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Deadly Monster View Virtual Cache

Hidden : 5/30/2004
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
3 out of 5

Size: Size:   virtual (virtual)

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Geocache Description:

Marvel at the Wasatch Mountains’ largest – and very lethal – avalanche chute in its entirety, ridgeline to bottom, when the view suddenly opens as you reach abandoned Mule Hollow Mine in the heart of Mt. Olympus Wilderness.

Stairs Gulch is the steepest and longest avalanche path in the Wasatch, with a 5,000 ft vertical drop, rivaled only by the Bridal Veil Falls avalanche path in Provo Canyon. Its upper reaches are 45+ degree slick and smooth slabs, which makes it especially prone to slides. Big Cottonwood Canyon is so deep and narrow that the travelers never see the danger lurking up there. You need to hike quite high on the North side of Big Cottonwood to get a complete view of this earth-shaking snow monster. The giant avalanches from Stairs Gulch reach BCC highway every few years, most recently in March 2002. In April 2001, a glide avalanche killed two experienced climbers in Stairs Gulch on their way to Broads Fork Twin Peaks. A Utah Avalanche Forecast Center volunteer took this picture of a huge white snake slithering down a narrow ravine the following month from the area of Mule Hollow Mine.
The abandoned mine has collapsed, but it still has plenty of equipment debris. The area is very seldom visited. The old mule trail gets most of its usage from the rock climbers heading towards a wall on the West side of Mule Hollow (you will see climbers’ turnoff marked with a cairn half mile short of your destination). The trail quickly fades beyond the mine, but the woods open up and you can continue off-trail N or NE to Wildcat Ridge or NW to Dry Canyon divide.
To claim a find, please note how many rail segments are linked into Western-most rail, and how many in the Eastern-most rail
With the relentless crackdown on virtual caches at geocaching.com, I just literally lost sleep trying to come up with a approvable virtual location before this whole virtual cache business is banned for good. In the end I came up with two destinations (the other one is at the middle pitch of Great Chimney of Olympus North Face, but not being an appropriate kids / doggies terrain, it was left for later times). The location had to be deep inside designated Wilderness area. It had to be largely unknown yet absolutely stunning and unmatched by any other virt in the whole wide region. It had to be a specific GPS target rather than something far larger in scale. And it had to come with a specific verification info, unavailable from the public sources. So here we went with Danielle, Alex, and Jasmine on a two-hour appetizer (i.e. before lunch) hike. Hope you will be as impressed as us!

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

[Nearest Parking:] chyybhg whfg orlbaq gur ujl oevqtr AR bs gur trbybtvpny fvta

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)