Echos of St. Helena

Lately I've been having a rough go at work - and when I leave I feel physically, mentally and emotionally drained.  Typically during these infirm moments, I would go home, curl into a ball and be pretty useless and/or unproductive.  Which would only add to my frustration and...well...depression I guess.

Lately however, I've been making a consorted effort to get out and blow off some of the stress and frustration I feel.  This has taken the form of several high-quality cache hikes in Letchworth State Park.  As a matter of fact, I've spend probably five of the last seven days in the park - which as I look back at it, surprises me.  Today was one of the tougher days as of late - and after work I was tempted to fall back into my unhealthy routine.  I'm proud to admit, I instead forced myself out the door on a collision course with yet another fine cache in Letchworth.

The outlet and metaphorical punching-bag of my post work stress parade was Echoes of St. Helena Etched in Stone by the MaloneFamily.  This cache is set along the St. Helena Trail in the park, and takes you right down to the Genesee River, where you get up close and personal with an old bridge abutment.  This is one of the only structural remnants of St. Helena a now ghost town that existed from approximately 1850 to 1940.  It's a really neat location that seems extremely remote.

The cache hike pretty much takes you right by where I was just two days ago when I was hiking along Trail 13 doing Upon a Bust of Pallas by Wolf Creek.  I arrived at the parking coordinates and started toward the trailhead.

Away I go!

This cache was a puzzle cache - but a much less taxing one on my poor little pea-brain.  Essentially you had to go to a set of coordinates and find the necessary information to give you access to the cache.  Simple enough right!  The hike down towards the flats was pretty - and slowly but surely I made my approach to the Genesee River.

Trail towards the bridge abutment.

The information I needed to find was on an old foundation that once supported the bridge in St. Helena that crossed the Genesee River.  I became more and more stoked as I approached the river, as I knew I had never been down this particular trail before.  Soon the trees parted and there I was...

You can see the opposing bridge abutment on the other side of the river!

This was such an exceptional spot.  I was also really shocked to see how low the river was.  I guess the water tables around here are extremely low - to the point that the rafting group in the park has been canceling their outings due to it.  Bummer for the rafters - but it did give some interesting perspective on how shallow the Genny can get.  From there, I took to checking out the bridge abutment.  I'm pretty sure I found what I needed - but I second guessed myself so I spent additional time checking the area out.

One of the "etchings" I found on the abutment stones!

After enjoying this extremely scenic spot for a bit, I was eager to put my theory to the test to see if I could crack this cache.  The hike from the waterfront to the final cache was a short one, and after a little fudging I finally was able to get my name in the logbook.  Two puzzle caches in three days - not too shabby!  After rehiding the cache, I enjoyed the trail a bit, before packing up and starting back to the Suvie.  Of course I had to make a few stops to observe the views and flora.

When it was all said and done, I did probably around a three-quarters of a mile hike, with a little elevation thrown in for good & sweaty measure.  This was a fun adventure, and certainly something that did wonders for the old psyche.  :-)