Ward’s Rusty Box is a wonderful cache in the heart of the High Peaks Wilderness, which itself is considered the heart of the Adirondack Park in Upstate New York.
This is a great cache because it is different from the majority of caches in the Northeast. It is miles from the nearest road, cell-phone reception, water spigot, or 7-11, and there’s nowhere out there to re-supply on beef-jerky or Snickers bars. Ward’s Lean-to is pretty much the first “destination” to be reached on this trail, and the five-plus mile hike out to it is enough to weed-out 95 percent (or more) of the visitors to the Adirondacks, so you won’t see a lot of people on your trip.
I recommend stopping for lunch or dinner at the Ward’s Brook Lean-to before looking for the cache...The shortest way into the cache is an approximate 6-mile hike, each way, although it’s easy to make this cache part of a trip involving some of the tallest mountains in New York State and many nights of camping out. The cache can be done in about 5 hours, car to car, if you move right along the whole time; but why rush through this beautiful spot? It’s better to make it a day trip. Those attempting Ward’s Rusty Box should plan their trip ahead of time to make sure to get the most out their caching experience (and to get home safely).
The walk from the trailhead is mostly flat and dry, with occasional hills, swamps and rivers to break up the pace of your hike. Once you move away from the parking lot, you won’t hear another engine all day as you walk deeper and deeper into the wilderness (the day I went in, I didn’t see another soul all day, and there were only two cars in the trailhead’s parking lot).
Make sure to keep to the Northern trail, as it is flatter and more direct than other options. I mistakenly took a trail that wound up and down the shoulders of Seward and Seymour Mountains, which added a lot of altitude and about 5 miles to my trip to Ward’s. You will walk through a number of ecosystem types, see and hear lots of wildlife and pass by beautiful ponds and rivers on your way to the cache location.
I recommend stopping for lunch or dinner at the Ward’s Brook Lean-to before looking for the cache; it makes a great stop close to the prize. The cache isn’t far from the lean-to, but poor signal reception due to the dense woods could make for a bit of a hunt before you find the cache container (and who wants to go home with a DNF after a 12-mile hike?).
As with any trip into woods and wilderness, careful preparation before heading out is important. Look at, acquire, and bring some good maps of the area, along with a compass (and the ability to use it). Good boots and hiking clothes are also a must (don’t break in your new boots on this one). Bring a lot of water and the ability to make more drinkable water while out in the woods (you’ll walk by lots of water, but it may contain giardia or cryptosporidium).
A good first-aid kit (for you and your gear) that includes moleskin, spare shoelaces, an antihistamine, duct-tape, antiseptic wipes and spare batteries will help insure that you have a good time on your adventure into the woods. Tell a friend where you’re going and when you’ll be back, and bring another friend (or more) with you. Whenever you leave the trail, mark a waypoint. It would be easy to get, and stay, lost in these woods for a long time. You probably won’t need any of this stuff, but if you do, you’ll be glad that you remembered.
Most places we go in the pursuit of Tupperware and ammo-cans in the woods are barely shouting distance from civilization, Ward’s Rusty Box is not; sometimes it’s nice to operate without a net (or without much of a net, if you take some of my advice above). So for a different caching experience, think about visiting Ward’s Rusty Box, a great cache in a great part of the world!