ruck

My little Ranger made it all the way to the Bare Mtn Trailhead. Rain turned to snow about 1,200' and there was about 6" at the TH. I backed up the last 1/2 mile because I found a place I knew I could turn around, but wasn't ready to call it quits. We didn't make the top due to conditions, turned around at 4,000' and enjoyed a couple short glisades.

Will do.

Yet. Since it's in the wilderness area, I don't see a cache happening there. I still want to visit the former LO site though, and the question fit real well with the topic.

There shouldn't be any gates before the trail-head, but there may be other obstacles 4 miles before the trail-head check out this thread on NWHikers.net Good info, thanks for the link!

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So if I wanted to hike up the North Fork this weekend to where the Bare Mtn Lookout used to stand, can someone tell me how close can I get before hitting a closed gate without paying any money?

+1 Dang, and I was proud of that one too!!!

So let me get this straight, elevation is measured from starting point to cache. Example: I start hiking at Camp Shurman (9,500') on Mt Rainier. I hike to the summit and down the other side to find an Earthcache at Camp Muir (10,000'). Even though I crossed 14,000' to get there, for this challenge, my elevation gain is 500'. I'm OK with that, just want to make sure I understand.

Any truth to the rumor that there was one placed near Port Townsend this past weekend?

We're planning Rainy Lake for this Saturday's HOTM. I'm also looking at King Lake for next month. I'm interested in advancing my skills to prep for next year's attempts. I'm envious of the areas you and others go into. I'm with you on advancing the skills, but I see King Lake as a small select group, not as a HOTM. The last ~3/4 mile is up 45° to 60° incline slopes, covered with moss, branches and loose dirt. The last time a gave a warning was the Duckabush, and thats wheelchair accesible compared to this one. Once you cross the creek, the only water I saw prior to the lake, was at the falls, and that poses it's own challenges. Gotcha. It sounds like French Peak when Criminal and I did that and some of Watson Mtn when Cstmfrmr and I did that last year. I also learned on French to take my purifier no matter the expectations of no water is, because you never know when you might run into some source you can use and I carry plenty with me to carry me through the first 7 hours (there were a lot of lessons on French Peak). Criminal? You reading this? I'm ready to tackle this in the very near future. Game ON!!

We're planning Rainy Lake for this Saturday's HOTM. I'm also looking at King Lake for next month. I'm interested in advancing my skills to prep for next year's attempts. I'm envious of the areas you and others go into. I'm with you on advancing the skills, but I see King Lake as a small select group, not as a HOTM. The last ~3/4 mile is up 45° to 60° incline slopes, covered with moss, branches and loose dirt. The last time a gave a warning was the Duckabush, and thats wheelchair accesible compared to this one. Once you cross the creek, the only water I saw prior to the lake, was at the falls, and that poses it's own challenges.

The other option is find them during their first year. They don't even hit my radar until then. I'll promise not to start working the 08 list until next season if that makes you feel better. There was a winky smilie there ruck. I saw you had planned on this for some time. The 08 list has some interesting stuff on it, and it's still early in the season. Thats not even getting into what the MMM are currently putting out. Might I suggest the Rainey Lake area?

The other option is find them during their first year. They don't even hit my radar until then. I'll promise not to start working the 08 list until next season if that makes you feel better.

Well ruck just took care of that one. It's no longer an unfound cache. Congrats ruck on FTF. That ruck is such a studmuffin. Congrats, Jeff, well done! Thanks for the congrats, but my "studmuffin" days ended 25 years ago. I did just post pics from the trip though. I don't recomend this one for the average cacher. I move pretty fast in the woods, but it took me 4 hrs up and 3 back down. A Nalgene usually last me ~10 miles. I went thru 1 1/2 gallons of water and based on urine color, that wasn't enough.

Finally a milestone even I'll Celebrate, GC1QDWJ

Big congrats to Prying Pandora for making the 7,000 club at Sequim Art and Historical Cache #12. Also thanks PP, PG and L&R for letting me tag along.

I was up there today. Suggest picking your foot falls well the last couple hundred feet of the approach. Most options are rock with 2+ inches of moss covering it. A slip at that point might be memorable.

Can't commit at this point, but there's a chance Bunygrl and I can be there. Depends on a kid drop and when I get back into town. Hope you took MtnMutt's advice and checked with your associated troop. Building bonds between troop and pack are of the utmost importance and need to be utilized at EVERY opportunity. The rewards won't be reaped until later, but make a gigantic difference.

Nope! One cache listing, one find in my rule book! Too bad, didn't know it when I asked the question, but with M10B's assistance, was able to determine that I'm 12 quads away from completing the new grid pattern. Thats after throwing out all finds prior to my Delorme find date. Maybe I should start looking for a high clearance vehicle that gets 40+ MPG.

Oh, I think my sides are gonna split from laughing... Yea, thought you of all cachers would appreciate that statement. That is an interesting query. But man, traveling all over the state again to get 90 new grids...that would make round 2 tougher than the original version. At least I started the first one with a few under my belt. Problem is, I've developed this thing for fire towers. If I'm gonna be on the road again, might as well make the most of it, and with different divisions and discounting the previous finds, why not?

I've read the guidance, and not quite sure if I understand completely the intent. If a cacher was working on the Delorme Challenge pre-07 edition, and was one of those that "below radar" types , would they be obligated to use the new grid, or could they continue to use the old one, even though they are not currently listed on the page, implicating they are not playing? Side thought - If a previous finder discounted all their finds proir to their find date of this challenge. Could they get a second find if they completed it again on the new grid pattern?

Looks like my hiking buddy from Three Fingers might be coming too, but he and his girlfriend will be in his double kayak. Shouldn't effect the count. The Eagle Festival is that weekend. Should make parking interesting. http://www.skagiteagle.org/

I got one in the mail yesterday as well, and that is one FINE looking coin. Thanks Nav!

Since its inception in mid-July, there have been 21 new hides, meaning 21 caches have been bumped off the list. As a result I lost about 18,000 feet. Looking ahead, if there are another 20 new hides next spring/summer, I will lose over 60,000 feet. That would be a real oucher. Yep, another 20 will cost me 54,000, and I figure your one of at least four cachers I'll be cursing when it happens.

The list sure has changed since inception, I've lost a smidge over 50,000 ft so far, can hardly wait to see what spring brings. Man, the radar on this cache reaches really low!