GC38DHJ Siollabab Naomh Breandáin
Type: Mystery | Size: Small | Difficulty: | Terrain:
By: Denali41 and Tahosa and Sons @ | Hide Date: 11/17/2011 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N40° 27.880 W105° 22.970 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0
               

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The cache is NOT at the listed coordinates!! Going there will NOT satisfy your craving for post-dessert caloric excesses. Nor will it provide you with a 5-star X 5-star smilie!

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A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and can be viewed either as a single work or as three individual works.


In April and May 2005, Tahosa and Sons launched two challenging caches that whetted appetites of back-country geocachers. Chef’s Special GCNJ2E takes the “seeker” from two tribute sites in Loveland to a marvelous mountain trail west of Loveland. There, at the trailhead, the real work for finding this culinary creation begins. At the completion of this initial feast, finders sample the delicacies of an exquisite meal prepared by an unusual caching and real-life chef.

At the final stage of Chef’s Special instructions are given for The “Dessert” GCNJ2G. Seekers become aware of an unexpected seasoning required to find the second cache in this “over-eating” trilogy: the search for The “Dessert” begins on a different mountain from the location where courses in the Chef’s Special were consumed! En route to The “Dessert” the cache-seeker encounters several additional challenges before finally indulging in the savory sweets found at its final stage.

Most people would be sated by the exquisite, fulfilling dishes served in these first two caches. But for those who desire to extend this feasting frenzy, the final sequence of the trilogy of over-indulgence comes with this third cache – it was hidden and published during the year-end season encompassing the extravagances of Thanksgiving Day and the gorging that continues through the Christmas holiday period, when a plethora of excesses are typically consumed. An adult American gains, on average, 5 pounds during this month of excess!

So today we launch the culinary culmination of this trilogy, an array of sweets that takes you through four-stages of additional over-consumption. It’s located on yet another mountain. Enjoy these post-dessert enticements. But don’t over-imbibe at the final stage: believe us, you have lots of sober work after you sign the final stage’s log, just to get back to your vehicle...

The first stage of this final sequence in the trilogy is located 1.616 km south of and 6.748 km east of the exact spot where you consumed The “Dessert”. It is hidden high on the side of Storm Peak. If you approach the area in a passenger car or a stock SUV, plan to park in Galuchie Park (N40 28.675 W105 22.535). Vehicles having higher clearance and off-road enhancements can drive past Galuchie Park, almost to the location of Stage 1. The three clue stages and the final cache are all along a primitive road that is closed to motorized vehicles, including OHVs. This ancient but “good” avenue penetrates beautiful, rugged terrain and provides fulfilling, backcountry hiking.


Pinnacles of Over-indulgence


So do some map work to decide on your specific approach from Galuchie Park to Stage 1, and then go find it. The stage container will provide coordinates for the next clue stage, and so on. The coordinates in Stage 3 are for the final cache container. Due to terrain features, your GPS readings can vary from minute-to-minute at any location. You need to search thoroughly, as each stage is well-hidden. Hints for finding each stage are given here:

Stage 1 – The Crackers. On the uphill side of the long, solitary boulder that’s very visible from the road, covered by a flat rock.

Stage 2 – The Cheeses. Under the slight overhang of the rock that’s located at the sharp switch-back of the road, covered by small rocks.

Stage 3 – The Fruit. Tucked under a slight overhang of a diamond-shaped rock about 20 feet above the road, and covered by small rocks. Note: There is a possibility that a digit was omitted in the coordinates specified in this stage for the final stage location. There should be seven digits for the Northing. In case one is missing, the digit "0" needs to be inserted as the 4th digit of the Northing.

Stage 4 – The Port or Liqueur. Amongst a grouping of upright rocks, between a burned-out stump and two junipers.

After you sign the log in this final cache of the feasting trilogy, celebrate by hanging out on this point and appreciating the superb views. You are in a special place, and it’s unlikely that you’ll be distracted unless the weather changes. Don’t drink too much of the Port or Bailey’s Irish Cream. You have a long uphill trek to reach your parking location! When you return home plan to partake of some Siollabab Naomh Breandáin (St. Brendan's Syllabub), with its potent Bailey's Irish Creme, to replenish yourself! If you are wise, you would have prepared the Syllabub prior to this sojourn so it is ready for additional feasting when you get home.

From Galuchie Park, expect a round trip hike of about 9 miles, and a cumulative elevation gain of 3,400 feet. This is a backcountry cache. Go prepared!

CONGRATULATIONS TO CLAN MROCZKO FOR THEIR FTF!!

Additional Waypoints

PK38DHJ - GC38DHJ Parking
N 40° 28.675 W 105° 22.535

05/25/2013 By icezebra11
I saved the Bailey's for when I got back to the house. I enjoyed its creaminess and now I am chasing it down with a Guiness as I write this. I left the house at about 7:30 am and headed up to the parking area. It's Saturday of Memorial Day weekend and I only saw one other person on the trail and he was a local landowner. The gate below Galuchie Park is still locked so I parked there and at 8:50 am I began my hike in. I found the crackers easily and headed for the cheese. That one gave me fits. My GPSr wanted me to go down off the trail along the creek. I used the cache page description and was able to finally locate it after much searching. Then I set off for the Fruit and found it without much trouble but as I was downclimbing from its location, a 4-foot boulder that I stepped on began to roll. Luckily I was able to hop to a safe area and not twist an ankle (or worse). With the final coords in hand I was able to find the Port and savor sweet success on this third leg of an awesome trilogy. I found the final right at noon and after taking in the beautiful vistas, I decided it was time to face the return trip. As Denali warned, it wasn't so bad getting there but coming back was where one's legs get tested. The trail has a really steep section above the crackers that wore me out. Got back to the truck at 2:15 pm. Denali noted in the final container that few would be signing its log and I am really happy to be one of the few. Thanks for the great cache!!!

11/24/2012 By jmuser
How do I describe this one? Where do I begin? It took all day for my wife and I to complete this cache. We left the house a little before 9:00 or so and arrived at Galuchie Park somewhere between 10:15 and 10:30. After reading the description to prep for this adventure, my plan was to drive up road 153 to Foggy Park to shave off some of the miles needed for the hike. I had my big old trusty 4x4 diesel truck that has decent ground clearance. Right as we exited the Galuchie Park area, the road turned sharply up to the right and got very steep and very rough. Now, my truck can handle moderate rough stuff with 4 wheel drive. It can handle steep stuff with it's big motor with lots of torque. But this rough, steep, tight and twisty road rapidly rendered my poor ol' truck very inadequate. The main problem was the weight of the truck vs the very steep grade and loose gravel and dirt. I felt that the tires would slip. My fear would be getting into a spot where I could not go forward up the hill, get stuck, and would have to back down. Also, the long wheel base of a 4 door cab and full 8' bed (21' bumper to bumper) made tight turns impossible.
Alas! My plans of saving some hiking miles were dashed on the pinnacles of over-indulgence! Oh well. Better safe than sorry. I don't have any real 4x4 experience under my belt, so apprehension was more than likely a factor as well!
So, I backed into a parking spot at the bottom of the hill and we hiked it in from there. Our legs and lungs let us know that we should have warmed up and started a little slower. It's a steep hike up to the top of the ridge. Then, as mentioned in the description, it's mostly downhill, with one section amazingly steep.
The primitive road is indeed closed to machines with wheels. See the attached pics. If you have the appropriate rig (we saw a stock Jeep Cherokee and a new Jeep Wrangler tooling around up there, so it is doable), you can make it to the Felled Tree Roadblock. Then you will have to walk. The Roadblock is just after a hairpin turn at a private property border. There is another tree that was blown down across the road farther down the trail that would also bar passage.
The views on this cache are worth the hike (more attached pics). And the blocked road makes for an extra peaceful journey for this section of the cache. We had no issues with any of the folks we encountered on the open part of the road. It was hunting season and we wore our orange vests for safety. We met several folks driving quads that were out hunting and all were cheerful.
This cache has a different physical challenge than most others, in that you pay for the cache after getting it. When Denali41 described "you have lots of sober work after you sign the final stage’s log, just to get back to your vehicle...", he wasn't kidding. I commented to my wife on the hike out that it was really going to be work on the way back. It was.
But it was worth it! The views are amazing and the country is beautiful! If you do this cache outside of hunting season and time it for when there aren't any folks up enjoying the 4x4 challenge, you will indeed have a very quiet, peaceful, all-by-yourself hike! Our trusty Garmin clocked us at 10.25 miles round trip from the parking area. My wife and I got back to our truck right at 4:30 as the sun was setting. An awesome all day, physical challenge adventure (for us anyway)! A fitting third stage of a very filling trilogy feast! We definitely over-indulged!
Well done Denali41 and Tahosa!! A super good one!! TFTC!!

07/22/2012 By Clan Mroczko
FTF finally!! We had to do two trips to the food bar, but boy are we stuffed. Got chased out by weather last weekend, and had to return this weekend for the fruit and port. We really enjoyed being back in this area, knowing there was no one else around. Saw lovely views, several blue grouse, and a gorgeous scarlet tanager. No problem with any of the hides, but the fruit was missing a number. We put it in on the clue for the next cacher. A lovely adventure and a worthy ending to the feast. Attached some photos where words fail. Thanks for the adventure.

11/28/2011 By Alpine Reviewer
Published