Ski...Whaat! LbNA #14888

Ski…whaat!



Placed by: MTnestRobin
Placement date: March 26, 2005
State: New York
County: Jefferson
Nearest town: Mannsville
Number of boxes: 1

Located at: Winona State Forest
CCC Camp, Rt 90
Mannsville

Winona State Forest, in southern Jefferson and northern Oswego Counties has an extensive multi-use trail system. Because of its location on the western edge of Tug Hill, the forest receives some of the heaviest snowfall east of the Rockies, averaging 250 inches a year! With this reliable snowfall Winona Forest plays host to two popular winter events. The Tourathon, a 50K cross-country ski race is held here on the first Saturday in February. Also in February is a two day, sanctioned, World Cup Dog Sledding Event called The Tug Hill Challenge. Both are fun whether you are a participant or a spectator!



Directions to the CCC Camp - (Note: The directions may seem confusing because County Rt 90 makes several turns rather than going straight as one might expect. Now that you know that, you shouldn’t have any trouble because Rt 90 is well marked!) Take I-81 to Exit 39 (Mannsville) and go east into the village. At the intersection with Rt.11 go straight onto Rt. 90. Approximately 2.75 miles bear right (south), this is still Rt 90. Go another .4 mile and turn left (east), you should still be on Rt 90. Go an additional 1.4 miles and turn right (east) at the intersection with Brown Rd. You are still following Rt 90 which is also called the Mannsville Rd. The CCC camp will be on your left (north) approximately .9 miles further. Whew…you made it!



The Ski….whaat! Letterbox can be found year around, but is much more fun to do in the winter! Depending on the season, it can be retrieved on foot, via your bike, by skis, snowmobile, car, or even dogsled ! Instructions are given with the assumption you are doing this in winter!


Notes:

· The trail is about a 2 ¾ mile round trip of gently rolling terrain.
· You can get a map of the trails here.
· You can shorten the trip by looking at a map of the trails.
· This is a multi-use trail! Watch and listen for snowmobiles and move over if you are on skis!
· This is Lake-Effect area! Always check the weather ahead and come prepared!


Clues:

Park at the CCC Camp in the lot provided. Take a look at the kiosk to get your bearings and pick up a brochure if there are some to be had (check the trail register). Walk through the camp toward the woods to pick up Pussy Cat Trail. (Pussy Cat Trail is the starting point for all the dog sled race events! Its an exciting scene to view as the dogs strain against their handlers anxious for the count down!) A quarter mile or so down the trail, Pussy Cat merges with and becomes the Bronze Trail and crosses over Rt 90 a bit further on. Briefly, the Bronze Trail ends and you will “haw” onto Bargy Rd. Continue “On-by” when Tail Trail and Frank’s Fancy intersect with Bargy Road. Not far afield Hessel Road intersects Bargy Road too. Go “On-by” again until you come to the DogLeg Trail on your left, its about a half mile beyond Hessel Rd. Stand facing the DogLeg sign, turn left and walk about five paces. Turn to your right and spy the tree with two saplings emerging from its base. Also tucked into its base, in a cammo bag, is my favorite race event held on this course. Take a circuitous route over to the tree if there is snow on the ground to avoid too many tracks around the tree. When you finish stamping in, please be sure to put the box back in its cammo and rehide it securely!
To Return: Go back the way you came, but when you get to the Bronze Trail do not “Gee” onto this trail. Instead, go “On-by” and cross the Finish Line, you can probably see you car from here!



Please email me and let me know how you found my box!




*To copy these clues, highlight and copy, then paste onto Wordpad. If you don’t see anything it's because the text is white, so rehighlight the text (even though you can’t see it) and change the font color to black!

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