Off The Brandywine Trail by Bookworm3

Off The Brandywine Trail
(GCKRVT) by Bookworm3 (10/10/2004)
rating 1.5/2
container size 3 (regular)

Those with an eye for detail will note that this cache is celebrating a kind of anniversary. It was placed just about three years ago in October of 2004. And, those who have already visited this month's Featured Geocacher interview with Evanspack will recall that she is celebrating her first anniversary as a geocacher this month also. So it seems fitting to pair these two as we enter into the fall.

Bookworm3 placed this cache just a bit outside of Brandywine Creek State Park in land that belongs to the Woodlawn Trustees. In case you are not familiar with this organization, it was started in the early 20th century by mill owner William Bancroft. The original name was the Woodland Company and it was a non-profit real estate company. If this sounds like a strange type of business it become understandable when its mission is explained. The Woodlawn Company engaged in carefully planned development that generated funds to further Woodlawn activities. These included preservation of open space and affordable rental housing in the city of Wilmington. Over the years the Woodlawn Company evolved into the Woodlawn Trustees but its mission remained the same. According to the Woodlawn Trustees Web Site:

"William Bancroft found that development could pay for parkland.  Woodlawn has accordingly developed certain holdings in order to provide the funds necessary to save key natural resource lands for preservation and public enjoyment.

Woodlawn owns and maintains about 2,000 acres of land in Brandywine Hundred and nearby Pennsylvania as wildlife preserve, and open space used by the public for hiking, walking, and horseback riding.  Many of the original farms in the area have been preserved, and the rural community character remains. Open fields are leased to local farmers who are encouraged to practice soil conservation and crop rotation."

The placement of this geocache demonstrates how well this mission complimented the State Of Delaware's mission as it created the state park system. Brandywine Creek State Park and the Woodlawn Trustees land blends seamlessly into one large area offering trails for hiking, biking, and just enjoying the beauties of a natural woodland setting.

To find this cache, it would be helpful to first locate Brandywine Creek State Park. Just drive three miles north of Wilmington to the intersection of State Routes 100 and 92. Turn onto Route 92. The park entrance is on Adams Dam Road.

Bookworm3 suggest parking just off the road at N 39.49.763 W075.34.329. Parking is also available in Brandywine Creek State Park. Note that Delaware State Parks charge an admission fee from March through the end of October. If you park in the park you'll be taking a slightly longer hike to the hide area.

Once you have parked you first quest is to find the Brandywine Trail. It is marked with White Blazes and is sometimes known as the White Blaze Trail. For those new to locating hiking trails there are typically signs pointing you to the trail head (where the trail begins) but as you hike the trail you'll need to watch for the "blazes" to keep you going in the correct direction. A Blaze is usually a splash of paint on the tree trunk just above eye level. So in this case you want to be looking for trees with a White painted spot on them. Note the the Brandywine Trail is 35 miles long continuing up to the Horseshoe Trail in Pennsylvania. Be sure to check your GPS for hints as to when it would be a good time to leave the main trail.

Finding this cache will give you a chance to experience something that was popular in the early days of geocaching. For several years there has been a disposable 35mm camera in the ammo container. The camera is not a swag item - its a fun item for you to use and leave there. The idea is for you to take your own picture or a picture of your group. When all the pictures have been taken you should log that fact in your entry so bookworms will know to come get the camera and have the pictures developed. Then they can be posted on geocaching.com.

Here's a sample of some of the photos that have been taken at this site. You'll probably recognize some of these geocachers and...

some of them will be folks you have yet to meet. And, as you can see, one of them has only left clues as to their identity!

If the camera has come to the end of its roll of film or is missing, it would great if you'd mention this in your log entry. That way either Bookworm3 or some other helpful geocacher could replace the camera and/or arrange to get the pictures developed and posted. This kind of caring has already been demonstrated by some thoughtful visitors. Keeping this "traditional" going helps add to the fun of geocaching.

At the time of this writing there are 121 log entries on record. Of these 114 are finds and only 1 is a DNF. There are also 58 images like those above mixed in. Geocachers from all over have visited and have said:

bpp_picnic
This was the second one after "Dude it's Green" and by the time we got here the geopup looked like he was going to pass out. We found pretty quickly and it was well covered. This is a nice area but we got a late start so we will be back for the many other caches in this area. Thanks for the hunt!

MajorT
Should have read the cache description more carefully! Decided to bushwhack up the hill when we saw the arrow swing to our left. Got to the top (huffing and puffing) where we spotted the trail. Woops! Spotted the cache and signed the log, and then took the trail back down to the main trail. Thanks for the hide!

WhiteClayLover
The trail in here is really nice. Bushwacked around the hill till I came to it, then saw the nice trail nearby, but I didn't mind, it was fun. thanks for bringing me in here!

Polaris1000
Sometimes the best views are just a "little off the trail". Very nice area for the cache. Took bracelet; left coin.

crjdriver
Great day for a hike. The snow made climbing the hills interesting, but possible. I came face to face with a fox while finding the cache, but couldn't get my camera out fast enough.

kevinhearley
found it with the wife on a bike ride - very easily found.

oboegary & delaware hiker
A short hike to a dream woodland cache - and no rooting around in the thorns!

flt4702
Took the long way in. Glad I did as I saw a ton of wildlife. What a great spot for the hide. The stretch from the trail to the cache was quite interesting. Took Snoopy, left a Train engine and some ch1ckens. TFTHSL

wdcarvr+1
We hiked this trail this afternoon and although the river was very busy with floaters there were not to many on the trails. This is a very good hide and lots of places for more caches in this area.

GeekDad
Visiting from San Jose, CA. Found as the sun was going down and the woods were getting kinda dark. Took me a while to find the right side trail to follow, but I eventually did. Had to resort to the hint as reception was pretty bad under the trees.

The Treasure Hunters
Found with Eyebuggie today. Boy did we do this the hard way! We went straight up! Eyebuggie had even walked right past it at one point. We were too busy watching our footing to watch our surroundings. Found it and then kicked ourselves for going right past it. Last picture was taken on camera so we couldn't leave a picture . Eyebuggie always takes lots of pictures of his own, maybe he'll post them! Took survival guide book, left American Bald Eagle travel bug.

ddersch
Parked in a neighborhood near Dupont Country Club and walked a mile before I realized the GPS was in another scale. But the area was so beautiful that I kept walking...and walking...and walking... up and down and everywhere it is beautiful. In fact I decided to walk to PA while going to two additional caches. TNLNSL. Great cache! Thanks!

WillieCE
We are very blessed to have such a beautiful area so close to a major town. Thank you Woodlawn Trustees. Happy New Year.

Snowflower
Another wonderful spot along the Brandywine Trail. I can't wait to come back here with my mountain bike! It was a beautiful fall day and the crunchy leaves made for a very noise hike. Sunny and in the mid-50s. A great day to be outside. I dropped off the Turbo Prop TB. Thanks for bringing me to such a great spot!

VERHAEP
Belgian visitor : Found it and updated the log. I passed this one already several times while running.

wdcarvr+1 was one of the weary finders and noted there was lots of room for other caches in the area. Other Delaware geocachers noted that also and at this time there are 8 additional caches within reasonable hiking distance. We'll leave it to you to discover what they are but once you know you'll agree that you could easily use this cache as a base for a day of geocaching adventures.

As you are seeking Off The Brandywine Trail you may also make another discovery in this area. For this one you'll need to look up, down and possibly all around.

Brandywine Creek State Park is home to one of the oldest stands of Tulip Poplar Trees in this area. Some of them are more than 140 years old. When the tulip poplar tree grows out in the open its branches fill out and it is loaded with leaves. In the fall these turn a bright yellow. But when this tree grows in a forrest it goes rapidly seeking the light and its trunk is almost bare. Only when it finds the light does it begin to enlarge its diameter. You'll be in a forrest so you might find giants like this:

Granted a tree trunk like this begins to look like every other tree trunk in the forest so here's two more items that might help you spot these trees.

First it the leaf. Use your imagination and you can see the tulip shape of the leaf that gives this tree its name.

This is the seed pod of the tulip poplar. In the fall these may be all over the ground along with bright gold or brown leaves.

While fall may be all around us as this review is being written, Off The Brandywine Trail presents a good time in all seasons. So regardless of when you are reading this review, come on out and seek this cache. Once you do you'll agree that Bookworm3 has done a good job of placing a cache in an area packed with surprises.