Near the Boundary--West Elk Wilderness Area (II)

Wilderness -- "an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain ... an area protected and managed so as to preserve its natural conditions."—The Wilderness Act of 1964

In the 1964 Wilderness Act, Congress designated West Elk as one of the state's original five wilderness areas. Colorado's 1980 Wilderness Act expanded it by more than 120,000 acres to its current size of 176,172 acres, the fifth largest Wilderness Area in Colorado. Elevations range from 7,500 to over 13,000 feet.

This large, remote wilderness is west of Gunnison, in lands administered by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the Gunnison National Forest. Of the larger wilderness tracts in Colorado, the West Elk is perhaps the least well known. Nevertheless, the visitor is offered scenic vistas of dark volcanic breccia worn into spires, towers, stone walls and castle-like formations of immense size. Long valleys and sun-dappled aspen-forested slopes offer unique scenic beauty to the intrepid hiker. The West Elk Wilderness is particularly well suited for alpine backpacking, as it offers unspoiled scenery penetrated by long ascending trails; with no fourteeners and few alpine lakes, it also provides freedom from crowds! An extensive network of trails (about 200 miles are maintained along ridgelines and valley floors) creates a multitude of loop trips, allowing for multi-day or week-long excursions. Such secluded trips are readily attainable in West Elk.

The northern portion of the wilderness contains the twin peaks, East and West Beckwith Mountains, and the Anthracite Range. Farther in, the rugged West Elk Mountains’ long ridges radiate out from the center and are in turn separated by forested alpine valleys. Aspen forests blanket the steep-sided valleys, and hikers visiting in late September are rewarded with golden fall colors, clear blue skies, brisk temperatures, and the unmistakable sound of bull elk bugling. Elk and deer herds numbering in the thousands also attract crowds of hunters in late fall.

The cache is a large-sized pill vial wrapped in camo tape. It's hidden near the edge of a north-south trending willow fen that serves as the wilderness boundary. A series of signs is visible near the fen's center, marking the exact wilderness boundary. Ground Zero is a short walk from the near-by gravel road