Sometimes "the end" ain't all that bad

For several years now I've been parceling out my cache finds in Letchworth State Park.  The reason being that I didn't want to get to the point where there would be no more to find.  That remained the popular logic for the vast majority of my caching career - but recently I've found myself compelled to get into Letchworth and work on finding them all.  Every single tasty delicious one of them.  I'm not sure where this unexpected motivation came from, or even how it started.  All I know is that as I continue to do it, the more I enjoy it, and the happier I've been.

And faithful followers...I need the happiness.  So why go seagull on my own parade right!?!

Of all the caches in the park, only five still remained free from my grubby clutches.  So for fun (and because I haven't done one in a while for poor Jeffie), here is a list of the remaining unfound by Szuchie caches in Letchworth State Park as of the Tenth Day of the Seventh Month in the Two-Thousand and Eleventh year:

• End of 18 by Roadkill
• Near the End of 18 by Jaspie Joe
• Smokey Hollow Wallow by Rojar61 and Eagle Eyes
• Dam! What a view III by Howie and Jan
• GadgetsCHC's 10,000th Find! by MickEMT

Interestingly enough, of those five - one of them is a cache I would consider in the top five placements in the entire park.  Of course I would have to find it first to fully verify such a statement.  ;-)  The cache that I speak of is none other than the End of 18 by Roadkill.  As the name implies, this cache is located at the end of 18...trail 18 that is!  Us cachers are a clever bunch eh?!?  Haha. 

Trail 18 is a 1.75 mile trail located along a ridge that leads out to Kisil Point - a spectacular vista that overlooks the gorge and the mighty Genesee River below.  It's really an amazing trail - because throughout most of your hike your walking along the rim of the gorge - and in several spots there are exceptional spots to take in the sights.

This morning I decided that I would visit the end of 18 to see what I could see and find both the End of 18 by Roadkill and the almost as cleverly named Near the End of 18 by Jaspie Joe (which is a 50 foot pitstop on the trail on your way to the end of it).  Normally I would have just tore off after these caches, but today I smartly decided to stop at the house on my way east to see if anyone would be interested in joining me.  I was pleasantly surprised when my brother Adam decided to come along for the nonsensical fun.  :-)

This made me happy, because I would be able to share this cool spot with him - and assuredly have plenty of laughs and chuckles during our hike.  We arrived in the park, and found an adequate spot to begin our trek.  Early on during our hike, I got to finally show Adam was poison ivy looked like.  He's smart as a whip kiddies, because for the better part of a half-mile all I heard was him pointing the stuff out, and occasionally cursing the very existence of the stuff.  See, older brothers are good for something!  Haha.  Anyway...in addition to that, we discovered something else along the trail that we were mighty impressed with:

A pavillion in the middle of the woods built by CCC workers in the 1930's!

There's only a handful of spots that I've been to in Letchworth where you find impressive structures like this still standing - and in the middle of the woods no less.  So of course before we continued on, we had to check it out. 

The view from inside the pavilion.  Not too shabby!

After we sufficiently explored, we returned to the trail.  Here the trail started along the gorge - and in a couple of spots there were some gorgeous overlooks to be had. 

We spent a little while at this spot enjoying the beauty in ever direction.  The Genny was looking a little parched due to the lack of rain we've had - but the lush vegetation along her banks was really cool to see in contrast to the dark colors of the forest.  While we were in awe, we quickly lost track of nature and proceeded to goof around a little bit.  Here's Adam doing his best Christopher Columbus and in doing so looking very astute.  Hahahaha.

Adam searching for new lands...preferably with girls and beer.

After finishing our overlook shenanigans, we continued down 18 until we started downhill towards the "knife ridge" and the first of the two caches we were after.  It was a short hike before we were signing in at Near the End of 18.  This stop in the book, we made our way to the End of 18 cache - my goal for the day!  Here Adam found the cache pretty quickly, and while we waited for a few hikers to make their way out of our sights, we signed in to officially complete one of the best caches in the park!  I was pretty happy...of course I do have a pretty suggestive personality.

With the geo-business over and done with, we were now dedicated solely to enjoying Kisil Point in all it's glory.  It was spectacular, and outside of some trail traffic upon our arrival, we had this section of Letchworth all to ourselves!

Adam at a nearby spot overlooking the Silver Lake Outlet.
Killer sneaks yo.  LOL.

I was extremely glad Adam came along with me to explore this amazing area.  We don't get to do too much stuff with just the two of us, so to share Trail 18 and all the scenery made my day.  I love my brother.  Awwww...man I'm cute!  Haha.  With all the caches found and the sights saw, we returned back to the main trail and made our way home.  Of course I had to capture at least one more picture before it was all said and done:

The first indian pipe I've seen this year!  I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty excited.