Hartwood Acres

After an all-night rain, the grounds were soaked wet, and the tiny little water channels became wide streams. Despite this, there was a good showing. Several have seen the listing in City Paper, some heard it from the girl/boy scouts. One group with children also had a duo stroller, and they rolled on the White course and forded a stream with it ! on Yellow, one group got lost in the maze of trails in attemting to locate control 25. On Orange, in attempting to find control 36, instead found control 46, the latter being a control in the Green course. Also, on Orange, one reported being confused in finding control 37 because it was near another stream intersection. On Green, one person had difficulty finding the spring on 43. Most participants had difficulty in finding control 44, in an area of "parallel micro-channels". Also on Green, control 47 was a bit of a challenge since all the participants did not use the clearling along the pipeline-park boundary as approach to it, but instead chose a more direct route, and encountered the stream and another minor water channel that was parallel to the water channel with the control.













geocachers,
Wanna find stuff in the woods the old fashioned way? come to Hartwood Acres this sunday, 11 AM to 2 PM, Middle Rd entrance, for an event organized by the Western Pennsylvania Orienteering Club. There will be four courses available: White (beginner), Yellow (adv beg), Orange (intermediate), Green (advanced). Purpose is to find flags hidden in the woods using only a topographic map and a compass. If you don't have a compass, we can loan you one. The activity is very popular in eastern europe and scandinavia. It is all ages, all skill levels, all weather. The park also has (i think) 3 caches, so you can find those too if you want.

hashers,
Orienteering at Hartwood Acres, Middle rd entrance. Find stuff in the woods and earn nothing for doing so [what a deal...]. All ages, skill levels, weather. Registration is from 11 AM to 2 PM. Come early if you wanna make Isis's Hash. There are four courses, in order of difficulty: White, Yellow, Orange, Green. I reccomend that hashers do Orange or Green. I made sure that these two have jaggers in the vicinity of the "control" points you have to find.

"Earth-Day"ers,
Orienteering is a competitive form of land navigation. It is for all ages and degrees of fitness and skill, and all-weather. It provides the suspense and excitement of a treasure hunt. The object of orienteering is to locate control points by using a map and compass to navigate through the woods. Typical control point locations are at stream bends, spurs, bottom of small cliffs, earth banks, rootstocks, vegetation boundary, natural springs, trail junctions, pits or depressions, large boulders. After this topographic discovery of these mapped details, you will come with an appreciation of the variety of the natural features that can be encountered.

"Four-Twenty"ers
Come find the magic mushrooms growing in Hartwood Acres. Maps provided.

Geocaches at Hartwood Acres:

629 Acres of Fun
N 40° 33.857 W 079° 55.293
A cache by Cranky Angel Hidden: 4/7/2004
I enjoy Hartwood because there are always so many things to do there. From hiking, to mountain biking, to walking your dog, to seeing a free concert, to driving through Christmas lights…. really I could go on and on. This cache is off the beaten path a bit but a nice walk. There are many different ways to get to the cache, so go on a nice day and wear good shoes. There may be some mud. Please be sure to replace the cache exactly how you found it.

Boston in Pittsburgh
A cache by Team "G" Unit Hidden: 11/28/2004
N 40° 34.280 W 079° 55.357
Easy cache to find when you want a nice little walk but not too long or hard. Hartwood Acres is our favorite park so we decided to place our cache here. We decided to create this cache after a trip to Boston. We loved the city and decided to fill our cache with Boston goodies including booklets for kids about Boston, a rubber lobster, some fun things from the CVB, a Boston mouse pad, a few items from the wonderful Colonade hotel, and more.

Maui in Pittsburgh
A cache by Lady Bug Lady and BB Big Guy Hidden: 12/29/2006
N 40° 34.399 W 079° 54.983
Okay, it may not be the shores of the Pacific but it is on the water's edge. After visiting Maui, we had to place this geocache. Since Boston in Pittsburgh is at Hartwood, we decided to place this one here as well. The initial cache has a couple of travel bugs and a coin that we picked up caching in Maui, a Maui coin for the FTF, a certificate for a free cabana rental at the Kaanapali Beach Hotel, the Maui travel bug that we are starting, a couple of photos from Maui and some other fun stuff. Happy caching. Look for a body of water.

Hay is for Horses
A cache by Will Cache 4 Food Hidden: 4/2/2004
N 40° 33.878 W 079° 54.734
If you take the same trail I did when I placed the cache, you may encounter a slight discomfort. And I'm not talking about the terrain. One of your senses!
You will be near the stables of Hartwood. When I placed the cache, I passed a large pile of hay and horse manure from the cleaning of the stables.
Cache is located in the normal hiding spots and there are plenty of trading items for young and experienced geocachers. The cache is a clear (approx. 1 gallon) container with a white lid.

HART'S DESIRE
A multi-stage cache by scondo Hidden: 8/16/2003
N 40° 34.136 W 079° 54.540
Two different trailheads: 1) AESTHETIC-Hartwood Mansion lot at 40 34.136--079 54.540. Coordinates for this trailhead and cache are in a black 35mm container located in the stone wall by the stone steps to the railed coutyard entrance to the mansion. 2) Walking/biking-Hartwood concert parking at 40 34.232--079 55.627. Coordinates for this trailhead and cache are in a black 35mm contained located at 40 34.157---79 55.643 There are many intersecting trails in Hartwood--choose the correct trail, no bushwack--keep your parking coordinates. GOOD CACHING
Walking/biking hint: a tree. Cache hint: in the area of a large fallen tree.