4 November 2017 Mt. Baldy

We planned for a day at Allegany State Park starting with a long walk on the NCT to a cache called Old Baldy. The climb is a modest 800 feet with some bushwhacking to the peak which is claimed to the the location of an old indian fort. The leaves were mostly down, but the walk was pleasant.

Lizzie is a rugged trail dog, but here desire to sniff can extend any hike. She's a marked contrast to Phineas who starts barking if we stop too long while signing a log book.

The top of Old Baldy and the cache.

The questionable old indian fort remains. This looks just as likely to be some remnant of the CCC's time in the park area.

We stopped in the are where a tornado hit the park in 1990. The tornado moved ten miles through the park and touched down nine times. Our next find was near the regrowth of one of the heavily damaged areas. It has been interesting to stop here over the years and watch the damaged area regenerate.

The cache we were seeking required a stream crossing. The normally sedate crossing was much trickier today as the stream was fast, deep, and cold. Phineas and I took the plunge and made the find.

The two crossings required a bit of boot draining after our return.

Our last stop was a short hike to a night cache that we actually completed after sunset. We don't hunt many of these in the dark, but this was a quick hunt with the dogs on a fairly open trail.