Rich Creek Disappointment — Life Downstream

One popular aspect of geocaching is seeking out the oldest caches in certain areas. Caching is a relatively young hobby and some caches have very short lives. That said, those have stood the test of time, surviving ten years or more are considered really unique gems in the geocaching community. Besides, just given how large I’ve seen the community get since I began caching in 2008, I can’t imagine how different the game looks now from its beginnings in 2000. For example, did those who hid some of the caches we consider virtually sacred now realize what they were doing when they hid an ammo can in a remote stump? I’m guessing probably not.

I have found the oldest geocache in Pennsylvania (State Game Lands #109) and the District of Columbia (Capitol View), as well as the oldest in many counties. It is cool to visit these caches. What I love most about visiting old caches is seeing their log books. Even if a log is brief, just a name and date, it is so wild to me to think of the people who found this thing in the woods 1, 5, 10, or more years ago.

So with this in mind, bitmapped and I had planned to log the oldest geocache in West Virginia, Rich Creek Riches. We did a lot of research prior to heading down to Logan County, about a three hour drive to the south: scouring maps, reading previous logs, learning about the trail system the cache was on, and the like. Despite the natural popularity of this, the oldest cache in West Virginia, we ran into a problem: we couldn’t find a legal way to approach the cache without an ATV and a permit, even though others were admitting to playing dumb and trespassing onto the Hatfield McCoy Trails in their street vehicles. But because so many people were finding the cache, we decided to go down to Logan County and check the situation out for ourselves and get some information in person (besides, the coal fields are a surprisingly fun and interesting place for a day trip).

We decided that our first stop would be the visitors’ center for the Hatfield McCoy Trails off of U.S. Route 119 (Corridor G) just south of Danville. We talked with the staff member there and immediately learned a few very important rules about use of the Hatfield McCoy Trails:

All users (hikers, ATV/UTV riders, absolutely everyone) must wear a helmet at all times
All users must have a permit
Users/vehicles that aren’t permitted are trespassing

Lacking helmets and a desire to hike the four-mile round trip on this tropical feeling day from the nearest non-trail road after dropping $78 on permits, we scrapped the idea. But you really wouldn’t gather that there’d be all of these logistical issues from a geocache description that reads:

The stash can be reached by ATV via the Hatfield-McCoy Trail system or on foot. You do not need climbing gear but if you walk it be prepared to burn a few calories.

The closest town is Gilbert, WV 25621

4 or 5 prizes

The difficulty rating on this cache is a 3 and the terrain rating is a 1 (a 1 is supposed to be handicap accessible according to the current guidelines).

More than anything, what this indicates is how much the game has changed but also how much it has not changed. Cache descriptions need to be updated! This cache was placed four months after the Hatfield-McCoy Trails opened, who knew if it would become so successful? Perhaps the rules have changed? Perhaps the specific routing of the Rockhouse trail system has slightly changed since the placement? Though others have also explained that terrain ratings have slowly become easier, what is now a 3 for terrain may have been a 2 or even a 1.5 at the outset of the hobby.

Caches that are frozen in time are interesting relics providing insights into the evolution of the game, but as the ultimately disappointing effort to find West Virginia’s oldest cache played out for us, they can also be deeply frustrating. Should this geocache be archived? I’m not sure. Let me know if you’ve got any feelings on the matter. To me, the most important thing is that I don’t have a court date and I’m free to hike again this weekend!