02/10/2019 By YamaGypsy
Found this one as we headed back out from the hike today. Tftc!
08/25/2018 By Kerewin0430
Found on a beautiful day of hiking and great conversation with gampa&gamma! I've been meaning to explore the Waldo Canyon area for a while, and today was the day. My mom was unexpectedly in town for a little longer than anticipated, so she joined us, too...for an excellently tiring hike that ended up being longer than expected, as well (and uphill on the way back, even)! I thought we were only going for 4 (or maybe 8 caches if we were feeling it), but we got to GZs for 10! Along the way, my mom decided that she'd finally get her own geocaching account for all the traveling she does, too. We have a convert, haha! We made a silly assumption and were looking for the final at the wrong coordinates on the way in, but a PAF set us straight and it was a quick find on the way out. Thank you for placing this fun puzzle!
08/25/2018 By gampa&gamma
We enjoyed an incredibly beautiful Colorado day of hiking and caching with Kerewin0430 and her mom. We made this mystery puzzle harder than it needed to be by overlooking a detail. A PAF set us straight. Signed log and discovered the one trackable in the new container. We found the old container nearby. Wow! Thanks for this mystery cache.
07/13/2018 By RPieperCO
Thanks for the lonely cache!!! Today I needed to get out as I've been feeling pretty down. I've been eyeing these caches since the are "Opened" back up. I made a few quick stops before heading up the mountain. I approached all the ones I found today from below at one of the pull offs just past Waldo Canyon. It was a steep climb but I managed a good time up and around a large loop to find 7 and 1 DNF. This was the 5th in my stops and I made short work of it thanks to 3 Williams Kidz log and pictures. Signed and stamped the log and replaced as found. Thanks for placing this fun cache in a great location!
11/25/2017 By estes01
I was searching for caches to do when I discovered that I'd forgotten to log this cache and another one close by. Now I can't even remember when I did it, but shortly after it was replaced by the 3 Williams kidz. I found the replacement container quickly, but didn't see the original one. Interesting area...just amazing how different everything looks now.
11/13/2017 By 3 Williams Kidz
Long story made short: found it, for the first time in over 5 years.
Long story still a long story: the Waldo Canyon Wildfire broke out on June 23, 2012. Since then, the area has been closed to hikers, including the area where this cache is. Then, on October 3, 2017, the US Forest Service issued Order PSICC-2017-22, which reopened the area for hiking, but no overnight camping or campfires. I parked north of Severy Road in Cascade at a trailhead, and hiked southeast to GZ. There are a few photos attached, one of Stage 1, which contained the solution to the location of the final, in a puzzle format. On the cache page, it said not to get "stumped" there. Photo attached of what is left of the stump. Whatever was there before to solve the puzzle is now gone, but fortunately, I was able to solve it by looking at the cache page, knowing what very significant event happened in this area (hint, hint).
Got to within about 30 feet of those final coordinates, and while looking a bit uphill spotted the obvious hiding spot, but -- no container. Looked all around, and then while expanding my search to the south to another likely hiding spot, came across the very burned container out in the open. Nothing salvageable whatsoever. But, since I found the container, I left a replacement container in the very likely hiding spot, along with a new logbook, some small swag, and a trackable, and unless the CO wishes otherwise, am logging this as a Find. The replacement container is a clear plastic container with a red lid. I left the original container out in the open where I found it, which is about 20 or 30 feet south of GZ; cachers should be able to find it pretty easily once they get there, unless there is snow on the ground.
TFTC !!!
Smokey's Stash before I touched it
Smokey's Stash after I touched it
Smokey's Stash -- what little is left of the stump
Smokey's Stash -- the obvious hiding spot
06/10/2012 By sleuthers
Been meaning to do this one for years and today was close enough to just go for it. Thanks.
06/10/2012 By TatteredShoes
That was a longer hike than I expected, but it was fun! Great puzzle and a nice place for a hide. SL, thanks!!!
03/17/2012 By ethibault
very fun find TFTC picked up coin will find new home soon.
10/22/2011 By lesslost2
Fun! We were skeptical about getting out there without our "backup systems" for solving puzzles, but could have accepted the last sentence of the long description as written. First stage is definitely showing its age: some mild guesswork got us there. Dropped off Old Glory! TB. Very nice cache: Thanks!
07/08/2010 By ayersfam
Very well done cache. I usually am not a puzzle cacher, but I thought I would give this one a try. Unique way to mark a bit of history and get a nice cache. Did the Waldo Canyon route - Just follow the bread crumbs(caches) and you will get here fine.
06/13/2010 By Rich_Life
I came by to find 'Natural' and saw this one loaded in my GPS not too far away. The black clouds to the west held off long enough for me to find this cache and hike back down to the Waldo Canyon TH. The stump is showing some wear, but still doable. Cache is in great shape. I liked it! Thanks
03/13/2010 By dmbfan73
We only had the description of the cache in my Oregon GPS, so the letters and numbers were not depicted the way there were on the webpage. So, we couldn't decrypt the clue without a lifeline... had to call my brother at work and have him tell me what numbers stood for which letters and vice versa. I'm surprised that my phone worked out here, but I guess we're still close to the highway. After figuring out the clue and getting the correct coords, we made the quick hike to the cache and made the easy find. TFTC
Smokey's Stash
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