04/30/2015 By K Trackers
I found this nice cache while taking a short tour through this part of Colorado. Unfortunately, my timing was off as many areas that contained caches I wanted to find were not yet open to the public after closing for the winter months. I'll have to make a return visit to this area in the future. Fortunately, I was able to come after this one and selected it over other caches because it looked fun, had a nice D/T rating, and helped meet a challenge requirement. I had almost passed this one up (and the others up here) after 3 consecutive DNFs. I was looking forward to the hike, but was concerned over the lack of what I consider as adequate cache descriptions and hints for the caches here. However, finding the Behind the Shrine cache convinced me to press on. Instead of coming directly at the cache, I hand railed the western lip of the major draw until I hit the smaller draw that lead NW towards the GZ. At this range, I was not sure if the GZ would lie on the SW or NE side of this smaller draw, so I hand railed the SW side. While I think this gave me some easier terrain, the GZ was on the NE (opposite side) and crossing the draw further up the mountain presented obstacles. Somewhere around 500' from the GZ, it became clear to me that I would have to cross the draw. However, at this elevation fallen trees and elongated patches of snow / ice choked off the most efficient crossing points. As the slope at this elevation was notably greater, finding a good point to cross now became a priority. My first attempt to cross resulted in a unpleasant fall and a slide of about 20' back down the slope. After recovering, I made another attempt about 100' farther up. Fortunately, I managed to breach a snow /ice obstacle and straddle a fallen tree without mishap. I finally arrived at the GZ, although I was prepared to conduct a wider search given dasshatzi's log entry. Fortunately, the slope around the GZ was more manageable and didn't significantly hinder mobility. The lack of a cache description and hint left little idea what to search for, but I was determined to make the find as I needed it for my double fizzy challenge. I began the hunt by trying to eliminate areas that are "normal" places were COs hide containers. On my second area, I found what appeared to be the remains of the container; or at least the green wire that secured the container. I spent additional time searching the ground around the hide and further down the slope to see if I could find the container, but I came up empty. When I returned home I notified the CO that the container was gone. It turns out that this was a old hide for this cache and the CO had changed moved it a few feet away due to muggle activity. He was gracious to allow me to still long the find. While I'm very grateful, I suspect that the remains of a old hide at the GZ of a cache that has spotty GPS reception, no hint, no attributes, and no real cache description may present similar challenges for other cachers. Above all, I am amazed that a muggle would casually find a container that we cachers spend so much effort trying to find...lol, you can't make this stuff up! I appreciate the CO making the nice placement with great site selection, TFTC.
08/06/2014 By dasshatzi
Another STF on a jake cache! Took some searching and cords were off around ten to twelve feet. Tough hide! SL TFTC!
07/28/2014 By sjclimber
Well, at least I'm heading down hill at this point. What a beautiful "draw." Yet I cannot imagine there is much traffic here, save a few ungulates on occasion.. Appreciate the hide, thanks.. Nice hide too..
07/27/2014 By Alpine Reviewer
Published
Its a Tough One
| Difficulty: 
| Terrain: 
