GCGE5G Virtual Cache Lick Skillet Virtual Cache
Type: Virtual | Size: Virtual Virtual | Difficulty: 1 out of 5 | Terrain: 2 out of 5
By: jerhirsch @ | Hide Date: 07/08/2003 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N40° 03.981 W105° 24.280 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0
A quick jaunt for great views overlooking historic Gold Hill and the majestic Continental Divide.
This virtual cache, just down the road from the Scared History cache, marks the location of a peculiar little monument and some spectacular views. The cache is named for the road and gulch it overlooks, which in turn, derives its name from the miners of Gold Hill, one of Colorado’s first permanent mining settlements, who would leave out their cookware and allow the local wildlife to lick it clean.

From the site, you can see a lengthy stretch of the Continental Divide, with peaks in the Indian Peaks Wilderness as well as the southern portion of Rocky Mountain National Park. The tallest peak is Longs Peak at 14,255 ft. above sea level. It is the northernmost 14er in Colorado and is the only 14er visible. Most of the other major peaks hover near 13,200 ft.

Several small cirque glaciers are visible among the peaks. They are only a fraction of the size they once were, but are glaciers none-the-less. The most prominent glacier is Arapahoe Glacier, which supplies a portion of Boulder’s water supply. Because of the glacier’s water-supply status, hiking is not permitted. The individuals responsible for patrolling the glacier have often been affectionately termed the “Boulder Glacier Cops.”

Below the cache site, tailings and other remnants can be seen of the abandoned Alamakee Mine doting the area’s surroundings. This may have been a gold mine; however, it is likely that it is a tellurium mine. The discovery of tellurium caused Gold Hill’s second boom in 1872, and is a mineral used to improve the machineablitly of copper and stainless steel, as well as being a basic ingredient in blasting caps.
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 Logs

21 Logs: Found it 21  

Found it 07/02/2019 By OliversOuting
Visiting from Delaware and stopped here on the way to Boulder from Estes Park. We took the dirt road here. That was an adventure for these east coast cachers. Beautiful spot! tftc!

Found it 06/22/2019 By herndonrd
Mrs. Herndonrd had a horse thing between Longmont and Boulder so I spent a couple of days getting some virtuals, earthcaches, and assorted others up in the area. FeartheFish tagged along for part of it. Interesting getting up to this and the other virtual; beautiful views everywhere. TFTC!

Found it 06/21/2019 By mom & pop
We were on a day trip & this is one of our finds Loved the view Thanks

Found it 06/10/2019 By irid3sc3nt
I drove up here for this and the other virtual to surprisingly discover amazing views! There was hardly anyone here... it was so quiet. A beautiful butterfly landed close to me. After this virtual I was so close to Gold Hill that I had to drive down and see it. I decided to return with more time and with my flatlander relatives who will absolutely love it. Thanks for bringing me up here--favorite!

Found it 10/11/2018 By BigChiefS4
Day 5 of an epic 6 day journey out to the western frontier. I had some vacation time that I needed to burn up by the end of the year, and what better way to use it than to go Geocaching! My main goal was to find caches in New Mexico and Nevada, which would complete my map in the western US. The rest of the 4 remaining states are on the East Coast. Secondary goals were to find oldies, mostly virtuals, and high favorited caches. The only bad part of the trip was that it rained every single day of my vacation.

I headed south out of MN on Sunday and returned home on Friday.
Sunday - Drive all the way through to Colorado (15 hours!)
Monday - Cache in and around Denver and Colorado Springs, with an attempt at Pike's Peak (closed at Mile 14)
Tuesday - Head south towards GC19 and then west through Wolf Creek Pass
Wednesday - Four Corners monument and west towards Nevada
Thursday - After a night in Richfield, UT, head east through the skiing areas of Colorado towards Nebraska
Friday - The long drive home

Thanks to all the cache owners for placing these caches for me to find and for keeping the oldies going all these years.
Thanks for the cool virtual! Beautiful area.

Found it 09/22/2018 By SimonAndSchuster
Beautiful spot! This is my first time to gold hill and i love it. Tftc

Found it 07/10/2018 By team salford
visiting colorado from new hampshire. we stayed in both estes park as well as aspen over a week. i was able to find 20+ virtuals and earthcaches in addition to 80 regular caches. i left the hotel in estes park at 0400 in order to make it here by 0525 to catch the sunrise at 0540. this was a beautiful spot to catch the sunrise and i loved the map of the distant ridgeline. TFTC.

Found it 06/17/2018 By J.a.x.l
Well we should come back on a less rainy day obviously! Neat plaque!
GCGE5G

Found it 04/29/2018 By YardbirdRocks
this was truly a great location. We've driven right past this spot dozens of times with no clue as to its existence. I love these kinds of caches for the secret little spots we learn about and the great history lessons that come with them. TFTC!

Found it 09/14/2017 By GeoPig77
Somehow I managed to drive my truck hauling my 4000 lb camper up lickskillet road. I had no desire to try to go back down when finished. So I took the long way in to Boulder. Very cool spot, thanks for bringing me here.

I'm currently on a 12 Day road trip from Indiana to Colorado and my goal is to get geocaches in as many counties as I can along the way. I lived in Colorado for four years during college and haven't been back there for 10 years. I had kind of forgotten how great western Colorado is. I need to come back here more often. Today I traveled from Estes Park down to the base of Mount Democrat where I camped at nearly 12,000 ft. Thanks for the cache.

Geopig77
Seymour, IN
Photo

Found it 08/15/2017 By PayMeCache
Well that just escalated quickly. After turning off onto the road I saw a sign that said 'steep narrow roads ahead'. Ah, it can't be that bad... As I am driving up a deer decided to play chicken with me and leap out of the brush on the hillside and missed my car, literally by feet! After changing my underpants, I continued to climb. This just might be the steepest road my little Geo-sedan has ever climbed. Normally on roads like this I bring an SUV.

I looked like a total tourist and had people looking at me but all in all I enjoyed the neat 'old' town before finding this cache. How you managed to find this little beauty is beyond me but I really appreciate you making this virtual cache and bringing me here to see the view.

Attached are a couple photos taken.

Found GCGE5G - Lick Skillet Virtual Cache, on August 15, 2017 using Cachly for iOS.

Thank you, jerhirsch for placing a fun virtual cache for all of us to enjoy and giving back to the community. I look forward to finding more of your caches. I also look forward to potentially finding Geocaches with you one day and sharing stories of our hobby or should I say addiction? Cheers!
Photo

PMC at Lick Skillet

Found it 07/18/2017 By M&D


On a road trip taking in the history, the sights and caching along the way. Thanks for showing us this.
Photo

Found it 06/29/2017 By acachingcat
After a fun-filled three days in Estes Park, Smithj9 and I cached our way towards Golden to spend the night. We went after Virtual and Earthcaches mostly, but found a few others along the way. Thanks to all the CO's for placing and maintaining these caches for us to enjoy while visiting from Florida.
Smithj9 at the Divide

Acachingcat at the Divide
view pic1
view pic2
view pic3
Continental Divide Plaque pic

Found it 06/29/2017 By smithj9
Acachingcat and I came to the area from Florida. Our primary goal was to find as many virtuals and earth caches as possible. We also grabbed a few other caches along the way. We had a whirlwind trip finding 7 new states, hiking to mountain tops and learning so much history along the way. We saw lots of deer, elk, moose, bunnies and marmots while in our travels. We had a blast and appreciate every CO for placing caches for us to find along the way. Any answers, emails or photos will be sent through acachingcat. Loved the history here.

Found it 05/27/2017 By Q Dudes
beautiful view, unfortunately we were here on a foggy day, so couldn't see all of the sites. Thanks for the cache

Found it 03/11/2017 By Breezy406
Thanks for maintaining this virtual.

Found it 09/28/2016 By tripman1
In the boulder area grabbing some oldies

Found it 09/14/2016 By GanderGoose
Took an afternoon drive on Sunshine Canyon Drive this afternoon for the first time. The view was a bit hazy today. Thanks for the virtual, jerhirsch!

Found it 08/27/2016 By jigsaw-janet
Out cachinjg with Rainman today. We loved all of the traditional caches and virtual caches. Thanks to all of the CO's for placing these caches.

Found it 08/27/2016 By rainman-rwb
Out caching with Jigsaw-Janet. Thanks for placing this virtual cache. We are giving this a favorite for the view.

Rainman

Found it 08/25/2016 By animjason
Quick stop on the way to Tahosa for week one of Woodbadge. Adding view photo, thanks!!!
Found using a seventh galaxy!