My Great Letchworth Geo-Adventure Nears Completion!

After a couple grueling weeks at work, I decided to take yesterday off.  I had to.  I have been a messy stressed out wreck, and I'm pretty sure that a respite was necessary before I threw my miserable self off the deep end.  To soothe the savage beast, I decided to visit Letchworth and pay everyone's favorite Park Manager Mr. Beck a visit.  You see, in order to get a cache published in the park, you have to get Mr. Beck's approval. 

I couldn't sleep the night before, so I was actually up ridiculously early.  So I putzed around a little, and hit the pavement a little after 7am.  It was going to be an awesome day out, as the air was cool and the sun was shining brightly.  There wasn't nary a cloud in the sky, and I was on my way to hopefully secure the linchpin in my LSP geo-plans.  Mr. Beck is a really busy dude, so getting time with him can be hard to do.  Lucky for me, he was available today to chat - so when the cosmos opens a window, you jump through the damn thing.

I had told Mr. Beck my arrival time would be somewhere in the 8 to 8:30am timeslot - so when I got to the park 15 minutes early, I decided to take a walk and check out one of the caches in the park that has been giving folks fits.  The cache is called Steps by Brogan.  The name don't lie - there are a lot of "rustic steps" starting from underneath the train trestle down into the gorge hill above the Upper Falls (check it, I linked to one of my waymarks...oh yeah, hecka nerdy y'all!!!)

For some reason my left knee was really pissed and trudging up and down those stairs.  But I did.  The mist from the falls sparkled in the morning sun, and once in a while it'd kiss my cheek.  It was cold, but it made me smile - which was much needed.  For a bit I wandered up and down the stairs looking for the cache.  I didn't have my GPS with me, but still...there are only so many places to look right?  Haha.  Either way, I had no luck.  Eventually I decided it was time to go see Mr. Beck - so back to the truck I went. 

In September 2006, I placed a cache in Letchworth.  It was my first cache placement here, so after meeting Mr. Beck, he hiked the 3-plus miles roundtrip to check out my cache.  Since I was new to him, he wanted to make sure the cache conformed to the park's policies, that it wasn't dangerous, and that I wasn't doing something stupid.  He was a trooper, because when he made that hike he was still getting over a really bad chest/head cold.  Poor fella!  He liked that cache, and so he approved. 

This time around, I didn't think he would make the trek, just because this time around it would be an 8-plus mile hike, and at this point I think only I would be dumb enough to want to do that.  So, my hope was he'd let me explain what I was doing, and if he like what he heard he'd give me the green-light.  I walked into Letchworth's main office building feeling a little nervous.  Mr. Beck is the Park Manager, so if he didn't like it...then I was sunk.  He's the boss after all!

Thank you Mr. Beck!!!

He came out into the lobby to get me, and was really friendly.  I've always like Mr. Beck...and as I sat down in his office we got down to business.  I explained to him the layout of my cache, as well as all my other crackpot Szuchie ideas for this hide.  He seemed really cool with it all, and with that I was approved! 

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeet.

Now that I had permission to run amuck in the LSP wilderness hiding caches, I had to actually finalize a spot for my final cache.  Haha...I know that sounds backwards, but I swear the logic is sound.  Why get the cache all placed and done, and then go and have it denied?  Brilliant right?!?  Haha.  Truth of the matter is, the entire cache is going to be three legs.  The first two are set - and the final was pending some exploration (don't worry faithful readers, Mr. Beck knows about my plan and when I have everything finalized, I'm going to email him with all the details). 

After this huge triumph, I headed to Castile, NY to meet Brogan and dine at Lorraine's Place.  I got french toast.  Nom nom nom!  Afterwards we headed back to LSP.  He wanted Mr. Beck to approve his re-furbished Steps cache, and I wanted to pick up an Empire Passport which I had forgot in all the excitement earlier.  The passport gets me into all NY State Parks without having to pay the admission fee (where applicable).  At 8 bucks a pop, it's a sound investment.  Especially for as much as I go to LSP.  Anyway, Brogan and I spent a few hours screwing around, and eventually we departed company.  I made my way to Perry, NY to enjoy some lunch at John and Sarah's Family Restaurant with Chicky.  I had a chicken finger wrap.  Revenge of the nom nom nom!  For desert, it was off to The Charcoal Corral for my first twist softserve of the year.  Even more nom nom nom!

With lunch done, Chicky returned back to work and I returned back to LSP.  This time I rounded the park through Portageville, and headed to the east side of the park to work on finding the perfect location for the last part of my cache.  I arrived at the Sycamore Trail access to the FLT, and saw a familiar looking vehicle parked in my spot!  It was Paleoman52!  I headed down the trail hoping to run into him.  I arrived at the intersection of the FLT with no one in sight.  Bummer dude.  I suspected he had continued down the Sycamore Trail towards the gorge and his cache The Old Man of the Genesee.  The cache describes a Sycamore tree (namesake of the trail) that lives along the banks of the Genesee River.  It's one of the older trees in the park, and is also a record holder I believe for it's massive size and age.  If you want to see this epic giant, get there soon though, because the river is undermining it's base...sadly it's just a matter of time.
 

Check out my sweet can.  Camo courtesy of Cayuga Crew!

Since I wanted to get a jump on my own cache, I waved in the general direction of P-Man and started down the FLT.  It was considerable more mucky today than it was the last time I was here.  But it was still beautiful, and really...nothing could dampen my spirits.  After a mile and change, I started looking for a good spot for my ammo can.  I really wanted to hide a 50 caliber ammo box - which for those not familiar is a mid-sized box.  The smaller version is a 30 caliber - and while that was an option, I figured a larger box would be a nice treat for someone who completes this cache. 

For whatever reason, I just couldn't find a good stop.  I was actually getting frustrated, because the other two legs found me pretty easy.  After one or two spots let me down, I found a decent spot for the final.  It's not far from the trail, and had a nice view of hardwoods (as far as the eye can see!)  It wasn't ideal, but it would work so...I'm happy with it.  For a while I tried to get a good coordinate reading, but my GPS was copping serious 'tude.  I think the ones I ended up with are legit - we'll see!  After I was done, I explored a bit as there was an old farmers dump in the direction of the gorge.  The day started getting late, so I headed back to the FLT and made my way slowly back to the truck.  I was tired, but felt like I accomplished a lot!  Here's hoping the weather is nice Sunday, as I might be able to finish the cache - and then I can make it open for public consumption!  :-)