Angel Oak--A Low Country Treasure Traditional Geocache
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Angel Oak--A Low Country Treasure
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Cache located near the Angel Oak--one of the Treasures of the Low Country
The Angel Oak is a Southern live oak tree located in Angel Oak Park, on Johns Island, SC. It is estimated to be over 1400 years old (some estimates state ONLY 300-400 years old) ; standing 65 feet tall, 25.5 feet in circumference, and it shades an area of 17,000 square feet. Its longest limb is 89 feet in length and 11.5 feet in circumference.
The Southern live oak is native to the low country and is not very tall but has a wide spread canopy. Lumber from the live oak forests in the Sea Islands was highly valued for shipbuilding in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Angel Oak stands on part of Abraham Waight's 1717 land grant. Mr. Waight owned several plantations. The name comes from Justis Angel, who married a descendant of the original plantation family. The City of Charleston now owns Angel Oak. There is no charge to view the tree but the park itself is only open 9-5 Monday-Saturday and 1-5 on Sundays. In order to make the cache more available, it is located outside of the park along the edge of the roadway. The tree can be seen from the cache location although you can get a much better view of this magnificent tree from within the park area.
Its limbs, the size of tree trunks themselves, are so large and heavy that some of them rest on the ground (some even drop underground for a few feet and then come back up), a feature common to only the very oldest live oaks. It has survived countless hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, and human interference. The Angel Oak was damaged during Hurricane Hugo but has since recovered.
The Angel Oak is thought to be one of the oldest living things east of the Mississippi River. Its age is difficult to pinpoint due to the tendency of live oaks to develop heart rot, a condition making it impossible to obtain accurate core samples. Its gnarled and knotted trunk and branches laced with Spanish moss have witnessed a great deal of history, and it is the haunted atmosphere of mystery and melancholy, as well as the sheer size of the tree, which attracts thousands of visitors every year. It has been named the 2000 Millennium Tree and the 2004 SC Heritage Tree. It is certainly one of the Low Country’s Treasures!
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2/06/11: The cache is a now a camoed pill bottle.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Uzzzz ....jung'f gung cip cvcr qbvat urer?????