GC17B2M Traditional Cache Ratelle-ouille
Type: Traditional | Size: Regular Regular | Difficulty: 2.5 out of 5 | Terrain: 4.5 out of 5
By: vorticity @ | Hide Date: 11/11/2007 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N38° 52.769 W104° 58.414 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 12
Dogs  Scenic view  Difficult climbing  Cliff / falling rocks  Bicycles  No Motorcycles  No Quads  No Off-road vehicles  Medium hike (1km-10km) 
The cache itself is in a very stable location once you get to it. No need to be hanging off anything to find it.
6 - 7 miles round trip. 2600 - 3000 feet of climbing.

You'll be looking for a 50 Cal ammo can. Before you head up here, be sure to do yourself a favor and figure out GC14H7F, “Spin Up”.



One of the earliest trails in the Pikes Peak region is “Heizer Trail” starting in Cascade. It also seems to be one of the least used. David N. Heizer built the trail around 1884 when he was president of the Cascade Town Company. It climbs the east side of Cascade Mountain in a series of switchbacks. One reason the trail is not used much is the difficulty of finding the trailhead. It appears to be on private property, but is actually on Forest Service land. The "Bland Family" has granted permission to park at the top of Anemone Hill Road. Ms Pam Bland says “park where it says Snow Plow Turn Around.” (Obviously you can’t do that when there is a chance the road will be plowed.) From parking, head into the Bland’s Driveway up the hill. See the trailhead on the left. It's easy to find. If you can’t park at the Snow Plow turnaround, pull off the side of the road near the park in Cascade and walk up Anemone Hill Road. Heizer Trail is amazing. It climbs 1900 feet in 2.5 miles of hiking to the top of Cascade Mountain. From there you will head another mile off trail walking, to the cache. Round trip is 6-7 miles, depending on how you head toward it after getting to the top. Parking: N 38 53.743, W 104 58.357 Trailhead: N 38 53.705, W 104 58.358 Cache: N 38 52.769, W 104 58.414




Geocaching Colorado

Additional Waypoints

HZ17B2M - Heizer Trailhead
N 38° 53.705 W 104° 58.358
N 38 53.705, W 104 58.358
RA17B2M - Rat Parking
N 38° 53.743 W 104° 58.357
Park here unless there might be snow plows.
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 Additional Waypoints (2)

CodeNameTypeCommentsDateCoordinatesDistance
HZ17B2MHeizer Trailhead Trailhead N 38 53.705, W 104 58.358 11/11/2007 N 38° 53.705 W 104° 58.358 1.74 kms N 
RA17B2MRat Parking Parking Area Park here unless there might be snow plows. 11/11/2007 N 38° 53.743 W 104° 58.357 1.81 kms N 

 Hints

When I placed it, I found a seam in the center on the NW side. But when I came down I headed a little further SW. I think it might be easier to head up from more SW and South. So, facing the rock from the backside (the photo is the front side taken from US 24), I headed up the center and came down more on the right. Both routes were okay with some bouldering required either way. See the tiny little gap in the center top? For perspective, you can walk through that. It's about 12 feet tall. The cache is in a very safe, stable spot. No need to be hanging out over anything. But still, be careful.

 Nearby Caches

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GCA1Y81 Coniferous #25 (1.60 kms NW)
GC38MKV Manitou Deja-vu (5.51 kms SE)
GC7ER18 A man of many views (7.50 kms SE)

    


Driving Directions

 Logs

12 Logs: Found it 8  Write note 1  Owner Maintenance 3  

Owner Maintenance 07/05/2019 By vorticity
I updated the page to change the location of parking and to give a start point for the final approach. If the next cacher has a better waypoint for the point to start up the granite, please pass it to me. I will update the page. I won't be back in the area until 2020 or so to do some maintenance. Vort.

Write note 06/29/2019 By Kerewin0430
Out for a little walk this morning, exploring a trail I hadn't hiked before. My goodness, I can see where the joke about "66 switchbacks" comes from! Spent well over an hour trying various ways to get up from the west and southwest, which was fun climbing practice, but more importantly, was good practice to know when to walk away since I was alone! I did get up on top once (northwest side), but was still a bit from the cache, and I had reached the limit of my climbing abilities - legs were jello and the "chillax - stay calm and reasonable" factor was wearing thin. I happily admit defeat on this one today. Thanks for placing this one - if it weren't such a pain to get to, I'd say I'm sure I'll be back, but there are a lot of other trails to be explored in the mean time!

Found it 05/09/2018 By OR85OR450
" hel-looo .... i'd liketogetdownnow." (little girl stranded on the swingset on the Simpsons)

This is another totally excellent Springs area gem. I can't believe three years get away with no visits. I found myself 65 feet away on the side due north of the cache... pretty thrilling approach from there. Did not do enough prep research to keep from being totally surprised by the big A/C... the view I was so ready for. Certain Sherpa cache is probably the last place I sat with my feet hanging over a 80 foot drop !!
On a much easier retreat to the west I came across the can... dont'cha wish you knew the whole story !!??

can of life/ no opener... knife !?

Owner Maintenance 02/07/2018 By vorticity
Cleaned up the cache page. Vort.

Found it 07/05/2015 By MountainBear
This one earns a favorite point from me and Java Chip. Nice hike to the rock via Heizer and then the challenge of the climb to the top plus the view! We ended up going around the south and east side. TFTC!

Found it 04/12/2015 By estes01
In the words of the great Sir Edmund Hillary when he summited Mt. Everest, "I knocked the bastard off!" OK, Ratelle-ouille is not Everest, but it has held a position of importance on my must-do list since 2009. How time flies! Well I needed a kickstarter for the 2015 hiking season and this little hike did the trick. I'm wiped. With the CO's excellent instructions on the best way to approach the cache and some welcome cairns, I was able to get there with only a couple of minor scratches. Even with the endless switchbacks, you have to love the Heizer Trail…spectacular views and very few people. I was reluctant to leave the trail and head out towards the two caches I needed to knock off. The cache is in perfect condition and in the best spot. All the muggles must stop at the Cusack family's logbook which is enclosed in a large plastic jar about 100 feet SE of the cache. I didn't see the guitar a few people referred to.

Loved this cache, Vort, and loved the name. Did you know that "ouille" is french for "ouch"?

Found it 08/18/2013 By hartsdale
Out with SnailMan1 hiking on a trail that I have not ever been on.

Of course the trail turns the other way and the last two were not as easy. ( lets just say of trail )

I tried a couple of different ways to go up and we found two different ways up and the best way down. ( it would a good one for up too )

I have driven up the pass and pointed to this old rock telling my wife that there is a cache in that notch.

Now the next time we are up this way, I can say that I was standing in that notch.

Cache is in fine shape.

Thanks for a good one!!

HD going down hill from here.

Found it 08/18/2013 By SnailMan1
Just trying to clear out my 10 mile radius and I need a quick park and grab and this one was a quick easy.... Well, that is a lie. I am not trying to clear out any caching radius and while it is true that Hartsdale and I parked our car, it was at the trail head at the bottom of the hill. When we arrive near GZ we looked around of the easiest approach. I finally just when up and over the rocks which I am sure was not the correct way. I followed Hartsdale down which was a descent to the SW which was a much easier. This was our last cache of the day and we ended up with a nice 9 mile hike. TFTC.
Ratelle-ouille from below (GC17B2M)

Owner Maintenance 08/18/2013 By vorticity
Virtual Moun10Bike Coin drop for mileage. Vort.

Found it 10/09/2010 By Rich_Life
This one doesn't get much action--I wonder why. It was a perfect day to take a hike so I had to take advantage of the weather. Only saw one other person from TH to TH. I also discovered the guitar and their log book. Left a TB--hope he doesn't get stuck up here for a year. Thanks for the hike vort.

Found it 05/08/2010 By geo14er
Wow, almost 1 year since the last find. I bushwhacked from Spinup. I didn't read about any trail so thats what I did. You can feel pretty small out here. Wouldn't want to fall and break a leg and have no one know where you are. I'm not sure if I went up the right seam or not. Had to leave my dog tied to a bush on a small shelf. Made the summit and wow. What a fabulous view. Took pics and there was a falcon or something flying back and forth over my head a ways; also making some sound that seemed like it thought I was too close to a nest or something.Took a geocoin PCTY11 THE HUNT IS ON. Another very nice one Vort. Now every day on my drive home I will be sure to glance at Ratelle-ouille; whatever that means. I will have to look that one up. Wouldn't it be fun to spend the night up here; as long as there was no lightning!

Found it 05/25/2009 By SuperDolph
This one deserves every bit of its terrain rating. We came up Heizer and camped nearby. I picked class 3 or 4 route up the rock directly up the middle on the west side - but discovered on my way down that the southeast end of the rock is much more accessible. I've wanted to come up here for years - we even tried coming up from French Creek a long time ago but couldn't find the rock (I have no idea how we could miss it!). Near the cache I found a guitar that was apparently placed by the Cusack family in 2007. I played the guitar for a few minutes but didn't want to stay long since the weather was a little iffy and this isn't a place to play with lightning. After grabbing the cache we decided to go down French Creek with our full packs and quickly discovered an interesting section that could qualify as Canyoneering, it even ends in a 50'ish rappel that we could not pass today - especially with our furry companion. We hiked back through the very wet canyoneering section and then way up the north side of the canyon in order to get around this obstacle. If anyone else wants to come down French Creek I would recommend cutting away the two existing ropes (one isn't even climbing grade) and replacing them with something a little better. 50' should be long enough, but you may want to bring up to 70' to be sure. I would also recommend the usual rappel equipment - this isn't a place for a hand line. I remember my dad telling me about ladders up here - it didn't occur to me until I was looking down from the top and could see a portion of their remains down below. It would have been a scary ladder climb! Overall a great adventure!!