Cache to Eagle - Three Helpful Winners

During our formative school-age years, many of us remember fondly the experiences we had, and our children had, through their Scout organizations. It exposed us to new experiences beyond our daily routine, taught us many lessons about adventure and hard work, taught us new and useful skills, and allowed us to get rewards for each step of advancement. We also learned teamwork and leadership skills, while usually having fun with our peers.

Staunton State Park is proud to have hosted three Eagle Scout community service projects so far in our brief history, since we opened to the public in 2013. The Cache to Eagle caches, developed originally in Marin County, California, provide the public an opportunity to observe and appreciate something each Eagle Scout candidate must complete before achieving that milestone, and it must be done before his 18th birthday.

You will need to follow the Boy Scout Motto "Be Prepared" to locate this cache container, so bring your compass on this adventure. Many GPS units include this feature, and smart phones have apps available for compass readings. These may need to be calibrated before having the necessary accuracy.

In addition to providing service to others and fulfilling the Scout Oath, “to help other people at all times”, the primary purposes of the Eagle Scout community, school, or religious institution project are to learn project management and leadership skills, and putting in the hard work, mental and physical, to achieve a significant accomplishment.

To be successful is his project, the candidate must find a non-scouting organization that has a need, write a proposal for the project, get approval from both his scouting organization and the host organization, develop a plan and schedule, as well as a budget, and may have to raise funds if the host organization cannot support all the material costs. The project must be done in a time frame that supports the host organization. He may organize others to help, but only one Eagle Scout candidate can get credit for each project. He must organize the work, supervise the work, and make sure that all the elements necessary for success are completed. After the project work is done, he must document the project in a report which will be evaluated as part of the review for his application for Eagle rank. He is not responsible for maintenance of the project result after completion, since this is expected of the host organization. The scouts for these three projects reported that they learned new leadership skills, how to work through challenges with the patience needed with a volunteer workforce, and an appreciation for how a community can come together to meet the needs of its members.

Normally, the scout organization and the host organization provide advice and counsel, since everyone wants a successful project in the end. The scout involved will always remember this experience, including the good, bad, and ugly, as well as his positive experience on his community. Staunton State Park thanks and salutes these three Eagle scouts who have helped us serve the public by making their contribution to community service. We hope the geocaching community appreciates and applauds their service, and is more aware of the selfless sacrifice of the many people who make our communities vital and healthy. It is normal to not publish the identities of the individual scouts, but their accomplishments are an example to us all about the value of helping others in the community. We all can use whatever skills we have to help others.

Suggested Tour Route

The suggested route for seeing the three Eagle Projects is to park in the large, paved Meadow parking lot at the top of the hill, or alternatively at the unpaved overflow parking lot or the small parking lot at the Group Picnic Area (which may be closed due to a group reservation that day). From one of these lots, walk to the covered pavilion at the Group Picnic Area, and find Project #1 just outside the pavilion on the downhill side. Then go to the Upper Davis Ponds Trailhead on the other side of the pavilion (near the vault toilet building), and walk down the Davis Ponds trail (keep left at the trail junction below the GPA) to Project #2, which requires a sharp right turn at the Lower Davis Ponds Trailhead, from which you can see the Visitor’s Center. Bicycles and horses are not allowed on the Davis Ponds trail. Then walk back up to the Staunton Ranch/Dines Meadow trailhead. Follow the Dines Meadow trail to the Mason Creek trail junction, and turn right a short distance to Project #3.

Bicycles and horses are allowed on the Dines Meadow and Mason Creek Trail. Equestrians may also park at the Mason Creek Trailhead, but must walk to visit Projects #1 and #2.

An alternate route is to park at the Mason Creek Trailhead and do a loop hike past the Visitor’s Center to the GPA and then back via Dines Meadow and Mason Creek trails. You may pass close to other caches along this route, if you are interested.

Project #1

The first service project for the park was the design and construction of horseshoe pits adjacent to the pavilion at the Group Picnic Area. Groups can rent the area for the day, and the small parking lot (35 vehicles) is included in the reservation. The covered pavilion has approximately 8 picnic tables, electric outlets on a counter, and charcoal grills. It also has a water faucet that is seasonally available, and is near a vault toilet. The horseshoe pits were located there as an added family-friendly feature for these groups to enjoy. But when the Group Picnic Area is not reserved, any park visitor may enjoy playing horseshoes here, and the shoes can be checked out from the Visitor’s Center or players can bring their own.

Project #2

The second service project for the park was the design and construction of a bridge over a seasonal stream which crosses the lower part of the Davis Ponds trail. This trail was constructed before park opening in 2013 as a family-friendly trail that is wide enough for two strollers to pass each other, and is relatively flat and easy way to access the fishing at Davis Ponds, about a half mile from the lower DP trailhead. When originally constructed, this creek crossing was designed with large flat rocks across which people could easily walk. But it proved an impediment to the small wheels of the strollers and wheelchairs that wanted to get to the ponds. So, this project was designed as an easily traversed bridge instead of the rocks, and was built of low maintenance materials. It is now much easier for some people to get to the ponds, including the ice fishermen that drag or roll the sleds to the ponds.

Project #3

The third service project for the park was the design and construction of a trail improvement along the Mason Creek trail to remedy what can be called a seasonal swamp and muddy spot along the trail. In the park, water from snow melt or thunderstorms usually sinks into the relatively coarse soil which has a high proportion of decomposed granite (as you saw used for the Davis Ponds trail surface). But locally, there can be low spots, possibly underlain by competent rock, where the water must flow on or close to the surface. This spot where the project is located is one of those. So two aspects of the design were installed. The first was to raise the level of the trail for more than 140 feet with side rails and competent decomposed granite soil. The second was to build a puncheon, or plank road, across the low point so that water can flow below the “bridge” across the trail. Plank roads were commonly built in the past century across swampy or marshy areas to allow more efficient transport of wagons or heavy motor vehicles. They can be found in Canada and Alaska, as well as certain areas of the Northeast U.S. where other means of transport were very difficult. The result for the Mason Creek trail is that most trail users now can easily stay on the trail, rather than the past practice of going off trail in this area to find drier footing. These social trails were unattractive, and were damaging the local environment.

To find the cache container, a compass is useful. It is located approximately 190 feet (58 meters) from the center of the plank road bridge (waypoint Project #3), along a compass heading of 275 degrees magnetic. This heading is slightly north of magnetic west. If the ground is muddy in that direction, you should walk around the muddy area if possible, because a new social trail may attract muggles to the container.

This cache is located within Staunton State Park, which has one public entrance along S. Elk Creek Road, six miles west of Conifer, about 1.5 miles off U.S. Highway 285. Parking along either side of S. Elk Creek Road and Upper Ranch Road adjacent to the park boundary is prohibited. All vehicles entering the park must have a daily park pass ($8) or a CO state park annual or special pass.

The Park is open year-round, and day use hours at 6:00 am to 10:00 pm. A walk-in campground (up to Ľ mile from parking) is open for public use, and overnight parking is currently permitted only for those staying in the campground. During summer and autumn weekends, the park may reach capacity, and cars are allowed to enter only if a parking space is available. Horse trailers are admitted if space is available for parking trailers. All Park trails are natural surface, some trails are hiker-only, but other trails are multiuse for bicycles and horses also. Information about the park can be found at Staunton State Park website

All visitors must follow park rules and regulations. These include dogs on leash at all times, clean up after pets, travel on developed trails to the extent feasible, leave no trace, respect areas closed for resource management, and be careful around wildlife (especially mountain lions, coyotes, and black bears). Fires are strictly prohibited, except for camp stoves with an on/off switch in the designated campsites and grilles found in the picnic areas. No motorized vehicles are allowed on trails within the Park. An exception is the special tracked chairs that the Park offers to visitors who cannot access selected trails on their own mobility. Pack your own trash out of the back country, and trash receptacles are located near the parking areas. Also, be prepared for changing weather, bring adequate water and footwear, and trails may be snow-covered or icy in winter.

Additional Waypoints

0185AWV - Project #1
N 39° 29.984 W 105° 22.799
Near Ranch Hand Group Picnic Area covered pavilion
0285AWV - Project #2
N 39° 29.926 W 105° 22.893
Near Lower Davis Ponds Trailhead adjacent to Visitor's Center
0385AWV - Project #3
N 39° 29.953 W 105° 22.496
Near trail junction of Dines Meadow and Mason Creek
0485AWV - SR/DM Trailhead
N 39° 30.075 W 105° 22.727
Near upper Meadow paved parking lot and restrooms, picnic tables, and water (seasonally available). Use this trailhead for bicycles and horses
0585AWV - Upper DP Trailhead
N 39° 29.997 W 105° 22.787
Near Group Picnic Area and restrooms, picnic tables, and water (seasonally available). Bicycles and horses are not allowed on Davis Ponds trail.
0685AWV - Parking
N 39° 29.966 W 105° 22.532

0785AWV - Mason Creek Trailhead
N 39° 29.665 W 105° 22.826
Near Mason Creek parking and restrooms.