Poudrecacher Favorite - Gordon Creek

CONGRATULATIONS TO DENALI41 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:

From the mouth (cattle guard) of Poudre Canyon, drive 9.1 odometer miles to Hewlett Road. Hang a right, cross the bridge, and drive up the hill to the Hewlett Gulch parking lot and trailhead. The cache is in the parking lot area...have fun!

Having lived in Poudre Park for years, our caching team have hiked Hewlett Gulch a number of times. We've read a lot of history about this wonderful gulch and enjoyed its trail and pleasant creek. But, until recently, we hadn't researched Gordon Creek...enjoy.

Gordon Creek is named for Cyrus and John Gordon. John was a mail carrier for many years. He built a house along the creek in 1863. A number of the local early settlers are buried in Adams Cemetery, dating from 1880 and can be found on a hillside overlooking the valley a mile below where the north fork and south fork of Gordon Creek meet. Adams Cemetery, as well as a couple old stone walls, are all that is left of Adams...a settlement that had a post office, store, and stage stop in the 1880's and 1890's.

The upper end of Hewlett Gulch meets up with a housing development called Glacier View Meadows. The "glaciers" are the snowfields that can be seen in the distant Mummy Range.

In the hills above Hewlett Gulch, Gordon Creek is the home of an important archaeological find known as the "Gordon Creek Burial". In 1963, the bones of a young Paleo-Indian woman were salvaged. The carbon date of the skeleton dated to about 7700 B.C. "Her grave is one of only a very few Paleo-Indian graves ever found in the Americas."

Gordon Creek dumps into the Poudre River here in Poudre Park. Keep an eye out for Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep on the open hills and ridges along Gordon Creek...good luck!

(info from: CACHE LA POUDRE...THE NATURAL HISTORY of a ROCKY MOUNTAIN RIVER by H. & M. Evans)