Sardis Road at the coordinates listed at the bottom of the page. Do not park in the parking lot. As you begin your journey, just on the other side of the parking lot there are samples of the fire tacks that will eventually guide your way - that is if they have not been muggled, as visible as they are, or covered with ivy.
2. The listed coordinates, after about a quarter mile hike, will take you to a fork in the trail. Two white fire tacks mark the beginning of the trail. From this point you will brown fire tacks.
3. Follow the fire tacks along the trail about 0.2 miles until you see two on a tree to your right. Here you will go into the woods. It might be a good idea to mark this point on your GPS in case one of your partners gets frightened and wants to backtrack out of the woods.
4. A brown fire tack trail will take you to the cache for DF 1 marked by two red fire tacks. For the fun of it, you will want to take a light stick from the container for each member of your party and make bracelets. The container is at the base of a fallen tree.
5. After signing the log, you are ready to find DF 2, or to go home. In either case head to the listed coordinates for DF 2. You will walk down a steep hill to a main trail.
6. You can choose at this time to end your nighttime caching experience by following the trail back to your starting point using the cache coordinates for DF 1 (See 2. above), and then back to your cachemobile. Or you can follow the white fire tack trail into the woods to find DF 2 (GC1EYHC.) The starting point is marked by two white fire tacks on the other side of the trail.
7. After signing the log for DF 2 you will retrace your steps back to the trail, to the listed coordinates for DF 2. Red fire tacks should guide you back to the trail. DO NOT HEAD DIRECTLY TO DF 3.
8. Upon returning to the trail from DF 2 you can hike directly back to your starting point, (See 2. above) or you can go on to find DF 3 (GC1EYHV.) I don’t know why you would not want to find DF 3; its starting point into the woods is on your way, and the coordinates have been placed in the DF 2 container.
9. The starting point for DF 3 is marked by two white fire tacks to the right of the trail. This duck into the woods is much easier that DF 1 and DF 2 and you will have no trouble returning to the trail.
10. Congratulations! You have completed the Dark Forest series – or maybe not - with three caches to log as found. Now follow your GPS back to Old Bell Road. After a shower you should sleep pretty well this evening.
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To see the fire tacks you must hold your flashlight at eye level. Holding the flashlight at the waist will not return you a bright reflection. An head lamp is perfect. From certain angles some of the reflectors may be obscured by limbs, leaves, or vines that may have grown since placement. Fire tacks along the trail may not be in sight of one another, that is, after seeing a reflection you may have to go along the trail a ways before seeing another. In the forest, from any point, you should be able to see one or more fire tacks farther along the route. While testing the cache I found that several of the fire tacks had been repelled by the trees and were lying on the ground. If you see any that have fallen please reattach them, pressing them firmly into the tree above head height.
The trails in the woods were created after the cache trail was laid out. Had these trails been in existence before the fire tacks were pinned to the trees I might have taken you along these easier trails. But, what fun would that have been? Have fun, keep safe, and enjoy your trek through the nighttime forest.
Additional Caution: You will have the tendency to keep your head up to follow the fire tacks. This will be at the expense of watching your step. Keep at least one eye at your feet for fallen limbs and stump holes.
WARNING: If you see a light, especially a pair of lights, move, do not follow them.
If you are planning to find the cache with a group and will so inform me I will be happy to join you. Night caches are notoriously fragile and I would use the opportunity to ensure that all the fire tacks are in place and that you have a successful outing.
Many thanks to explorer67 for his assistance in testing the cache and for his suggestions.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)