+mogolloyd Posted June 18, 2003 Share Posted June 18, 2003 Anyone with a boat in the Leesburg area? I want to do So Close, Yet so Farbut I have no boat, and I am not comfortable with my boating skills to rent one and attempt the potomac @ it's levels now. I've been eyeballing this cache for a while andI want it bad. No one has even attempted it fro 10 months. I need a partner for this one... Quote Link to comment
+bigcall Posted June 18, 2003 Share Posted June 18, 2003 Mogolloyd, See this thread, I think there are a few of us trying to get out there. I happened to take White's ferry across the river the other day and noted that it was tantalizingly close. They rent boats there too for about $5 an hour which may be a good way to go. I agree that right now may not be the best time to attempt it given the river conditions. I was thinking of contacting the last finders before setting out though, to get a feel for if the cache was capable of surviving the recent floods. Something hidden. Go and find it. Go, and look behind the Ranges -- Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you . . . Go! - Rudyard Kipling "The Explorer" Quote Link to comment
+mogolloyd Posted June 18, 2003 Author Share Posted June 18, 2003 Thanks for that. Getting to it form White's Ferry wouldn't be a problem, getting the boat to fight the current back would, I'm not sure of the motor, if any, they give you on the rentals. If you set a date to go drop me an e-mail, and I'll do the same if I get the gumption first. I've never actually met any other cachers before, it would be cool to finally meet someone. Quote Link to comment
+mogolloyd Posted June 19, 2003 Author Share Posted June 19, 2003 BTW after reading the thread you sent me, we have a Lake House @ Lake Anna, I beleive I have figured out the location of the bridge for the coords for Do .. Not .. Seek .. The .. Treasure! and the next time I go down and the weather is clear I plan on getting it. I've been waiting for the right time for that one as well. It's a pretty hard multi and would be a nice one to have under my belt. Quote Link to comment
xydexx_squeakypony Posted June 30, 2003 Share Posted June 30, 2003 quote:Originally posted by bigcall:I happened to take White's ferry across the river the other day and noted that it was tantalizingly close. They rent boats there too for about $5 an hour which may be a good way to go. Hihi- FYI: I rented a canoe once at White's Ferry. IIRC, you're not allowed to go downstream (toward the cache) from there, only upstream. OTOH, I have a whole pile of inflatable rafts (leftover from my adventures to Bannerman's Island in New York... back when I did wild and crazy things like that...), and was thinking of trying to get it one day this summer from further down the river along the C&O Canal on the Maryland side. I seem to recall someone else go to the cache that way. Quote Link to comment
+bigcall Posted July 2, 2003 Share Posted July 2, 2003 quote:IIRC, you're not allowed to go downstream (toward the cache) from there, only upstream. OTOH, I have a whole pile of inflatable rafts (leftover from my adventures to Bannerman's Island in New York... back when I did wild and crazy things like that...), and was thinking of trying to get it one day this summer from further down the river along the C&O Canal on the Maryland side. I seem to recall someone else go to the cache that way. Bummer, I also saw that some were able to just walk across, somehow I don't think it will be possible this year. Success is not measured by the position one has reached in life, rather by the obstacles overcome while trying to succeed. - Booker T. Washington Quote Link to comment
+mogolloyd Posted July 2, 2003 Author Share Posted July 2, 2003 Walking is definatly out of the question. Why wouldn't they let you go downstream? That's really strange. The river is back down to mormal levels, maybe we can set something up soon, if it's still there. Quote Link to comment
+RobAGD Posted July 2, 2003 Share Posted July 2, 2003 He is correct about the rentals at the ferry. I was reading the rules as she was getting my stuff and I said I needed to get to the island and she said in no way was I allowed to go down stream from the ferry. The main reason is the curent and the rocks are the problem. There is an area marked as a ford when out lines of what I think is a built up to ford across when it was an active farm. Spitwinkle and his buddy waded across last summer without too much trouble. I just respect that river to do that. I still need to get a paddle and a vest and Ill be making an attempt soon. -Robert Quote Link to comment
xydexx_squeakypony Posted July 4, 2003 Share Posted July 4, 2003 My merry band of lunatics and I have also been pondering on a trip to the island, but we have two main concerns: 1. Nobody's found the cache since August 2002, and considering all the rain we've had, I'm skeptical as to whether the cache is still there. I know a few months ago the Potomac was a good 10 feet higher than normal at White's Ferry, and as far as I can tell this cache was near the riverbank. If it was in a typical tupperware container, it's not hard to imagine it floating away when the river flooded. It'd be a little disappointing to go through all the trouble of getting there and not finding the cache. 2. Is this on public or private property? I haven't been able to find a lot of information about Harrison Island on the web, other than someone bought it and is trying to turn it into a nature preserve. Harrison Island - Potomac Conservancy Harrisons Island - C&O Canal Companion According to Topozone, there is a small ferry that goes to the island. Topozone Link IIRC, the road that leads there from just outside Balls Bluff Park is posted with No Trespassing signage, so I'm a bit hesitant to pursue that route. 3. What's the best way to get there? Apparently, most folks have chosen to wade across from the Virginia side. I haven't actually seen that part of the river, so I don't know how deep it is. According to the map, the cache is hidden on the east shore of the island, which would mean one would have to get to the island and then walk across the island to the other side. Which is fine, but as I mentioned I'd like to be sure it's actually okay for me to be on the island. I e-mailed jandkl with these questions. In the meantime, can anyone who's been to the cache offer hints/suggestions? -Xydexx Quote Link to comment
+mogolloyd Posted July 5, 2003 Author Share Posted July 5, 2003 There's no ferry to go to the island, and that road with the no trespassing signs just ends @ the river. You can get within about 50' of the island in balls bluff and thats where most waded across. If you read the logs, even the drought of last year they were up to their necks. The island is owned by a hunting club, and there doesn't appear to be any signs telling you to keep out. Honestly the inflatable raft idea is sounding better and better. Quote Link to comment
+JoeCthulhu Posted July 5, 2003 Share Posted July 5, 2003 dadgum! It's Summer! Let's just bust out the trunks. Who's with me!!!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ War is God's way of teaching Americans geography. -Ambrose Bierce, writer (1842-1914) Quote Link to comment
xydexx_squeakypony Posted July 6, 2003 Share Posted July 6, 2003 quote:Originally posted by mogolloyd:There's no ferry to go to the island, and that road with the no trespassing signs just ends @ the river. You can get within about 50' of the island in balls bluff and thats where most waded across. If you read the logs, even the drought of last year they were up to their necks. The island is owned by a hunting club, and there doesn't appear to be any signs telling you to keep out. Honestly the inflatable raft idea is sounding better and better. I went down to the riverbank today after doing the Balls Bluff Regional Park-Revised cache. The riverbank is very muddy, but it would be possible to launch inflatable boats from the shore there. The river seems slow-moving that crossing should'nt be a problem. However, I also noticed signs posted on at least two trees on the island. They were too far away to read from my side of the river, but the fact that they're there doesn't inspire confidence as to the island not being off-limits. One could always take a raft across to verify, but IMHO this is starting to look less and less promising. Quote Link to comment
+mogolloyd Posted July 16, 2003 Author Share Posted July 16, 2003 I'm sick of waiting for someone else to make a move and I'm sick of just talking about it. I'm getting one of the intertubes off the boat this weekend and just going to paddle to it from balls bluff. While I'm @ the lake getting the tube I'm going to try to give my first go @ Do .. Not .. Seek .. The .. Treasure! Quote Link to comment
+mogolloyd Posted July 23, 2003 Author Share Posted July 23, 2003 Well, maybe this weekend.... Quote Link to comment
+crashmore Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 I happen to have a two person kayak we could use. I've been wanting to go after this one myself. Pherhaps we could meet up at the river and we could all do it. It'd probaly take us a couple trips to allow everyone to get across in the kayak but sounds like fun to me. quote:Originally posted by bigcall:Mogolloyd, See http://nova.mdgps.net/viewtopic.php?t=12, I think there are a few of us trying to get out there. I happened to take White's ferry across the river the other day and noted that it was tantalizingly close. They rent boats there too for about $5 an hour which may be a good way to go. I agree that right now may not be the best time to attempt it given the river conditions. I was thinking of contacting the last finders before setting out though, to get a feel for if the cache was capable of surviving the recent floods. Something hidden. Go and find it. Go, and look behind the Ranges -- Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you . . . Go! - Rudyard Kipling "The Explorer" ------------------------------------- Hope is the destination that we seek. Love is the road that leads to hope. Courage is the motor that drives us. We travel out of darkness into faith. -=The Book Of Counted Sorrows=- Quote Link to comment
+mogolloyd Posted July 23, 2003 Author Share Posted July 23, 2003 Just name the time and I'm there. I had the injury prone plan of just taking a tube from Whites Ferry and then have somone pick me up @ Balls Bluff. The current is pretty swift so this was a plan filled with flaws, but I'm still young enough to perform dumb stunts no matter how much my common sense tells me not to. Quote Link to comment
+crashmore Posted July 24, 2003 Share Posted July 24, 2003 Sounds good! We have our big picnic going on this Sunday in Md so let's plan something after that. ------------------------------------- Hope is the destination that we seek. Love is the road that leads to hope. Courage is the motor that drives us. We travel out of darkness into faith. -=The Book Of Counted Sorrows=- Quote Link to comment
+mogolloyd Posted July 24, 2003 Author Share Posted July 24, 2003 I'm off Sunday's Monday's and Tuesday's and the rest of the week I can be in Leesburg or the other side via the Ferry around 2:30 Quote Link to comment
+crashmore Posted July 24, 2003 Share Posted July 24, 2003 If you're free you should try to stop by our picnic. http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=3da0491d-6b60-4512-bc86-7ea55086ade3 I know it'd be a bit of a drive but it's going to be a heck of an event and maybe we could hash out a game plan with any other interested seekers! ------------------------------------- Hope is the destination that we seek. Love is the road that leads to hope. Courage is the motor that drives us. We travel out of darkness into faith. -=The Book Of Counted Sorrows=- Quote Link to comment
+mogolloyd Posted July 24, 2003 Author Share Posted July 24, 2003 I've been thinking about it, I just hate that part of Maryland soooo much. I just told the wife I'm going, now I just have to figure out the best route and how long it takes to get there. Anything else you need someone to bring? [This message was edited by mogolloyd on July 24, 2003 at 10:42 AM.] Quote Link to comment
xydexx_squeakypony Posted August 4, 2003 Share Posted August 4, 2003 Update: Cache owner checked on it and has reported cache is no longer there, and the island is private property. Cache owner will be placing another cache somewhere else in the near future. Details: So Close Yet So Far Quote Link to comment
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