Geocaching Roadtrip

[+Team Maximus]

At the end of August I will begin a roadtrip around the western United States and Canada. I plan to be gone as long as about 8 weeks, however I have 10 weeks off of work just incase. My goal with this trip is to visit the natural wonders of the western U.S and Canada, take lots of pictures, and Geocache my heart out!

 

I plan to visit OR,WA,CA,ID,MT,WY,CO,NV,AZ,UT,NM, British Columbia and Alberta. You can view my tentative route here. If your on dialup, beware it's a very large graphic (488kB).

 

I want to see many of the National Parks, however I will be bringing my faithful geocaching companion Max so that will limit what I can do on National Park lands. I plan to spend about 80% of the time camping and sleeping in the back of my truck and the rest staying in dog friendly hotels/motels.

 

I will have all the gear needed for camping/hiking/backpacking...etc and my geocaching gear will include a PDA (Pocket PC), my Garmin Etrex Summit, and 20 pocket queries which will get created the week prior to my departure. I'm unsure how much access to the internet I will have while I am gone, so I'm hoping not to run into too many archived/unavailable caches.

 

Well that's fine and dandy you might be saying to yourself but what the heck am I posting here for??? Well I am hoping to get ideas from you, my fellow geocachers of some of the best of the best caches out there. What are the caches I simply can't miss in each state/province/area. I would prefer them to be within a reasonable distance to my route, but if the cache is special enough I am not against changing my route to include it. The only thing I can't do really is extend the length of my trip by much, if I add in one place I will probably need to take away from somewhere else. I don't care what type of cache it is... micro, traditional, puzzle, multi, long hike, short hike......etc It just needs to be one of the best of the best in your area. I will say my personal preference due to the nature of the trip would be for non-urban caches, but that's just in general. If you give me an urban cache that just can't be missed well, I will definatly give it a thought. I don't plan to spend much time in major cities however, so keep that in mind when giving me ideas.

 

Also if anyone out there is experienced with such a trip, feel free to post advice on how you kept up to date on caches while on the trip. I will have pocket queries covering most of the area I will travel in, but they will only be current as of my departure date and my web access may be slim to none during the trip because I don't have a laptop and will be using my PDA exclusivly on the trip.

 

Thanks in advance to any and all who post with their suggestions.

Edited July 20, 2004 by Team Maximus

[+Search1128]

That looks like an awesome trip. How did you manage to get so much time off of work to do that road trip? Lucky dog!

When you go through Twin Falls, Idaho there is a cache located where Evil Kanevil jumped over the snake river about 20 years ago. You can even see the earth mound ramp that was built for it. Quite impressive acutally when you go see it.

Then when you head on down through Cedar City, Utah. The is a cache at a huge burned out tree. It is acutally a huge tree that was burned many years ago.

Heading down to St. George, Utah, make sure you visit Zion's Nat'l Park. I don't know of a specific cache but I am sure there are some there. Make sure you take a time out to go see the IMAX theater. Good flick!

Next, even though Flagstaff isn't directly on your route you might want to take a quick jaunt to visit the giant metoer hole just outside of Flagstaff AZ. It is over a mile wide and hundreds of feet deep. Quite impressive. I woudln't be surprized if there is a cache in that neck of the woods either.

Well, have fun on your trip and be safe and keep on caching!

Kirk out.

[+DenaliNW]

Web access - libraries.

[+tirediron]

Give us a shout if you decide to jump over to Vanouver Island! Good luck, looks like GREAT trip!

[+DocMagoo]

Hey TM, you're coming right into our neck of the woods. You'll be crossing Sumas, WA. border and then Abbotsford is about 5 min. North and Chilliwack is about another 20 min. east. There are a good many caches along the #1 Trans-Canada Hwy.

 

If your truck has 4x4 or is capable, this one is just off of the highway and there are linked pics from several other cachers. It gives a nice view of the Valley floor:

 

TAKE OFF YOU HOSER

 

This one is a quick little hike just off of the highway and is located at a rest stop:

 

The Rest Stop Book Repository

 

This one is about 10 minutes off of the junction you'll be seeking to get onto to get to Kamloops (#5 Coquihalla). It will take you approximately an hour to complete once at the parking lot, but it is WORTH IT if you can take the time:

 

Othello Tunnels

 

Hope that these links help you out a little in deciding which ones to see on your way through...

 

Oh, and Chilliwack has a public library which has several internet ready computers to log caches should you need to.

Edited July 20, 2004 by DocMagoo

[+GeoCraig]

There are some nice virtuals in Yellowstone: Old Faithful Geyser, one of many, Yellowstone - Shoshone Nickname, and Yellowstone - "Hardy Pardner" were the ones that I did last year. In Sequoia NP, Rangers Fund is a quick virt, not much to it, but it is in a nice area.

 

Southern Utah, the Mojave, and Death Valley don't sound too inviting in August. And your dog isn't going to be too welcome at most NPs. You will be mostly limited to what you can see from the truck. And with the heat, the dog won't be able to be left behind for more than a few minutes.

 

Have a great trip and be safe.

[+Team Maximus]

Thanks everyone for the posts, keep them coming!!

 

GeoCraig, your absolutely right. At least the Canadian NP's let dogs on the trails so I plan to do lots of hiking there. Once back in the states I am going to be forced to make mostly day trips within the parks viewing what I can from the road. That is one of the reasons for this post, I know there are lots of beautiful areas out there near the NP's that will allow my dog on the trail as long as he's on a leash. I'm hoping geocaching will take me to many of these places. I'm going to limit my NP time for this very reason. If all else fails I may choose to kennel my dog for a few days here and there but want to avoid that as much as possible. I struggled with the decision to take my dog or to kennel him for the whole trip, as I didn't have anyone willing to care for him for the entire trip. I finally decided I couldn't live with kenneling him for such a long time (2 1/2 months).

 

As far as the heat in the southwest and especally Death Valley, I'm hoping things will cool down a bit by the time I reach there. I shouldn't reach death valley until sometime in October.

 

DocMagoo, Those caches look promising. I have change my route slightly through that area, I'm now going to take the Sea to Sky highway through Whistler and on to Revelstoke but I may still be able to go to "Hey you hoser" as I plan to stay somewhere around the Vancouver area my first night and that's not too far off the route.

 

Oh, and btw I the reason I have this much time off of work is I work for a very cool company that gives me a 8 week paid sabbatical every 7th year. Yes I'm lucky I'm tacking on 2 more weeks of vacation to this to give me a total of 10 weeks off.

Edited July 21, 2004 by Team Maximus

[+Team Maximus]

Bump.... hoping to get a few more repies.

[+Imajika]

A few that are in the Estes Park, CO area that are worth the trip:

 

Christmas Cache

 

Bishop's Staff

[+Shop99er]

What a great trip. Wish I could do that.

 

Edited July 24, 2004 by Shop99er

[+wray_clan]

Hey, TeamMaximus.

 

We took a somewhat similar trip (Zion, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Bryce) earlier this summer and, even though the point of the trip wasn't to geocache, we still found around a dozen. I think my favorite in Yellowstone was Oceans Bound, just because that's where the water runs to both the Pacific and Atlantic. It's not exceptionally sightworthy, but I still thought it was cool.

 

Perplexing Parallel is just outside the state of Wyoming. As with Oceans bound, there's not a spectacular sight, but being at the 45th parallel was pretty cool to me. Gardiner, Montana is just outside Yellowstone and is the home of dRAFTy and the Jardine Bug Hotel.

 

Hope you have a great, memorable time on your trip. And, a word of advice: Grand Geyser in Yellowstone is nost definitely worth the wait.

[+Mud Puppy]

If you want to pop South East from Kamloops British Columbia down to Vernon we have some great scenery here, and you can exit back North towards Revelstoke

 

BX falls Cache:

 

Kal Cache 2:

 

Ester's Ponderosa Cache:

 

My two caches are in parks in the city.

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...12-dc0dbc205117

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...98-f6dfb86cb6c7

Edited July 24, 2004 by Chris S

[+Night Stalker]

Send an Email to Renegade Knight or myself if you decide to visit the Pocatello, Idaho area. I am sure one of us will be in town and would be glad to meet you and do some caching with you.

[+Renegade Knight]

Any cache in the canyon at Twin Falls is well worth the hike.

 

Devils Corall can be done in a 15 minute hike (It's on the north side which is the same as the Evil Kenevil cache). Three Springs on the south side is probably closer to 2 hours minimum. Pillar Falls is well worth the hike. You are allowed to be down there but they just closed the easy way down so what was a half hour hike is now quite a bit longer.

 

There is a cache at shoshone falls on top that is worth it for brining you to shosne falls. Shoshone falls base is probably the best snake river cache going but you may not have time for the hike in. It will take you most of a day to get in and out unless you rock climb at shosone falls itself. Which is possible if you choose your route (I'm not talking hard core rock climbing, with ropes and equipment).

 

Night Stalkers Natural Rock Arch view cache is well worth the hike in. It's a two hour adventure once you leave your care. Maybe an hour if you are in good shape. You look like you are bypassing Craters of the moon...It's worth a stop for half a day to poke around even if there are no caches within the park.

[+Kealia]

Looks like a great trip (read:envious).

 

I'm on the CA coast about 2 hours West of your planned course (Santa Cruz area), so I'm not going to be much help in recommedning caches for your CA route, but I'll gladly bump this in hopes that others will see it and help out.

 

Enjoy.

[Dino Hunters]

I have one near the number [5] on your map.

 

Here's the link...Dog friendly trail for sure.

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...15-98f966039dda

 

If you do a coor search, you'll find ...

 

further down the trail...

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...b3-df526fa354a0

 

and in the neighborhood...

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...59-54348667d400

 

and more....

 

Feel free to e-mail me with questions about Alberta, and if you need internet access in RedDeer during the day hours I can hook you up.

 

oh ya - and here's a really nice one I found in Canmore.

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...39-327f8bf92957

 

Of course anything around that area is going to have good scenery.

Edited July 24, 2004 by Dino Hunters

[+Team Maximus]

Thanks everyone, this is great stuff; exactly what I was looking for, keep it coming.

[+Ambrosia]

If you want to pop South East from Kamloops British Columbia down to Vernon we have some great scenery here, and you can exit back North towards Revelstoke

 

Hey! I've got a cache at Mt Revelstoke!

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...b9-b04297961d47

[+MercRocks]

When your in BC may I suggest taking highway 3 to Princeton then 5a to Kamloops instead of the Coquihalla....The coke is a 4 lane freeway that climbs all the way from Hope to the summit at about a 8% grade all the way....

# 3 and 5a are way gentler and you will see a good cross section of beautiful BC There are a number of great caches along the way as a bonus

I'm off to work so I don't have the time to list them in order...If your interested please email me.....

Gotta run.....

R

[+TeamJiffy]

Suggestion: take a three day detour and add the black hills and badlands + buffalo preserve areas of the western dakota's to your trip. They really would complete your view of "the West" - a different non-mountainous area, but the West nonetheless..

 

-Jif

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

Wow, what a great trip you have planned. Well, you are going to be close to 2 caches that we have found that are our favorites.

 

1) Yee Haw

-- this is about an hour deviation from I-15, turn at the exit for Hurricane & the back-way to Zion. Check out the logs to see our comments on this cache.

 

2) Spirit Mountain

-- this is also close to your proposed route. It is one of the best switch-back roads getting to this cache we have been on. But, the area that the cache is at, is well worth the drive!!

 

Now for the area that we live in & a few of the caches that we have placed.

 

1) Dial Out SG1

-- This is right on your route. It is a multi-cache that will take you at least 2 days to complete--but all that have done it seem to think it worth-while. (p.s. if you do not have a 4x4, we would be willing to chauffeur you around to the couple of 'Chevrons' that require a 4x4.) This cache will take you to all of the 'different worlds' that we have been to without having to leave ole' Mother Earth. It has a regular cache at each 'Chevron' so you may log each or just a couple if you do not want to go the full '8' to finish the cache. Just so you have fun is the name of the game.

 

2) A REAL HANG-UP

-- This is on your route & it won't take you to long to complete. The logs tell it all.

 

3) ALL CHOKED UP

--- Also right along your route. Your dog would enjoy this one too. It is a great little canyon hike.

 

4) Candid Cache

-- This is right by the route. It is a different kind of cache that you might enjoy.

 

5) Make or Model

-- This is a cache we placed as a team. It is one that is totally different & we feel it will be a whole lot of fun when people start to find this one. It is right on your route also.

 

We have placed many others that are all good, we try to hide each in a different way & close to some very special sights or places that we found & thought special is some way.

 

If you have any questions, feel free to E-Mail us, or send us your phone # & we will be happy to give you any more info you need.

 

Here is hoping you have smooth sailing the whole trip & take lots of pictures!! You will have to start up a web page if you do not have one yet, just to post them all.

 

Shirley & John~

[+Snoogans]

 

2) Spirit Mountain

-- this is also close to your proposed route. It is one of the best switch-back roads getting to this cache we have been on. But, the area that the cache is at, is well worth the drive!!

 

THAT cache is on my list of "Must See" caches. I have logged most of the caches around Laughlin.

 

Since you're going up 95 to Lost Wages, DON'T MISS Outdoor Nevada Geocache #3. It's a favorite of mine.

 

I have cached some of the areas you are passing through. The Long Valley Caldera and Mono Lake Basin has some of the most spectacular geocaching you could ever experience. I haven't logged most of my finds this year, (over 50) but they will be logged well before you leave. Check my stats when planning these areas. JNJ Walla used my finds from last year to plan a trip West and were very pleased with the results.

 

[+DavidMac]

It looks like you'll be going through some of the same areas that I visited last month on a visit to AZ/UT/CO. We found 50 caches, and some of our favorites along the shared portions of our routes were:

 

Angel's Landing -In Zion NP. Quite an uphill hike, so go very early in the morning to avoid the heat. We made the mistake of not hitting the trail until 10:30, and didn't quite make it all the way to the top before deciding to play it safe and turn around, so I didn't log this one. Great views though.

 

Henry's View -Pretty standard as far as non-micro caches at roadside overlooks go, but it's a good place to stretch your legs with a great view. Not that extraordinary other than a the view, except for the fact that there's just not much else along this stretch.

 

Lost Cemetery -A few miles down a dirt road if you have the time. This place has lost a little of it's charm since some of the structures have been remodeled, but we spent alot of time exploring here.

 

We visited the North rim of the Grand Canyon, which I am told is much less crowded than the South rim (and much more remote). Plus, camping is free (outside of the campground) on the plateau in the NF. It's a loooong way down a remote road to the North Rim, so I would pass it by if you've already visited the South. One of my favorite caches of the trip was along this route, WOOD I.

 

I'm guessing that point 95 on your map is Gunnison NP? I don't think there are any caches on the south side of the canyon, but the park is definitely worth a visit itself.

 

Oh, if you plan to visit a number of National Parks, I recommend getting a pass. Can save alot of money if you visit a number of parks, since entry fees are pretty pricey even if you're just visiting the park for a few hours.

[+Larry.s]

There are quite a few around Banff, Alberta and if you want to go a bit off course there are a lot in Calgary. For nice scenery you can take hiway 40 below Banff through Kanasaskis country until you hit hiway 541. On 541 there's Hat's off to you where you can stop and add a few of your own. Off hiway 40 there's That's a long drive and Cisco's fishin' hole. Wait, I think Cisco's is off 541 too. Anyways between Bannf and Calgary you could spend many happy hunting days.

[+Larry.s]

I should note that there's other's around the one's I mentioned. Those are just a few I've found or in the Cisco case, DNF.

Edited July 26, 2004 by Larry.s

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

Just a bump to keep people seeing this thread for more favorites.

 

Also,

 

'Quote from DavidMac'

"One of my favorite caches of the trip was along this route, WOOD I."

 

You honor us greatly...thank you. Actually, that was our first cache & always considered it our most lame cache. But, we are very happy that you enjoyed it.

 

Shirley~

 

Edit to add a 'thank you to DavidMac'

Edited July 26, 2004 by 2oldfarts (the rockhounders)

[+fly46]

You might consider PMing ClayJar - didn't he just finish Louisiana to Alaska?

[+tahoma3]

I'm glad to see you'll be passing through Lake Tahoe. While you're in our neck of the woods, I recommend you stay for a night in Sugar Pine Point State Park (a great campground) and hit some of the local caches, including my own The West Shore is the Best Shore

[+DavidMac]

You honor us greatly...thank you. Actually, that was our first cache & always considered it our most lame cache.    But, we are very happy that you enjoyed it.

Nah, I didn't think so. That was the largest collection of that wood that I have ever seen, and it was pretty impressive just to see it all right there by the roadside relatively undisturbed. Unless you guys have fossilized forests laying around all over the place... it doesn't grow on trees, you know (well, actually... )

Edited July 27, 2004 by DavidMac

[Tahosa and Sons]

Check out Corey's Stash, its one of my easier ones. And I have a dog pen and a place for your tent in the back yard.

 

You will have to travel West on Rt. 34 and almost all the caches up there are mine, unless some other cachers get off their butts and plant some in the hills.