Poudrecacher Favorite

CONGRATULATIONS TO MOOSETAG FOR BEING FIRST TO FIND!!!

Poudrecacher , a geocacher who lives in the Poudre Canyon, placed a series of unique and innovative caches in and around the Poudre River Canyon. His “Nature Bats Last” series was a delight featuring varied and challenging hides. They became the favorite of many who geocached the Poudre Canyon. There comes a time when maintaining caches become physically challenging and Mother Nature says it is time to move on. This was the case with Poudrecacher, who with great remorse, had to archive many of his caches. So as to not lose these very special caches, ten of them are being re-born in a new series called “Poudrecacher Favorite”. This will allow these innovative caches to live on for the geocaching community to enjoy. Thanks Poudrecacher for allowing the rebirth of your caches and for the enjoyment you have given to geocachers seeking your caches!

Description from the original cache page:

Drive west from Ted's Place, cross the cattle guard, and immediately park on the right just beyond the concrete siphon.

Water delivery systems have always fascinated me. Simple, non-mechanical systems that use nature's natural forces are really cool...such as a siphon. This siphon is part of the Colorado-Big Thompson Project which delivers water from the western slope to the more populated eastern slope. The water that passes through this siphon comes from Horsetooth Reservoir via the Charles Hansen Feeder Canal (aka: Hansen Canal), then under the Poudre River, then up and under Highway 14, and finally into the Poudre Valley Canal where it heads east to fill reservoirs.

THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE SIPHON:
Our friend, Jim, is the ditch rider in the lower Poudre Canyon. He sums up "siphon science" real well..."Gravity and atmospheric pressure, what a wonderful thing. As long as the outflow is lower than the inflow, it could drop 1,000 feet and back up 999 feet in a containing tube and still move through without mechanical help. The weight of water pushing down the inflow tube is greater than the weight of water being pushed up the other side, given equal atmospheric pressure. It's really like a big p-trap under your sink."

If you look across the highway and across the river, you'll see where the inflow tube begins. This concrete structure is the outflow.

For more fun, check out the bullfrogs in the water in and near the concrete siphon...we've seen as many as nine bullfrogs. They're active from March to October. We enjoy hearing them squawk when they leap into the water. Gotta love critters, eh?

At high water times, be very careful...have fun! Atmospheric pressures, gravity, water, and squawking bullfrogs...appears to me She's still a battin' last.