GC4J6B9 Gnome Home 10 - A Home With A View
Type: Traditional | Size: Small | Difficulty: | Terrain:
By: beartooth72 @ | Hide Date: 08/21/2013 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N39° 56.770 W105° 21.262 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0
             

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Gnome homes have been showing up all along the Front Range.  This gnome really likes his mountain views.

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Growing up, my family did a lot of camping in red rock/sandstone areas.  At some point, my Dad dubbed the pockets, mini-arches, and holes in the red rock to be Gnome Homes.  Places where a gnome could stop and make himself comfortable, set up shop, and call himself at home.

Gnome Homes are created by wind and water, eroding away weaker sections of the rock, leaving these interesting pockets.  Sometimes erosion causes the pockets to wear in such a way that a mini arch is formed; or as the water pools on the top of a mesa, eventually it forms a pool or pocket, and as the pool overflows, the water wears a channel into the rock, creating chutes, and more small caves/holes.

The Gnome Homes I have placed before have been in sandstone, limestone, and even one was located in a hollowed out log.  This particular Gnome Home is located in a granite formation.  As you scramble to the top, you'll observe the pools I described earlier, as well as the chutes formed by water as it flows off the top.  Apparently sandstone and limestone aren't the only rocks that are susceptible to the particular erosional forces that create Gnome Homes.

Once you reach the Gnome Home, enjoy the views that this gnome has chosen to live with.  Gross Reservoir and the mountains behind it are in full effect, as is South Boulder Creek Canyon. Truly an outstanding location for a gnome.

Congratulations to hartsdale for being the First to Find!!!!

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Additional Waypoints

PK4J6B9 - GC4J6B9 Parking
N 39° 56.900 W 105° 21.217

02/18/2018 By mcrane1234
We moved to a safer spot to log and put swag!

02/17/2018 By mcrane1234
After 5 times we FINALLY found it ! Very scary and not for kids ! The hardest one we've ever done and we love adventure! Never have we climbed a terrain so difficult. My husband had me stay back until I couldn't see him so I followed until I felt it was no longer safe for my little self. RIDGE TOP

04/08/2017 By beartooth72
Did a maintenance run today. I forgot how challenging this gnome home was...getting to GZ...and finding it once there. All is well.

08/10/2016 By kwinseck
Among my hiking friends, I am always the first one to start climbing rocks. However, I'll admit that even I was a bit hesitant to go after this one after realizing where it was. I absolutely love free climbing and scrambles like this and I live for this kind of cache (not to mention the view!!), yet it was still nerve-racking to go for. I could have died happy while looking for it.

I started out up high, but as I got to the edge, my GPS was still saying a few feet further. I looked around but saw nothing, so I spent a while working my way down into the gulley. When I finally got down there, of course my GPS was pointing back up the cliff face 20 feet. Searched a bit down low, before going back up to try the other approach. Got to the edge, and again I was told to keep going out, so I made my way down a little bit from the edge. When I got as far as I was comfortable going without ropes, my GPS still said another six feet. I was convinced that was not correct so I once again went back up to the edge.

As I was on the brink of giving up, I tried one last place and sure enough, there it was. I breathed an audible sigh of relief, and just kept repeating to myself "wow", both at the fact that I found it and at the journey I went through in doing so.

I could not have been happier that I attempted (and found!) this cache, and it definitely gets a favorite point for the incredible enjoyment I got out of the hunt. With all that said, I would not oppose bumping up the terrain to a 5; this was by far the hardest terrain I've cached on, with the next closest being one on a cliff face in Sedona, AZ (which was rated a 4). Nevertheless, that one was still easier to get to than this.

Long story short, after an hour of climbing up and down and GPS bounce, I walked away with a smiley and a huge grin on my face! TFTC!

(Just wish Gross Vista were currently active so I could have looked for it too!)

07/04/2016 By leopold22
My wife and attended the GeoWoodstock 14er Mega Event yesterday and now we were headed to Estes Park for a few days. We stopped to find a few caches along the way. We loved the beauty of this area. Great views of the dam and lake. The D/T rating of this cache is what got me to come here. I enjoyed the adventure of getting to the cache. Nice hide. It earns a Favorite Point from me. SL TFTC beartooth72