GC3CV2F Profiles of Greyrock Mountain--SW View (Reprised)
Type: Traditional | Size: Small | Difficulty: | Terrain:
By: Denali41 @ | Hide Date: 02/18/2012 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N40° 41.526 W105° 19.297 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0
             

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CONGRATULATIONS TO PIXELMAGIC FOR FTF!

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Greyrock Mountain (elevation 7,613 feet) in Larimer County has a highly distinctive profile from Interstate 25 and other eastern vantages. Its steep southern aspect shows dramatically in silhouette as seen from the east. Many admirers of this Ranked Peak do not realize that the mountain’s lines from other directions are also remarkable and highly distinctive. This “Profile Series” consists of 10 Traditional caches placed on Ranked Peaks that surround Greyrock Mountain, as well as a Multi-staged cache and a “Mystery” cache. Views of this mountain from each cache location and from the stages of the Multi are captivating, and each provides a unique profile perspective of Greyrock. If you have as an objective finding all 12 caches in this series, you will eventually view this marvelous mountain from many angles as well as from close up. To attain these views (as well as the treasures of the log books in all of the cache containers!) you will have hiked dozens of miles, gained significant vertical elevation, and have reached some remote areas. A challenge confronting you will be discovering the most efficient approaches for accessing certain of these caches. Enjoy this particular profile cache, and consider finding all of the others! Appreciate your adventures as you “Profile” Greyrock Mountain!

This profile cache was hidden after the date of publication of the Profile Mystery Cache (GC2KW91). No codes required for the Mystery Cache are in this cache container.

POINT 6485

Drive to the Hewlett Gulch Trailhead parking area north of the bridge crossing the Poudre River, just west of Poudre Park. From parking, an excellent trail follows Gordon Creek, the perennial stream that flows down Hewlett Gulch. Several great geocaches are located at the TH and along this nice trail. To reach the South Western (Reprised) Profile cache, do not follow the trail. Instead, head directly west from the parking area and ascend the open terrain that rises directly above the trailhead lot. Keep climbing up over fairly easy terrain until you reach the highest point–a small rib of vertically-oriented rocks. This is the summit of Point 6485, a Ranked Peak shown on the USGS Poudre Park quadrangle and on the Trails Illustrated map for Cache La Poudre Big Thompson.

The climb to this summit is an easy, moderately short one (only 1.5 miles round trip), making this the easiest of all the caches in the Profile Series to reach. It still requires some effort, and many prickly pear cacti are on the mountain’s slopes, eager to stick you! Expect limited bushwhacking through fairly open mountain shrub communities. You will need to ascend about 750 feet of terrain in about 2/3 mile of horizontal distance.

I had unexpected excitement as I neared the summit: an immature Golden Eagle was perched there, on the highest rock! It showed its plumage so nicely as it flew off and then soared over the beautiful country just north of this peak. Perhaps you'll be lucky, too... In any event, when you reach the top, stop to appreciate the scenery! Although Greyrock Mountain is hidden behind Point 7180, this location nonetheless offers special views of several other Ranked Peaks in the area where caches in this Profile Series are hidden: see if you can pick out Point 7231, Point 6740 (Mount Webster), Point 7681 (North Greyrock Mountain), the Aiguille du Greyrock, Point 7180 (Southwest Greyrock Mountain), and Point 7309 (South Greyrock Mountain). Each is seen advantageously from your position near this cache! So find a soft rock to sit on as you review a great lineup of special places. If the weather’s nice, spend some time at this wonderful view point, and profile it in your memory!

The cache is easy to locate. It is placed just south of the highest point, in a cavity created by a thin flat rock that slopes downward from near the base of the vertical rock that forms the summit. Look for a thick plastic face-cream jar that’s been poked back into the cavity under this distinctive, sloping flat rock. The container is covered by a small rock to keep rodents from carrying it away.

Be very careful going down to the parking location. Take your time. Most accidents happen during descents. A tumble here could make a cactus spine pin cushion out of you! Have fun finding this cache!

This is the final cache in the Profile Series. I hope that you enjoy these caches, as well as the special Profile Mystery Cache! I’ve had fun developing the concept and placing all of the caches in the series.

11/17/2017 By ArkF
Thanks for the relatively quick cache! Got off work at noon and was told I had to take the dog somewhere so she would stop driving my wife crazy. Decided to take a short hike and grab this cache. Clouds were intermittent on the drive there, and it started raining halfway up the hill. Found the cache without too much trouble once I realized what direction south was. Forgot a pen (doh!) but took pictures of the cache, which is still in good condition in the cool melted container.

Had to detour a bit on the way down because there were 11 or 12 bighorn sheep across my path. Most I have seen at one time. Very cool! Was sad I hadn't brought my actual camera. Planned on looking for the new tribute cache on the trail, but the cold and wet made me decide to come back another day.

04/10/2015 By Cache U
Mousse the geopup and I are having a great time exploring the area around Greyrock mountain thanks to this series. Fortunately she's adept at avoiding the numerous cacti in this area, and have only had to pull one spine out so far. The melted container is still serviceable, and we enjoyed the view from here. Thanks for the challenging cache!

11/30/2014 By MooseTag
It's a bit chilly today so I opted for an easier hike, last time I was up this way hiking greyrock mountain someone recommended Hewlett gulch so here I am! First stop of the day, I opted for this one rather that the other one to the East because it looked easier from the trail head. I found one of this series while hiking up grey rock mountain so I would like to finish the series someday! Thanks for the great views and another great cache, off to hike the gulch!

02/08/2014 By icezebra11
After hiking up the steep mountainside to X7231 and signing the West SW View log, I headed south down the ridge toward X6485, the home of SW View. I reached a saddle between the two points and then began another fairly steep, but much shorter, climb. I arrived at GZ and after only a couple minutes I had the container in hand. It was just as Denali41 describe in his fire check log. It is amazing that the paper log was unscathed for as much heat as the container must have seen. Fire truly is fickle! Thanks Steve for this nice cache (and the mini fire behavior lesson).

10/09/2012 By Denali41
I made a hike today to make post-fire maintenance inspections on the final two caches I needed to evaluate that are north of Cache La Poudre River. I had anticipated that this cache would be OK, but discovered that a spur of ground fire had burned under the rock I was counting on to protect it. Only the outside of the two layers of heavy plastic had melted, with the melted material cooling as a blob on the lower edge, a blob that was attached to unburned pieces of vegetation. I opened the top and found that the cache log was in perfect condition, as was the inside of the container! So I put this "interesting" container back in its hiding spot so future finders can marvel at the fickleness of the fire at this location. It's ready to be found!