GC2HZZF Destruction and Regeneration
Type: Traditional | Size: Small | Difficulty: | Terrain:
By: estes01 @ | Hide Date: 11/07/2010 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N39° 23.979 W105° 11.280 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0
             

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A juniper sits high atop the boulders, surveying the scorched and barren land left by the Buffalo Creek Fire in May of 1996. This human-induced wildfire burned nearly 12,000 acres of the Pike National Forest as it ran 11 miles in less than 5 hours in an area between Raleigh Peak and Long Scraggy Peak in Jefferson County. The fire destroyed several homes and left the ravaged terrain vulnerable to flash flooding. Segment 2 of the Colorado Trail passes through the stark and humbling beauty of a landscape destroyed by the Buffalo Creek fire. But life is slowly returning, and the little juniper tree stands as a symbol of nature's regeneration.

***Congrats to KC_Chiefs for their FTF on 11/20/10...and to MorrisonHiker for being a close second!***

03/11/2018 By PantalaNagaPampa
Found with evgnhiker at the end of an almost 10 mile hike along Segment 2 and Raleigh Peak Rd. We looked up at the cache location on the way out to Raleigh Peak and decided to go for it on the way back. We thought the approach might be better from Raleigh Peak Rd and there was just a little bit of side-stepping to get there. Great view from the top. Thanks for the hide!

06/19/2017 By Greasepot
My main goal today was to grab the last Trail Mix cache 9:02:00 AM% Thanks! Had a nice time on the Colorado Trail and on my second walk down by the river. I didn't see anybody at all my hike to get your cache today.

03/19/2017 By youkfish
Going after TM #21 yesterday wasn't enough on my poor feet, so I decided to hike Segment 2 today to get TM #22. Hiked down from Lunch Rock cache and of course a muggle left the trail at about the same spot as I did, so I'm sure he was wondering what I was up to. He and friends were taking a break on the road trail and watched me scramble around a little bit, so he knew where I ended up. Not sure which was worse, the climb up or the slide down from this one. I remember the fire and it is amazing to see a lot of new growth starting from scratch out here. Cheers!

03/12/2017 By hartsdale
Second stop on my way back down with a small detour, I did have go up aways to look for this one.

There are a few trees here and there still.

Thanks for a fun hide to hunt for!

HD

10/31/2016 By dtvman
I came out to check on my coin that was supposed to be in this cache. I found the cache, but no coin to be seen. I hope it turns up. TFTC. On to the next.