GC2MVCT Kenny WHO?
Type: Traditional | Size: Small | Difficulty: | Terrain:
By: Denali41 @ | Hide Date: 01/22/2011 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N40° 17.490 W105° 25.017 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0
                     

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CONGRATULATIONS TO nickgatt FOR FTF!!

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The USGS Quad for Estes Park identifies a peak that has an elevation of 9,285 feet as “Kenny Mountain”. But Kenny Who?! Long ago, someone or some organization must have submitted this name to the USGS to be considered as the “official” name for this mountain, and the USGS became convinced of the legitimacy of the name and included the name on subsequent topography maps. I’ve attempted to research the origin of the name but have come up empty. It’s likely that locals had colloquially called the peak “Kenny Mountain” for years before the USGS accepted the name. Who were the nearest locals? Well, probably the homesteaders who moved on to the meadows now known as “Homestead Meadows” northwest of the peak. These meadows were occupied by eight families, with the first homestead being deeded in 1889. The meadows and homestead sites are now protected as the Homestead Meadows National Historical Site . A wonderful set of trails allows hiking access to the homestead sites and some of the original buildings. The trails are maintained by the US Forest Service.

None of the senior men on these homesteads was named “Kenny” or “Kenneth”. Perhaps a son was? If that’s the case, “Kenny” might have been Kenny Laycock; or Kenny Boren; or Kenny Hill; or Kenny Engert; or Kenny Irvin; or Kenny Brown. The Walker Homestead was unusual–it was homesteaded by a single woman, Sarah Walker, so it’s unlikely that Kenny was named Kenny Walker. Who today, knows who Kenny “Who” was? Perhaps he was someone not even remotely related to these tough homesteaders. A politician? I don’t know....

Well, today I led a Colorado Mountain Club hike up through steep timbered slopes to the Big Elk Burn area and then on to the summit. Soon after we began our hike we passed the site where a slurry bomber crashed while fighting that fire in 2002, killing the two crew members (see “Mountain Tragedy #1–GCXVN1). As we hiked across the long and difficult stretch of fire- and wind-felled logs of the Burn, we wondered who Kenny was. We ascended Kenny Mountain and stopped at its summit to sign the summit register. Few people have done so in the past. Kenny’s been neglected by all but the more fervent peak baggers. Then we found a wonderful area out of the wind to have lunch and discuss Kenny Who some more. I hid this cache near where we sat and visited, and you shouldn’t have too much difficulty finding it and signing its log. Your challenge will be getting to the summit because of all the downed trees. It’s a real maze out there. But when you initially see the maze, and as you cross it and curse, keep in mind that 10 people successfully negotiated it on the day this cache was hidden, when lots of snow was on the ground and logs. So you can do it, too! But you might consider choosing a nice dry summer day for your cache-finding adventure.

Enjoy your trek to the Kenny Mountain summit. Consider who Kenny might have been...and then go down and explore Homestead Meadows. Perhaps Kenny was a youngster who crawled around in one of the cabin remnants you encounter on your journey through the meadows. He might have even been an early cache hider, concealing his treasures in neat rock formations or old logs near a meadow. Not knowing who Kenny was adds another facet of interest to your quest.

05/15/2019 By Barngineer
The descriptions of deadfall were not exaggerated. It’s a beautiful spot, but pretty tough to get to, for man or beast. Thanks for the adventure, it was fun!

11/16/2017 By icezebra11
Holy shin-bustin' deadfall Batman!!! The weather is supposed to be snowy tomorrow so I decided I needed to get a good hike in before the white stuff flew. I debated with myself on where to go and ended up choosing Kenny Mountain. The cache on top and the one a short distance below have been lonely a very long time so I wanted to pay them a visit.

I had not been up the Lion's Gulch trail since before the 2013 floods caused all the damage and closed the trail for almost 4 years. My intended route for today was to hike up to Homestead Meadows and then follow the old two-track around toward the Engert homestead. Once I parked at the trailhead and headed down the hill I guess my memory of the old trail clouded my vision and I took a wrong turn. I ended up following the creek downstream thinking the new trail would cut back on higher ground. I was wrong. I went far enough to know it wasn't cutting back so I turned around and headed back upstream. That's when I decided to attack the mountain head on and to just follow the ridge up, up, up. It was definitely steep but I'll take the steepness any day compared to the deadfall I encountered higher on the mountain. The only saving grace was that the terrain with all the deadfall wasn't nearly as steep as it was down lower.

I eventually got up to the trail to the Engert homestead about a 1/4 mile east of "Kenny Engert" so I decided to just keep going to "Kenny WHO?" which was almost another 1/2 mile away, with nothing but deadfall between me and the cache. I ended up going down one time but other than a scrape on the shin, I didn't hurt anything.

I finally arrived at GZ and began my search. It was a quick one and I found the container tucked in a crevice and held in place with rocks. I opened the lid to find a dry log inside, even though the container had holes in it from an animal chewing on it. I signed the log and placed it in a new container, a duct-taped jar. Then I put it back the way I found it and headed down the deadfall abyss.

My dad's name was Kenneth and everybody call him Kenny. I don't know who Kenny Mountain may have been named after but I know it wasn't him. I don't think he ever visited Colorado, at least I don't remember him ever saying he did. But he's been gone for 35 years so I'll never know. But I do know I likely will never visit Kenny Mountain again! Thanks Denali41 for placing this cache, it's not quite so lonely anymore!!!

05/02/2012 By animjason
Found with sassydil. This was a tough hike but to make it more fun I would see how long I could walk without touching the ground. I got a few hundred feet a few times just walking on top of fallen trees. That helped the task a little. Awesome hike and views but as sassydil said, the container needs some love. Also, we came after this one for the second to last D/T combo that I need for all 81!!!

05/02/2012 By sassydil
We earned every star of the terrain rating! Sure wish I had brought a chain saw for the last half mile . Jason will have more in his log. I'll give this a favorite for the experience and the views, but not for the container. I'm glad the coordinates were good! First I saw the lid (glad it was flipped over - made it easier to spot.) Then I spotted the log about 5 feet away. Then the container about 10 feet away. And finally the pencil. The container has a crack in it but considering the log was sitting out in the open for who knows how long, a crack in the container won't make much difference. Another good windstorm and everything might have disappeared forever. We reassembled everything and tucked it in a likely spot with some rocks securing it. I won't tell you how long the hike took...

This entry was edited by sassydil on Sunday, 06 May 2012 at 12:16:55 UTC.

10/02/2011 By kaiwarrior
We were tempted to go after this cache today, but after looking up the hill decided it was better left for a "days target" cache. We had the virtual in our sights for today.

03/05/2011 By nickgatt
FTF!

Last week, I hiked almost to Engert Homestead, but turned back when it got late.

Today, I made it to the summit log and cache. Those downed trees are a nightmare to climb over. I made it up the hill without too much trouble, but going downhill was exhausting.

TFTC