GCQJA9 Multi-cache The Old Ranch
Type: Multi | Size: Regular Regular | Difficulty: 4.5 out of 5 | Terrain: 5 out of 5
By: Tahosa and Sons @ | Hide Date: 09/18/2005 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N40° 37.933 W105° 25.618 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 3
Dogs  Scenic view  Not Available during winter  Hunting  Camping available  No Quads  Off-road vehicles  No Snowmobiles  Horses  Campfires 
Read my note
When you approach from the East, you will have to go thru 3 gates. Please open and close the gates and Stay on the road, because the road does pass thru the Sky Corral Ranch. Which is private. And the real terrain is not much more than 2 stars, but you will need a 4 wheeler.

And the Cache is not at the main coordinates.

In order to find this cache you will need to do some map work before you go into the field. Knowledge of how to triangulate on a map is important.

In the area of the cache there are 3 high points on a map that have 4 numbers followed by an X

Take the numbers that are there and add them up to come up with a sum. The totals are given you will need to read a TOPO map and find the three X's Alpha & Bravo & Charlie and obtain their coordinates.
Maptech, Lostoutdoors or TOPOZONE are good places to get online maps. So go read a map and fill in the blanks with the respective numbers. And Garmins Mapsource won't work for squat on this cache.

  • Alpha: _A_ + _B_ + _C_ + _D_ X =_19_ ||___ ___ ___ ___ X
  • Bravo:_E_ + _F_ + _G_ + _H_ X = _27_ ||___ ___ ___ ___ X
  • Charlie:_I_ + _J_ + _K_ + _L_ X = _24_ ||___ ___ ___ ___ X

Once you have figured out what the coordinates of the unknown X's are input them into your GPS
Look at a map and do your Triangulations, and find the Cache.

OK now you are standing near the cache and the map bearings to the X's are as follows:


  • To Alpha: [H-L][J-D][I-B] . [L+J][D-C]° for. [F-D] [H-C]mi.
  • To Bravo: [L-D][A-F][D+J] . [H+C][L+C]° for. [B-D] [E-H]mi.
  • To Charlie: [I-L][J+C][B-D] . [B+C][D+C]° for. [J+D] [L+C]mi.

    Footnotes on Compasses:

    When using a compass in the field, it is very important to be careful when taking the measurements and doing the conversion between field {magnetic} and map bearings {true}.

    An error of five degrees in reading accuracy will result in a position error of about 150 yards after one mile of travel.

    East Declination:

    The declination is East (9.5°) thus Magnetic North (field bearing) is less than True North (map bearing). Which also says that True North (map bearing) is greater than Magnetic North (field bearing).

    You need to make the two worlds equivalent by adding or subtracting the declination.

    Map Bearing to Magnetic Bearing:
    If you are taking a bearing from one point on your map to another point on the map with respect to True North, then you are working with a map bearing.
    Now you need to convert this information into a magnetic field bearing to the topographical features of the surrounding landscape.
    So you need to subtract the declination from your map bearing to create the proper magnetic field bearing.
    Map Bearing - Declination = Magnetic Bearing.

    Magnetic Bearing to Map Bearing:
    If you are taking a bearing from your current position to the topographical features of the surrounding landscape with your compass, then you are working with a magnetic field bearing.
    Now you need to convert this information into a true bearing to plot your position on the map.
    So you need to add the declination to your magnetic field bearing.
    Magnetic Bearing + Declination = Map Bearing

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     Hints

    Its in the woods.

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    Driving Directions

     Logs

    10 Logs: Found it 6  Write note 4  

    Write note 10/20/2014 By KingJR
    stopped by and found the final to the old ranch, it's looking good...minus some critters chewing on the box!

    did note the magnetic fields have changed, the burl projection is off a bit from 10 years ago...

    Found it 10/19/2014 By Takes the Hard Way
    I'm really behind in logging my finds.....found this one while on a jeeping trip with Team Red Rubicon back in October....and with lots of help from Team Laxson, kingjr, zoltig, and Red Ruby.
    SL

    Found it 10/19/2014 By Mountain Roamer
    Found this one with a lot of help from Team Laxson, kingjr, and Red Ruby. We're really glad Old Flowers Road was open again but sad to see all the flood and fire damage.

    Thanks!
    Found it!

    Found it 08/24/2014 By icezebra11
    This cache has been way too lonely so I had to see about changing that today. I left my home in Loveland about 7 am and after stopping for gas and some coffee to wake up, headed up Poudre Canyon. At about 8:45 I first stopped and took a short warm-up hike to sign one of Denali41's Near the Boundary caches. I got to the Old Flowers locked gate off Pingree Park Road at 9:30 and set out up the road. Old Flowers is still closed to vehicles but is open to hiking, and I had a long hike in front of me. It was a beautiful day in the high country with only a few scattered clouds and the temperature didn't get much above 70. It was a long walk to the point that I had plotted for the final location, over 6 1/4 miles one way, through miles of scorched forest. As I arrived at GZ I was worried that the container may be toast as all the trees were burnt from the High Park fire in 2012. After searching for about 20 minutes and coming up empty I rechecked my coordinates. When I plugged the coordinates into my GPSr I must have fat fingered a couple digits on the longitude because it turns out I was 150 ft away from where I needed to be. After that correction I moved to my new GZ and began searching. Voila! The container was there and it survived the High Park Fire!!! It didn't have any burn marks on it at all but it did have evidence of a rodent chewing on it quite a bit! I opened it to find the inner container was fully intact. I put a fresh signature in the log book and retrieved the Jeep TB that has been hiding out too long.

    After putting things back in place I climbed up on the rock, marked my position, and projected my waypoint for The Burl. With that done I headed off in search of that one. Thanks Tahosa for this great cache, it was fun figuring out which X-points to use, doing the calculations, and triangulating for the final location. When you get back up this way you'll have to get to this area to see the charred landscape, it's a whole different place from when you last saw it.
    East White Pine

    Old Flowers Road

    Write note 07/18/2012 By Tahosa and Sons
    Please stay away from the cache till either myself or Denali41 give the Ok to enter the area. And I can imagine this will not happen until the summer of 2013.


    ~WARINING-area is closed till further notice!!!~

    Found it 08/20/2010 By COpackrat
    I had figured out the coords for this one last fall, but by the time I had to chance to go there, the snow had already blocked the road enough to make the trip into the area questionable. So I came back this year, when the road would be more negotiable. No problem finding the cache, although I was 8' off... :-) Thanks for another great cache - now on to The "Burl"!

    Found it 08/15/2010 By Team Laxson
    Geeze, where do I start?

    I started "looking" for this one, the day it was published (September 18th, 2005). I sent Tahosa my "best guess" a few days later, and was a bit off - but it uncovered an OOPS in the listing. Once corrected, I re-calculated and plotted, and ran the new location past Tahosa.

    His reply:"Well that is a real real good guess. One of the coords is right on the $$$$$$$$. And the other one is fairly close."

    Great, that's close enough for me. I know GZ will be a little bit bigger than normal, but I figured it out. Sweet. Now, when to get up there?

    On August 6th, 2006, I finally was able to make the journey up to find this one. Having solved it 11 months ago, this one was eating at me - I know where it is but I need to go find it. So the journey began. Needless to say it didn't end with the find - read my DNF log from this visit here.

    A few months later, my life was blessed with the birth of my daughter, and finding time for trips like this became harder to do. After that, life got in the way of many things, but this one became my 'Eleanor'. Not willing to admit defeat, I created a special folder on the computer, saving all the information I had on it, hoping that, one day, I would be able to pull together another visit.

    Well, that day is today. Tahosa, knowing of my determination, had plans for a new cache in this area, and had been working with Denali41 to coordinate the placement. I received the email that someone with a vehicle was making a trip up there and was willing to give me a lift. An opportunity I couldn't pass up. So I joined up with Denali41 for a two-part mission - place a new cache, and find The Old Ranch. Red Ruby also joined us today, as she frequents the area and is always looking for new places.

    So off we went, a beautiful day in Colorado. It's amazing how many things I remember about my trip here 4 years ago - the stone homestead that you have to drive through, and all their flowers back then (still have flowers, too!). The gates, the place I high-centered and had to start biking, and the tree I leaned my bike up against all that time ago. This time, the ending was different, with the final location revealing itself to me. It still took a bit of searching, but with the support of Denali41 and Red Ruby, I was able to sign my name in the logbook.

    So it's taken just over 4 years, a new job, a new family member, a new car, and many new friends to finally be able to log this cache. It is bittersweet though, as I don't have of another DNF that has captured my attention like this one, but Gray Diamond Ghost has eluded me too.....

    Happy to sign the logbook.
    SL
    (1879)

    At the garage at The Old Ranch

    The Old Ranch Logbook

    Write note 08/15/2010 By Red Ruby
    Out on a caching adventure with Denali and Team Laxson, and dropped off a Jeep TB.

    Found it 07/20/2009 By Cacher Checks Only
    The big hike from the western side took place yesterday. Got a rather late start due to spending so much time yabbering with someone I met while picking up some info for "The Sage Points the Way" in the morning. I was hoping that a knight in shining Jeep would be going my way, but the only travellers I met were headed in the opposite direction. Really enjoyed walking through the meadow and pond area ~ expected to see a moose there. When the elevation started dropping dramatically, I went offroad to contour, but ended up having to come back to the road anyway for a couple of different reasons. Boy, was I bummed when I saw the information I needed to use for "The Burl" cache. That also caused me to avoid exploring this cache area any further. TNL fire starter, and sharpened the cache pencils before heading out to do "The Burl". After quite a distance on the way out I could have sworn that I saw a lynx peeking over the top of some rocks, but it was quickly gone. At that point after all those ups and downs in elevation and the distance I had hiked, I could have been imagining things. However, I did NOT imagine the cat prints I saw in the meadow area shortly after that. I could not determine whether those prints were left before or after my passage through there earlier in the day. At that point, I was thinking how safe and secure my bear spray was, stashed in my car. BlackEye Got back to my car just before sunset...still enough time to finish up "The Sage...", or so I thought. This cache was a lot of fun to solve, but hiking to it was a bit much. Perhaps I can upload an elevation profile at a later time. TFTC!

    (Edited for a typo and to add an elevation profile.)

    [This entry was edited by Cacher Checks Only on Wednesday, July 22, 2009 at 7:16:04 PM.]

    [This entry was edited by Cacher Checks Only on Wednesday, July 22, 2009 at 7:18:52 PM.]

    The Old Ranch and The Burl

    Write note 07/17/2009 By Cacher Checks Only
    Scoped out this area early this morning, but without 4WD capabilities and neighbors at the eastern approach obviously averse to folks parking along the road (I'm curious about the actual width of the easement), I'm looking at a hefty hike from the western side if I can't get parking permission. Heavy sigh...