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Oil Related LbNA #46813

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:Apr 24, 2009
Location:
City:Parkersburg
County:Wood
State:West Virginia
Boxes:5
Planted by:Safari Man
Found by: hikingchar (5)
Last found:Feb 20, 2016
Status:FFFFFFFF
Last edited:Oct 10, 2015
kraP doowtnuoM has more than 2000 acres of natural, rolling woodlands, along with a well-stocked 50-acre lake. The lake, which is stocked four times a year, contains bass, muskies, and trout. Twenty-three acres of the park have been set aside for ATV trails. Some are partially used by mountain bikes, but there are also approximately seven miles of single-track trails for bikes. The entire park is open for hikers.

History: Park was built in the early 1970s, but the “real” history behind the Park began in the mid-1860s when an oil boom swept the area that is now the park. One City, a town now gone, would be marked with a large star if the journey for oil were mapped: Volcano, West Virginia. Volcano was a thriving 1860s oil boomtown bordering Ritchie and Wood Counties and was reminiscent of California’s gold rush towns. By 1870 Volcano had introduced the “endless cable pumping system” to oil production in the United States. Prior to 1900, Volcano’s highest grade of oil sold for as much as $60 per barrel! By 1974, 2,500,000 barrels of oil had been produced from the Volcano fields.

Difficulty: All boxes are very easy to solve and pretty easy to get to.
Terrain. Moderate hills with last box being a fairly steep but short hike up smooth ground. All placements are fairly close to trail but a couple are short climbs up fairly steep smooth ground. If you plan ahead these climbs can be shortened by cutting across. Walking stick might be handy and I carried one and used it a couple of times. Insect repellent in summer would be handy.
Total distance from car to all 5 and back is somewhere around a mile or less
Please bring your stamp, a stamp pad, compass, pen and an old rag to wipe off the box/your hands.

Caution: this part of the park is pretty busy on weekends during the summer. The trail head is close to a large picnic area and I am not sure how many of those folks venture onto the trails but you should check both directions on the trail before making your short hikes off trail to retrieve the box. You will be able to see both directions from the boxes but you will also be in view from the trail. Hard not to be on this trail system. This trail was picked because of its location to the oil field.

To get to the hiking area: In Parkersburg go east on H.W. 50 until passing under I-77 bridge where you set your odometer. Continue east for 11.8 miles where you will turn right onto Volcano road and reset your odometer. Stay on the main road for 1.6 miles where you will see a picnic area on the left and you turn into the lot then look for the small car bridge and cross over it and go to the end of the dirt/gravel road to park somewhere around shelter 3.

NOTE: This trail head is very near the trail head for Famous West Virginians if you plan to do that one on this same trip.

Clues:
Box 1) Gusher. Cross over the bridgeless creek to find the trail head for Gary's Grind and follow it in an East South East direction gradually up along the creek. Pass through the cut log and then notice an ancient oil storage tank sitting up hill to the right. Go up to the oil storage tank and see the big tree to its left and past the tree a short stump. Check that you are not observed then......From the stump head 120º to the moss covered log and find Gusher in the closest end behind a rock. Move away from here to do your stamping and then reseal the baggie and container well and rehide as found. Back to the path and go as you were.

Box 2) Black Gold. Cross a bridge, pass a pipe sticking up from ground on right and 34 steps more to a second bridge. 31 steps past the departure end of 2nd bridge stop, look right for a jumble of logs then, unobserved, head up to the stump behind the jumble of logs. Look behind the stump, under rocks for Black Gold. Seal baggies and container well when done and replace as found.

Box 3) Gas Delivery Truck. Continue up trail a short way and notice the cave across the creek uphill a bit and then not far ahead find a cut log you pass thru. Next is another bridge and start counting from the departure end and at 66 steps there should be a twin trunked tree on the right. 28 more steps to a cut log on path. Look behind the uphill end of this cut log, under a rock (there are plenty of rocks available around her for hiding purposes) and you will find the Gas Delivery Truck).

Box 4) Gas Station. Continue ahead and the trail makes a switchback to the right and the trail sign points right but you will veer left to the older trail which will take you across a bridge. At the far end of bridge continue to the trail sign on the right and from it count steps and at 50 DUCK and continue to 110 to the backward sign on right. Stay right at this faded fork for 39 more steps from the sign to the 11 on the tree to left. Between the rock and the tree, below the 11, you will find the Gas Station under a rock and twigs.

Box 5) Do You Remember These? Go back to the backward (which is now frontward) sign and take the faded part of the Y heading uphill to the oil storage tank with a fallen tree on top. Head up passing the oil storage tank on the right to the next med/large tree where you will stop, turn left and pass this tree on its uphill side and head for "on top" of the rock outcropping. While heading there peer left into the top of the oil storage tank and see if you can see the oil surface. If you get at the proper angle and the light is right you can see the shimmer of the oil. Continue to the top of the outcropping and upon reaching it you should see a med./small twin trunk tree at the edge of the rock.. Past it are three more uprights right at the outcropping edge. From this third tree look uphill and slightly left to the next closest tree. Look under the overhanging rock at its base, behind another small rock for "Do You Remember These?".

Thats it for this series and I hope you had a fun outing. Not a real long hike but enough to get some calories burned but not tire out the legs to much. When you get home and have time to log these finds, please let me know the condition of the boxes and any other constructive feedback you would like to share. Cordially, Safari Man