GC17WZR Earthcache Distant Views
Type: Earth | Size: Not chosen Not chosen | Difficulty: 2 out of 5 | Terrain: 2 out of 5
By: cllecr @ | Hide Date: 12/10/2007 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N39° 06.659 W108° 44.237 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 31
No Dogs  Recommended for kids  Takes less than an hour  Scenic view  Cliff / falling rocks  Camping available 
 Cache photos

DSCF0065.jpg
Wintery Wedding Canyon


This is a two-stage cache requiring some puzzle solving to determine the second coordinates and a short hike (approximately 0.3 mile roundtrip with about a 50' change in elevation) from the campground area of the Colorado National Monument. Please feel free to post a photo of yourself at the final site in your log.
Colorado National Monument lies near the northeast edge of the Colorado Plateau, a geologic region covering 150,000 square miles of some of the world’s most spectacular scenery. This vast plateau has acted independently of surrounding regions for millions of years- uplifting, subsiding, eroding, and constantly changing . The most recent uplift, about 10 million years ago, raised the entire plateau to its current elevation averaging a mile above sea level. Answer the following questions, then follow the instructions to decipher the next set of coordinates.



SITE ONE QUESTIONS

1. Are you above or below the average elevation of the Colorado Plateau at this point ?

2. The Mancos Shale that covers the valley floor before you is well known for the fossils it contains. Some of the most famous fossil discoveries are the bones of huge ancient creatures that once roamed the land in this area. The common name for this creature is also the name of another National Monument north of here, just inside of the Utah border, on the far northern edge of the Colorado Plateau. TO DETERMINE THE COORDINATES TO LOCATE STAGE TWO:
Write the common name of this creature (also the name of the other National Monument) in the spaces below- replace the letters in the coded set of the next coordinates in this multicache with the corresponding numbers from this decoding system to find the next stage of this cache
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

Use the numbers associated with each letter above to decode the coordinates to the second stage:
39º 0 A. N N O North 108º O N. S A U West
39º 0 __. __ __ __ North 108º __ __. __ __ __ West


ADDITIONAL WAYPOINT: TRAILHEAD PARKING FOR SECOND STAGE
39º 0 A. I R 9 North 108º O N. U 0 S West
39º 0 __. __ __ 9 North 108º __ __. __ 0 __ West


Step up to the guardrail. From this point, once covered by the rock layers you see in the valley floor below, you can see how the uplift and subsequent erosion of sandstone layers has revealed the years of history hidden in the rocks around you. Looking south from here, up Wedding Canyon, you can enjoy what may be your first glimpse of one of the most notable of monoliths in this park… Independence Monument. Watch how its profile morphs as you continue your journey west along Rim Rock Drive.
To claim this stage of the cache answer one more question :
3. The final coordinates brought you to the end of a trail. In what direction must you look from here to gaze through the erosional feature this trail is named after?



Please email me the answers to all three questions to claim your cache find. In your log, feel free to include a photo of you and your GPS at the final site (with the panoramic backdrop of your choice!)
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Driving Directions

 Logs

16 Logs: Found it 16  

Found it 07/06/2019 By okls1596
Thanks! Hortcacher and I agreed this place is too big for just one day here.

Found it 07/06/2019 By hortcacher
OKLS1596 and I visited Colorado National Monument today. This was our first visit to this site, but we did not get very far into the park on this visit so we will have to come back another time. What a beautiful place!! And what a lot of geology to try to take in! The answers to the questions have been e-mailed. Thanks for creating and maintaining this earthcache!

Found it 06/23/2019 By Candyce54
This was our final Earthcache of the trip. We so enjoyed the monument. We spent the evening here doing short trails and an astronomy program with telescopes. We have been before but even better this time. Did the calculations and found we had already been here today! Answers coming next. Thanks for a great time.

Found it 05/19/2019 By magashi
answers sent! it's windy up here.

Found it 05/05/2019 By Trea
Huff-Suter and I are on a week-long caching trip. We are trying to find as many virtual, ECs and challenges as time allows. Thanks so much for placing for my geo-fun. Huff-Suter has submitted our answers.

Found it 09/17/2018 By Lakegal1944
My favorite Earthcache here. Thank you. Photo attached of a happy old bat with her trusty GPS.

Found it 08/16/2018 By Merlin Meadowlark
Colorado NM is a beautiful and inspirational area. TFTEC that brought us here. Fav point
Photo

Found it 08/11/2018 By Geo-3-O's
Loved the trails! Instead of parking where suggested, we parked at the visitor center and walked down the road through the campground, onto the trail to the final coords, and then looped back up a different trail to the backside of the visitor center. A lovely hike, but VERY HOT! TFTC
GC17WZR

Found it 07/24/2018 By msmosier
This cache presumes you are driving north to south. A wise choice if you are uncomfortable with heights.

Found it 07/03/2018 By IowaBeaver
Stopped by on a drive through the Colorado National Monument!

Thanks,

IowaBeaver

Found it 05/24/2018 By nbjb
Nice area and nice views. At first we were a little confused with the roads, but we got it figured out. Answers have been sent to the cache owner. TFTE.
Danger!!!

Found it 04/22/2018 By RDIP
Answers sent. Great views at both stops.
Photo

Found it 04/12/2018 By Peachbob
Out having fun today, finding caches and enjoying life.
THANKS FOR THE CACHE

Cache # 1901. SL as PeachBob

Found it 04/11/2018 By carman.kerry
The temps climbed over 80 degrees for the first time this year, so we celebrated with a drive to higher elevation. Great day and a great hike on this cache. Thanks.

Found it 09/03/2017 By L J Silver
Thanks for this EC.
I enjoyed my stay at the campground and taking the time to discover all the different areas of this spectacular Monument.
Photo

Photo

Found it 08/18/2017 By Freddo
Such good views. Amazing location.