(almost) On Top of the World Traditional Cache
(almost) On Top of the World
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
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This cache is dedicated to the cross-country skiing pioneers of the Ottawa Ski Club who blazed the trails that we all enjoy today in what is now the Gatineau Park. They started their work in 1919, with the clubs acquisition of Camp Fortune, cutting trails and building lodges. At that time they gave each trail a colourful name such as Chicken Run, Hermit, Yipe! and the Burma Road. Today, the NCC operates the ski trail network and has since changed over to a system of numbering the trails. This was done most likely under the guise of safety and ease of maintenance but it just isn’t the same skiing down #28 instead of cruising along Frank’s Trail to the Khyber Pass. Some of the trail names have stuck and are commonly used today such as Ridge road, Western and Skyline – perhaps more recognizable than their #’s 1, 9 and 6. Most of the names are long forgotten though and if you asked a fellow skier today where the junction to Pipe Dream, Merry-go-Round, or Little Switzerland was, you’d get a pretty funny look.
When I was young, I used to love going to a trail junction called “Top of the World”. There wasn’t a spectacular view there but it just felt like you had accomplished something significant. Today the NCC has closed “Top of the World” – perhaps because it’s a little too close to the radio and TV tower. If you like, you can go there - if only for the sense of accomplishment (others still do in spite of the “closed trail” signs). It’s located here – N45 30.111 W75 51.125 and I’ll leave it to your judgment whether you want to stay on the trail. I must stress though that there is NO cache there and there isn’t even a spectacular view (unless you’re a radio/TV tower engineer). Instead I placed the cache just slightly down the hill from “Top of the World” on a trail called Pleasant valley (oohhh, what a giveaway). Its principally been placed for XC skiers but you can walk there in the no-snow seasons as well. You may have to do a little bushwhacking (nothing too serious) depending which way you walk in from as the winter ski trail crosses a couple of small ponds. The cache is however on dry land and up off the ground. You can mountainbike quite close to the cache but the trail itself is for walkers only so probably best to stash the bike and walk the last few meters.
P.S. Today’s mountainbiking community has readopted the art of trail naming with slightly more modern names. Trails like “The other woman”, and “Hairway to Steven” are just a couple of the new downhill trails available – and these are seriously downhill trails… parachutes recommended! I wonder how long it will be before they are forced to number their trails…. for safety reasons?
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Gurer'f n fznyy pbaarpgbe genvy ybpngrq ng A45 29.975 J75 51.167 juvpu tbrf bss n znva genvy pybfr gb gur pnpur. Vg'f abg znvagnvarq ol gur APP ohg gurer ner hfhnyyl fbzr genpxf gurer naq vg bayl tbrf 100 srrg orsber pbaarpgvat jvgu cyrnfnag inyyrl.