A Big Rock with Big Views Traditional Geocache
Moun10Bike: As there's been no cache to find for months, I'm archiving it to keep it from continually showing up in search lists, and to prevent it from blocking other cache placements. If you wish to repair/replace the cache sometime in the future, just contact us, and assuming it meets the guidelines, we'll be happy to unarchive it.
A Big Rock with Big Views
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(regular)
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This cache is an excellent excuse to get out and do some hiking in a beautiful second growth forest, with excellent views from a mountain-like summit to boot!
The cache is on the peak of a mini-mountain in the Dr. Richard M. Hoag Memorial Park, on the outskirts of Mount Vernon. Getting up there requires about an hours walk from the car. It is accessible almost year around, but is not recommended in wet weather due to cliffs and slippery moss covered slabs of rock. For that same reason, it is safe for children only if they are kept on a leash. Or under close and continuous supervision.
From I-5, take Exit 227 and go East on College Way for about 3.5 miles. Turn right (South) onto Highway 9 and after about half a mile, turn right (West) onto Big Lake Road. Start looking for parking within 100-200 yards, by an abandoned dirt road on your right, marked by a park boundary sign for Mount Vernon Parks & Recreation Department. Parking is basically at the edge of the pavement, next to where the dirt road is roped off with a cable. Coordinates: N48.25.272 W122.15.636, elevation 184 feet.
The approach from here is the most direct and probably the most easy way to reach the rocky area where the summit climb begins. There are numerous side trails in the park and probably numerous other approaches to the summit. You may consider an alternative approach, described by Bob Mooers in Hike # 25 of “Winter Hikes in Puget Sound & the Olympic Foothills”, Sasquatch Books.
From the car, cross the cable and head uphill into the woods, on the old dirt road, in a generally northerly direction. After about a third of a mile, look for a clearing at N48.25.561 W122.15.690. From here, the road fades into a well used trail that proceeds north for one hundred yards to N48.25.607 W122.15.686, terminating at the rocky base of the summit.
Put away your GPS for now. Concentrate on finding a scuff marked path on the rock slabs that goes left and upwards for some ways, then right and upwards for some ways, in a big zigzag. Break out of a stand of trees, just like you’re cresting an alpine timberline, to a patch of rock just below the summit. The top is any number of ways from here, elevation 496 feet.
Look for a US Geological Survey monument at N48.25.636 and W122.15.678. Mount Baker adorns the northern skyline. Cultus mountain is the hill to the east with a massive crater blown out of its side (my next cache adventure?). Big Lake slinks away to the south, looking suspiciously like the perfect place for a Loch Ness like monster. A lone fir tree resides at the edge of the southern cliffs. He’s one tough hombre. Pause for a while and absorb some of that steadfast strength. The western Skagit Valley can be viewed in bits and pieces from various boulders on the summit.
On the way back, slow down about 50 yards from the car and look for a side trail on your right. A small lake (large pond?) is just visible from the dirt road, through the trees. You can walk parts of the lake perimeter and see remnants of an earthen dam at the south end. Listen for quacking ducks, sense the small and furtive wild things, feel the peace and quiet.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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