Ways to get to APE and plaque

[+psychpineapple]

Hello everyone and happy holidays!

Looking outside at all the snow, I am dreamin' of a geocaching summer vacation. I am thinking of going to Seattle and then taking the train to Portland. I wouldn't be able to rent a car, so is there another way to get to APE cache in Seattle, and the original plaque near Portland? I looked it up on google, and it says that there isn't public transportation. Is there a way to get to both amazing caches without a car? 

[Keystone]

I've visited both these classic caches on multiple occasions.  It's correct that neither cache is convenient to public transportation.  The APE cache is about an hour's drive up into the mountains east of downtown Seattle, with parking just off Interstate 90 at a large lot by the trailhead.  Then you have a long hike through the tunnel and back.  For the Original Stash Tribute Plaque, you're looking at a 45 minute drive from the Portland train station to ground zero, which is along a winding rural road southeast of the city.

 

You could get a rideshare service (Uber, Lyft, etc.) to either location, and the driver would wait for you while you log the Original Stash Tribute Plaque and its neighbor, Un-original Stash.  Not so for the long hike to and from the APE Cache.  The better option is to carpool with other geocachers, especially in connection with an event cache like the annual "Going APE" Mega Event.

[+Clongo_Rongo]

Attempting to complete the Trifecta is a popular goal of geocachers traveling to the Seattle/Portland area.

The three geocaches considered as the Trifecta are the recently re-discovered Project A.P.E. cache container (GC1169), the Original Stash Tribute Plaque (GCGV0P) and the Geocaching Headquarters (GCK25B).
 

I would post on the local geocaching face book pages asking for help  - Portland Geocaching and Washington State Geocaching Association are very helpful

 

I did this and manged to meet up and got driven to Hembre Ridge (GCA5) a year 2000 placed cache – which I would not have got on my own

[+GeoElmo6000]

I was at the 2013 Block Party and found the HQ cache and the following day the APE cache replacement (that was when the original was missing, so I still don't have the APE icon sadly).  It's a beautiful drive to Iron Horse State Park and the walk through the two mile pitch dark former train tunnel.  If you have a bike it's faster but it's a great hike.

 

The next day I drove, by myself, from Seattle to the Original Stash, signed the log, took some pics, then drove to Mount St. Helens, then back to Seattle.  8 hours of driving that day by myself for two caches but it was one of my favorite geocaching experiences.

 

Enjoy the adventure!  

[+Harry Dolphin]

Hmm...  I found the Crab Creek APE Cache in Maryland in 2005.  Does that count for the Trifecta?

[fendmar]

3 hours ago, Harry Dolphin said:

Hmm...  I found the Crab Creek APE Cache in Maryland in 2005.  Does that count for the Trifecta?

 

Unfortunately, I wouldn't think so because...

 

20 hours ago, Clongo_Rongo said:

...
The three geocaches considered as the Trifecta are the recently re-discovered Project A.P.E. cache container (GC1169), the Original Stash Tribute Plaque (GCGV0P) and the Geocaching Headquarters (GCK25B).

 

Sorry.

[+terratin]

I once was stuck at the airport in Seattle for many, many hours due to a problematic connecting flight, and my creditcard company having issues. No money, no idea when the flight would leave, no way of getting at least one of the Trifecta.