Silver Lining

08/19/2018 By allenmabry
12:51:00 PM My wife and I are from Dallas, staying in Divide, CO for our traditional August vacation to beat the Texas heat for a couple of weeks.

Today is a bucketlist trip for me to Mt. Elbert. I've had this on my geocaching "To Do" list for over 4 years. Our first week here was spent with my siblings and their families, so I didn't plan any big geocaching quests. As a consequence, I was not expecting to have the opportunity to make the trek. Yama Gypsy happened to memtion that she and Lemonheadmafia were going to make this hike today and they allowed me to join them. They even outfitted me with camping gear for the night before. It was also fortunate that we had great weather (aside from the haze of the forest fires).

We traded some notes and came up with a plan. We started from the Mt Elbert North trailhead a few minutes after 0400 and finished at the Black Cloud trailhead at 1611. My patient wife picked us up and shuttled us back north, where we broke camp.

The hike was tiring, but I'll never forget the experience. Even with cellphone mafunction at the summit, I still managed to get a few good pictures before and after that point.

Last cache of the day for us. I thought the idea behind this cache and the cache title were very cute, so I'm adding a favorite point. The cache is in good shape. (But we weren't after a very steep descent down Black Cloud Trail.

We signed the log. Thanks, JMKR, for the cache.

GeoWoodstock XVII
Ft. Worth, TX
May 25, 2019 10:00AM - 5:00PM
https://coord.info/GC7NBWQ

It is on the way to Giga status, so please log a "will attend" if you are coming.
Sent from an Android device that sometimes auto "incorrects."

08/19/2018 By krazykatzen
The clue made this an easy find. Also, it was a useful landmark because I was tempted to start heading down the slope too early, so this helped find the correct way down.

08/19/2018 By YamaGypsy
The silver lining here was that the hike was nearly through. Now all that was left was the steep descent down the blackcloud trail. Nice multi to add to our smilies today. Tftc!

08/18/2018 By Kerewin0430
What an adventure and a half! Started at 3:30, summited (the first time) at 7, and found this cache quickly - thank you for not making it super far away! After summiting, I misjudged the clouds nearby and thought I could easily continue along the south ridge for the other caches as the nearby clouds blew over (only 1 of the 4 weather reports I saw had precipitation starting in the morning). This was my turn-around point, and thank goodness for that! I ended up re-summiting just after 11 (after approximately a 4 mile detour), having survived 2.5 hrs of rain & hail and 1.5 hours of snow and crazy wind. I was so happy to get off the mountain alive - there were some real moments of reckoning, realizing that I was alone...in a snowstorm...on the highest peak in the state...on a side trail! All's well that ends well. Thanks for placing this cache!

08/06/2018 By marmotandgoatcachers
A lovely day for a hike and some caches. Thanks for a great multi!