After leaving Pike County we made a much anticipated stop at the Bruce Lake Natural area in the Promised Land State Park for an expected pleasant hike to Egypt Meadow Lake. We visited here in 2004 and were bowled over by the beauty of the lake. We had both been waiting for this visit and expected our hike around the lake to be one of the highlights of the trip. All was great and the woods are wonderfull except we left the woods to find a drained lake. The pictures above show Egypt Meadow as we found it in 2004 and what remains in 2007. Since it is a dammed lake, we can only guess that it has fallen victim to this year's extended lack of rain. I thought maybe they had removed the dam, but could find no information on the internet. It was a tough stop for us.
After the Bruce Lake disappointment, we steeled ourselves for a return to Lackawanna County. Our attempts to find a cache there on the way to DWG were met with caches that seemed to have no place to park or no defined public lands. We gave up on the way when we tried to find a cache that was behind a fenced, posted area. Our first stop in Lackawanna County on the return trip did not fare better. Parking was on the shoulder of an on-ramp. From there a path between two trees posted with 'no trespassing' signs led into the woods. We decided to pass on this cache as well. After a failed attempt to find a cache on a tank (wahhhhhhh why did we bother?), we found the perfect place to hunt for our first Lackawanna cache. We stopped for an old, four-stage multi in a municiple park. Five minutes later, Ali was pulling her soaked self from the stream and my pda was a goner from the slip she took while crossing the stream. Luckily, Ali wasn't hurt.
We regrouped and were rewarded for our pain by having the joy of discovering Tunkhannock Creek at two seperate caches. The first contact was in a little town called Factoryville. It just happened to be the birthplace and boyhood home of pitching great Christy Mathewson. Baseball freaks can never pass on a chance for a little baseball history. We were rewarded with a visit to an outstanding park dedicated to Matthewson. The entrance to the park was a covered, pedestrian bridge built over the Tunkhannock. The baseball field was immaculate. There were a series of small gardens planted and tended by local school kids. Lastly, there was the Tunkhannock. The creek was much larger than usually found in small town parks and the shores were quite pleasant. We were the only ones there so we had the fun of relaxing and enjoying the water's edge.
Our second contact with the Tunkhannock was at a cache called Lima Romeo Golf. Since both pda's had died terrible deaths on this trip we were flying blind by this point with no write-ups, hints, or past logs. Our luck for the day got immensely better as Ali picked this cache out of a hat. The cache is located in an outstanding sandstone gorge with fairly high walls and an outstanding stretch of the Tunkhannock to enjoy. The hide is also exceptional. We were looking for a long time before Ali finally nabbed this hide. Just beyond the hide side the gorge opened up and we were able to negotiate our way down to enjoy a visit at the creek. This well deserving cache made our favorites list.
The rest of the day was uneventful. We were both exhausted by the time we got back home at about 1:30. Five counties was at least one too many for me in a day, but I got to visit a very memorable place.
No comments:
Post a Comment