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Allegheny GeoTrail


PaRacers

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The Allegheny GeoTrail is perhaps the largest of its kind, encompassing ten counties throughout northwestern and north-central Pennsylvania. Within each county are between 10 and 20 designated geocaches which make up the “trail”. The quest to find these caches will take participants throughout the rugged and scenic land of the Allegheny National Forest and its surrounding gateway counties.

 

Participants can pick and choose which participating caches they wish to seek, based on their choice of location, difficulty, and terrain levels. Find six or more caches in a county, and earn that county's unique geocoin. Find six caches in each of all ten counties, and earn a special geocoin that represents the entire trail. See the rules for how to go about finding the caches and claiming your coins!

 

Allegheny GeoTrail website

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Each of the 10 Counties will have a unique front, but they all share the same design on the back:

AGT_Coin_Back_large.gif

 

I'm not sure about why the spelling varies Cheesy pigs, but the river and the mountains are spelled Allegheny and the cities, towns and State Park are usually spelled Allegany.

 

The official starting date is Oct 1, and there will be several kickoff events I understand. One being (GC15GZK) tomorrow in Oil City, Pa.

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...f6-0c1932d92005

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Just finished all 10 AGT-counties of sunday oct14th in cameron county.I think we are the first to finish agt counties.what a great time we had seeing 60 great places,traveling hundred's&hundreds miles thru beautiful pa,walking many many miles,seeing many great people,finding 60 great cache hides.we picked up 4 of the coins already&more by the end of the month&early nov.the 4 coins we have picked up look great,venango,crawford,warren,potter.These memories will last us forever!& found some intresting places to visit again.we seen elk for the first time doing the agt cache'swow what a site they were!

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We attended an event in the Bradford, Pa (McKean County) area today and one of the speakers was Wes Ramsey - one of the original developers of this great project. According to Wes, the project is a huge sucess with hundreds of people flocking to the wilds of Pennsylvania to stamp their passports. He also mentioned that the 11th GeoTrail completion coin design is still in the planning stages. It will be a 2" coin with the back sharing the same design as the individual County coins only larger. A circular path of footsteps will signify the geotrail itself around the GeoTrail logo.

The design of the front of the coin is still in the planning stages and they are asking for individual design ideas or artwork to be submitted. If anyone has a design in mind or would like to contribute artwork or ideas, they should contact:

Mike Henderson - mhenderson@oilregion.org

Edited by PaRacers
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Completed the series today along with tammy576 after 7 days of caching and completed...also went to Ohio to grab a few to add to the collection. This was a great run of caches and will return to do some of the many regular caches also...Thanks for all your time in this event.

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Probably not any of my business, but who funded this project? 11 different geocoins is a stack of cash just to give away for free. I sure wish we had something like this in Texas but I can't see anyone offering that type of cash investment with little or no return.

 

lightsocket.jpg

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I believe it was actually funded by a grant. I have enclosed a link that may help you 9key.

 

"Penn Soil RC&D is partnering with the Oil Region Alliance of Business, Industry, and Tourism to develop and implement The Allegheny GeoTrail, an innovative new concept to increase tourism benefits in a ten county area of north western and north central Pennsylvania. The project utilizes the growing interest in a relatively new outdoor sport for people of all ages called Geocaching to provide increased tourism benefits to ten counties which comprise the Allegheny National Forest and its gateway communities. The project is funded by a $234,200 grant from the U.S. Forest Service."

 

http://www.pennsoilrcd.org/current_project...%20GeoTrail.htm

Edited by LadeBear68
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It would vary from county to county and depending on which 6 caches in each county you choose to go after, but I would say that it's possible to do SEVERAL counties in a weekend trip. Most of the valaidation points are County Visitors Bureaus and some businesses that have different open hours and days. You'll need to stop at one of these places first to pickup your passport before collecting your stamps.

 

Here's a link to each of the participating GeoTrail Headquarters with addresses and phone numbers:

 

http://www.alleghenygeotrail.com/passport.htm

 

You can also collect your stamps and then mail your passport to the Oil Region Alliance at 206 Seneca Street, 4th Floor, Oil City, PA 16301; they will validate the passport and return it with your coins within a few days.

Edited by PaRacers
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Cameron County is our #4 AGT coin, it depicts this counties recreational possibities of hiking, boating, and abundant wildlife including the elk and bald eagle. Your search for caches here will take you along the Sinnemahoning and Susquehanna Rivers and through the rugged and remote Pennsylvania Wilds.

 

2a1390b0-65ba-4a75-b860-5d263c1ff6bd.jpg

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My husband and I have completed five of the counties in two weekends. If they were closer, or if we stayed overnight somewhere, we'd have done better yet. Still, we went out today after over a foot of snow fell yesterday and we found our six for Warren County. On snowshoes. Otherwise, there were spots we would have been up to our knees in snow.

 

 

:o I thought the Visitor's Center would be open. It seems to me it HAS been open on weekends. Maybe it's just during the summer.

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1 vehicle towed 60 miles (Pghlooking's Jeep) - $200

3 day car rental - $100

1 lost coat - $40

Trip to an overcrowded waterpark for 2 families - $500

1 vehicle towed out of the snow (DD mobile) - $75

1 car wash - $10

1 box Imodium AD - $8

2 pairs of socks (from feet breaking thru the ice while caching) - $5

Earning our first AGT geocoin with Pghlooking (and family) - PRICELESS

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Way to go atmouse! Now that the weather has changed, the action on the Allegheny GeoTrail has been really picking up again. We've run into fellow cachers on nearly every trip out we've made this month.

 

This is Elk County's coin, it features one of the denizens you may encounter in this part of the GeoTrail. Dawn and dusk are the best times to see these awesome creatures roaming wild in the Benezette area. Your search will be rewarded with some great views of the scenic Clarion River also. With caches located in everthing from some wonderful geological wilderness to historical urban spots with all levels of difficulty and terrain, there is sure to be something for everyone.

 

7c0983e7-6d37-4c0a-aa63-89500785d296.jpg

Edited by PaRacers
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Here's a sneak peek at an AGT geocoin display plaque seen at a local event this weekend. These beautiful displays will soon be available at Elkwood Arts. So far, no glimpses of the 11th bonus coin (which fits in the center of the plaque) but I'm told they are expected in May. Stay tuned......

c2a744da-9e1c-42a8-bdef-319cc8974c22.jpg

Edited by PaRacers
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This has been a fantastic program, PaRacers! I spent many a summer relaxing by the shores of the Allegheny just outside of Warren, and if I could break free long enough to head northward, I'd be up there again in a heartbeat.

 

That's an excellent plaque for such an accomplishment, so kudos to Elkwood Arts on their fine work.

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Here's a sneak peek at an AGT geocoin display plaque seen at a local event this weekend. These beautiful displays will soon be available at Elkwood Arts. So far, no glimpses of the 11th bonus coin (which fits in the center of the plaque) but I'm told they are expected in May. Stay tuned......

Wow! Just out of curiosity, in which county are the Jedi dueling, as depicted in the coin at the bottom of the left arc? :)

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Here's a sneak peek at an AGT geocoin display plaque seen at a local event this weekend. These beautiful displays will soon be available at Elkwood Arts. So far, no glimpses of the 11th bonus coin (which fits in the center of the plaque) but I'm told they are expected in May. Stay tuned......

Wow! Just out of curiosity, in which county are the Jedi dueling, as depicted in the coin at the bottom of the left arc? :)

 

It's a hunter and a fisherman.

 

:)

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Here's a sneak peek at an AGT geocoin display plaque seen at a local event this weekend. These beautiful displays will soon be available at Elkwood Arts. So far, no glimpses of the 11th bonus coin (which fits in the center of the plaque) but I'm told they are expected in May. Stay tuned......

Wow! Just out of curiosity, in which county are the Jedi dueling, as depicted in the coin at the bottom of the left arc? :)

 

Bandomeer

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For those cachers who have gathered six or more stamps per county in their AGT passports but have not yet had their counties validated to receive their coins, Good News! Mike Henderson and Wes Ramsey will be attending the Allegany State Park Geobash III on Saturday May 17th and Sunday May 18th, and they will be giving out AGT passports, validating and redeeming coins for all counties. This is a great chance to pick up the coins you've earned but haven't got yet. So far, about 350-400 coins per county have been given out with 200-250 cachers completing the Geotrail and qualifying for the 11th bonus coin which will be avaliable soon. The Geobash is a three day event that is a fantastic family friendly experience in the beautiful Allegany State Park. See the above link for details.

4eaa0a1c-1064-4111-9404-6701ec8a6395.jpg

2008 Geobash geocoin

Edited by PaRacers
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The 11th Bonus coin is finally avaliable! This big 2" coin has been received at the Oil Region Alliance

Office. This is the latest update from Wes Ramsey:

"Mike Henderson says that they are beautiful and he hopes that they will be available at the coin redemption locations sometime later this week. Even if you have got the minimum of six caches per county, there are more to be found now, and you can continue to see some new caches being added in almost every county yet. There are currently 138 active AGT caches published. At last count there were around 15,000 recorded individual finds recorded on geocaching.com so the traffic continues to be heavy."

 

You have to find at least six caches in each of the 10 counties to earn the bonus coin.

 

58fd7329-cf20-40a5-a65a-24560f26baf5.jpg

 

95cb7557-b2d7-4eff-aa72-e8cadf65b56d.jpg

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Glad they finally got the coin. Now I will have to wait and see when Brookville will get them in so I can go pick ours up. Then I need to come up with the $60 to get the plaque. I worked very hard on completing the AGT. Still need to get what caches are left, but at least I got all the counties done.

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Took my niece from Florida to the Warren County Visitors' Bureau on Monday June 30 to claim her Warren County coin. I found out the Eleventh Coin was in. Came back 10 minutes later with my daughter and passports. According to the Vacation Bureau worker, my daughter the first person to claim the eleventh coin in Warren County!

 

Have to save up for four plaques now.

Edited by Cornplanter
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Geez! And I am just tryin to save up to get one...lol

 

Wife and I decided to not display the front of the 11th coin, since we are not that impressed with it. Since you can't see the backs of the 10 coins and the back of the 11th is almost similar, that is what is going to be displayed. Also, I am going to make a plexi-glass cover for the plaque with a side piece to hold a passport.

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Ok...I was just in ebay and saw something very disturbing....some one has all 11 coins up for auction. That is one sick puppy if you ask me. But then again, I would love to buy the set and release them just to see what happens. Would be nice to see them actually travel somewhere. My set I have is all activated but staying with me. My wife's set is unactivated and going to be displayed in our plaque.

Bet if any were to be released they would disappear in a heart beat.

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I guess everything has a price, but there's no way to buy the wonderful experience we've had on the Allegheny GeoTrail! The coins are a definate prize....everyone who has come to my house has been shown our plaque and they've all been impressed. But the memories of the sights, challenges, and the people we met on the trails are the real treasures of the GeoTrail. We've EARNED all our coins, but we're still picking up AGT caches/stamps wherever we can.

 

Here's another example of a display for the AGT coins. This one was hand made out of oak by geocacher LASSAS in his wood shop. As you can see, he's preserved his passport book too and the front and back are BOTH glass so you can flip it over and see the coins reverse sides as well. Sorry, it's a one of a kind and a beauty to behold!

e3420c0e-8c37-4ca7-b384-0511be306cfd.jpg

Edited by PaRacers
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Now that is very nice. I like that the passport gets included.

And you are right. We do get to keep those memories of the caches with the coins. Whoever buys the coins wont know what it was like and what we had to go through to get them. I know there were a few times I thought to myself "What the heck am I doing out here" (middle of a snow storm). Trudging through the snow, crossing streams I didnt have to, thinking that taking the short way was the best but it wasnt because I had to become a mountain goat to get up a hill side (that one was bad). All these are memories that I get to share with the use of the coins. I am proud to say that I "earned" my coins.

Edited by Sparticus06
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do you know if thay are going to mail out the 11th coin to those of us that have done the 60 caches (i finished in march) or do i need to go up there to pick my up? and i agree if you buy the set on e-bay you'll have the coins but we saw alot of really cool things doing these like seeing and hearing elk bugling in the morning and pithole oil flats just to name a few. iwas suprised to find a agt coin in a cache i did in greene co. hope it stays in play.

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do you know if thay are going to mail out the 11th coin to those of us that have done the 60 caches (i finished in march) or do i need to go up there to pick my up? and i agree if you buy the set on e-bay you'll have the coins but we saw alot of really cool things doing these like seeing and hearing elk bugling in the morning and pithole oil flats just to name a few. iwas suprised to find a agt coin in a cache i did in greene co. hope it stays in play.

You will have to take your completed passport to a redemption center to get the bonus coin. A link was posted here earlier for the addresses of the centers. Or you can mail your passport to:

Oil Region Alliance

206 Seneca Street, 4th Floor

Oil City, Pa. 16301

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I love Pithole Flats...just so cool to think that at one point, there was a town there. Wished the Lighthouse would have been open when we went and did the Lighthouse Island cache. And it was very cool feed fish in the middle of winter at the Heath Station cache. And the millions and millions of peepers at Venango-Short walk and the really cool turtle I got to play with.

Oh the memories

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Had the chance to look and hold one of those plaques. I am not impressed. One coin practially had to be hammered in. All the other coins just laid in it and if you hung it on the wall those ones would just fall out. I am in the process of finding someone that can make one almost like it but maybe a little better. Not about to waste the $60.

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