Historical Caches of Harford County Challenge Mystery Cache

This is a challenge cache, the purpose of which is to encourage geocachers to go out and find those early Harford County geocaches that are still active. The geocache is hidden at the listed coordinates. To log this cache as found you must complete the challenge described below.

The requirements for completing this challenge:

1) Find 15 geocaches which were published before the 20th-oldest active geocache in Harford County. This may include archived caches.

2) Use the Project-GC Challenge Checker to verify that you qualify for this challenge.

A few notes:

1) If any of the geocaches are owned by you, you may claim them on your list.

2) If any cache on the list is archived, then the next oldest active cache will be included. Once a cache is archived, a new 20th-oldest active cache will be recognised by the Challenge Checker. Any archived caches will still be allowed on your list of 15 caches to qualify.

3) At the request of Groundspeak, the challenge checker now includes archived cache finds in your list, even caches which were archived before the publication of this challenge. If you have been caching in Harford County since the early 2000s, the majority of the caches on your list are likely to be archived ones.

4) In accordance with the new Groundspeak guidelines, you are no longer required to include the #1 oldest active Harford County Geocache (Eagle Pt) in your list of 15 caches. But you should find it anyway. It would be silly not to.

5) A successful run of the Challenge Checker serves as your proof of qualification. The checker will provide a formatted list should you wish to copy/paste one into your log, however this is no longer required.

6) If you have not yet completed this challenge, you may still find the geocache and sign the log, but you may not log it as a find until you have successfully completed the challenge. Any found-it logs submitted without completing the challenge will be deleted.

7) I have posted a write-note demonstrating that I have met the criteria for this challenge.

Harford County’s Twenty Oldest:

1. (GC43BB)  Eagle Pt.  (hidden on 2002-03-17)
2. (GC76B2)  Harbor of Grace, Waters Edge Cache  (2002-07-27)
3. (GCDF6C)  Swan Harbor Stumper  (2003-03-05)
4. (GCDF6A)  Swan Harbor Sneaker  (2003-03-05)
5. (GCDF6E)  Forest Green  (2003-03-05)
6. (GCE968)  Tuck Everlasting  (2003-03-22)
7. (GCG1W8)  Bush Forest Ruins  (2003-05-03)
8. (GCG2DZ)  Milling Around in the Garden of Eden  (2003-05-04)
9. (GCG9EP)  Gunpowder Essentials  (2003-06-14)
10. (GCH11W)  7.4 MILES TILL THE _ _ _ ?  (2003-10-06)
11. (GCHM2Z)  CECIL IS LISTENING  (2004-02-01)
12. (GCHM28)  Adjusting the TARGET  (2004-02-01)
13. (GCHM35)  PENALTY DE-KLEIN-ED  (2004-02-01)
14. (GCHM2K)  A LOT OF IRONBIRDS  (2004-02-01)
15. (GCHQG9)  Bush River Bonanza - Part 2  (2004-02-21)
16. (GCJ7KA)  Flat Rock Cache  (2004-04-17)
17. (GCJ8AZ)  DAM CACHE II -THE RESURECTION  (2004-04-20)
18. (GCJBMX)  RED & BLUE  (2004-05-02)
19. (GCJBMV)  WALKIN THE WALK  (2004-05-02)
20. (GCDF68)  VAN BIBBER - PARK & CACHE  (2004-06-23)

     A bookmark list is available here.

Though the hike to this challenge cache is not the distance many of the earlier geocaches were, the hide is typical of some of those early caches. The difficulty rating reflects the effort required to complete the challenge; the hide itself would be rated a 2 difficulty. The terrain rating applies only to the hike for this challenge cache. A waypoint has been included for Parking, and the provided Trailhead waypoint indicates a split in the trail where a left turn should be taken. You are likely to cross three or four minor streams on your way to the cache, however wet feet are easily avoided if you are careful. The container is a .50 cal ammo can.

This geocache is placed in Palmer State Park, which is managed by the Rocks, Susquehanna, and Palmer State Park Complex Office. Permission has been granted for placement of this geocache. This geocache should only be sought in daylight hours.

Thanks to deepdish23 for permission to expand his Historical Caches Challenge series and to Vogelbird for providing the checker. Thanks also to Visit Harford! for providing this cache’s county-related swag.

PLEASE NOTE: While hiking on this trail is permitted, the trail is no longer maintained by the park service. Careful attention to footing should be paid for the first 0.15 miles as the trail is significantly eroded in places and can be treacherous after heavy rains. About 0.13 miles in, the trail passes over a section of rocks which can be extremely slippery. Always remember the "three points of contact" rule. One misplaced step could ruin your day. Due to these hazards, this trail may not be suitable for young children and pets.

Other caches in the Historical Caches Challenge series:

• Historical Caches of Anne Arundel County
• Historical Caches of Baltimore City
• Historical Caches of Baltimore County
• Historical Caches of Carroll County
• Historical Caches of Howard County
• Historical Caches of Montgomery County
• Historical Caches of Prince George’s County
• Historical Caches of St Mary’s County