GC2YKTR Where the toe meets the head
Type: Traditional | Size: Regular | Difficulty: | Terrain:
By: Polaski @ | Hide Date: 06/20/2011 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N39° 36.713 W107° 56.191 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0

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To get to this cache, you'll need to get up on the Roan Plateau by either the JQS Trail or the Cow Creek Road. Take the north loop of the North Water Creek road (BLM 8006). If you get to the private land sign, you've gone to far. Look along the northern edge of the fire.

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This cache site is on the lower edge of the Water Creek Fire of 2010. Normally this would be called the heel of the fire, because most fires naturally burn up-hill. However this fire was a wind born fire event. The fire was started by lightning near the top of the slope and driven downward by the afternoon southwest diurnal winds. Temperatures were high and the humidity had been very low for quite some time. Fuel moistures were lower than wood found at the lumber yard, so with the lightning strike, wind, low moistures / humidity and high temperatures, the forest came to life and fire blew down this draw in a very short time. The leading edge of the fire is called the “Head of the fire”. In this case, the head of the fire was below the heel of the fire, or the part that is near the origin, opposite the main direction of the fire’s path. The fire burned from the saddle near the ridgeline to the bottom of the slope, otherwise known as the “Toe of the slope”.Days of aerial retardant from air tankers and water from helicopters were dropped to contain this fire to this area. The plan was to burn out the understory. Time went by, the understory never burned out as planned and all the trees were left standing to fall and become fuel for future fires.
The cache is located where a fire burned area butts up against an aging forest. The cache was placed next to a long dead and decay log and fairly new dead log with fire scars all around. The cache is covered with a small slab of timber from an adjacent carcass.

08/30/2012 By Team Jim and Bev
Thanks for the cache. TNLN SL

Not sure about the coords. We found it about 35ft from those listed. Maybe our GPS was having a bad day.

07/28/2012 By pakapat
Finally got back to this one on a very nice July day with the Grandsons & Son-in-law. Glad to report no bears on this trip! Interesting to see how this fire moved.

06/30/2012 By DArR
Found the cache but no bears...fun find, thanks for the cache.

07/03/2011 By pakapat
Did not find this one yesterday so came back for another try. GPS going crazy in the trees, but I think I was very close when I saw not one, but two bears. One over 300 lbs. and the other over 400 lbs. (I know how to gauge a bear in the wild) Having nothing but a gps for protection I felt it prudent to abandon the search until a time when I had more defenses!! Maybe hunting season.

06/25/2011 By happydog67
Yahoo! Another FTF! The coordinates were bouncing all over the place on this one. Pretty much had to turn off the GPS and start looking. Pretty spot with the wind going through the pines and the lovely brook on the other side of the road. Took pink duck for the littledog, left a dinosaur! TFTC.....!