Schuylkill Canal Series: WRONG-WAY VINCENT Traditional Cache
FairmountWaterWorks: Seeing that the last two visitors posted DNF, today my hunter-orange-clad team went out there. We also did not find the cache. The area is in disarray from flooding, and the rock cavity has been washed open, so I decided not to replace the cache there, even though I had a brand new one with me. Still a nice walk to the dam remains.
Schuylkill Canal Series: WRONG-WAY VINCENT
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Size: 
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The Schuylkill Canal Series was launched for the 200th anniversary of the Schuylkill Navigation System, an amazing engineering feat built 1816-1828 and utilized throughout the 19th century. The Vincent Dam cache can be reached by foot (easy) or boat (some scrambling). It's a 16-oz water bottle filled with Schuylkill River animals. Water-themed trade items are especially welcome!
Important: This area is closed to all not wearing full-coverage hi-viz colors during hunting season. Geocachers may want to avoid this period. Vincent Dam is #25 out of the original 32 in the Schuylkill Navigation System. The Vincent Dam lock ruins are due East across the river, and the mouth of the Schuylkill in Philadelphia is due South. However, at this location the river flows North! A look at the map and you'll see why. This incredible 108-mile system of dams, slackwater pools, canals, and locks was built by hand to tame the river for transportation and power. It stretched from the coal-rich mountains of Schuylkill County to Philadelphia's landmark Fairmount Water Works at Dam #32. The Vincent Canal reach was almost five miles, re-entering the river just above Phoenixville. Hundreds of mills and other factories sprang up along the new canals, as coal transported from the mountains literally fueled the Industrial Revolution in this region. Unfortunately, the pollution of the river soon followed. In the 1940s, the river ran black with coal silt and other wastes, and there were no fish at all. The government Schuylkill River Project of 1947-51 dredged the river and removed most of the dams, so the river could clean itself again. Recently, the American shad has been reintroduced to the Schuylkill. Along with other anadromous fishes, shad swim upriver in the spring using fishways (a.k.a. fish passages or fish ladders). As of 2009, all four remaining navigation dams – Fairmount, Flat Rock, Norristown, and Black Rock – have fishways. Happily, the Schuylkill now has fifty species of fish, as well as other animals that feed on them, including the humans who come to its banks with fishing rods. These are all ecological indicators of watershed health. The Schuylkill is still the drinking water source for half of Philadelphia, as well as Norristown, Phoenixville, and Pottstown. Native Schuylkill River animals placed in this cache: mallard smallmouth bass channel catfish bald eagle green frog beaver CONGRATS TO KOIKEEPER FOR FIRST TO FIND
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(Decrypt)
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