Letchworth Part I - Topo Lesson's Last Stand

Today was a random sort of day with pseudo-plans that really only involved going in a certain direction and endeavoring to accomplish whatever tickled my fancy along the way.  The destination was Letchworth (geez...I'm spending a lot of time here...cool!), and my plan was to re-find a few caches that I had either not logged because of stupidity or that I logged and just plain forgot when I had visited them.

At some point in all this half-ass planned non-planning, I managed to text Cayuga to let him know of my intentions.  He had a couple things going on in the A.M., but was going to try and sneak away to join me at some point and participate in the tomfoolery.  So at this point I was left to my own devices - which worked out well enough since my first stop would be to revisit Brogan's Topo Lesson by Brogan (obvious right?  Haha).  This cache was located on a steep hillside that took you down towards the Genesee River.  In total, I think it was 300 or so feet of elevation down to the cache site, before doing a 360 and hauling my ample little cheekies back up towards the road.  It's a hell of a hike on the way out...which plays into why I had to pay this cache a return visit.

It all started on my birthday in 20-ought-ten.  To celebrate another year of being older (and at the time being rather miserable), I decided to go hide in the woods.  Letchworth seemed like a worthy location to drown my sorrows, and this cache fit the bill.  I had spent far too long putting it off, and figured this was a better day than ever to test my luck.  So down the hill I went.  When I arrived at the cache site, I learned the cache had been trashed by a bear and the container and contents were strewn about all over the place.  So I recovered what I could, and did my best to dry out the damp logbook.  I above all people was shocked to learn I had some cell reception down there, so I dropped a few texts to Brogan to see what he wanted me to do.  Eventually it was decided that I replace the cache where I figured it belonged.

After crawling up the few hundred feet, I had just arrived at my car when I realized that after all that I had forgot to sign the logbook!  That meant I would be unable to claim a find...and there was no way in hell I was hiking back up that hill after just doing it!  *Shakes head*  Oh well, I would just return another time and make it official.

Today was the day!  After trading a few emails with Brogan, it was decided that because the cache probably needed some TLC, and the fact that it had been sitting in those woods for nearly 9 years, it was time to pull this oldie but goodie and send it packing to the retirement home.  So my job today was two-fold.  Find the cache (and log the damn thing) and pull it so Brogan could archive it.  I'd be the last to find this cache, which was cool in a sort of bittersweet way.  Regardless, I did want to find this and also help out a friend. 

With that I arrived at the parking, and headed down hill.

Boy this pic makes it look so easy...haha.

From there it was a quarter mile downhill.  This was pretty easy, and I even commented to myself at how nice all the while knowing that the uphill portion would probably kill me.  That or the bears.  Haha.  For all the elevation though, this was a stunning section of woods.  The open hardwoods were beautiful, and the ground was alive with green - Spring has sprung!

Eventually through the trees - which were just starting to bud - I could see the mighty Genesee River...which looked more like a lake than a river.  With all the rain we've gotten, the dam much farther downstream was working overtime holding back all the water. 

Genesee "Lake" just feet from where I stood!

I arrived at the cache sight and found that the cache was hidden especially well.  After retrieving it, I learned that there was a group of cachers here just a week and half ago that had yet to log their adventures online.  I was bummed I wouldn't be the first one to find this cache since the last time I was here (yes I realize how dumb that sounds), but glad that the cache itself was in fair shape (albeit pretty damp still on the inside).  I grabbed the cache, said a few words, and started to methodically tackle the uphill portion of my trek.

My methodically I mean "try not to stroke out and/or swallow too many black flies as I huffed and puffed my way to the top of the mountain."  Logical right?  It was slow going, especially carrying the large cache container with me, but after several stops to catch my breath and curse the flies who kept dive-bombing my face, I finally hit the road and my vehicle.

It's strange seeing this cache and pavement in the same picture...

With that, I took a nice break, and learned that my buddy Cayuga was moments from entering the park from Mount Morris....which means more LSP adventures to come!