GC5JG46 The Doggie Hike--2014
Type: Traditional | Size: Small | Difficulty: | Terrain:
By: Denali41 @ | Hide Date: 11/29/2014 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N40° 41.702 W105° 28.475 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0
                       

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CONGRATULATIONS TO icezebra11 FOR THE FTF!!

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A year ago several of us who climb together each summer in the San Juan Mountains found ourselves in the Fort Collins’ area over the Thanksgiving period.  Three of us had relatively young puppies, and we decided to take the pups plus our older dogs on a special “doggie hike” on the Saturday following Thanksgiving.  Our spouses joined us and our dogs, and we had a grand time together in the mountains, as recounted in the cache titled “The Doggie Hike”, GC4TYND.

This year, after learning that all of us would again be converging on the Fort Collins’ area for Thanksgiving, we reprised the experience with a second doggie hike--same dogs, same friends, same day of the Thanksgiving week.  We drove up Poudre Canyon to the Kelly Flats area and began our hike using the four-wheel drive trails that run north of the Poudre River.  Unlike last year’s marvelous weather, this time we endured cold, very strong winds that made the human experience decidedly unpleasant.  But the doggies loved getting out together and had such low profiles that they weren’t getting tossed around by the wind gusts, as we were.  The doggies loved every facet of the day.  We humans were miserable.

We decided to not go as far as planned, and eventually discovered a place in the “wind shadow” of the high ridge we were on and settled in to the small space to enjoy lunch and chat.  It was actually somewhat comfortable, as long as we stayed in this confined area.  I found a decent location to hide my doggie hike cache and then returned to the group as we discussed options for returning to the vehicles.  Returning along the windy ridge we had earlier ascended was not a realistic option, we concluded.  Looking east from our lunch spot the terrain dropped with moderate steepness through open meadows and scattered junipers, pines, cacti, and rock formations.  It looked feasible to descend through this open area, hopefully keeping in the lee of the high ridge we had suffered along, and then turning south to regain the jeep trail system a half mile above our parking spot. We had no doubts that the route we were planning would involve some bushwacking, and it did.  But bushwacking was the lesser of the wind vs. brush evils.

As we descended, I decided to make the doggie hike cache a multi, and I’m glad I did. I found a nice hiding spot for the small container and wrote instructions in it for finding the final stage (where we’d eaten lunch).  We continued along the route we’d earlier identified from our lunch location, and eventually traversed over to the jeep path and thence down to the cars, very relieved to get there!

Only a couple of caches have been placed over the years within the large extent of Kelly Flats four-wheel road complex we hiked through that day.  But Murphy’s Law was at work. We ate our lunch and I hid the final stage container within 200 feet of an extant cache!   I had found that cache years ago, but had recalled it being much farther south along the ridge than it actually is.  So the plan for a multi-cache vanished!  And I’ll need to make a return hike up the ridge (on a sunny, calm day!) to retrieve the misplaced cache container. So the “first stage” now becomes the actual cache.  It’s in a neat place.  Expect some bushwacking to reach it, and enjoy the interesting “openness” of the landscape in the surrounding area.  From its position, look northwest up onto the ridge–yes, the ridge that experienced strong sustained winds and periodic wind blasts that almost threw us off our feet.  But the doggies loved all of it. And if you enjoy backcountry caches, you will appreciate this one.

01/03/2015 By Denali41
Thanks for picking up the superfluous "first stage", icezebra11, and for your good report on the status of this cache. It's nice to know that everything is in order. I'm using your excellent Found it log as a maintenance report!

01/01/2015 By icezebra11
Happy New Year! {FTF}!!! What an absolutely gorgeous day to do some snowshoeing in the high country. The temperature was 10° when I left the truck and it was 20° when I returned in the afternoon. There wasn't a cloud within 20 miles and there was only an occasional wisp of breeze. I made the loop plus a few detours to get all the caches in the vicinity. Made the big loop hiking up Heart Attack Hill, then back down the by-pass trail. The snow added an extra degree of difficulty locating the containers along the way but I was successful on every one.

After making the trek out to View?!...What View? I debated whether to go for this one next or get Girlz Rule! next. I decided to get this one but in hindsight I should have went for Girlz Rule! first because I would have ended up with less elevation gain. Oh well... I eventually reached GZ and after moving some snow, I found the container safe and sound. I had stopped and picked up the container close to Heart Attack, put that log in this container (after signing as FTF of course), and removed the tag for the original multi. The views in the area were especially wonderful today in the bright sunshine. Thanks Denali41 for this lure to get off the beaten path.

12/30/2014 By Alpine Reviewer
Published