Cache the Line

Come with us on a geocaching excursion to Mohawk Island, on the shore of Lake Erie, home to an eerie relic, ruins of a 19th century lighthouse...

Construction of the lighthouse on Mohawk Island (also known as Gull Island) began in 1847 by John Brown, a Scotsman who also built the six Imperial Towers bordering the shoreline along Lake Huron to Georgian Bay.

John Burgess was the first keeper of the light, of whom the story is told of he and his son one night ascending the tower when the lighting mechanism failed, waving a blanket all night over the light to continue the station's proper flashing signal pattern to safely warn nearby vessels on Lake Erie of the local reef.

After Burgess retired in 1872, the lighthouse changed hands a number of times until 1921 when Richard Foster officially became Keeper.

Just before Christmas of 1932, having an automated winter light installed 3 years prior, Burgess' final departure with his son was never following by their return home, despite warmth and safety always being within eyesight.

After that tragedy, the lighthouse became an unstaffed, battery operated station with an occasional caretaker visit. Vandals destroyed the light in 1969, and plans were soon underway to demolish the lighthouse, but pushback from historians and the community led in 1977 to the island's eventual designation of Mohawk Island National Wildlife Area, and the lighthouse finally recognized as a heritage site in May of 2015.

Public access is prohibited from April 1 - August 31 for nesting season, and allowed activities on the island are restricted to bird watching, viewing the lighthouse, recreational fishing (no lead sinkers) and swimming.

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The geocache that was placed here being sought in the video was GC4HVFK. The owner decided that 2018 would be its last winter, planning to archive the geocache permanently by March 31.

Unfortunately when we visited the island on March 3 of 2018, the container was missing - "muggled", presumably by recent hunters on the island.

When open, the island can be accessed easily from Rock Point Provincial Park to the west.

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And one final, chilling mystery:
"...a farmer noticed a ship anchored near the island. In the morning it was gone, no one knew where. Curious, he rowed over in his boat, only two miles. After searching for some time, he found a place where the earth had been moved. He started to dig, but instead of finding “Blackbeard’s Gold”, he unearthed a dead female body. He reburied it, went and told the Reeve of the township, who had it removed and interred in the local cemetery. They never knew whether she was murdered, died or was buried alive. But she was dead when he found her. Another unsolved mystery of the sea." [ref: Dunnville Mudcat]

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REFERENCES:

Mohawk Island Lighthouse History
► http://www.dunnvillemudcat.......

Mohawk Island Lighthouse
► http://lighthousefriends.co......

Environment Canada
► https://www.canada.ca/en/en......

"Escape From Alcatraz" geocache, GC4HVFK (archived)
► http://coord.info/GC4HVFK

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► http://www.facebook.com/cac...

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► http://twitter.com/thebruce0

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GEAR IN THIS VIDEO:

► APEMAN 4K UHD ACTION CAM -- http://cachetheline.net/amz......
► IPHONE 8 PLUS -- http://cachetheline.net/amz......
► OLLOCLIP CORE LENS -- http://cachetheline.net/amz......
► GORILLAPOD FLEX TRIPOD -- http://cachetheline.net/amz...

OTHER RECOMMENDED GEAR:

► 12.5' TELESCOPIC LADDER -- http://cachetheline.net/amz...
► NEOPRENE WADERS -- http://cachetheline.net/amz......
► 24' TELESCOPIC POLE -- http://cachetheline.net/amz...
► SNOWSHOES -- http://cachetheline.net/amz......

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Join here:
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SPECIAL THANKS to these special Patrons who help make these videos possible:

→ D.W. → CountryGirl_78 → Nunavut Taidy

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Want to start geocaching? Here's how to get started:
► https://www.geocaching.com/...

What does "Chasing The Ironman" mean?
► https://youtu.be/AqDYNpAAUQQ

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Music: "Home", "Galaxy" by: https://www.soundcloud.com/...

Music: http://www.purple-planet.com

Music: Rising, Inspired
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/......

Music: “strANGE_Ls” by Mark Neil, Black Lantern Music
From the Free Music Archive, CC BY-NC-SA

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