GC4EP23 Traditional Cache Via Ferrata
Type: Traditional | Size: Micro Micro | Difficulty: 1.5 out of 5 | Terrain: 5 out of 5
By: RockyMtnRidgeRunner @ | Hide Date: 06/18/2013 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N37° 55.815 W107° 46.300 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0
Difficult climbing 
This is a climber's cache that requires special equipment and skills.
"Via ferrata" is an Italian term meaning "iron way".  It refers to routes in the mountains where ladders, cables, and iron handholds and footholds have been placed to make the route easier, or in some cases, even possible.  There is a via ferrata on the cliffs just east of Telluride, put up by Chuck Kroger (google "Krogerata").  This route has spectacular views and amazing exposure.  In places you move across iron steps with nothing but air below the step for 400 feet down.  It requires helmet, harness, and dual lanyards to clip into the cables.  This should not be attempted by anyone but experienced rock climbers.

The cache is located just past the most awesome part of the via ferrata, assuming you started from the southeast end.  It is on a wide flat ledge - there is no need to search near the edge or get more than a few feet from the trail.
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Tucked under purple rock, wedged in place by blue-green rocks.

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 Logs

7 Logs: Found it 7  

Found it 09/29/2018 By billkat
What an AMAZING day!!! Was a little scary in a few parts but we were always safe. Went about 300 past the cache before we realized it so we turned around and went back to sign. Tftc!!!

Found it 09/29/2018 By kb0rpw
Great day

Found it 08/31/2018 By SALMON-629
Thanks to Gotyour6 for telling me about this cache, and Lucas Strohm for going with me

Found it 08/24/2018 By WingsAndTales
That has to be one of the funnest route to a cache that I have ever done. I think COpackrat and I will be back next year to do it again and hopefully bring some friends along. After reviewing the photos from previous logs I'm pretty sure we were in the area shown in Colorado24's photo from 7/5/2013 when we replaced it. TFTC

Found it 08/24/2018 By COpackrat
Out with WIngsAndTales to have an adventure and find this cache - what a great location!! We tried to do it a few days ago, but the VF was closed for maintenance (that's ALWAYS a good thing!) so had to come back. The weather was perfect, and we both had a great time. Looked for quite a while at GZ and finally left a replacement - please let me know if you have any objection to that. Thanks for the extra enticement to have such a great day!

Found it 05/26/2018 By kekj
OH MY! Folks are in town, showing them around, Teluride, Tram, Falls, Hydro system, Black Bear Pass road, Tom Boy Mine - all on the list - including showing them Via Ferrata which I did with a youth group a couple years back. At that time we found and I replaced the Log with waterproof log paper but somehow missed logging it at the web site. Even though not geocachers, several of the group signed also. Today went to visit some Tbugs to this cache and found we had not logged it. Summer of '16 . We today parked just below it while eating lunch with view of the falls and met several climbers just coming off the Via. A WAY COOL cache and even MORE way cool way to get to it! Gets a FAV point for sure. TFTC ke of Team kekj. (the Ms. did not do this one!)

Found it 09/09/2017 By jmthomps
Wow this was a highlight of our short trip to Telluride. It may have been this geocache that led to the discovery of the Via Ferrata, so thank you for that!! We did the route backwards(?) and went west to east, and then hiked up to above the waterfall for lunch. We actually passed the geocache before I remembered that there was one hidden up here, so I went back through the "Main Event" for the search! I may not have had I looked at the previous logs first. When I finally got back I was worried when I did the last log was a DNF, and the last find was over a year ago! Nevertheless, the cache is indeed there and bears the signatures of the previous finders from August 2016. Thanks for placing a cache in such a cool place!!