"WHAT KIND OF DEVILTRY IS THIS?"
One of Guilford County's lesser-known legends involves a woman named Lillian Gadwick (1723–1781), reputedly a practitioner of witchcraft, who resided in the area that is now Lake Townsend in northern Greensboro (see "The Curse of Lillian Gadwick" [GC8N594] and "Oren Grey [GC705P2], which are also located along the Osprey Trail). The story goes that she lived alone in a cabin in the woods and was suspected of abducting and slaughtering children from the nearby community, then known as Capefair — though numerous investigations could produce no physical evidence of such deviltry. However, just prior to the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, a company of troops from General Cornwallis's advancing army came upon her cabin and reportedly caught her "rendering the fat" of several young children — which she presumably intended to consume as a means to enhance her supernatural abilities.
Horrified by this unspeakable wickedness, the troops hanged her from a tree, burned her cabin to the ground, and departed to rejoin Cornwallis. However, the troops failed to report and, in fact, were never heard from again — except for one, who returned stark, raving mad. A scout was sent to find the missing men, but at the site of Lillian Gadwick's cabin, he discovered only a number of strange stick figures hanging from trees — forty-two to be precise, the same as the number of troops who had vanished. (Such "witch symbols" have been referenced in literature and movies, such as in Karl Edward Wagner's short story, "Sticks" and in the films The Blair Witch Project and its sequel, Blair Witch.)
"The Witch's Woods" is a night cache involving a substantial hike on the Osprey Trail. Park on Church St. at the listed coordinates, from which you will have the benefit of being able to follow the glowing eyes for "The Tripods" (GC690XE) for part of the way. To reach "The Witch's Woods," however, you must continue along the dark trail to the southernmost point of the inlet, where you will come to a wooden footbridge and then a long boardwalk over the marsh. From here, if you look carefully, you may spy Lillian Gadwick’s glowing eyes peering back at you.
Once you cross the bridge, you will be entering the witch's territory. Here, you will occasionally spy mystical witch lights that can guide you to your destination. When you see two such lights together on the same tree, you must leave the trail and seek a new path through the woods. You will know that you have reached the cache when you see the distinctive witch sign adorning a specific tree.
Congarters to Robgso, Night-Hawk, 2McTwins and Smashemups, FTF.