This is a Letterbox cache – it is not at the posted coordinates (the posted coordinates are randomly selected and are about half the distance between parking and the cache). You will need to follow a series of clues to find it. Use you GPS to navigate to the parking coordinates and then you can put it away. Actually, you will pass two traditional OCNA caches along the way so there - GPS is still required.

The cache is a 1L plastic bottle and contains:

• A hand-carved stamp of Hank the Hawk, the OCNA mascot. Hank, being a Red-Tailed Hawk, would build a nest in forests such as this one. I carved the stamp. It is not a trade items and must stay in the cache. It’s glued to the underside of lid anyway. Bring ink if you want to use the stamp – any marker will work just as well as an ink pad.
• A logsheet for signing into the cache
• A logbook for anyone who also wants to “stamp in”
• An OCNA 5^th Anniversary pathtag (featuring Hank the Hawk) for the first finder.

To find the cache:

Park on Powerline Rd near 5^th Road East (parking coordinates are provided)

Cross 5^th Road East to access the Dofasco 2000 recreation trail (and optional: find No Trash Cache - OU0948)

Walk east on the Dofasco 2000 recreation trail. The trail will take you along an unopened road allowance and then into the Vinemount swamp and you bring you over a long section of boardwalk. This is a great trail but sadly many trees near the boardwalk have recently been removed. A few years of drought coupled with the destructive Emerald Ash Borer has resulted in a large number of dead trees in this swamp.

(optional: find Sand Stone - OU07A8 along the way)

 The first section of boardwalk will end and you will be back on a gravel path. Continue on the gravel trail, passing the closed landfill on your right.

When you reach the next section of boardwalk, stop. The cache is under the boardwalk, right where it starts. It will be on your right side as you approach the boardwalk. It’s tucked behind on the supports. You don’t need to go under the boardwalk to reach it, but you will need to get down beside it. Could be wet at times.

If you really want to see what the stamp image is, check the OCNA forums. I posted a photo of it there.

Round trip distance from parking to the cache: just over 2 kilometers.

This cache is kid and stroller friendly (the first section of the trail might be a little unfriendly if it is muddy), I know from experience. Accessible year-round and can be found at night (with a flashlight of course). Could be difficult to get in winter if the snow drifts under and fills in the area near the cache.  This is a great place to hear spring peepers and woodcock calls and display flights at dusk in the spring.

I may cross-list this on Letterboxing North America in the future, since that site seems to align well with the mission of OpenCaching North America.