GC2FY0Q The Search for Cipango
Type: Multi | Size: Regular | Difficulty: | Terrain:
By: Cipango Search Party @ | Hide Date: 10/03/2011 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N40° 37.102 W105° 27.434 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0
                   

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The below is a true story:

It all started with a rumor back in 2009. Somewhere in the hills of the forest, a town existed that no one was talking about. An old mining town, now lost to history. An un-documented Ghost Town. During the early months of our research, we found what we thought was the town name - Cipango.

It's not on any map, only a select few know of its existence. We found someone who might know more, so we asked about it.

The answer we got: "I can't talk to you about that, and please don't ask me about it again."

....but......what? Why that answer? What does that mean?

It was then that our research stopped, and it turned into an investigation. We found reference to the town in a book, and it gave some rough directions and reference points. With that information, our journey in the hills began.

And so does yours.
This cache will walk you through our research, and in the end, you will uncover a 110 year mystery with the discovery of the town.

At the listed coordinates, you will find an ammo can containing some of our initial findings, and the clues to where the investigation leads next.
The first two stages can be done during the same outing. Consider resting for the day and continuing early the next morning. Camping is available along Old Flowers Road, or Jacks Gulch campground (Pingree Drive).

Expected completion time: 16 hours (+/- 2 hours).

All remaining stages should be done during the same caching outing (and parking spot) to avoid additional miles.

Important Safety Notice/Disclaimer

This cache is rated 5/5. Those attempting to find this cache assume all responsibility for their safety.

• You will be hiking in the woods and you will not be on established trails.
• You are responsible for adhering to all applicable law, including knowing what roads are open/closed to OHV, vehicles, hiking, etc.
• You will cross a river, more than once.
• You will be hiking up mountains with moderate to difficult elevation gain (up to class 3).
• The area is open to hunters. Dress appropriately.
• The areas you will go are not frequently visited.

Special thanks to the following, who assisted during the two+ years researching this cache (but don't know all the details of the cache hide):

• Tahosa and Sons
• KingJR
• Red Ruby
• Mountain Roamer
• bobcatt
• airlite
• Denali41
• zoltig

Additional Waypoints

10/10/2015 By icezebra11
I've been wanting to search for Cipango for quite some time but the High Park Fire and then the September 2013 flooding kept the area closed for a couple years and damaged stages of this cache, necessitating a lengthy down time. When I saw late last fall that Team Laxson had replaced all the damaged stages and enabled the cache, I knew I'd be going for it but it wouldn't happen quickly due to the need to cross the river. That fact caused me to wait until well after the ice thawed and the spring runoff was over. In fact, the river is very easily crossed right now, as it didn't even get up to my knee and it's not unbearably cold.

I wasn't able to go for the first stages before Old Flowers closed for the winter but in January I actively started working the cache. Starnsun had placed Street Tires in November (hmm, a coincidence??) and it still didn't have a find on it so I hiked and snowshoed in from Pingree Park Rd and after getting the FTF on Street Tires, I pushed onward and got the first stage of this cache. Upon seeing the coordinates for Stage 2 I was disappointed as it was not in a direction I wanted to go so I headed out. Then this summer when Old Flowers finally opened in late July I made an August 1st trip into the area with my truck, the first time I'd ever driven the road. I got Stage 2 that trip but the location did give me some trouble as my GZ wasn't where I finally found the container. With Stage 3 coordinates in hand, it was just a matter of time before I'd make the final push to complete the cache.

Today was that day. I reached the designated parking spot at 8:30 am and set out for Stage 3. I found it quickly and from there I was able to work through all the remaining stages without difficulty. Upon reaching the final location, I sat and tried to imagine what this area was like when the miners were here. There is no evidence to be found so my imagination and the photos provided by the CO will have to do.

This is a truly impressive cache! The research that went into it, both in the records and in the field, is incredible. And then to use that information and establish this superb cache is a testament to the hard work put into it and I truly enjoyed every aspect of it. Thanks Team Laxson and all the contributors for this really special cache!!!!

11/01/2014 By Team Laxson
This cache is back up and running. Everything has been visited and either repaired or replaced in the past few weeks. The fire and flood did a number on the remaining structures, now lost to time. This cache was in rough shape too, but we were able to recover all of it, and left the original contents in place when we could.

The water crossings are low at the moment, albeit very cold. I'm not sure how long Old Flowers Road will remain open for 2014.

Happy Caching!

~ Chris

10/28/2014 By Memfis Mafia
Really looking forward to this one. Thanks for all the work you are doing to get this one going again. There are a few of us that will be going after this one in the future.

10/27/2014 By Team Laxson
Took Monday off of work to make another maintenance run on this cache. With the new information from last week, we were able to update a few bits and replace another today. We also checked on some previously unchecked bits of this one, and it didn't survive the fire either. Additional trips are still needed, but we are making progress towards bringing this one back online. There was snow on the trail today so I'm not sure what we'll be able to do, but we're trying! A few pics from the trip are included in this log.

~ Chris

10/20/2014 By Team Laxson
Old Flowers Road has been opened by the Forest Service to vehicle traffic. Team Red Rubicon went up to check on some of the caches along the road, and survey the damage to this cache. Thanks to icezebra11's foot visit not long ago we knew the condition of many of them.

This cache is in rough shape. This will take time to rebuild. The history we found has been erased by the fire, and swept clean by the flood. What was left of the town is gone. We'll add more detail of what it was and refresh the entire thing. We were able to check on bits of this cache. Some are OK, others are completely destroyed. Multiple trips are still needed to survey the rest of it.

This was a 5/5 before. It's now much more challenging. Sorry I can't give a higher rating - those that find this truly will have earned all the stars. I've included a few pictures of our findings to this log. It's already October and I'm not sure how much of this can be repaired before the snow falls.

We will get this back up as soon as possible though.

~ Chris