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Hiking Caches


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I'm pretty excited about my latest cache waiting to be published. It's the longest hiking cache that I've hidden and the longest hike to a cache in my town. It's 8 miles RT and took me 2 hours and 20 minutes moving time to hike to and from GZ, which is a primitive campsite.

 

The other 3 I have in the same forest are longish hikes too.

 

How long are your hiking caches? In miles and time? I'd love to look at other hiking caches pages.

 

Thanks!

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This cache, GC2ANJ2, "Adobe Peak", is only about a quarter mile from a Forest Service road.

 

Six months went by before a geocacher found and logged it, although he noted in his online log that a passing elk hunter had signed the paper log!

 

The same cacher found another of mine nearby, GC2ANJH, which also sat six months before being found, and it is less than a quarter mile from a road.

 

Meanwhile, I found one in November that was a "short uphill hike" away from a small-town playground's parking lot. Yeah, about twenty feet.

 

In other words, I am starting to wonder how loosely the word "hike" is employed, and whether even in Colorado, which supposedly has all these four-wheel-drive-equipped cachers, a requirement to actually get out and walk eliminates about 98 percent of the potential finders.

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I have 2 caches that are fairly good hikes in My "No Name Lake" series. The first, No Name Lake, GC2CRZ1 is 1.4 to 3.5 miles depending how you approach it. When I walk it, it can take up to an hour or more depending if you take time to enjoy the scenery. No Name Lake #3, GC2FPV3 can be much longer, there are many different routes you can choose from and many different ways you might choose as a mode of transportation. Walking takes almost 2 hours (But I know where I'm going...).

 

I enjoy those off the "beaten path" caches and have scored quite a few in the area of my cottage in Northern Wisconsin.

 

"If it involves getting lost in the wilderness, I probably like it".

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I see your point and agree! I only use the word "hike" in my cache titles if the walk is more than a mile. Otherwise it's a walk or stroll.

 

My first 3 caches in Myakka Forest aren't accessible by anything but foot (or horse). The one I just placed could be "cheated" I think and driven to down a service road. But I hope that doesn't happen. I can't control how folks get it though.

 

I thought about saying that my FTF and STF prizes are ONLY for those that actually walked to the location and didn't drive...

 

Thoughts?

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I have 2 caches that are fairly good hikes in My "No Name Lake" series. The first, No Name Lake, GC2CRZ1 is 1.4 to 3.5 miles depending how you approach it. When I walk it, it can take up to an hour or more depending if you take time to enjoy the scenery. No Name Lake #3, GC2FPV3 can be much longer, there are many different routes you can choose from and many different ways you might choose as a mode of transportation. Walking takes almost 2 hours (But I know where I'm going...).

 

I enjoy those off the "beaten path" caches and have scored quite a few in the area of my cottage in Northern Wisconsin.

 

"If it involves getting lost in the wilderness, I probably like it".

 

My long hike caches are accessible by established trail. I don't have any that require bushwhacking. I like staying on main and animal trails myself because it gets creepy to me being out 3 miles off a path!

 

But, I would (and have) found caches like that! So I'd hunt those, but not hide.

 

Also, I needed permits for these forest hides and I think having them right off main trails helped them get approved. I'm not telling others to chop stuff down! Lol

Edited by SeekerOfTheWay
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My long hike caches are accessible by established trail. I don't have any that require bushwhacking. I like staying on main and animal trails myself because it gets creepy to me being out 3 miles off a path!

 

But, I would (and have) found caches like that! So I'd hunt those, but not hide.

 

Also, I needed permits for these forest hides and I think having them right off main trails helped them get approved. I'm not telling others to chop stuff down! Lol

 

The caches I've placed, are close to the vicinity (50 to 300 feet depending on which cache you search for) of "old forgotten forest trails" and in the vicinity of new established ones which lead to these forgotten trails. Part of the experience is for the cacher to discover the maps and use the resources available on line (see the first in my series No Name Lake, GC2CRZ1 where I listed links).

 

As far as bushwacking, I love and use the track back feature on my GPS!

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My long hike caches are accessible by established trail. I don't have any that require bushwhacking. I like staying on main and animal trails myself because it gets creepy to me being out 3 miles off a path!

 

But, I would (and have) found caches like that! So I'd hunt those, but not hide.

 

Also, I needed permits for these forest hides and I think having them right off main trails helped them get approved. I'm not telling others to chop stuff down! Lol

 

The caches I've placed, are close to the vicinity (50 to 300 feet depending on which cache you search for) of "old forgotten forest trails" and in the vicinity of new established ones which lead to these forgotten trails. Part of the experience is for the cacher to discover the maps and use the resources available on line (see the first in my series No Name Lake, GC2CRZ1 where I listed links).

 

As far as bushwacking, I love and use the track back feature on my GPS!

 

That's a good idea, about leading to forgotten trails. I'll keep that in mind!

 

I love the backtrack feature too! I used to get turned around so easily when I just had my BlackBerry app to cache. Now I can see an overview of where I am. Backtrack works so easily to get back the way I came!

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I have two caches that could be considered hiking caches, I guess. Both are multis on loop trails, to ensure that people take the whole loop.

 

Icebox is on a fairly even, easyish trail, 4 miles long. But the road to get to it has been washed out for a couple years (the Forest Service is working on a new one), so that seems to add a 7 mile length to the whole thing, making it 11 miles total. The only person who has done it since the wash out did it on a bike.

 

Sanctuary is two miles, with a flat, graded, wide trail. I personally don't consider it a hike, just a long walk. But I suppose others might consider it a hike.

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Mainline GCRV7M is about 8 miles one way from the trailhead. No driving in this part of the Green Swamp, but you could get a horse to this one, or a bike (horrible biking, loose sugar sand for miles). It can be accessed from the north, a trip of about 4 miles, fording a creek. That's how I usually do it; that trail head is a long drive for most people.

 

Cypress Causeway GCT09N is a bit over 6 miles, biking is a pretty good for some of that, but coming by "bike legal" road isn't nearly as nice as the hiking trail. This property can be driven during the short small game season, cuts that hike down to a mile. Most people don't know that. Some years I remember to add that info, including dates, to the cache page. Makes those caches more accessible to people.

 

I've got a couple of multi-caches in the 11 - 13 mile range. One can be tackled in bits and pieces. A stage here and there, from different trailheads, and mostly it has been done that way. The other is a long loop, only one entry, bike or hike only, and the biking is useful only for the first 2 miles; then dump the bike and start walking. Both are currently disabled, and probably heading for archived. Wetland restoration work has turned a shallow ford into a crossing that will get you wet to the waist, and it's still 6 miles back out from there. The other has been out a while, not found now for 2 years. Time to pull the plug.

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Mainline GCRV7M is about 8 miles one way from the trailhead. No driving in this part of the Green Swamp, but you could get a horse to this one, or a bike (horrible biking, loose sugar sand for miles). It can be accessed from the north, a trip of about 4 miles, fording a creek. That's how I usually do it; that trail head is a long drive for most people.

 

Cypress Causeway GCT09N is a bit over 6 miles, biking is a pretty good for some of that, but coming by "bike legal" road isn't nearly as nice as the hiking trail. This property can be driven during the short small game season, cuts that hike down to a mile. Most people don't know that. Some years I remember to add that info, including dates, to the cache page. Makes those caches more accessible to people.

 

I've got a couple of multi-caches in the 11 - 13 mile range. One can be tackled in bits and pieces. A stage here and there, from different trailheads, and mostly it has been done that way. The other is a long loop, only one entry, bike or hike only, and the biking is useful only for the first 2 miles; then dump the bike and start walking. Both are currently disabled, and probably heading for archived. Wetland restoration work has turned a shallow ford into a crossing that will get you wet to the waist, and it's still 6 miles back out from there. The other has been out a while, not found now for 2 years. Time to pull the plug.

 

Wow, those are pretty long hikes! I'll check out the pages. Thanks!

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My (potentially) longest hiking cache is Rock Tank Rocks.

 

From the cache page:

1) You could do it the way I hid it, coming up from the Ballantine Trailhead on the Beeline Highway (SR87). This will require a 6.37 mile hike (one way) and an elevation gain of about 2650 Ft.

2) You could come down from the Four Peaks road along the Matazal Divide trail, and return to the same trailhead. This would require a 3.79 mile hike (one way), and only a 2370 Ft. elevation gain. The kicker here is that most of that elevation gain would be on the return trip.

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The majority of my hides require a 2 to 5 mile round trip hike. I think the longest hike for any one of my caches is about 8 miles RT. I make it a point to place caches in patterns that allow cachers to cobble together loop hikes of varying distances where they can hunt a number of my caches, as well as others along the route. Some of these loops can reach 14 miles.

 

For example I have a series of 8 caches I call my Hiker Series and they were placed along several trails that added up to a 9 mile loop hike. Over the years others have filled in the loop with other caches so now cachers can probably find about a dozen caches following my original route and a few more if they take short detours.

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I have one multi that involves AT MOST maybe a 5 mile hike over varying trail surfaces, but can be done by driving between a couple different parking spots to minimize the walking down to maybe 3 miles. It is on a trail system, though, where folks could snag a dozen or more caches and involve several miles of walking or biking.

 

I have one Earthcache that I suppose technically involves "hiking" on a primitive trail, but the terrain is smooth, flat river bottom and it's a short walk of MAYBE 1 mile at most.

 

I have another Earthcache that doesn't really require any hiking, but a short walk along a lakeshore and walking up about 20-30' of a sometimes steep rock exposure.

 

I have one Earthcache that doesn't require hiking to get, but hiking to the location is an option during the drier months of summer and fall. It can be reached anytime on a ~10mi round trip paddle. The hiking option was done by the only finders so far, and they hiked about 6.5mi total, with about 2 of those miles being off trail through very thick brush (and hurricane debris) in typical East Texas river bottoms.

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My most remote cache The Last Flight of the Hercules has two different routes.

 

Start at the Alimony Truck Trail, and hike East along the mountain range, until you're close to the drop in point. Distance 9+ miles R/T. Gain: 3600' total, 2600' out plus 1000' on return. This road used to be a passageway to Littlerock Dam via Juniper Hills. Park near the locked gate, and head up and to the East. This was my chosen route.

Start at Buckhorn Campground (possible closure, increasing hiked distance).

 

Hike north down the Burkhart Trail (10W02) about 2 miles to where the Cooper Canyon Trail comes in from the west.

Follow the combined trails upstream (east) 1/3 mile and cross the creek (5600') and proceed 100' to a trail junction with the Rattlesnake Trail (signed).

Follow this trail upstream to the north and continue on to Burkhart Saddle.

Hike west up a steep use trail to the summit of Will Thrall Peak.

Continue northwest along the ridge to a saddle. Then follow the trail on the south slope of the ridge to a point where the trail is only 20' below the ridge; here climb up to the ridge and follow it to the summit. Distance Hiked = Approximately 15 miles R/T +/-. Gain: 3600' total, 2600' out plus 1000' on return

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Our longest hike cache that we've hidden is about 12 miles round trip from the nearest trailhead. It isn't the furthest cache on that trail either. If you start combining caches in that area you can easily cover 20 miles in a day.

 

These 'big hike' caches don't get found as often as the city caches do, but those cachers who do find them really enjoy them.

 

Also, I live about 2 hours from the trailhead for this earth cache: GC166DV(located at km 27 of a 75km hike that I intend to find this summer.)

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Thank you for this type of cache. A lot of people seem to only care about their numbers and little to nothing about the experience. A good thing about these is they can normally be fairly large cache containers and are well thought out since they are not going to see very many muggles or vagrants that will mess with them. Mountain peak caches are the best IMO.

 

I didn't log it because it was before I knew what geocaching was but White Mountain Peak in California. 8 hour drive to the campground + 1+ hour drive to the trail-head + 4 hour hike to the peak. The round trip hiking part is 14 miles I think. I'll be going back this coming summer and make it official.

Edited by dreamarcher
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Last summer we did 26 miles or so in one day for three caches. It was a loop and all of them can be done in much shorter trips, but there is a 100 mile challenge here in WA that a bunch of us were going crazy for and that one racked up a few miles for three of us, lol.

 

We do hike of the month hikes out here in washington fairly regularly and they generally range from 6 miles on up to 14 or so. Lots to do out this way :)

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I have two caches in the same area! GC19WFQ Crossing the Wilderness, and GC19XAH Geocache Jungle. It is about 2 two mile hike to the 1st and than another 1/2 mile to the 2nd from the 1st. The distance is not the trouble, it's the trek. You will be going through Washes, Thick Bush, briar, Swamp, and other rough terrain. It takes about 2 hours each way, and you will be worn totally out. once there, you get a real nice view of the lake that is not visited by very many people, and it makes the hike worth it!

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I have a lot of hiking caches. Some of them are found once a year or less. Here's a sampling:

 

Twisted Pine 8+ miles with 2400ft + elevation gain.

Swiss Cheese 9+ miles with 3000ft + elevation gain.

Big Yawn 9+ miles with 3000ft + elevation gain.

1906 Landslide 12+miles with 2000ft + elevation gain.

Near Lawery Peak Part of 17 + mile loop with several caches (7 of them my hides). 3000+ elevation gain.

East Peak 16+ miles with 5800ft + elevation gain.

Lonely Pine part of possible 17+ miles loop with several caches (2 of them my hides). 2500 + elevation gain.

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