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October 2016: Catz Eye

Special caches in Maryland!
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cooley1103
Former MGS Officer
Posts: 1269
Joined: Wed Dec 30, 2009 11:51 pm
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October 2016: Catz Eye

Post by cooley1103 »

This month's geocache of the month is one that has been on my radar for a while. It's close proximity to the summer picnic makes it a good one to highlight. It is unique and has quite a few favorite points.

Catz Eye


GC Code: GCTJA6

Where it's located: Thurmont, MD

Favorite Points: 61

Description:
The cache is not located at the above coordinates.
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To locate this cache you will need to solve the simple cipher below.

6678418447891646318447891749176468164631486373317498336
937819376173836891738361893689174917646813444814863733136789173836
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To access the cache site you will be traversing the "Old Misery Trail" and part of the "Cat Rock Trail" in the wild land area of Cunningham Falls State Park for a total round trip hike of ~3 miles. Below are excerpts taken from the Cunningham Falls State Park trail guide describing the trails.
• Old Misery Trail -- orange blaze: This steep, strenuous trail with many switchbacks and scenic views connects with the Cat Rock Trail.

• Cat Rock Trail -- yellow blaze: This steep, strenuous trail leads to Cat Rock (elevation 1560') and scenic views.

I have utilized a large heavy-duty waterproof container for this hide; it has been painted white to meet DNR guidelines for hides within western region state parks. This is a DNR approved geocache.
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Recommended Gear and Safety Tips
• Leave a trip plan with a family member.

• Hikers should always be prepared for an emergency. Carry sunscreen, a small first aid kit, water and a snack, insect repellent, a compass, a map of the area and foul weather gear. Adequate footwear should be worn.

• Follow Leave No Trace outdoor ethics.

• Be aware of hunting seasons. Portions of Cunningham Falls State Park are open for hunting, and the Cat Rock/Bob's Hill Trail and Old Misery Trail pass through the hunting areas. Bright colors should be worn during hunting season.

• Both of Maryland's poisonous snakes, the timber rattlesnake and copperhead, are found within the park. Never put your hands or feet into rock crevasses or behind logs without checking for snakes. Watch all snakes from a distance.

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The logbook

Selected Finder logs:

lpaulriddle: Out on the mountain with Snowsox and shrinerr for a fun (if a bit foggy and drizzly) day of hiking and caching. Solved this one last summer when I was working on a similar puzzle. We bushwhacked to this one from another nearby cache, which was steep but otherwise not too bad. That said, I'm going to be feeling it in my calves and hamstrings tomorrow for sure! Made our way to GZ where we found the cache right away. Yep, that is one impressive container! Glad it's lasted so long without getting muggled. Definitely something to be said for putting it so far off the trail. We signed the log, took a quick selfie, and set about finding the trail -- which fortunately wasn't too hard, thanks to the OSM map on my Garmin. Glad to cross this one off the list.. TFTC! Find #2005 at 11:25am EST.


MDSurveyor: Mrs. MDSurveyor, Geopup and I bushwhacked here from our last find and had an interesting time of finding the least rock-climbing route. We passed a great overlook and took some pictures. Once at GZ the job was to find, where in this mass of rocks, is the cache. I went one way and the Mrs. went another then she was the first to the find. It was great to find such large containers.

After putting everything back we were not sure of the best way back. We have been off the trail for over an hour and only had a general idea of where the trail might be. We headed in the direction we thought was right and then heard voices in the distance. Assuming the voices were coming from people on the trail he headed towards the sound. As we got closer and saw the folks and they were on top of Cat Rock. We still were not on any trail and just found a way up the rocks to where they standing, just in time to see them disappearing at the bottom of the rocks.

While at the top some freaky weather came in and where we had just been in calm sun had turned to cloudy, very windy and snow. I took some pictures but the snow really doesn’t show up. From where we were I could see the Cat Rock sign and some trail markings. We had a great time on the mountain today and headed back to the car, now with the sun coming back out. This was a fantastic cache and rewarding with a favorite point. TN and left ‘tuit’ token. TFTC

littleblkdog: A very nice puzzle leading to a very cool cache. I managed to scramble down the face amidst the snow to make the find of the huge container. Everything is well with the cache. Must have been a challenge to lug that up the mountain. Out for an adventure with Dawn of Team Red Oak today. She was avenging a DNF on All Counties and I was making the find in the final days before I depart for California. The recent snow made things much more complicated. The parking lot was covered in 3-4 inches of ice and the lower trail was very icy as well. Once we were past the first turn a couple of hundred feet up the trail the ice gave way to just regular snow which made it relatively easier.
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