Hickory Branch Cache

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Hidden On: 20 Nov 2003
Waypoint (Landmark): N00C86
Open Cache:  Personal use only
Cache type:  Normal
Cache size:   Normal

Difficulty:  (moderate)
Terrain:  (moderate)

Misc:

Comments:

Clues:    decode

• To find the cache 
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This is a very nice place to spend some time. I'm glad I did this one today. And I have a story to tell. The road is still gated for the winter, so I parked there and walked up the road to the camping area. Finding the trail was no trouble. Across the creek there were quite a few fellows camping. They were all wearing orange vests or orange sweatshirts except for one who was somewhat older and seemed to be the leader. As I walked through the camp one young fellow in an orange sweatshirt started talking to me and asked what I was doing. I said "hiking". He asked about the weather forecast and I told him I'd heard there was a chance of snow on Thursday. I walked on and noticed another fellow sitting beside a tarp tent erecting small deadfalls with small sticks and flat stones. Hhhmmm, scouts maybe?? I kept hearing someone yelling out numbers every few seconds. He was up to about 12 and was somewhere up the trail in the direction I was going. Then I saw him up the steep hill from the trail with a shovel digging what I assume was a "cathole", all the while still yelling out numbers like he was trying to let the others know he was still there. As I went around the bend he was still counting out, but pretty soon the creek sounds drowned him out.
I overlooked the cache the first time I checked the spot but soon decided it had to be there and found it well hidden. I wrote in the logbook and took the whetstone. Then I left a "furrin" coin, a tractor and a keyring and packed everything back. I rehid it well making sure it was out of sight and made the surrounding area look a little more natural.

On the way back out another fellow from the camp stopped me to talk. He wanted to know how far I had gone, and if I was hunting. I told him I'd gone as far as the falls and that I was just walking. Then the leader walks over and the first fellow moves quickly away like he was doing something wrong. The leader also wanted to know what I was doing, how far I'd gone and if I was hunting. I said I had just walked to the falls and back and he wanted to know why I'd chosen that trail. I thought all this was a little strange, especially since I could hear someone else off in the woods yelling out numbers. I asked the leader why they were there and how long they were staying. He said they were a survival training school from near Old Fort and had only been there one night and had one more to go. Might be, but yelling out a count by anyone who is out of camp was a new one on me. I'm wondering if maybe they were troubled kids, and that was his way of keeping anyone from slipping away. They were nice enough, just inqusitive about me.

Anyway, Thanks for the nice hike and the cache Mag, it's a good one.

Not too far from home. I will keep an eye on this!