GC354JVBeginner's OHV
Type: Multi
| Size: Micro
| Difficulty:
| Terrain:
By: sansone@
| Hide Date: 09/30/2011
| Status: Available
Country: United States
| State: Colorado Coordinates: N39° 04.080 W105° 09.232 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0
New to Off-highway Vehicle (OHV) Riding? No worries, this multi-cache is placed for those of all skills. You can even use the family truck (if it has decent ground clearance), but a quad or dirt bike is recommended because it’s more fun! This area is around 9000 feet with awesome views.Approximate round trip distance from trailhead - 30 miles. This will take a couple of hours by OHV (dirt bike/quad). Each stage has a safe place to pull off the main trail. The recommended starting point is at the trailhead located adjacent to forest service road 357. (North Divide Trailhead N 39° 00.143, W 105° 09.840 (there is no cache here; this is just a reference for parking if needed) My daughter and I frequent this area. It includes places to camp and ride right from your campsite. Located in the Pike National Forest just north of Divide Colorado, campsites are free and unimproved. My daughter and I placed this cache along the main forest service roads 357, 358, 363 and 364 so that new riders could do a multi-cache without worrying about their riding skill level. This is a six stage, clockwise loop that ends about 3 miles from the trailhead. All containers are located within 25’ of the main forest service road. Locate the each stage to obtain the coordinates of the next stage. If you stay the trail (as is the law) the first stage (starting coordinates listed above) is about 8 miles from the trailhead. Distance between stages vary. Once you complete Stage six and log your visit, continue South/ South-West on 357 to get back to the trailhead. If you really want to, you can do this cache from any vehicle that has decent ground clearance. A 4-wheel drive is not necessary but there are a couple of water crossings. One of these can be several inches deep depending on snow/rainfall and may be too deep for a passenger car. There are also a few high spots (road is wide enough to safely maneuver around them) that would be hard on the oil pan if you aren’t paying attention. Good luck and bring your camera.
Final stage contains a Matchbox Jeep type vehicle.
Note: I had several people verify this before publishing; FTF will sign on line 6 of the log. Please leave feedback as this is my first placed cache.
Update: 7 Oct 11 - Special thanks to 'doc4001' for providing useful tips on making this cache better and replacing the muggled 2nd stage. Update: 12 Oct 11 - thanks again to doc4001 for fixing stage 5. Congratulations on FTF - sorry you had to work so hard. PLEASE STAY THE TRAIL - don't risk losing the wonderful trails we do have up here. Update: 18 Nov 12 - Replaced muggled stage 2 with a metal washer and moved about 300 feet from its original location - Stage one coords updated. Update: 18 Aug 14 - If you found this before, the first waypoint had to be moved slightly south because a new 'private property' sign went up. Moved it back to public land and updated coordinates in listing - no longer at eye level - don't get STUMPED looking for it, Also moved last stage because the tree stump in which this was hidden has been destroyed and the cache was just laying on the ground in the wide open. Moved to a different stump ~50 feet north of original coordinates and updated the stage 5 coordinates in black ink.
Additional Waypoints PK354JV - GC354JV Parking N 39° 00.143 W 105° 09.840 North Divide Trailhead (there is no cache here; this is just a reference for parking if needed) S1354JV - GC354JV Stage 1 N 39° 03.708 W 105° 09.321 Stage 1 - Moved for the fourth time - Now it is in a large pine tree at 5ft off the ground tie wrapped to a branch - the branch is hiding it from the near side to keep people not looking for it from finding it. I moved well within the within 'public' property since its previous location was too close to a private property sign. Again, there is a pull off near it to keep you safe.
Stage 1 - Moved for the fourth time - Now it is in a large pine tree at 5ft off the ground tie wrapped to a branch - the branch is hiding it from the near side to keep people not looking for it from finding it. I moved well within the within 'public' property since its previous location was too close to a private property sign. Again, there is a pull off near it to keep you safe.
Stages 1, 3,4, and 5 are small pill bottles, stage 2 (highly muggled is a metal washer on a tree trunk - read the digits carefully, the number 7 and the number 1 on the washer look very similar There is only a single 7 but there are three 1's) Stage 6 is a large pill bottle with log and pencil. All bottles wrapped in Camo Tape and eye level except stage 5 which is slightly higher.
08/14/2017 By sansone The longest wait for a maintenance run ever. I am sorry I was unable to fix sooner. I replaced missing stage 5 and relocated stage 1 to ensure it is not on private property. I also verified every stage, fixed some loose containers, swapped out plastic bags and freshened up the coords in each cache with something a bit easier to read.
08/12/2017 By sansone Update: I am doing a maintenance run on 13 Aug 17. Hope to have it enabled by the end of the day. Sans1
My goal was to get this back in action in June. I realize the month is half over and while not completely back to normal, I still plan on doing a maintenance run and getting this back in service this month. Sorry it has taken so long!!
07/27/2017 By Alpine Reviewer I noticed your cache has been under the weather for a while now. Caches that need repair or maintenance should normally be taken care of within a few weeks. Please check on this cache and either repair/replace it and post a log to indicate you have done so, or archive it and pick up any remaining cache contents as soon as possible. Please contact me if you have any questions. If there is no evidence that the cache has gotten attention (e.g. cache enabled or note posted to cache page) or I have not heard from you about this cache in a few weeks it may need to be archived.
Alpine Reviewer Volunteer Geocache Reviewer
{#7d9dac5e65e5f3d6d358084b907b7128}
01/23/2017 By HighCountryAdmin Sorry to hear about your leg. I will check back on this one in June. Thanks, HCA
01/23/2017 By sansone I am out of commission temporarily. When I was out the last time (In June) I smacked a tree and broke my leg. It was not on the route of this cache so don't let that scare you off. It was on one of the 717 trails near the parking area. The most frustrating part was it was a low speed fluke. I hit with my extended leg shin side against a tree trunk and broke my it in three places. I now have a 9 inch piece of steel and a dozen screws to commemorate that ride. I am out for 9 months according to the doctor. Should have posted this note shortly after that mishap. I plan to make an early spring trip unless I can get up there before in my truck. Thanks for your patience.
Beginner's OHV
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