GC244W0 Where Angels Fear To Tread
Type: Traditional | Size: Regular | Difficulty: | Terrain:
By: Denali41 @ | Hide Date: 02/18/2010 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N40° 11.852 W105° 21.373 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0
             

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CONGRATULATIONS TO Agents of KAOS FOR FTF!

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There are several ways to approach this cache; they range from short, very steep efforts to long-distance, less steep hikes. But any route you choose will be demanding, and you’ll earn bragging rights as well as a five-star terrain cache for your stats. Once you reach the cache vicinity your views from the summit of Coffintop Mountain will be memorable and indelible. Enjoy them, photograph them, and talk about them with your geocaching buddies. Be certain to take appropriate clothing in the event of weather changes, and have plenty of water and a good lunch along.

After SilverTrekker and I placed the cache and appreciated the remarkable scenery from the coffin’s top on a cold, wintry day, we descended by a steep route that required careful rock scrambling for a short portion of the downclimb. I got a bit ahead of her, so decided to sit on a rock until she caught up. I plopped my butt down firmly on a cluster of well-disguised prickly pear cacti. They blended in so well with the lichen-covered rock that their concealment equaled the masterpieces of only the most skilled cache-hiders whose cache containers must be found by minute observation or by “feel”. I discovered these cacti by explosive “feel”. After some emergency work in the field, the tiniest of the cactus spines were finally removed that night by my patient wife working under bright lights with a set of tweezers. So tweezers come in handy for cachers in more ways than one. While this was going on, my puppy Teewinot watched. I could sense her brain working something like this: “Golly, Daddy, when you take me into the mountains and I get prickly pair spines in my paw pads, I simply lick or kiss them out. It takes some time, but it works. Want me to kiss your ....?”

Once you get to ground zero, you should have no serious problem finding the cache. The coordinates were established by waypoint averaging of more than 500 measurements, with an accuracy of about 8.5 feet. Reach in for the prize. There are no prickly pears, so you’ll have the comfortable feel of a nice cache container in your hands, with no spines. Enjoy the experience, and enjoy Coffintop Mountain, where angels fear to tread. Then, enjoy E.M. Forster’s classic novel by this title.

11/26/2016 By matteovichandkip
I want to add that Kip and I got trapped on the mountain side that night. Phones ran out of battery sooner than expected. It's easy to get lost without definitive trails folks. Follow the stacked rocks and you should get to a trail alright. The Ranch to the East has an emergency road as well.

11/09/2016 By matteovichandkip
Yay! Made it to the top! Took dead man's gulch and around the north side. Attached is the summit log!

06/03/2016 By RDAD
Since we really enjoyed the Coffintop Mtn adventure last year, CNC and I thought the whole family would like the experience. So this time 5 of us headed up. We searched around on the different high points while enjoying the superb vistas in all directions, but never did find a summit register.

Now for our other goal today...the good news is that we did locate the cache! It was tricky to find, but it is in fine shape. So we signed in on the log and returned it to its home. We modified things slightly so it should now be easier to spot.

Thanks for the cache placement Where Angels Fear To Tread!

01/19/2015 By RDAD
CNC and I had a very enjoyable hike up and down Coffintop today from highway 7. It was a very warm day in this part of Colorado for January 19th. There was virtually no snow our entire route, even bare on the summit. However once at GZ our search failed to locate the cache container. But that's OK, as we successfully attained our ultimate goal today...the summit of Coffintop Mountain!

06/08/2014 By Barngineer
I'm writing this log today because all I wanted to do yesterday after finishing this hike was sleep. I really really enjoyed the whole exhausting experience, though.
I started the climb from Highway 7 between mile markers 30 and 29, right by the "Welcome to Roosevelt National Forest" sign. I could have made it a shorter hike by starting further West, but the meadow I went through was really pretty and I'm glad I started where I did. My sense of distance was way way off, and I thought that I could see Coffintop from there, but that wasn't it. It turned out that I couldn't see the destination until at least an hour into the hike. I left my vehicle at about 9:15 and got to GZ at about noon, when thunder was rumbling through the hills and raindrops were just starting to fall. The route I chose was pretty much straight at the target, but it required a lot of rock scrambling and steep climbing and I had to cross a very loose rock-slide zone. The container was in pristine condition in its secure hiding place. The views from the top, though hazy, were spectacular. I snapped a couple pictures and headed down, hoping to find a sheltered place where I could eat my lunch.
A little more than half-way down, I spotted a decent sized bear between the trees, directly in front of me. At first she was walking right towards me, so I whistled to let her know I was there, but she didn't seem to hear it. She lumbered around for a few seconds and then I got an answer to the age-old question "does a bear s*** in the woods?" The answer is "yes, she does." Right about then, her boyfriend showed up, and he was HUGE! I backed away and they both heard me. She ran down the hill, crashing through the branches. He just slowly backed up the hill and I went in the opposite direction, choosing to detour way around them.
After going down along a creek bed a ways, I knew I would get to a spot where it would be too dangerous to try to stay in the stream, so I headed north, hoping to go around a little peak that I had climbed up and over on the way up. I had crossed a trail on the way up, so I decided to try to find it again on the way down, because I hoped that it would help me avoid the steep and scary and slippery stuff. After stopping to dump the water out of my boots and wring out my socks, I found the edge of Boulder County Open Space (Heil Ranch) and I skirted the fence line for a while. It eventually led me to the trail and back towards the meadow that led to my Jeep.
Thanks, Denali41, for giving me a reason to go have an adventure. This cache is a favorite, for sure!

This entry was edited by Barngineer on Monday, 09 June 2014 at 21:05:53 UTC.