Life Downstream

Number 5: Thousand Steps Cache
Brady Township (Huntingdon County), PA
233 Favorite Points

For those willing to pay $30/year for a premium membership on the Geocaching.com website, it’s possible to run queries on geocaches. This is a really popular way for geocachers to maintain lists of nearby geocaches that fit the characteristics of those they like to find. This geocache (along with a few others it had inspired nearby) had been sitting on the very edge of my State College query the entire time I had lived in State College. On a cold March day, we decided to take it on.

Truthfully, we had a million reasons to back out—mostly weather related. But we stuck to our guns. Now, 1000 steps may not sound that bad to anyone in at least average fitness. But I must point out, these are not perfectly measured and formed stairs like you’d find in an office or apartment building. The steps are made out of rock found nearby and can be anywhere from 3-4” in height to about 18” high. You can’t get into a good rhythm going up or down them because each is a little different. What is a godsend is that about every 75-100 steps, there are level areas where you have to walk a hundred or so feet over to get to where the steps continue.

These steps exist because this area was mined heavily in a not-too-distant past life and these steps were the mode of commuting for the miners (I bet they all had nice legs and firm bottoms!).

The first half of the steps weren’t so bad, we even encountered two other hikers who were already on their way down. But after we cracked 500, the fatigue really set in. To complicate matters, at about 750 it started to snow. But we persevered, pausing to take in the stunning beauty and views the hike provided us with when we believed we were out of breath or our legs would not carry us one more step.

Immensely enjoying step #500

We got to step 1000 (every 100 steps is marked with what hundred it is) to discover that “1000” is really just rounding, there are actually 1,043 steps on the main trail to get to the top. But then, to get to the vista where this geocache was placed, there’s another 50-75 steps further down the trail from the top. Mercifully, by the time we made it to the top of the 1,043 steps, our legs were numb to the pain and despite the snow we were anything but cold. Frankly, I’d suggest doing this hike in colder conditions. It’d be a lot more comfortable than doing it on a warmer day (such as was the very gross and sweaty hike up Mt. Nittany).

There are actually several geocaches at the top, and each has a very high terrain rating (it is something of a badge of honor in the geocaching community to rack up lots of very high terrain rated geocaches). We eagerly tackled many of them, though we left some to be found on a future visit. But we couldn’t leave without this one: this was the oldest one on the trail and the one that clearly captured everyone’s hearts.

The descent was more difficult, though faster, than the ascent. As our jellied legs threatened to betray us, Chris and I managed to get into my car and drive the five or so miles to the Sheetz in Huntingdon. In celebration, we treated ourselves to the best prime rib in central Pennsylvania, the Whistle Stop, that evening.

Heading down the steps

This is the third most favorited geocache in Pennsylvania.