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Grandma Gatewood and her Keds ***RETIRED LbNA #11682 (ARCHIVED)

Owner:trailtracker
Plant date:Oct 16, 2004
Location:
City:Logan
County:Hocking
State:Ohio
Boxes:2
Found by: Stella & Malone (2)
Last found:Oct 8, 2007
Status:FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
Last edited:Oct 16, 2004
Location: Hocking Hills State Forest
Difficulty: Strenuous if you need to do this quickly. Not difficult if you take your time and enjoy the view along the way.
Stamps: Handmade
Scenic View: It doesn't get any better than this!!! Completely awesome.
Note: One pace = two steps.
Bring: water, maybe a jacket, pen or pencil, compass and a stamp pad. Don't forget your camera! :)

***The second box was replaced 10.20.2006.

Park in the Ash Cave Parking lot on SR56. Locate the Ash Cave Trail Head which exits from the smaller parking lot across from the wooden bridge you can drive your car across. Take this concrete path all the way back to Ash Cave itself. (You can't miss it!) As the reader board says along the way, it is believed that Indians used this as a council ring among many other things. You will follow the Blue Blazes Buckeye Trail (BT). This is also part of "Grandma Gatewood's Trail" and a pride and joy of Hocking Hills.

For those of you who may not know, Grandma Gatewood was a two-time, lone, thru-hiker of the grand Appalacian Trail. Her first thru-hike was at the age of 63 and rumor has it she worried her family including children and grandchildren to death. She is considered one of the original ULTRA-light hikers carrying between 14-17 pounds. She took with her a shower curtain as a tent, a blanket, she often wore skirts and never cooked a single hot meal saving lots of weight in cooking gear. She was born in the 1880's and completed her hikes in the 1950's. She was self-reliant and gutsy. Most of all she loved the outdoors. And guess what else??? She hiked in KEDS!!! Ya gotta just love that!

GRANDMA G'S KEDS
After you have taken in this view from below, yup, we're going up! Keep walking to your right winding your way around the curve to the wooden steps that take you to the top. When you reach the top step, turn left.

Look for that first bridge. On the left is a smooth rock formation. That pool of water is what you saw falling down to the bottom. See the park post just after that bridge? There is the start to your trail again. Follow the blue blazes and the trail marked Buckeye Trail (BT). You have crossed one bridge. Cross a second one and find a third. Stand in the center of the 3rd bridge. Take 5 paces due South. There you will find a micro-box covered in camo tape under some dark colored rocks hiding in between a double-trunked tree and a triple-trunked tree. Please be descrete and cover well when done.

GRANDMA GATEWOOD
Once you have found Granny G's Keds continue walking until you come to a strong wishbone split in the trail. Take the left trail and you will quickly see some long fallen trees on the left side of the trail. The longest of these fallen trees points due north and also points to a tree approximately 20 paces where your prize is waiting under some rocks.

This box is to honor Grandma Gatewood, her toughness and resiliency. Every year nearly 2000 hikers attempt a thru-hike of the Appalacian Trail. Only 10 percent make it. So why put a stamp here and name a trail after her here?? Grandma Gatewood was seen hiking Hocking Hills and this trail all the time. This was her training ground. Find out more about her on her dedication plaque at the trail head of Old Man's Cave and inside the information center located near the restrooms at Old Man's Cave.

***Please, please be descrete and rehide well as the Hocking Hills is a very popular place, especially this time of year when the leaves turn colors.


Please email me and let me know if you find these.