09/20/2015 By hartsdale
Wow!!
What a fun set of caches and some great local history!
This all started with - Ormes Peak on 5/11/08, Gray Back Peak on 8/19/08, Mt. Esther ( Almost ) on 11/7/08, Howard's Rock on 12/12/08 and just last month Mount Arthur on 8/29/15 all very fun hikes and hides.
Thanks for a good one!
HD
The Cave....
Retake of 07/20/2006 picture today....
10/12/2011 By estes01
Lots of memories associated with this series. Mt. Esther was the first…what a wonderful trail! Ormes Peak followed with its incredible views. For over 10 years I have been staring at a view of Mt. Arthur from my house. I had no idea that what I was looking at was Mt. Arthur, but once I’d identified it, it needed to be climbed. This entire series was just one spectacular hike after another. But I think that I enjoyed the final the most of all. WingsAndTales (who had already done the final, from another direction) accompanied me. We chose a challenging approach, although I’m quite sure there was no other approach that would have been easier. Absolutely spectacular views and we spent some time investigating the cave. This was/is a classic. Thank you.
01/12/2011 By Hockabee
Was checking on my SeaStar geocoin that was left in this cache. Looks like it isn't visited very often, being a challenging one to reach and a puzzle cache, as well. This is just a request that if you do get to go to this cache, could you pick up my SeaStar and move it on? That would be so great. Thinking it just needs a nudge to get it going again, to a safe, but active cache. Thanks! Hockabee, landlocked in Kansas!
07/24/2010 By JR&B
I did Gray Back Peak, Mt Esther (Almost), Howard's Rock, & Ormes Peak last year, and then Mt. Arthur this June. For me Mt. Arthur was the hardest climb. Took the suggested route for most of the way to Pike's Cave. Tried staying at a lower elevation between points 6 & 7, but that did not work out too well. The slope there is too steep. Great view at the cache. The cache was on it's side and damp. The log was very damp. I dried it all out the best I could while eating my lunch there. Traded Geocoins. Then took the fast way down. Thanks for setting this one up.
07/12/2010 By oldmanhiker
I found Pike's Cave through the use of my GPS, but with coordinates supplied by a friend. It was difficult enough getting to the cave without going to all the other sites listed by the person who set up this geocache.
10/19/2008 By titocache
Well, it's bittersweet to wrap this one up. I've been chasing Zebulon Pike all summer, and have enjoyed the locations, the new trails, and the puzzle. A very well done series, so thanks for the work that went into this! It looks like 2008 will go down as the largest class of the "Zebulon Pike's Cave Club". Dropped coin, SL
[This entry was edited by titocache on Monday, October 20, 2008 at 7:40:05 AM.]
10/19/2008 By kwbforest
Today Titocache and I were going to check this one off the list. We found and completed all the other caches to get us here. We took the long route and followed the published recommended route. Wow, that was a long hike even though I parked on the road right below the cache. So after logging the cache and checking out the cave, Awesome I might add, we headed straight down the hill to the truck. 45 minute hike up and 15 minutes back down, just as it was getting dark. This was a fun journey all the way to the end. TFTC SL.
10/01/2008 By WingsAndTales
I did this one after getting the last of the clues at Gray Back Peak this morning and doing the math while I had lunch. I was running out of time so I did a direct approach to the cache. It was pretty steep but after chasing the other clues this fall I was I better shape than when I started this adventure. I took the NM coin & left a T.S. Elliot quote for the next cacher to ponder. There was water in the cache(I'm not really sure how it got in since the container looked fine). I dried things out while I explored the area a bit and put the log in a baggie to help keep it dry if the water gets in again. Thanks for taking me to some great places!
09/06/2008 By jmpdelos
Finally! I started this one when it was first set up in 2006 and was chasing Happy Trails To You around all of the points.
It took me three trips up Mt. Esther. The first was before it had been found. I got down and was going to ask Phoenix2001 about it but saw Happy Trails had found it so I figured I'd just missed it and tried again the next night. I still didn't find it so I did ask Phoenix2001 and it turned out the coordinates were incorrect at the time. I don't know how Happy Trails found it with the wrong coordinates; the third time was a charm for me (and great exercise climbing Mt. Esther three evenings in a row).
I dragged my parents up Ormes and Arthur since they were visiting at the time. They're more careful about where they're willing to go hiking with me now... :-)
Happy Trails beat me to the final and I had already climbed the Mtn. where the it's located a couple of times that summer before I had finished the clues. I got busy and didn't make it back up there. Last summer I made one trip up and had screwed up the coordinates and then didn't get a chance to make a second trip. I've been trying to finish up the caches I'd started and not finished this summer (I finished Falcon Challenge this spring as well) but I overscheduled myself and hadn't had a chance until today.
You couldn't have asked for a nicer day to be up there. The cache had some water in it so I hung around for an hour letting everything dry in the sun. The log was still a bit damp but not bad. The container appeared to be in good shape so I'm thinking the moisture was probably from it being open on a rainy day.
I took the WA geocoin and left a NM geocoin and white Jeep TB.
Thanks to Phoenix2001 for a really great series of caches!
08/10/2008 By F3
This series easily ranks as one of the best in the area, and is a defining moment in our Geocaching experience. We can't thank you enough for all of the trails and mountains (with well laid out with child points) that this encouraged us to explore. Very happy to have our name alongside the usual short list of cachers that dont mind putting in an extra mile or two. Thanks again.