The dam on the Mohawk River along the western side of Peebles Island. Tom O’Grady — **The dam on the Mohawk River along the western side of Peebles Island.** *Tom O’Grady*

Stopping for a picture in front of the parks sign for the 2019 Geocache Challenge. Tom O’Grady — **Stopping for a picture in front of the parks sign for the 2019 Geocache Challenge.** *Tom O’Grady*

2019 Saratoga-Capital Region Geocache Challenge:
Peebles Island

By: Tom O’Grady

For readers interested in learning a new sport, spending time with their family, and enjoying the offerings of the New York State Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation system consider taking on the 2019 Saratoga-Capital District Region Geocache Challenge! Playing the game starts by picking up a Geocache Challenge Passport at a participating park or historic site or downloading a copy at https://parks.ny.gov/ regions/attachments/ 2019Geocaching ChallengeSaratoga. The challenge runs from May 25 to November 10. Each passport has 72 squares with treasure hunt locations to be found in eighteen different parks showcased throughout the region. Complete forty-five of the stamps and you are eligible for an initial prize that is a trackable Geocoin unique to the Saratoga-Capital District Region. Completed passports are eligible for additional prizes and can be submitted at participating locations. There are twelve additional squares that coincide with locations in the Central Region of the NYS Parks System.

Finding the geocache in a tree hollow. Tom O’Grady — **Finding the geocache in a tree hollow.** *Tom O’Grady*

What is Geocaching?

For the uninitiated, geocaching is an outdoor recreational activity that is based on the idea of treasure hunting. The game requires a GPS-enabled device and participants navigate to a set of GPS coordinates. Once in close proximity the search is on for the hidden container at the designated location. Basic rules to the game are 1. If you take something from the cache replace it with something of equal or greater value; 2. Log your find in the designated logbook; and 3. Log your experience on the website or app – www.geocaching.com. For those interested, the history behind Geochaching is quite fascinated and has a designated page with extensive background - https://www.geocaching.com/about/history.aspx.

Peebles Island

Peebles Island is located in Cohoes at the junction of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers. A walk around the 1.85 mile perimeter loop gives visitors a great vantage point to see both rivers as well as the rapids created by the joining bodies of water and the two dams put in place along the Mohawk River to control the flow of water. Peebles Island is a state park that wears many hats. In addition to its park designation it is also the headquarters to the Bureau of Historic Sites and Bureau of Historic Preservation Field Services. Peebles Island is also home to the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor offices.

Tree trunk with a smiley face greets visitors on beginning section of perimeter trail. Tom O’Grady — **Tree trunk with a smiley face greets visitors on beginning section of perimeter trail.** *Tom O’Grady*

Geocaching at Peebles Island

We visited Peebles Island to participate in the Geocache Challenge on the extended July 4th weekend. When we arrived the park was quite busy as individuals were having cook outs and setting up for fireworks later in the evening. The weather was particularly hot and humid and we arrived mid-day so the sun was intense. Before heading out we made sure we had water bottles and we applied sun-screen. We went over the ground rules of the trip – advising the kids to stay close by because much of the walk is on trails with steep drop offs and keeping an eye out for poisonous plants. Upon starting I realized we forgot to apply insect repellent and the bugs were particularly bad.

Army soldier stands guard at the first geocache location. Tom O’Grady — **Army soldier stands guard at the first geocache location.** *Tom O’Grady*

Despite the bugs we find the first geocache without much trouble. The first one (without giving away too much information) is the only one not on the primary trail system of Peebles Island. We spot the container (an old artillery box) and are surprised to see a toy soldier guarding it! This quick find and the humorous gesture set a good tone for the rest of the trip. We open the container sign in the log and register the find online.

From the first cache we continue over to the primary trail network. All of the remaining hidden locations require a circuit of the perimeter trail with short detours into the woods to search for the actual geocache box. Geocaches can vary in size and where they are hidden. Some can be very small and are intentionally hidden in hard to find locations. Because the park system put these geocaches in place they are all old artillery boxes that are about the size of a shoe box. They are also hidden in areas that require some effort to spot but are not meant to be deceptively difficult to find. The second cache takes us off the path and we startle a garter snake on the way to the geocache. Unfortunately the startled snake slithers off quickly before we can take a picture. We walk past the location at first, backtrack, and then find the location of the second geocache.

Because we are on a treasure hunt we are observant on the way to the third geocache. The first thing we see is a tree stump with a smiley face on it. We ponder who put the two blue easy and red smile on the tree stump. We get to the third location and log our find. This one is hidden inside of part of a tree hollow. It was hard to find at first due to the sticks piled up next to the hollow.

An old abandoned car in the woods of Peebles Island. Tom O’Grady — **An old abandoned car in the woods of Peebles Island.** *Tom O’Grady*

On our way to the fourth location we are walking along the ledges for the first time. There are a number of people kayaking on the Mohawk River and we get a view of the dam on the western side of the island. In this section of the trail we spot beaver activity from the pointed tips of a few downed trees. We also spot a tree stump that is completely hollow in the middle. This acts as a kind of Rorschach test as we discuss whether it looks like an apple, a heart, or something else. The fourth geocache provides a surprise. As I move a few sticks covering the box I spot a gigantic beetle guarding the location. I try to get a picture before moving a few more sticks. The beetle retreats allowing us to log our find!

There are six geocaches on Peebles Island. Five of them are a part of the park challenge. I do not realize this until after the fact. In search of the fifth box we veer off the path more than I expected. Along the way we spot the abandoned car. We also stomp through some taller grass I would have preferred avoiding. After leaving the woods we check ourselves for ticks. I have a tiny tick on me and carefully remove it. This is enough that we decide to call it a day. We will return to log the fifth geocache at a later date. The kids have walked a little over two miles and with the heat and humidity they are happy to recuperate! Overall the trip was a success as we were able to log four of the five official geocaches and spotted a few surprises along the way.