Iron Center

Printer Version   Spy on this Cache

  3 people or teams spying on this cache!  

Hidden On: 18 Apr 2002
Waypoint (Landmark): N022B2
Open Cache:  Non-commercial use only
Cache type:  Normal
Cache size:   Normal

Difficulty:  (easy)
Terrain:  (moderate)

Misc:

Comments:

Clues:    decode

• Clue 1 
  guerr sryy qbja> bar fgvyy fgnaqf>

We had lots of fun on this epic cache! On the way out we kept changing out of our boots and into our sandals when we had to ford the stream....but by the time we found the cache and were headed back to the car....we were so worn out that we just hiked in our sandals!! :) It was a good worn out! We'd do a cache like this any day over a parking lot cache!! Even if we don't get a smiley! Thanks Quest Master for a great adventure!

What a nice hike! We got started from car around 4:15pm and found the cache around 4:50pm. A sunny warm day, the water level was low, which enabled us well in the multiple creek crossings that this find required, at least for the route we took. Once again, as it so often seems to be the case, QM has provided a cache that has sights, sounds, locations, and all around beauty, that make his caches the most memorable. TNLN/SL, TFTC, blackbeardsnewf

2 of 9 on my 2nd annual Quest Master Cache Marathon. What a scramble! Fortunately, the ATV trail took me there most of the way. Found the cache, although the GPSr was bouncing around a lot. I wished I would have had my camera & tripod to take pictures of the beautiful creek! TFTC!

Wow! What a cache! We came in from "Lost Crag" and saw some really cool stuff along the way. A nice collection of boulders on the way down the hill after jumping 4 grouse while walking across Zebley Flats! The boulders showed up just in time, as a cong-soon started up when we got there so we prompty crawled under an overhang and waited it out.
Saw some Indian Pipe mushrooms, (pic1) which ya don't see very often, (unless you are a real woodsman). Saw some orange fugus(pic2). After fording Glade Run (pic3) we explored and found the goods safe and dry. Grabbed a TB that's had to long of a rest. Great cache, great hike, on one helluva day in the cong. Thanks QM for the cache and the history lesson.
[Modified 2008-07-25 07:43:11]

[Modified 2008-07-27 05:11:45]

  Indian Pipe
  Orange Fungus
  Egroeg getting his shoes wet

We headed to this one from School of Hard Knox figuring it would be a little easier. It was a little easier, but not much. We totally messed up following the four wheeler tracks at first, but after a short distance we were on our way. We began to hear dogs barking in the distance, but since there was a road visible on the map I didn't think much of it...that is, until the barking became louder and louder and was obviously getting closer and closer. I suggested maybe we should "prepare" for the encounter, but before our preparations were complete there were two dogs headed our way on the trail, one of them a pit bull! Fortunately (for us and for them) a loud shout had them turning tail and running the way they came. A little later a third dog came up to the path, but I think he was old, half blind and almost deaf. He turned tail as soon as he spotted us. After that we continued on to a very interesting cache site and Vertumnis soon had the container in hand. The return trip had no such excitement and we managed to stay on the trail this time. Thanks for the experience! TNLNSL.
[Modified 2007-10-14 20:00:12]

[Modified 2007-10-14 20:00:31]

Our second of 2 on our second day of our annual OSP Caching trip from Eastern PA (You know - Microville Lebanon County). Klatch and I finished Hard Knox and drove the couple 'o feet to the creek. The start was smooth and grassy - the other 99 percent was rocks and mud and water. (lovin' it, lol). The long hike was tricky at first, trying to follow those 4x4 trails but the farther we went, the easier it got. At one point... well, Klatch can convey that if he wants. About .1 from GZ I thought, "You've got to be kidding!"... but up we went. The clue saved a lot of searching on the hill side and I left a combo' lock, 4 quarters, a picture frame and something from AT&T - took nothing. Heading back we ate a late lunch while hiking on the trail and in the creek again and again (didn't we just do this?) Arriving back at the vehicle - we were done for the day! Tuckered and wet it was back to camp to prepare for day 3. Thanks for a great and historical hike. (How DO you find these places?)
[Modified 2007-10-12 17:54:10]

QM caches are often nuttier than usual. For instance, I believe there is such a thing as a "Questmaster Mile", which would be much like a dog year.

Anyway, I hit the trail out of Betty Knox Park just after 8AM The sky was clear and the weather looked good. I figured I had about 2.5 or 3 miles of walking, so I left my pack in the car and rock hopped the first water hazard. The hike out to the furnace was pretty cool. I got sidetracked many times with birds, critters, and other interesting junk. I lost the trail only once, and then only briefly. Other than that, I found the furnace like I knew where it was.

I sat near the furnace for a bit to take a load off and just enjoy some personal quality time. As I sat there, it started drizzling, so I figured I'd better get a move on.

I spied an ATV trail that appeared to go in the right direction, so I followed it for a ways. The sat lock went crazy and it took awhile to figure out I was heading away from the cache. When I figured out about where I had to be, I took a nice little side trail into a ravine, accross a small waterfall, and up another hill. The drizzling rain continued.

The sat locks grew worse and had me doing tenth mile circles all up, down, and accross a steep hill. The drizzle was replaced by a downpour. The rain made the leaf clutter on the ground as slippery as monkey snot. I had difficulty standing or moving. I slid, skied, and generaly fell down into the creek. I was soaked, my rain gear was in the car along with my extra water.

Anyway, I decided to abandon the hunt as I pulled myself out of the creek. I had no sat lock and was soaked. I started the hike back to the car. Still raining and temp dropping -- Not that it was cold by real standards, but it was cold for a big wet guy in T shirt and shorts. I missed a trail on the way back to the car. I added a ton of distance to the return trip, and just resigned to slogging accross the creek many times.

I got back to the car, wet, muddy, and rather mizerable. However, by the next day, I was glad to tell the story. I will return to appenge myself.

Johnny -- Thanks!!!!

Dave

We had one more find to graduate from the “School of Hard Knox”, and this was it. We didn’t want to cross the creek due to the cool temperatures, so after some studying, we found another way in. We had a great hike in. The Dunbar Mountain area has some of the nicest rock formations there are to be seen. The old furnace was really cool, and we enjoyed exploring it. We made our way up to the cache area, the GPS was bouncing a good bit. But, once it settled down we got pretty close. We had to use the hint, and it was a good one. We made some small trades, and signed the log. The cache was in good shape and hidden well. On the way out, I took some nice pictures of the little stream. There is beautiful scenery every where! We only got this one in today, but it was well worth it! Another quality hide Quest Master. Thanks for the adventure!

12:15PM - The whole K-SQUARED family was out for this one, and wouldn't you know, another Quest Master cache in the Cong and another RATTLESNAKE encounter, this time, a little too close for comfort! We were approaching the location of the final. I had walked by a big tree up on a cliff to check out the mine entrance, then walked back towards the group. KJ came back with me to look at the mine. Lia, with Hannah on her back, and Serena were making their way along the little path toward the mine when I heard it, the loud rattle of a rattlesnake! I spun around and yelled for Serena to stop and stay still, while I asked Lia where it was. She pointed to it, about 3-4' in front of Serena, all coiled up and ready to strike looking right at Lia and Serena. Lia got her back away quick. KJ and I were about 6' from it on the other side, near the mine, next to a big tree. I had walked by within 3' of it three times and never saw it or caused it to rattle. Anyway, we made it around safely, and on up to the cache, albeit, a little more slowly and more paranoid now. We found the cache quickly. I was a little bummed that sherpes made it to the cache yesterday and grabbed the YJTB!! The kids made trades while I signed the log. KJ dropped in his Compass Rose geocoin and Serena plopped in her Cat geocoin. A terrific cache we all agreed was deserving of these two special geocoins. I grabbed the JeeperMTJ geocoin. The walk in and out along the Dunbar Creek and the ATV trails was serene and beautiful today. Perfect weather! The kids caught a couple of toads, saw a few big millipedes and a couple of salamanders. We stopped at all your waypoints to check out the cemetery, the furnace and the mine. This one took us 4-and-a-half hours to complete. Serena did great, no whining. Their reward was ice cream afterwards. Thanks again Johnny for an awesome cache! Hope to see you soon. Now just have to do "The Lost Crag" to receive my diploma from the School of Hard Knox... (I wanted to do it after, but that got nixed real quick!)

Found this one at 6:15PM along with JimBat today after work. What a great cache! Yeah, we got our feet a little wet and we each fell on our butt once, but we had a blast!
It was kind of hard to believe that there were going to be remnants of an industrial site way back in there, but, sure enough, there they were! How does Quest Master find this stuff?
We spent some time looking over the old furnace and then went on to the cache. Read and signed the logbook while fighting off the skeeters. Gotta remember that bug spray next time! I left a geocoin and took the stickers left by Yinz Cache and OldMillIronsides. Very Cool!

After the cache, we explored the mine a while and then made our way back out toward the truck. We stopped to check out the cemetary, then headed out.

Looks like I've earned my Honorary Degree from the School of Hard Knox after completing this one! This cache has been calling my name ever since I ran out of daylight during my Betty Knox Area Cache-A-Thon five days ago, in the rain!

Feels good to get this one under my belt!

Another great QM cache!

This was our Third of four Quest Master Caches for the day. K-finders, Ekimdam, non-cacher Dan, and myself were out here for our annual stomp through Quest Master territory. Very nice hike! Would of been a lot easier if it wasn't raining cats and dogs! We were totally soaked by the time we got to the cache and it didn't have anything to do with the four creek crossings! Thanks for another memorable cache! I wish I would of seen some of those morels! I wouldn't have left them! Signed the log, took and left nothing.

Found this way back 200, but been back a fee time since.
Once with Kel-Star and Scruff in the dead of winter.
[Modified 2008-09-14 00:14:45]

3rd of 6 Quest Master cache adventures in the Fayette-Cong for me today, while the rest of the Nellsnake team was out of town for the weekend. I had successfully avoided any significant water hazards in the nine Quest Master caches I had completed prior to this one…my luck had to run out eventually. This cache was quite a vigorous ~3 mile round trip hike, which involved crossing the ankle-deep creek on three occasions for me each way. That, coupled with a very rocky terrain near the creek bed, and an extremely steep final ascent to the cache (I approached from the west side) made this cache one of the most physically demanding that I have done—I enjoyed every minute of it. Because of spotty reception near the cache location, I needed to decrypt the hint, which helped me find it very quickly. I signed the logbook at 1:40 p.m., TN, and left a Yellow Jeep TB--this cache is well worthy of one! Because I had worked up quite an appetite, from here I went into town to sample the fine cuisine at Pechin’s (my first time), where I got a cheeseburger ($0.29) and a large cup of fries ($0.49). My adventures then continued down at Fairchance, where I took on the Fairchance Three (Scattered Remains, Polly Takes the Plunge, and Cache 22). Thanks again, QM!