GC3471M Colorful Colorado - Black Forest
Type: Traditional | Size: Regular | Difficulty: | Terrain:
By: ernie66 @ | Hide Date: 09/14/2011 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N38° 51.959 W105° 08.037 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0
           

---

Black. The color of objects that do not emit or reflect light. Black can be seen as the color or authority and seriousness, of mourning and bereavement, doubt and uncertainty, the unknown.

For this cache, you'll be entering a black forest with trees so thick in places that very little light reaches the forest floor. This is not the Black Forest region of El Paso County or of Germany. It's in Teller County and not as well-known.

To reach the cache, you can take an old road from the designated parking coordinates to the top of the ridge, then follow the ridgetop for another 3/4 mile to the cache. There is no trail on this last section, but there are few obstacles if you stay slightly off the top of the ridge. Expect a hike of less than 5 miles round trip with an elevation gain of about 1200 feet. Another route may exist from the end of FR 383 southeast of the cache.

Welcome to Colorful Colorado signs greet travelers on major highways as they enter the state. Don't let the drab brown sign and monochromatic backdrop at most of the highway border crossings fool you. From the clear blue sky and the pure white of snow to the red sandstone rocks, golden aspen, dark night skies, and the deep green of the forest, this cache series invites you to experience some of our state's less-traveled places, to stop and and absorb your surroundings, and to allow yourself to be changed by them.

There are seven caches in the series - six different colors that may be found in any order and a final cache that combines color-coded clues obtained from inside the front cover of the logbook in each of the other six. Although all of Colorado is colorful, this entire series stays within the Pikes Peak region. Some are short hikes, some a little longer, but there are no dangerous exposures or difficult climbs. Any mountain hike can be dangerous of course, so bring a map and be prepared for changing weather, wildlife encounters, and high elevations.

• GC3471D Colorful Colorado - White Gulch
• GC3471E Colorful Colorado - Gold Camp
• GC3471H Colorful Colorado - Green Mountain
• GC3471J Colorful Colorado - Blue Mountain
• GC3471K Colorful Colorado - Red Mountain
• GC3471M Colorful Colorado - Black Forest
• GC34602 Colorful Colorado - Full Spectrum

Congratulations to titocache - first to find!

Additional Waypoints

PK3471M - Parking Area
N 38° 53.229 W 105° 07.990

08/09/2018 By allenmabry
11:35 AM We are here from Dallas for our typical August vacation in Divide in order to skip the Texas heat for a couple of weeks.

This cache was the main target of our hike today. I really am trying to work my way through the series. We approached from the north, as detailed below, and found 3 caches enroute. After this cache we then descended to the southeast.

I signed the log 13 months after OR85OR450, one of the cachers I really admire - and a part-time DFW resident, which was a few days before Crumbcrunchers/YamaGypsy, whom I met during kayak caching in Houston shortly before she moved back to Colorado. Thanks, ernie66, for the cache. Adding a favorite point.

---

Detailed route information:

Thanks to OR85OR450 for his route notes. We took a similar route with a few adjustments. 

The northernmost open, legal parking area is Raspberry Mountain Trailhead, N38 52.846 W105 07.523. We parked there and hiked down the road toward the suggested parking area. We stopped a little north of there and cross the creek at the bridge. (Bridge N38 53.113 W105 07.868). We headed west and then southwest angling up the valley until we joined the trail at (Trail N38 53.014 W105 08.052). We headed up the trail until we reached Crags Vista. We followed the ridgeline south to the other three caches, ending with Colorful Colorado - Black Forest. We then descended trying to take the gentlest slope possible. We headed southeast to abouth N38 51.814 W105 07.915 (10,591 ft elev). We encountered what looked like an old abandoned road and followed it east-northeast to N38 51.923 W105 07.735 (10,445 elev). We then turned slightly south of east toward the forest road FS383. We reached the road at N38 51.883 W105 07.427. We appeared to be just north of another parking area, where you could place a second vehicle. We then hiked down the road for 1.2 miles and descended 336 feet back to our parking area.  

Overall, it was a 5 mile round trip to hunt 4 caches on this ridge. It took us 2 hrs 52 minutes. I'm sure others can do it faster.

---

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.

07/16/2017 By OR85OR450
Yay!!boo:( Last of the CC series in the same month as last of the RTP's. I had a excellent walk N-S over the hill today. Parking at a more northerly area suggested in some caches is off limits as of now, & I got a warning on my windshield. Forest Service had tons of beetle- killed trees logged along the road and parking & camping are pretty restricted.
I think the best bet is to go all the way to the south end of the road and start up the RTP trail. In only a half mile or so of easy trail you'll hit a saddle that's free of trees; has signs of campers using it; and best of all your GPS contour lines are comparatively relaxed as you aim for the cache.

Oh, as for the cache? Somewhere in time I found a baseball... so I dragged that up here & left it. HAHHhh... It's white

07/04/2017 By YamaGypsy
I decided to finished up this series this summer. This is the 4th I've found. Now to finish up with Blue mountain and Green mountain. Cache is in great shape. Sl, thanks!

09/03/2016 By billkat
Quite a hike up there. Glad when it leveled off. Followed it with a hike up crags trail. Fun with kb0rpw. TFTC!

09/03/2016 By kb0rpw
Fun day with BillKat