Poudre Canyon Puzzler

02/12/2017 By Sam_I_AM
Found with Cache U who did all the heavy lifting on this one. I enjoyed the walk on a cold but clear day with no snow on the ground. Thanks for taking us to a beautiful area!

02/12/2017 By Cache U
Found with Sam_I_AM. We needed to get out for a scenic drive, and given the warm weather we've had the past few weeks we decided to give this one another try. Armed with a generous hint from the CO, and lack of foliage this time of year, made a quick find this time around. It's nice to finally get this one off the DNF list. Thanks for the interesting puzzle and a nice walk in an area that's rarely travelled!

09/03/2016 By Denali41
Too bad about Cache U's DNF. The cache is well hidden and is challenging to find. That's why the Difficulty rating is pretty high. It's hidden so that an accidental find by a muggle would be extremely rare, and it's secured in a fashion that will prevent it from "wandering".

09/02/2016 By Cache U
Aargh! Had solved this awhile back, and finally had some time to make the hour drive out to the area. The hike was short but wet due to the overgrown trail and followed the hint and remembered not to climb. I finally had to leave to make an appointment in town. Fun puzzle and hike, but I wish the final was a bit larger or more obvious. May be able to try again sometime with a hint...

04/02/2016 By icezebra11
Well I wasn't the first to solve the puzzle but I was the first to reach the final location and sign the log! I saw this cache on the day it was published but the method to solving the puzzle didn't come to me right away. I did recognize one of the keys but the remainder eluded me and I put it away for a few days. On Wednesday I picked it back up again and once I put some additional thought to it, I arrived at the correct approach. But then I had to sit back and wait until today to go after it, hoping Chris wouldn't beat me to it. This morning I checked the cache page and still no FTF so off I went, headed for Poudre Canyon.

I arrived at the parking location at about 9:00 am, greeted by a beautiful, warm, sunny morning. No snowshoes necessary as there was almost no snow along the trail. I donned my pack and headed to GZ. Once I arrived at the coordinates there was quite a bit of signal bounce due to the terrain and I was a little puzzled as they put me in an area that didn't quite seem right. But I began my search, keeping Denali's hint in mind.

After a half hour of fruitless searching around GZ I expanded my range substantially. I even thought the clue maybe meant no "further" further climbing necessary so I went up to a location just below the very top and looked at locations around head height even though my GPS said I was 50 feet away. No luck there either. So I headed back down to my GZ area. I returned to several locations that I'd looked at before and continued to scour them. After nearly an hour and a half of looking I was truly about to throw in the towel. I looked again in an area I had been at least once before but this time something caught my eye. A closer look revealed the very well hidden container! Sweet relief!!! I opened the lid to find a blank log and it was quite a pleasure to ink my moniker in the {FTF} location.

So my overall take on this cache is that the puzzle is a bit tricky but finding the final was definitely harder. And there is NO need to climb. I've hiked this area before and I really enjoyed getting back there again. It is a special place and a really nice cache. Thanks Steve!!!