GC2CC74Gateway to Wildflowers
Type: Traditional
| Size: Small
| Difficulty:
| Terrain:
By: Flutiste@
| Hide Date: 07/26/2010
| Status: Disabled
Country: United States
| State: Colorado Coordinates: N39° 01.539 W107° 02.754 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0
Don't stop once you find this cache -- it's only the beginning! Wildflowers galore await you farther up the trail! This cache is placed at the Wilderness Boundary on the West Maroon Pass Trail, at the south end of Schofield Park. Take a pleasant, shady 1/3 mile gradual uphill hike from the West Maroon Pass Trailhead along the East Fork of Crystal Creek to get to the cache. Elevation at the cache: 10,590'Or ... you may start at the old trailhead which is only 1/5 mile from the geocache (practically a park & grab), but you don't get to hike beside the creek. Pull into the parking area and take the road to the left to get to the old trailhead.
One of the most FABULOUS displays of wildflowers in all of Colorado lies in the Wilderness beyond this cache. If you hike another mile past the cache, you will be in awe! Every summer the display is different, depending on which wildflower is having its peak. Some summers the Columbines take over; othertimes you will see forests of Giant Green Gentians. There are always oodles of Delphiniums, Monk's Hood, Lupine and Bluebells, dotted with red splashes of Indian Paintbrush, and later in the summer, the hillsides are crowded with yellow daisies and asters of all varieties. The best time to take in the wildflowers is mid-to-late July and early August. WEAR BUG REPELLENT!
The drive from Crested Butte to Schofield Park can be done in a car with high clearance. SUV's are preferable, but 4WD is not necessary. The road is a well-graded dirt road, but can be rough. There are some water-bars and some narrow stretches with steep drop-offs. The road can be very dusty. Expect high traffic on the weekends -- cars and mountain-bikers. **This road is usually blocked at Emerald Lake by a snowslide, which melts out around mid-July, just in time to see the wildflowers. However, there is an alternate route to Schofield Pass.**
The cache is in a small clear plastic box with a green rim. Please keep the cache well-hidden, as this is a popular spot.
Additional Waypoints MP2CC74 - West Maroon Pass Trailhead N 39° 01.478 W 107° 03.003
OT2CC74 - Old Trailhead N 39° 01.514 W 107° 02.991
09/12/2018 By flutiste This cache is in a remote area. Will take time to have the opportunity to get up there and replace the cache.
09/12/2018 By Heartland Cacher Greetings I'm Heartland Cacher, one of the volunteer reviewers for new caches submitted to Geocaching.com.
We are doing a check of caches that have been disabled for an extended period. Please maintain this cache and post an appropriate note to the cache page.
As stated in the cache listing guidelines https://www.geocaching.com/play/guidelines#listingmaintenanceDisable a cache page when the cache is not available or you need time to fix reported problems. A cache page can stay disabled for a reasonable amount of time - generally up to four weeks.
PLEASE NOTE: Today's notice is a friendly reminder only. Do not reply to me directly. Rather, please go to "Log geocache" (upper right hand of the cache page) and choose "WRITE A NOTE" from the drop down menu. Please do not use the "OWNER MAINTENANCE" log until you do the maintenance and the cache is ready to be found again with a status update and any intention to revive the cache. Several reviewers participate in cache maintenance tasks so a log posted in this manner is the best way to get your message seen. Without a log posted you risk having the cache archived.
If you have disabled this cache for the winter or a season, please consider this a reminder to post a notice for when you expect the area to re-open. Re-activate the cache if the area is actually open again.
After you have checked on it and it's ready for seeking again, great! You can re-enable the cache page http://support.groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=235 by clicking the link under the cache name or by checking the box that says the cache is active. If, however, you discover that the cache is missing and/or you decide not to replace it, then please remove any remaining pieces of it and archive it. This will open up the area for other geocachers to hide their own geocaches. You may also need to digitally relocate any trackable items still listed here. If a "Needs Maintenance" log was posted, you will also need to log an "Owner Maintenance" log to clear the "Needs Maintenance" icon from the geocache page. http://support.groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=404
I want to thank you for the time that you have taken to contribute to geocaching in the past and I am looking forward to seeing your cache up and running in the future. If the cache is not maintained or the status is not updated, it will be archived. Thank you for understanding.
If this sounds like an automated email template, that's because it is. I apologize for that but the volume of messages we get is such that templates like this make the process much more efficient. Thanks for your understanding.
I look forward to hearing from you. Do not reply to this email. It is sent by a no-reply mailbot so I won't get it. To respond, please do NOT send me an e-mail or a message center conversation as they lack needed functionality for reviewing. Leave a new "Reviewer Note" log here on your cache page. If you're not familiar with this process, see the instructions https://www.geocaching.com/help/index.php?pg=kb.chapter&id=97&pgid=74. I have your cache on my watchlist, and I will receive a notification when you write your note. All reviewer notes are deleted when your cache is published.
Additionally, please note that if I've not heard from you in 4 weeks, I may be forced to archive this cache. Don't let your cache get archived for non-communication
Heartland Cacher Your friendly Geocaching.com Reviewer
07/11/2018 By flutiste This cache may have been muggled. Will have to check it out.
MerryMary and I are on a two-week vacation to Colorado to enjoy the fall colors -- taking photos, camping, hoteling, hiking, and 4-wheeling. Today was spent in the Gunnison and Crested Butte areas of Colorado, and driving the Slate River loop. We stopped here to find this cache. Started at the old trailhead and hiked the short distance to GZ, then spent almost 20 minutes looking in every nook and cranny and under logs and bark, expanding out almost 20 to 30 feet -- nothin' !! This one hasn't been found in over a year -- no reason to say it's missing, but we sure didn't spot it...
07/19/2016 By FilmBEe What a display of wildflowers! Best in the state! 11 months since last find and cache is in excellent shape. Was up here for the weekend doing a photography workshop and this was one of the stops. Came back this morning to see it again on our own before leaving CB - plus had to find the cache! Normally we visit in August to avoid the biting flies, but they didn't seem bad at all. Most columbines I'd ever seen before this was in the Indian Peaks Wilderness. Never imagined anything as dense as these! I remember seeing this cache on the map years ago and thinking I'd never get there without 4wd - but, there were mostly trucks and Subaru's in the parking lot, yet also a minivan, so probably just depends how comfortable you are driving the road options! Low streams this year so the crossings from Paradise over (after Slate / Washington) weren't bad at all compared to some years. TFTC
10/13/2015 By Roxyrules Didn't have much time-so I'm sure it was my error. Otherwise it's surely a great spot for a cache and a beautiful hike!
Gateway to Wildflowers
| Difficulty: 
| Terrain: 
1 
3 
1 
1 
1 
.
!! This one hasn't been found in over a year -- no reason to say it's missing, but we sure didn't spot it...