Tears of Joy Traditional Geocache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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When you find this geocache you will have walked right over an area covered with Apache Tears. Cache is full of geo-goodies.
Please practice CITO as some folks seem to think this is a garbage dump!
Unfortunately, for some reason, the easiest access route to the cache has recently been blocked,and restricted, so the difficulty has been increased, since you may have to hike in to it a mile or so of easy hiking or drive in from the Spanish Springs trail side. The cache itself is definitely not on private property but on open access BLM land. THE CACHE IS NOT ON PRIVATE PROPERTY although NV Energy or others may have leases or right-of-ways on nearby land, the cache is located on your public land - BLM-managed land- and you are allowed access to it!
This area has been prospected for the industrial commodity perlite, which here also contains “Apache tears”. Perlite is a hydrated volcanic glass with a pearly luster and concentric “onion-skin” fractures. The “Apache tears” are unhydrated cores of obsidian (volcanic glass) at the center of a group of concentric fractures in the perlite. They represent the point at which the volcanic rock cooled below the optimum temperature for hydration to occur.
The Apache Tears have weathered out of the perlite rock to blanket the ground in the area of the perlite prospect. Please replace as found!
As with most BLM-administered public land, collecting a limited amount of rock is allowed (generally a few pounds, or a small bucket full) for non-commercial personal use. Please respect the land and leave the area in better shape than you found it. This area has been trashed in the past by those using it as a garbage dump and public access may be further restricted if this recurs.
According to one legend, the origin of the term “Apache Tears” for these small obsidian nodules is as follows.
In July 1870, a band of about 75 Apaches responsible for an earlier raid was surprised by US Calvary troops on a rugged mountain top overlooking what is now Superior, Arizona. The outnumbered Apache warriors who escaped the initial volley of gunfire deliberately jumped off the steep cliff face of the mountain to their deaths. The bereaved families and friends of the Apache braves gathered at the base of the cliffs and mourned for days following the tragedy. Legend is that their tears turned into stone upon hitting the ground and the translucent gray to black nodules of obsidian found nearby are commonly called Apache Tears. The place in Arizona where this occurred is now known as Apache Leap Mountain.
The most difficult part of finding this GeoCache may be figuring out the access to it. Use your geocaching sense and powers of observation to find a way…………you should be able to get within 100m or less with high clearance 2WD, closer with 4WD.
Keep your eyes open in the vicinity of the cache for Desert Horned Lizards (“Horny toads”) that frequent the area. See article on them at this NDOW web link:
(visit link)
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Boivbhf ebpxcvyr.