GC36D7W 50 Plus the District Challenge
Type: Mystery | Size: Small | Difficulty: | Terrain:
By: Denali41 @ | Hide Date: 10/16/2011 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N40° 41.860 W105° 14.173 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0
                           

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THIS IS A CHALLENGE CACHE

The cache is at the listed coordinates, but you can not record a “find” until you have satisfied the logging requirements. To meet the challenge, you must have found and logged a minimum of one cache (of any type) in each of the 50 states of our Republic; in addition, you must have found at least one cache (of any type) within the District of Columbia. Do not include any "internet finds" for Virtual caches. You must have visited and found a legitimate cache in each state and in the District in order to qualify.

You must also have found the challenge cache container, and signed its log sheet. Reaching the cache location requires a hike up the Black Powder Trail in Gateway Natural Area, off Colorado Highway 14 in the Cache La Poudre Canyon. The cache has been placed near the top of a small peak just outside of the Natural Area, on land within the Roosevelt National Forest. The Rx vial is hidden in a cavity between two flat rocks, and is concealed beneath a small rock. A “spoiler” photo is included on this cache page. The cache is too small to hold a writing utensil, so make certain to bring a pen or pencil for your signing celebration. Please re-hide the cache carefully.

The vicinity of the cache provides stunning views of Seaman Reservoir, of Greyrock Mountain and its neighboring peaks, and of the Poudre River and the rugged terrain that borders it. The hike is on-trail for about 2/3 of the total distance(approximately 2 miles RT); the final 1/3 requires limited bushwhacking on moderately steep terrain. An elevation gain of approximately 800 feet is necessary to reach the cache site from the beginning point of the hike. Dogs are allowed, but they must be on leash within the Natural Area. The overall cache rating of 5.0 Difficulty 4.0 Terrain considers the task of finding the prerequisite caches. The rating for reaching and finding the final cache container is Difficulty 2.0 Terrain 3.5.

Plan on a round trip outing of approximately 2 hours, car-to-car. Between December 1 and February 28, parking within Gateway Natural Area is free. In other months, the parking fee is $6. During this period, one can park for free at the highway entrance to Gateway, and walk to the beginning of the Black Powder Trail. This adds a round trip distance of 1 mile (all on easy road) to the total effort.

Verify having met the requirements by listing your qualifying caches (with GC number and date found) in your Found Log; or by a bookmarked listing; or by an appropriate map or tabulation on your Profile page.

At the time of publication, two other challenge caches having similar requirements to those described above are active. One, 50 State Challenge Cache ‘See the USA in your...’ , is in SW Michigan. The other, State Challenge Series–Level 50, is located west of Phoenix, Arizona. The final cache sites for both of these are within easy walking of parking. Because "50 Plus the District" requires a reasonably difficult hike in mountainous terrain, it represents a more challenging finish than do the others. Have fun with this, and congratulations on having found caches in all 50 states plus the District!

CONGRATULATIONS TO KENYANSHERPA FOR FTF ON THIS CHALLENGE!!

12/25/2018 By WingsAndTales
I'm surprised that there haven't been any more logs since my note over 2 years ago. I made a trip to the northeast a couple months ago and finally completed all the states. It's been a long journey to get here but I had a great time seeing so much of the country. TFTC

09/21/2016 By WingsAndTales
Now that I have done the work to sign the cache maybe I'll be motivated enough to get the final 6 Northeastern states that I need to qualify. After recently finishing the Colorado counties and DeLorme challenges this is one of the last big challenges that I need. Things may be bigger in Texas but in Colorado they are taller. I'd say 3.5 is right on for the actual terrain to get to this one. I've done much harder and scarier things for the same rating. Hopefully it won't be too long until I can turn this onto a smiley.

07/05/2016 By Denali41
That's a nice Found it log by Backwards Charlie from Austin. I would like to point out that this CO is just 1 year younger than Charlie, and I've been up to the cache several times, hiding and then maintaining it. Also, in my opinion the Terrain rating is pretty spot on. It's actually one of the easier back-country caches for terrain in my portfolio of owned caches. I have a reasonably good experience basis for assigning Terrain ratings to my caches, as I've found about 450 T 3.5; over 400 T 4.0; 220 T 4.5; and over 400 T 5.0 caches. So my rating of 3.5 for this one is pretty spot on, based on comparative experience.

I'm really pleased that Backwards Charlie from Austin made the effort to get to this challenge. Congratulations!

07/04/2016 By Backwards Charlie from Austin
The mega event GeoWoodstock 14er weekend finally arrived and I am trying to attend events associated with it and also trying to do some caching in the area. This Farewell event is over and now I am trying to finish off some challenge caches in the area.

My note of 2013-07-09 shows that I qualify for this challenge. I do not claim FTF for this cache, but I do claim OTF (Oldest To Find) since I doubt any of the previous finders are anywhere near my age of 76. Your terrain rating of 3.5 is a little misleading. The trail is an easy 3, but the bushwhacking part (0.2 mile as the crow flies, about a mile as I zigzagged up) is more like a 4 or 4.5. Where the barbed wire fence crosses the little gully is probably the best place to get through the fence, the wires have been rearranged to make it rather easy for a lone hiker to get through. Coming down, look for the tree with the yellow stripe as marking the crossing place.

I will give this a fav point since it was one of the hardest hikes I have done for several years.

This cache is my find number five (5) for the day. This cache is also my overall cache find number twenty four thousand five hundred one (24501).

I hope your year 2016 is going great for you and you manage to achieve all of your goals for the year. May all of your problems be as easy to solve as finding 1/1 Lamp Post Caches (LPCs). May all of your days bring you more smiles than frowns . Cache On!

Thank you for the hide, for without hiders there would be no finders.

10/11/2015 By siff
Find #3000! I didn't plan it that way, but glad that it worked out. Most of my fellow geocachers know I'm not one for the "numbers" part of caching, but prefer quality, puzzles and interesting locations. My statistics are public.

I'd had my eye on this one since it came out but didn't attempt it because I still needed 24 states. I had six more by the end of 2011, another 5 in the NE by June 2012, then picked up 10 more by driving a circuitous route to NJ by way of Louisiana in September of 2012. That left me with 3 to finish; CA, OR and ND. A trip to Las Vegas in April 2013 let me pop over to Death Valley, CA to take care of California. Another trip to North Dakota in June 2013 for my first CITO took ND off the list. Oregon was my lone holdout, and it really started to bother me. I wanted to visit Geocaching HQ, so booked a trip to Washington in April 2014, and spent two days in Oregon picking up some challenge caches. Done!

By the time I finished up all 50 states + DC, my left knee was in such bad shape I knew there was no way I could complete this hike. I had a total knee replacement 6 months ago, kept up with the physical therapy, and gave it a good workout on a nice 5 mile hike in NJ a couple weeks ago. Don't discount the "NJ" designation. I had a tougher test with GC4W4MD, but that was my own fault.

I cajoled Rob into joining me on this unseasonably warm day. Did I mention that this Eagle Scout is deathly afraid of snakes? He freaked out at the "Rattlesnakes make their home here" sign. Made me lead the way. The last 1/3 of a mile was not the easiest to navigate, as the sun was directly in my eyes every time I looked up. The wind was really screaming, too. I convinced Rob I would scare off all the snakes, and we made it to the top. Used the photo to help locate GZ, as the wind was so strong our eyes were watering, it actually blew me off balance a few times, and blew the glasses off my face once. Just SL. Made out way back down for a total round trip time of 2 hours and 10 minutes. TFT good challenge! I just realized it fills in a D/T square on my grid.

Just an aside, the entry fee is now $6. Parking is still free December, January and February.

I'd suggest long pants in any season, as I got torn up a bit on my legs, a hiking/snake pole and water.

04/03/2015 By Joe Friday
As far as I know I was the 1st in Colorado to get all 50 states. I also have 19 countries. I did both of these within 2 years. Thank to all my friend who came along on my trips

Here is a list of the caches I have done.

Colorado:7338, Nevada:2293, Wyoming:405, Nebraska:402, Utah:221, Kansas:208, Iowa:166, Texas:150, Washington:128, Missouri:127, New Mexico:115, California:80, Oklahoma:70, Tennessee:69, Idaho:66, Kentucky:64, Alaska:62, Georgia:60, Arizona:55, Hawaii:51, Oregon:48, Indiana:47, Florida:45, Illinois:45, South Dakota:45, Minnesota:43, Arkansas:30, North Dakota:26, South Carolina:21, Alabama:19, Wisconsin:19, Maryland:16, Mississippi:16, Pennsylvania:15, West Virginia:15, Massachusetts:14, Virginia:14, District of Columbia:13, North Carolina:13, Connecticut:12, Maine:11, Ohio:11, Rhode Island:11, Delaware:10, Louisiana:10, Montana:10, New Hampshire:10, Vermont:10, New Jersey:8, Michigan:4, New York:3

Thanks, Denali41!