GC847A PORTLAND TRAIL AREA CACHE
Type: Traditional | Size: Other | Difficulty: | Terrain:
By: Sometime is Now @ | Hide Date: 08/20/2002 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N38° 00.965 W107° 38.927 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 2

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Altitude of the cache is 9100ft.with the last 50ft.a scramble up a steep incline of loose rock. Be careful!

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Take highway 550 south of Ouray. Turn left on the road to the amphitheatre,then turn right on the first dirt trail. You will need a 4x4 to get to the cache or you can walk about 1 mile to it. You will experience about a 1000ft increase in elevation in 1 mile. In the area are the closed Portland Mine,the Denver Mine and the Bear Creek Mine, hiking trails,and primitive forest service camp sights. The mines were started in the 1880's, but were not real big producers. It is told that the owner of the Denver mine took several large gold nuggets into town and showed them to a prospective buyer. After the buyer purchased the mine, he went out to the sight,but could find no gold. He later found out that the gold was from a different mine about 3 miles away.Of coarse the seller was not to be found.

Contents of the cache are:
log, pencils and sharpener,2 bungy cords,bag of marbles,tire guage fingernail clippers,deck of cards,picture frame,nail polish,sewing kit,stapler,screwdriver set.

The cache is in a clear glass jar with a screw on top. Marmot proof--We hope

09/23/2018 By DesertDeb
Jeeped almost all the way to the mine. Short steep walk. Great views. Enjoyed the hunt.

08/20/2016 By Outdoor Lover
TFTC nice hide good spot nice view

07/24/2016 By RobbinsFamilyPirates
Unfortunately we couldn't find the cache! We were able to make it almost all the way to the mine with our Jeep Rubicon. The last 100 yards is very steep and has dirt, gravel and shale. Be very careful it's easy to fall and makes searching the area difficult on the incline. It's fun, if you have a sense of adventure.

We ran into a backwoods camper on the trail and he told us a black bear visited him everyday he was there! Make sure you have bear spray or a gun! BE SAFE!

04/29/2015 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 was unable to drive as far as stated in the cache description, significant snow still blocked the roads. Fortunetly, I was close enough so that it only took a short hike to get to the GZ. Near the GZ, there was a rather large snow / ice drift that I had to negotiate to begin the hunt. I managed to go up this obstacle okay, but I fell coming down. After the fall, I was able to twist to place myself to get on the more icier patch, so I avoided the rougher, exposed areas. The only result of the fall was a very dirty pair of pants, lol. At the GZ, I finally had a moment to stop and really enjoy the area. This is a very nice spot for a cache: trees, waterfall emptying into a icy hole, abandoned mine, etc. I'm glad I took the time to come up here. I was also happy to make the find after a focused search. I appreciate the CO making the nice placement, offering a fun hunt, keeping this old one alive, and bringing to this cool spot. TFTC!

06/17/2014 By hudweiser
Great hide in great location!

08/04/2013 By kspmrm
Found this one well on vacation staying in Montrose. This out of shape body struggled the last 50 feet but the walking stick helped me get to the cache. Noticed it had not been visited for some time. The Cache is still in great condition. Thanks for the great place and nice spot.

10/20/2012 By A&MBrooks
Didn't realize there wad a road just around the bend andhiked or butts over the hill instead.cool location! Left my marbles, took nothing.

07/14/2012 By R to the 6th
Great spot for a cache!

07/11/2012 By melasky
Great hike. Came down off the Portland Trail Overlook to the cache. Left a roll of clean T.P. in a ziplock bag. You never know when you might need some!

07/04/2012 By jdermott45
Great find. Have to say this is one of my fav finds thus far that high up... Easy parking right below walking road... took necklace left monkey

07/03/2011 By itdoesntsck2bme
Didn't find this, but did find some bead necklaces scattered about. Muggled?