Approx 1 1/2 mile east of this spot this long straight stretch of Hwy 40 has a bend in it.... but why?
The cache is disguised, but has room for small tradeables.
Park in the parking lot at the "Perch Ponds" and near another geocache -- this a twofer! The parking lot is on the south side of Hwy 40 between the two Rest Stop entrances. Walk the 600'+ to this cache. There is a wide path through the trees. Wear BUG SPRAY in the appropriate months, as they breed the mosquitoes quite large around here! :-) This cache would be accessible in the winter months if you snowshoe or cross country ski!
Sam Cary homesteaded a 160 acres in this area in 1885. Backed by his brother, Robert's oil money from back east, and his brother, John's mining supply money from Leadville, Sam Cary began buying neighboring ranches. The Cary brothers formed the Yampa Livestock and Land Company. By 1901 they started building buildings that became the landmark of the Cary Ranch. The first summer they employed over 60 men who were all building buildings. At one time, there was a mile long barn on this property. Horse and cattle were the mainstay. In 1903 they were feeding over 16,000 cattle on this property. By 1910, the Cary Ranch spread from the Hayden town limit to 10 miles to the west. By 1919 the ranch was on a decline due to the fall of the cattle market. Throughtout the 20's and 30's the ranch was sold off and the once large and famous Cary Ranch was done. There are some of the original ranch buildings still standing and in use on the ranch just northwest of this cache (2017).
So why the bend in this long straight stretch of the highway? Well, when David Moffat put in the railroad, the Cary's depended on the railroad to get their cattle and to ship their cattle out. The corrals and loading chutes were right against the railroad -- on the south side of the tracks. When the highway was built, while it paralelled the railroad tracks through this stretch, it had to go around the remains of all of those corrals. If you look off the North side of the corner, between the highway and the railroad tracks, you can still see remains of the corrals.
Additional Waypoints
PK72PXV - GC72PXV Parking
N 40° 29.854 W 107° 22.425