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GC2ZJ5P
Vista VowsType: Traditional | Size: Regular 
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| Terrain:  By: IndianaKC & Wife @ | Hide Date: 06/25/2011 | Status: Available Country: United States | State: Colorado Coordinates: N37° 20.950 W105° 01.492 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0 This is the first Geocache we have ever placed. We were married on the Vista of the West Spanish Peak and wanted to share with others the beauty and majesty you experience when standing on the Vista and looking as far as you can see across the Eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. We chose this location for our wedding as it holds so much history for IndianaKC and his family. Indiana first hiked the West Spanish Peak, with his father, at age 14. Indiana's parents honeymooned in Wahatoya Canyon at the base of the Spanish Peaks. Indiana proposed to his better half at the lone rock you can walk up to and sit on while gazing across the Eastern Rockies! The cache is a regular ammo box placed approximately 70 yards from the Trail head! It is NOT placed inside the Spanish Peaks Wilderness area. Depending on the time of year you visit, you might do some light bushwhacking. The coordinates are accurate to within 10-15 feet. The GPS can give bizarre readings when walking among the towering trees. The cache is 'loaded' with tons of brand new SWAG items. We included a TB we picked up in Missouri 'Eli's Racing Turtle'. Also included is a nice gift for the FTF. You'll find it inside the baggie with the log book. Please rehide the cache as good as you found it so it's not easily spotted and it's better protected from the elements. If you take something, please replace it with an item of equal or better value. You'll find the cache before you get to the wildness area. Please take the time to hike to the Vista. You will not be disappointed. The Vista is located within the San Isabel National Forest and Spanish Peaks Wilderness area. It's a fairly easy one mile hike from the trail head to the Vista overlook. The last 50 yards or so from the trail up to the Vista might leave you a little winded. Take your time and enjoy the View! You are likely to see a variety of wildlife along your hike. The Trailhead Elevation is 11,256 feet. You can drive to the Trailhead and park in the Cordova Pass camping area. The trail to Timber Line on the West Spanish Peak is about another 1.5 mile hike and takes between 1 1/2 and 2 hours to hike up. If you continue past the Trailhead, you'll climb an additional 1600 feet to reach the summit which is 13,626 feet! But what a rush it will be for you if you do! We placed this cache this year while hiking with our youngest daughter and her husband (Slupus & Straps) who together have lost over 300 lbs! They called this trip their 'Let it all Go' tour. They lost the weight together and they conquered 'Grandpa's' mountain together. What an accomplishment and memorable trip this was for us all! The road you travel to reach the Trailhead at Cordova Pass is a moutain road that can be muddy and have deep ruts in it if it has recently rained. So keep that in mind when planning your trip to the Vista. We do not live in Colorado but travel there several times during the year. Please let us know if the cache is in need of maintenace or swag. We will do our best to get it taken care of as quickly as we can. We hope you enjoy the cache and hike. The view is like nothing you'll ever experience. Please practice CITO during your visit and help us keep this area beautiful and safe for the wildlife who live there. Thanks for visiting our cache! We look forward to meeting each of you through your log entries! :) UPDATE: CONGRATS TO BOBFIREMAN FOR BEING FTF!!! :) Permission to place this cache was obtained from Jeffer Wingate @ the LaVeta National Forest office.
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"Our Colorado Roots"
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10 Logs:
The Bride and I had weddings in Kansas City on June 21st and then another one in Omaha on June 29th. I told her I really wasn’t interested in driving to Kansas City and driving home for 9 hours and then a few days later drive all the way back same direction for 13 hours. So we decided we would take a mini vacation in between weddings and head to Colorado for a week. We rented a car, but little did we know the car was going to be a Cadillac sedan, and I’m thinking this is going to be my caching mobile for this trip.###So over the course of the 11 days, we visited 10 states. I was able to get 5 caches that were Year 2000 including Mingo. I was able to get the oldest cache in 3 states…Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico. Colored the state of New Mexico RED and put 3940 miles on the rental car. ### This trip started out in Kansas City as the wedding was on Friday. So we cached the morning of Friday and did the Powercat challenges near Gladstone area. Loved walking the sidewalk, we did get a downpour on us, so hoped into a local spot for lunch and then once the rains lifted we went hiking again. Then went to the wedding on Friday night. Then next day on Saturday, went caching with Gnomecat, Louinliberty and Debrajean grabbing a few caches that I had handpicked out. Was great to see my KC friends for the 2nd weekend in a row after the previous week in Indiana and by the end of this trip it will be 3 weeks in a row. Had an amazing dinner at Gnomecats and enjoyed the great hospitality.Then on Sunday June 23 is where the journey begins. We headed towards Colorado Springs and grabbed Mingo on the way there. This day was about 9 hours of driving and grabbed a few caches in the Colorado Springs area before meeting up with friends in the afternoon.Monday June 24 was always going to be a big day both driving and hiking. We started it off by going to Paul Barkley (2nd 2000 year cache). Got lucky as that section of the park was closed to people on Tuesday due to electric work being done. Then from there the Cadillac took us to Geocache (3rd 2000 cache). Then after that we headed to Albuquerque, New Mexico.Tuesday June 25 we cached in Albuquerque in the morning doing a few wherigos and then headed over to the oldest cache in the state. Found the place to park and made the short hike up the hill. Then went across the way and did the Hangman hiking series. After we completed that we headed to Santa Fe to visit and then back to Colorado Springs.Wednesday June 26th, we got up and headed off to Tarryall (4th 2000 year), those that get nervous about driving well the Cadillac made it just fine. After that we headed to Pikes Peak, it opened late because the car race practice was that morning. We drove up to mile 16 and then shuttle to the top because of the renovations to the new visitor center at top. After this we are now heading back East. We get to Kansas and find Airakee and then spend the night in Kearney. I was able to watch on the phone Vanderbilt win the World Series…Go Vandy BoysThursday June 27, drive to Omaha and meet the KC crew for the 3 week in a row and we drive to Sioux Falls to get the State Bird.Friday June 28th, finish the last 21 of the Ficks Fizzy we had left. Bad news was on 61 Gnomecat fell in the ditch and went over his head in the water. The ditch had probably 8ft of water. Then headed to Omaha and did some challenges and parted waysSaturday June 29th, some light caching before wedding and then came home on Sunday 13.5 hour drive.Thanks to all the hiders. Earthcaches and Virtuals have sent answers. Challenges will either have a picture or available via public profile. Was able to leave my signature pencil in a few caches. Thanks for the cache-signed log.
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