This cache pays homage to the famed Wombat Arch. Well - maybe it isn't "actually" famed. I didn't even know about it until a few weeks ago. But with a name like Wombat Arch, it needs a geocache.
It's a 3 mile round trip hike from a parking area on Hwy 141 with 600 feet of elevation gain out and back. The cache is in a small waterproof container that should be easy to find. Log only. Pen included.
It's in the north face of a very large boulder about eye level in a little notch and obscured by a couple of small rocks. You have go past the arch to get to the cache. I recommend you keep going to the east and go up on top to see the arch from up there. You'll wonder how it supports itself. I don't recommend trying to cross it!
As you leave Grand Junction heading toward Gateway, cross the East Creek bridge, and turn left into the parking area. You'll have to walk back east down the highway and across the bridge a little bit to get back to the trailhead. Be careful. There's never much traffic, but keep your head on a swivel.
You can take ATVs to within a half mile of the cache. But I don't recommend it. As you can see in an attached picture, it's recommended for experienced 4x4 operators only. I agree.
The best description to the arch is on an external website at https://www.gjhikes.com/2017/03/wombat-arch.html Here are some highlights:
Wombat Arch is located in the BLM Bangs Canyon Management Area near Grand Junction Colorado. The arch can be found along the rim of one of the branches of Bangs Canyon on the Whitewater end of the management area. How the arch came to be named after a four legged marsupial that is native to Australia is one of those mysteries that we might never know the answer to.
There are a variety of different routes that could be taken to get to Wombat Arch. For this post we are going to make use of an orange metal fencepost that makes a good trail marker. The post is on the righthand side of the road just past the 1 mile point from the trailhead.
You may be tempted to go straight across the canyon to go to the arch. Don't. Keep moving west and take a more leisurely path across the canyon.
Congrats to Rojo464 and B&B$ for the FTF!
Additional Waypoints
018DGKH - Park across the highway
N 38° 58.402 W 108° 27.736
028DGKH - Hwy 141 Trailhead
N 38° 58.418 W 108° 27.748
038DGKH - Turn from the trail
N 38° 58.074 W 108° 28.557
Wombat Arch
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