Cache Across Maryland 2016
The Maryland Geocaching Society and the National Park Service welcome you to the 2016 edition of Cache Across Maryland! In commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the National Park Service, the MGS and the NPS have joined together in presenting CAM 2016 in ten National Park locations throughout the state of Maryland. From the mountains of Western Maryland to the Atlantic Ocean, Cache Across Maryland 2016 will demonstrate that Maryland truly is “America in Miniature”.
This is one of ten geocaches placed in National Parks for Cache Across Maryland 2016. Each geocache contains a code which you will use to determine the location of the CAM 2016 Picnic to be held on May 14th. The code can be found on the inside wall of the cache container and on the inside front cover of the logbook. Don't forget to record this code! Any geocacher who has completed all ten CAM geocaches and attends the CAM Picnic on May 14th will receive a Certificate of Completion and a Cache Across Maryland 2016 Geocoin. We hope you enjoy a very special CAM 2016!
Chesapeake & Ohio Canal: Great Falls
The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal began as a dream of passage to western wealth. It operated as a conduit of eastern coal, suffered extensive and finally fatal flooding, and then resisted being paved as a highway. It endures as a national historical park today—a pathway into history, nature, and recreation.
To cheers, toasts, and a blaring bass band, President John Quincy Adams broke ground for the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal on July 4th, 1828. The goal was ambitious: to improve on nature with a navigable waterway from tidewater at Georgetown to the Ohio River. The people had canal fever and dreamed of a united, wealthy nation trading with the world. A growing nation later saw the dream fulfilled, but by other modes of transportation.
The Great Falls of the Potomac have drawn people to the river’s shore for centuries. To Native Americans it was a gathering place, to George Washington it was an impediment to navigation, to thousands of visitors every year it is an awe-inspiring site. Tourists have been drawn to the Great Falls of the Potomac long before there was a canal. The Great Falls Tavern carries on a long tradition of hospitality for visitors to the C&O Canal. Soon after the canal’s ground breaking in 1828, construction began on the original lockhouse.
In response to travelers’ requests for shelter and a meal, the locktender here at Great Falls, W.W. Fenlon, asked the Canal Company to build the three-story north wing for a hotel. The hotel opened for business in 1831. The entrance door invited guests into a large, windowed room with fireplaces and a bar. As the inn’s first proprietor, Mr Fenlon presided over lively entertainment like fishing parties, dances, and social events in the ‘ballroom’, in addition to good dinners and a place to sleep. A community of over 100 people grew nearby with shops and a post office.
By the time construction ended in 1850, progress had left the C&O Canal behind, and canals were obsolete. Cost overruns, labor problems, and rocky terrain delayed building the canal, but new railway technology had made great strides. The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad completed the link to the West, while the canal stopped far short of reaching the Ohio River.
In the span of a lifetime, canals faded from beacons of a dawning age to quaint reminders of a bygone era. But from 1828 to 1850, thousands of immigrants found work—and hope of a new life—building the canal. Until 1924, hundreds of working families spent their lives along it. In the massive stonework of the locks and the aqueducts, their memories now linger like footprints of a restless nation’s great migration westward.
After it closed in 1924, the C&O Canal sat nearly abandoned for 30 years. Flooding and financial ruin killed the C&O Canal Company, but not the canal’s physical remains. Now bypassed by freight and commerce, the canal was soon discovered by people with different goals. The canal’s nearly level towpath ran 184.5 miles along the Potomac River. It had survived as a window on the past and a witness to the resilience of nature.
One who rediscovered the C&O Canal was US Supreme Court Justice William O Douglas. Over time, Justice Douglas and other concerned citizens persuaded the federal government to protect the canal. In 1971, Congress established the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park. Now you can enjoy what Douglas called “a refuge, a place of retreat, a long stretch of quiet and peace.”
Hikers, campers, bicyclists, and others can experience the rich history, wildlife, and geology of the Potomac River valley. The towpath corridor is also part of the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail. Watered sections of the canal accommodate canoeists, boaters, and anglers. Great Falls rangers and volunteers in period clothing take you back to the canal’s heyday.
The Geocache
This geocache is not located at the listed coordinates. This is a three-stage puzzle. The puzzle does NOT involve calculating coordinates; instead you must determine a combination to open the geocache.
The coordinates to the cache container are given in the ‘Final’ waypoint, however the container is locked; before seeking the final you must first determine the combination to the lock. The combination can be discovered by one of two means: (1) The intended method requires the use of a mobile phone and decent reception; (2) An alternate method is provided for those who are hearing-impaired or who are without a phone. (This option is listed below under the ‘Alternate Method’ heading.)
Phone Method
- Begin at the ‘Lives of Children’ waypoint (N38° 59.981, W077° 14.899). There you will find a sign. Make note of the 10-digit phone number on the sign; you will need to dial this number in the next step.
- Proceed to the ‘Lock 16’ waypoint (N38° 59.603, W077° 14.713). At this point, dial the 10-digit phone number obtained in the previous step.
- When prompted for the Stop Number, enter 1302.
- Listen carefully to the tour information. Make note of the year the tragedy occurred; the year is the combination to the lock. (checksum=17)
- If you are unable to access or hear the recording, use the following Alternate Method.
Alternate Method
- Begin at the ‘Lives of Children’ waypoint. There you will find a sign. Make note of the 10-digit phone number on the sign. Let (ABC) DEF-GHJK represent those ten digits.
- W = E+F
- X = H+K
- Y = A–J
- Z = G+Y
- The combination to the lock is WXYZ. (checksum=17)
Final
- Now that you have obtained the combination, proceed to the ‘Canal Stop Gate’ waypoint (N38° 59.595, W077° 14.712) and cross over the canal.
- Use the ‘Final’ waypoint (N38° 59.667, W077° 14.729) to locate the cache container.
A unique overlook of the gorge can be viewed near the cache hide. Don’t forget to visit the nearby earthcaches and virtual cache. A waypoint is also provided for a benchmark near Lockhouse 16.
Please stay on the trails. Bushwhacking to the final would be extremely dangerous to you and harmful to the environment. Please also refrain from making stone rubbings at Lock 16 or anywhere else in the park.
The C&O Canal National Historic Park at the Great Falls area is open during daylight hours except for Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day. The Great Falls Tavern is open Wednesday through Sunday from 9.00am–4.30pm.
To enter the Great Falls Section of the C&O Canal, there is a $10 fee per car (including all passengers) or a $5 fee per person entering on foot. A waypoint has also been given for Free Parking at Angler’s Inn. Parking and park access from this location are free, but the hike to the cache will be considerably longer.
The Maryland Geocaching Society extends its thanks to the National Park Service for participating in Cache Across Maryland 2016 and for allowing us to partake in its centennial celebrations. Geocaches may only be placed on National Park Property at the direction of National Park Service staff.
