GC26C5Y Livermore Heights
Type: Traditional | Size: Regular | Difficulty: | Terrain:
By: Denali41 @ | Hide Date: 04/06/2010 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N40° 45.431 W105° 17.526 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0
             

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CONGRATULATIONS TO doglover3pups FOR FTF!!

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Many communities of the 21st century have their exclusive neighborhoods, often characterized by the word “Heights”. Livermore, in Larimer County, has its “Heights”. It’s essentially at the summit of Livermore Mountain (elevation 7,504') , the sentinel of the neighborhood. It overlooks the community of Livermore and much of the adjoining territory toward Poudre Canyon, Virginia Dale, Buckhorn, and Red Feather Lakes. It’s a very special location on this globe we call Earth. And very few people have ever visited its summit. Like many “heights” neighborhoods, Livermore Heights is a gated, locked one–unless you do your map work to find public approaches around the gated access points. Or, you might strike “gold” by determining ownership of the gated access routes and then asking and receiving permission.

I’ve been to the cache vicinity on three occasions, and each time I’ve parked in a Larimer County Open Space Trailhead parking area and crossed the Open Space land, Roosevelt National Forest land, short stretches of private land, and finally Roosevelt National Forest land to the cache locality. You can, too. Alternatively, if you are fit and ambitious you can reach the cache by a longer route that is entirely within Roosevelt National Forest. Map it out, and decide! The choice is yours. By either approach, you’ll need to plan on a full day’s outing to reach Livermore Heights. When you finally reach the Heights, find the cache and sign its log. It’s easy to locate–you’ve done the work in order to get there, and it IS work! The difficulty of locating the cache is 1.5. The higher rating given as the actual difficulty (2.5) incorporates the need to consider the access options.

After you’ve signed the cache log, find and sign the summit register that’s at the rock cairn marking the top of this prominent mountain. Note how few people have preceded you to this special location! Before you leave, admire the remarkable vistas that can be appreciated from this summit. From the Red Feather Lakes Road, Livermore Mountain appears so close. But when you have finished the work to reach the cache site, it will seem quite “remote” to you, and it really is. I assure you of this! Without doubt, you will have earned the 5-star Terrain” rating on this cache. And you will have earned some great geocaching bragging rights.

Enjoy your outing, and take plenty of fluids, food, and extra clothing with you in case of unexpected weather. Consider collecting GC26C63 while you are in the “Heights” vicinity. Reeling in both of these mountain caches in a single day will make your day especially memorable.

01/18/2014 By icezebra11
Well I didn't get the true first to find but I did get the first to find when starting from the Greyrock trailhead. I decided to do this one via the all public land route. I hit the trail at 9:00am and headed up the Meadows trail. I got to the north end of the Greyrock Meadows and then traversed north-northwest up the side of North Greyrock Mountain, heading for the gentler terrain on its northeast side. I ended up going higher than necessary and so I followed ridges back down and to the north, eventually needing to make a climb to the summit of X7447. From X7447 I followed the ridge off the top NW down to the saddle with Livermore Mtn and then made the final push up to Livermore's summit. I arrived at the summit at about 12:30.

On Livermore I made four wonderful finds. First, I found this cache, it's coordinates were spot on. Second, I found and signed the summit register. Third, I photographed and made the find on the Livermore Mtn benchmark, 7494. And fourth, I found tremendous views all around. There wasn't a cloud in the sky all day and the temps were in the 50s. It was windy though. So after all those wonderful finds, I sat (as Denali41 likes to say) on a soft rock and had a sandwich, taking in the views of the beautiful January landscape. On the trek back I found a nice ATV trail that took me to within a half mile or so of the meadows over gentle hills.
After reconnecting with the Greyrock loop I headed to the parking lot via the main Greyrock trail this time, arriving at 3:45pm. It was a long but great day in the back country. Thanks Denali41 for placing the lure to bring people to this beautiful peak.

08/10/2012 By Denali41
Post-fire maintenance check. I was on a nearby mountain summit that had a good view of the cache locality and looked carefully with binoculars. The cache area was NOT burned by the Hewlett Fire, so the cache will be intact and available for finding when the trail system reopens to public use.

09/25/2011 By Pixel Magic
Completed this cache along the way to doing a double. Started at Eagles Nest Open Space at 8:00 am and continued along roadways till the spot to climb. Made the climb over the nearby peak at 7447' and then climbed over to Livermore. Had a hiking companion waiting for me on Livermore, a bugling elk. We eyeballed each other from a distance and apparently both agreed that we didn't need to see each other at any closer distance. I chose a circuitous route to get around and past where the elk had been and the elk moved on down the valley a bit.
Located the cache before I found the summit log. Signed both. The view from this spot was open on all sides. Magnificent spot.

I saw that the next cache was only 2 miles away as the crow flies. The sky was clear and it was noon time so I decided to go for the next cache.

08/17/2011 By DctrSpott
So, a few days ago, I received an email from the FTF, effectively double dog daring me to do this cache. Not being one to back down from a challenge, I added it to my todo list. When I got in to my lab today only to see it was under construction and in shambles, I bolted out and started the drive down from Laramie to nab this one. I had fully intended to grab the nearby sister cache.

I arrived at the parking area (Eagle's Nest Open Space) around 12.30, still thinking I could nab both and be out in time. In my haste, I had only worn shorts and my minimalist Vibram's Fivefingers, and only brought 2 liters of water and an apple. The first four miles went great... and then I had to go uphill. Holy... just... wow. Intense.

Once I made it within about 300 meters, I realized I wasn't getting both. Sad day, but I did find the cache, and the register (my first one!) I grabbed the TB, filled the cache with swag (it needed it), and headed on my way out... and then I ran into the cacti. Suddenly, thousands of cacti, and brush. While this brush is nothing compared to where I come from, I'm used to taking it on in long pants. And the prickly cacti did not agree with my minimalist footwear. Ugh. And I was hungry. And sunburnt. And tired. Poor me.

So, I trudged on, and made it out by 18.00. Not too bad of a timing, but I was (and still am) beat. Good cache, great scenery, fun time, and bonus: I've found another new playground to place some extreme multis =) TFTC!

05/29/2010 By doglover&pups
FTF!!! Oh what a wonderful day I had. I hiked up there with a couple of muggles-but they promised they wouldn't come back to destroy the cache. We parked at Eagle Nest open space and followed the road for as far as we could and then up the mountain we went. It was perfect weather and not overly hot. As we approached the parking lot on the way back we could hear thunder and saw a huge bolt of lighting over the peak from which we had just come. We had only been in the car about 10 minutes and it starting raining-so I would say our timing was pretty good. It was a great hike and we saw beautiful scenery-the view from the top was breathtaking. The muggles and I both signed the register at the peak and then I went back down for the cache. I signed the log dipped my favorite TB and left another one for jthe next hearty soles that climb up here. Thanks for a wonderful experience and for the cache.