Jump to content

Overnight Wilderness Caches


Huntnlady

Recommended Posts

An overnighter I enjoyed was the Oregon Wilderness #1 Zane Grey cache which doesn't have to be an overnighter but it's planted close to the Rogue River Wilderness Trail. We did a little sidetrip to visit this cache during our 4 day backpacking trip. Another cache down the same trail was placed by the Boxerlovers and we haven't gotten that one yet. It's called Ramblin' Rogue aka Whoopee Tyee!.

 

That one can be had by overnight trail walk or by a whitewater raft. It's a very difficult cache to reach.

Link to comment
I would like to do an article on overnight cache trips for the new geocaching magazine. What were some good hiking overnight caches you went on?

Wilderness caches are now frowned upon. Someone somewhere must have complained and everyone else had to get out of the pool. :unsure: (The funny part is that I have been caching in the Sierras since 1989.)

 

I placed 4 wilderness caches. A friend of mine who runs a nearby resort was thrilled that I would be getting things started in his area. He had agreed to maintain them between my visits and I had already smoothed things out with the local approvers. Three of the caches will be removed on my next visit if I don't get an O.K. from the burocracy that controls the Sierra backcountry. I get the feeling that they really don't care and don't want to take the time to say "yes" or "no." Pack trains do far more damage in the backcountry than a million geocaches ever would.

 

I will not remove the 4th cache for any reason. (I'll list it myself on my upcoming website.) It is near the spot, in the backcountry, where I want my ashes to be scattered. You could write your own adventure getting to that one. You live within an easy drive of the entry point. Of course, you'll have to wait until the snow melts and Kaiser Pass is open. Send me an email if you want my story about placing them.

Link to comment
I would like to do an article on overnight cache trips for the new geocaching magazine.  What were some good hiking overnight caches you went on?

Wilderness caches are now frowned upon. Someone somewhere must have complained and everyone else had to get out of the pool. :unsure: (The funny part is that I have been caching in the Sierras since 1989.)

I know this won't help Huntnlady with her article. But the frowning upon of geocaches in wilderness areas is a bit ludicrous. Virtually every mountaintop in and out of wilderness areas has a summit register. Some summit registers are even ammo cans. There is not much difference between a summit register and a geocache. Maybe summits could be a new category of geocaching.

 

Snoogans - when I climbed to the top of Hurd Peak (near Bishop Pass) back in the late 1970s, the first signature in the summit register was the legendary Norman Clyde in 1932.

Link to comment
I would like to do an article on overnight cache trips for the new geocaching magazine.  What were some good hiking overnight caches you went on?

Wilderness caches are now frowned upon. Someone somewhere must have complained and everyone else had to get out of the pool. ;) (The funny part is that I have been caching in the Sierras since 1989.)

I know this won't help Huntnlady with her article. But the frowning upon of geocaches in wilderness areas is a bit ludicrous. Virtually every mountaintop in and out of wilderness areas has a summit register. Some summit registers are even ammo cans. There is not much difference between a summit register and a geocache. Maybe summits could be a new category of geocaching.

 

Snoogans - when I climbed to the top of Hurd Peak (near Bishop Pass) back in the late 1970s, the first signature in the summit register was the legendary Norman Clyde in 1932.

I agree. A mountain top register is just another type of geocache. Just try to submit one for approval though. That is a point that I made in my proposal/request.

 

My brother-in-law, Camel, of MtnFrog & Camel, is an avid peak bagger. (Over 500 peaks so far.) He bags more than 40 peaks a year. Can you imagine the caches he could place?

 

I like the idea for peak geocaches too. I doubt that there would be serious interest in making a separate category.

 

If my proposal to the California Forest Service is accepted, (not holding my breath) I'll be placing a cache near 12,344ft. The mountain and the range just happen to bear the same name as my family name. One of the peaks in that range is named after Clyde.

 

Back on topic:

 

Yes, what K-9 said. How about a link?

Link to comment

Today's Cacher is an e-zine about geocaching. The target date for publication is Mar. 1. The magazine will not be operated or maintained by geocaching.com. We are currently negotiating with Groundspeak, as we would like permission to use certain parts of their data base. The magazine will be free to the public.

 

Edited because we're not really Toady! :);)

Edited by sept1c_tank
Link to comment

I wish I could get a copy Toady ;)

 

The forest service does not see a mountaintop regisiter and a cache as the same thing. They had one removed here in southern oregon long before we became politicly correct and this past year while asking permission to place a plastic sealed box with a regisiter atop a mountain I was denied. There is no register up there now and they don't want one.

 

Go figure but we live with it for now.

Link to comment

The ezine idea sounds like a good way to get the word out on geocaching. Will you accept contributions to the ezine? I used to write for my college newspaper and would be willing to write a few articles about caching in the Florida Panhandle. If you are interested I can send you some writing samples or something. Anyway, happy caching!

Link to comment

There are a few caches in Montana that are either planned as overnight trips or can be used for an really nice overnighter. I haven't done any of them due to time and fitness constraints but here goes:

Dam the Bass- GCGXKC is is a great valley in the Bitterroots, very pretty area.

Trapper Peak -GCGHT4 and Gem Lake- GC851E are supposed to be among the prettiest places in Montana to visit.

Thunderbolt - GC138E- is supposed to be a very cool hike.

Shafer Meadows- GC121B Is, from what I have heard, quite near the tops of it's finders best caches lists.

And Ride the Rat - GC6D54- is about 28 miles round trip to the wilderness boundary (but you are surrounded by the wilderness most of the way). Lots of lakes up there.

Good luck finding a cache to write about.

-Jennifer

Link to comment

If you are going to write a article on wilderness caches you might want to mention that placing caches in actual designated wilderness is legally and ethically not allowed. Just about all agencies that maintain wilderness, congress, and wilderness advocates agree that leaving any human impacts of wilderness, which does include leaving items such as caches, does degrade wilderness unless it is used for health or safety reasons. Also, general principles such as Leave No Trace guide backpackers and hikers to avoid damaging the backcountry and wilderness by not leaving anything behind besides footprints. Please keep this in mind when you write your article. Thanks.

Link to comment

We have had three overnight caching experiences. Before discussing these I would like to say a little about ourselves. We are a retired couple living in eastern Pennsylvania. We do not know of any caches in the northeast that would require us to make a backpacking trip, however we have created our own trips. We did make a backpacking trip in Nova Scotia, Canada, that we could not have done in one day.

 

Our first trip was Arrgg! Refugee Cove in Nova Scotia in October of 2002. The owners of this cache, The Ex-Pierceys Adventure League, have one other cache that requires an overnight stay.

 

In June of 2003 we attended an event cache titled Geocacher's Catskill Backpacking Trip, in upstate New York. BrianSnat organized this trip, Metaphor and HartClimbs also attended. On this trip we found two virtual caches, Air Crash 1 and Aircrash 3.

 

I hope pbexplorer notes BrianSnat’s comment on his log for Air Crash 1. The comment is “The snowmobile trail was really wet and muddy and ATV ruts were deep. Kind of funny that they won't allow geocaches in the Catskill park, but let the destruction of the trails by motorized vehicles continue unabated.”

 

Our last experience was in the Adirondacks, also in upstate New York, in August of 2003. On a two night trip we did Black Mountain Blueberry Cache and Almost Paradise.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...