Scoby Dam Park - An adventure of headbuttable proportions...

The sun was out, the skies were blue, and I was saddled with a zero day.  I reviewed the geo-landscape to see what was close to home which would also provide me with an adequate find in a nice spot.  I just can't bring myself to find a two-second park and grabs after work...because if I don't find something that has a little content, I'll feel guilty.  I know, I'm a dweeb...I just can't help myself.

The hide that caught my eye and would sufficiently fulfill all of my stringent geo-needs was Try this View of 219 by Topher&Wendall.  This cache is located in Scoby Dam Park in the town of Springville, New York.  According to Mr. Scott Ensminger and his extremely informative website:

Scoby Dam is an mothballed hydroelectric dam on Cattaraugus Creek. Built in 1924 the dam is 30 feet in height and 182 feet in width. It supplied electricity to the Village of Springville from 1924 to 1996. The area became an Erie County park in April of 2001. Scoby Dam Park is a strip of land along the bank of Cattaraugus Creek. The park is a popular area for fishing and hiking to enjoy the scenery along the creek.

In addition to Scoby Dam, the park also follows the banks of Cattaraugus Creek.  Along the creek is a trail that will take you underneath Route 219 and the two bridges that are now erected to cross the Catt Creek gorge.  It's awesome and looks something like this:

The bridge in the foreground is 165 feet above the creek and is the "old" route 219 bridge, while the one in the back clocks in at 230 feet above Catt Creek and is part of the extension for the 219 expressway which they completed in November of 2010.  Of course both structures get plenty of use, and having the opportunity to see it from below is spectacular. 

My first visit here was in 2006 to find the now archived Cattaraugus Creek #2 Scoby Dam by Balloonpilot and Chickenlips.  Interestingly enough the new cache here is only 170-feet or so from the Balloonpilot and Chickenlips original offering.  Not much of a change, but when you hike here it's always a wonderful experience.  As usual, I had my camera along with me, and capture a great many sites from this gorgeous location.

Scoby Dam on my hike in.

The trail in alongside Cattaraugus Creek.

More from the creekside trail towards the cache location.

The sun peering over the gorge walls...also a little waterfall
emptying into the creek!  Pretty snazzy this place!

I arrived at the cache, and as I expected I was treated to a great view of the 219 bridges.  I spent a few minutes gawking at the work that must have gone into constructing the new bridge.  Soon I clued in on the cache site.  Maybe it was me, or my GPS, but I couldn't get a reliable bead on where the cache location was.  I kept pointing at the supports under the old 219 bridge, but wasn't coming up with the find.  At one point I ducked under a metal beam, and thinking I had cleared it I popped back up smash my skull into one of the rivets in the beam.  Now I was frustrated and woozy.  Great!  The "funny" to come out of this is now I can say I've headbutted the 219 bridge.  Bridge 1, Szuchie 0. 

Anyway...my aptitude for persevering was waning, but eventually I caught the right angle and made the find.  After I did the deed, I rehid the cache and once again spent a little time taking pictures of this extremely awesome spot.

The moon hovering over the new 219.

After loitering for a sufficient amount of time, I started my hike back.  In total I think it's probably a mile and a quarter round trip for this cache - so I was looking forward to the long walk out.  I wasn't too long into my return hike before I met my first snake of the year.  Ain't he cute?!?

From there it was smooth sailing back to my SUVIE and the completion of yet another wonderful hike here in Scoby Dam.  The bonus is that there is another cache in this park - so a return visit is in my immediate future!  I'm def. looking forward to it.  :-)