This Month:
- Haw Ridge Geocache Park By Tee King, aka Pyewacket
- Crossing the Delaware (Border) By Gary Griffith, aka The GeoGriffs
Just how many is a "gaggle", anyway? According to the Friends of Haw Ridge Park, the number is 13; that's how many caches they've hidden in the 780-acre Haw Ridge Park in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
The Haw Ridge caches, with descriptive names such as Osprey Nest and Sunken Treasure run the gamut of difficulty/terrain ratings. Several of the nine traditional and four multi-caches in the wilderness park are accessible by kayak or canoe; others are near the many trails that wind throughout the area.
Hidden somewhere in the park is the Big Bin cache, which can only be found by calculating its location using a tape measure or ruler. The Green Hill Trio multi-cache will have seekers
craning their necks to find numbered trees in order to complete mathematical equations. And, the Troll Bridge cache necessitates keeping a lookout for consumers of billy goats gruff.
While a few of the park's 25 miles of trails make for a nice meander, be warned that others can be challenging. The park is a haven for serious hikers, nordic skiers, and mountain bikers; on July 17, the park played host to the National Off-Road Biking Association (NORBA) by accomodating competitors with amenities ensuring a grueling race. There are climbs and descents exceeding 70%, rocky paths, and steep climbs at each entry to the park. For example, the .4 mile K2 Trail is a steep ascent which descends to the Roller Coaster Trail of 1.4 miles. With that type of a downhill run, it might be easy to miss the caches that are hidden just off the trails.
The park's acreage had been slated to become a light industrial park in 1998. Enter a gathering of concerned citizens; the Friends of Haw Ridge was formed by these citizens who volunteered their time to ensure the preservation of the recreation area, donated to the city of Oak Ridge in 1972 by the Tennesee Valley Authority. In addition to placing caches in the park, the non-profit organization also facilitates the protection and preservation of the park's features. In addition, they raise funds for the park through the sales of tee shirts and bumper stickers. The proceeds go towards maintaining the trails and offering quality recreation and interpretive experiences to users of the park.
For more information on caching and other activities in the area, please visit the Friends of Haw Ridge Geocache Park web site, which includes links to other recreation nearby, various maps of the park, and local geocaching organizations.