GC890PZ South Arapaho Peak, Indian Peak Wilderness
Type: Virtual | Size: Virtual | Difficulty: | Terrain:
By: CVA64 @ | Hide Date: 07/14/2019 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N40° 01.183 W105° 38.982 | Last updated: 06/19/2022 | Fav points: 0
             

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The 76,711 acre Indian Peaks Wilderness Area became part of the Wilderness Preservation System in 1978. With James Peak Wilderness on the south and Rocky Mountain National Park to the north, elevations range from 8,300 to 13,500 feet. The Arapaho Peaks are a very prominent set of peaks that stand as the tallest two mountains in the Indian Peaks Range. South Arapaho peak is the shorter of the two and they both are home to the largest glacier in the Front Range. North Arapaho Peak also holds claim to being the highest summit on the Continental Divide north of Denver.

CONGRATS TO KTRACKERS FOR FTF! Now give me 300 one handed push ups!

LOGGING REQUIREMENTS

To claim a find on this Virtual Geocache, you need to ascend South Arapaho Peak in the Indian Peaks Wilderness, take two (2) photographs at the summit and one (1) measurement for proof, and message or email proof to the cache owner.

1) You will need a photograph of you (no faces are required in any photos) holding a specific sign (details below) with the Rocky Mtn brass plate (see photo in gallery or below) in front of you at the summit, which you may post with your log if you like, but you must message or email at least. Please make the sign plainly readable from a photographer's distance away. The sign will need to have South Arapaho Peak, it’s elevation in feet AND meters (3.25 ft/m), and your caching name or a suitable abbreviation of it.

2) Please photograph you (no faces, but hands are good enough) measuring the Rocky Mtn brass plate diameter (details below in #3) with your sign in the photograph to prove it is you measuring it for messaging or email only, DO NOT POST IT.

3) Provide the diameter measurement in your message or email with the measuring photograph at least. DO NOT POST IT. You must use a mass produced (no homemade) graduated measuring device, e.g. construction tape measure, tailor tape measure, etc. You can hold one end of the measuring device and swing the other end to get the measurement needed to ensure accuracy within 1/16”.

If this is a group geocache effort, one (1) photo will work as long as all geocachers in the photo meet requirement #1 for readable signs from a photographer's distance away (may need to increase resolution to read). The same photograph requirement can be said for one member of the group doing the measuring to meet requirement #2. If the lead geocacher tells me in a message or email the group participants, then they can speak for the measurement required as well, so all requirements are satisfied. Yes, I have made this easy for group efforts, but they must be accounted for per requirement #1.

July - September are the recommended months to hike for this virtual

Watch for wildlife and respect their domain.

Caching can be dangerous. There are inherent risks involved which you take upon yourself when you are caching.

Please be careful and remember rule #13 - HAVE FUN!

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This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between June 4, 2019 and June 4, 2020. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 2.0 on the Geocaching Blog

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I'd like to thank E01 for the initial idea of checking this part of the Rocky Mountains for a virtual geocache; WNT for helping me with many questions answered for a great geocaching experience for the finder's; and, lastly, KTkrs for setting the virtual geocache bar so high in altitude that I had to surpass it.

08/23/2019 By WingsAndTales
This peak has been calling me back since the attempt last month that failed due to high winds. I was able to make the hike today and enjoyed it quite a bit. There was still some wind but not enough to be a problem. The views from the top are outstanding. I'll definitely be back to explore the Indian Peaks area some more. It's a worthy spot for a virtual and a favorite as well.

Apparently I'm not quite as careful as K Trackers since I managed to dunk one foot in the swamp. I was, however able to do the math without resorting to taking my shoes and socks off (I was Air Force not Army). Pushups? There are no pushups in hiking.

TFTC

08/03/2019 By COpackrat
Had a nice sunny day (and no wind to speak of) so it was a perfect time to visit this spot. I hadn't been up here in ages, so it was nice to come back and see the wonderful views again. Thank you for bringing me here and especially for using your virtual in such a special place that would not allow for a traditional cache.

07/28/2019 By WingsAndTales
Some days the mountain just says no. The attached photo was our view from the Arapaho Glacier Trail about 2 miles east of the cache. What you can't see besides the summit that is hidden in the clouds are the 50+ mph winds that were trying to blow us off the mountain. We turned around here and headed back to the shelter of the trees. This one will have to wait until another day.

07/24/2019 By CVA64
Thanks to my friend and geocaching colleague KTrackers for the detailed log. What he says speaks volumes about the preparation needed for this hike if you are not familiar with it and the research you will want to undertake. You can find online details about the hike, but also what the latest conditions are from other hikers who have ascended it recently. There are other trails to get to the top, so be sure you prepare properly and have with you what you need to complete the hike.

Of course, if you want to write a humorous log like him, don't hold back. Stories are always welcome!

07/23/2019 By K Trackers
First to Find, my first virtual FTF.

The good news is it is nice to have a rare virtual cache worthy of some effort to get it and worthy of a slot of the limited amount of virtuals Groundspeak allows to be placed. The bad news is we are not allowed enough space for a worthy log entry, so I’m forced to skip allot and hit the highlights. If unconstrained, I probably would have written about 2.5 pages of material.

My first mistake trying to get the cache was engaging the CO on a conversation about who would claim FTF. The CO told me that because I was mentioned in the description, I would have to meet extra requirements to log a find. I protested being singled out, but was told, “If you don’t like it, no one is forcing you to go after the cache.”

I was determined to proceed anyway, but couldn’t depart immediately. To my amazement, by late Monday the 22d no one had claimed the FTF. I finally departed at 2130 Monday night, arrived at the Trailhead at 0005 Tuesday morning, slept until 0330, and stepped off at 0400. I was the first hiker from the trailhead to reach the peak, allowing me to poll a number of folks at the top and as I returned. Most of the young, fit and uninjured hikers I polled (I am none those) told me they took approximately 2.30 – 3.30 hours to reach GZ from the trailhead. Older hikers averaged about 4 hours.

There are two key waypoints to hit on your hike. The intersection to Arapaho Pass Trail at N40 00.249 W105 38.783 and the intersection to Arapaho Glacier Trail at N40 00.624 W105 39.513. If you don’t normally carry spare socks, this is a hike to bring them. There were 4 stream crossings, one swamp, and numerous times where the trail is a stream. I managed to stay feet dry by being careful, but I saw allot of hikers with wet and muddy feet because they were not careful.

In my opinion the worst part was the final ascent once you depart the Arapaho Glacier Trail at N40 00.949 W105 38.634. As a comparison, it reminded me of the ascent for GC2ZDT0 Tigger Peak here in Colorado or GC1TR00 Maine’s Highest peak or Not? on MT Katahdin in Maine. The “trail” is mostly rock and hard to follow. Be prepared for some backtracking and scrambling. It isn’t that bad and the average geocacher will be just fine, my knees just don’t appreciate it.

At the top, I got to work on the numerous and detailed requirements that had to be completed. Really…you are making me do math in field…REALLY? As a bright spot, if the CO quits geocaching I’m sure the Treasury Department will hire him up to develop procedures to defeat forgeries of U.S. currency. Given all of the detailed requirements (and extras) I was forced o complete, my good friend Bob Mueller agreed to help me compile the final report for the CO. Bob suggested that instead of compiling another 400 page report, I should submit pictures. All of my formal requirements to get credit for this Virtual Cache have been mailed to the CO or posted to this log entry as REC01, REC02, etc.


I believe you can log both the survey marker and disk:
LL1355: https://www.geocaching.com/mark/details.aspx?PID=LL1355
LL1356: https://www.geocaching.com/mark/details.aspx?PID=LL1356

Thanks to the CO for an interesting and very worthy Virtual Cache.