Gun Sight Hill

You must be logged in with an account to view the detailed Location Information. It's free!

N/S ? ??.??? W/E ??? ??.???  [] In Alberta, Canada

Print: [5 Logs] [10 Logs] |

Download: [Read About Waypoint Downloads]

| | |

Please note: To use the services of geocaching.com, you must agree to the terms and conditions in our disclaimer.

Gun Sight is my name for a hill which looks like, well, a gun sight as you drive west down the hill to Elbow Falls (see photo). The cache is on the summit ridge. The round trip distance is 2.5 kms with an elevation gain of approximately 300 meters. It is a steep hike through open forest with no trails.

The objective is the summit of the hill located between Prairie Creek and Powderface Creek. I parked in the Powderface Trail parking area at N50° 51.912’ and W114°47.532’. However, after Dec 1 and during the winter you will have to park outside the gate at Elbow Falls which will increase the hike by a few hundred meters. Make your way to the top (SEE ROUTE UPDATE BELOW) aiming just north of a rocky outcrop about ¾ of the way to the top. There is an obvious den of something bigger than a Bushy Tailed Wood Rat at the base of the outcrop which should probably be avoided. Although there are steep sections this is generally a very pleasant hike with great views unfolding as altitude is gained. The final approach is a bit of a scramble to a very pleasing mountain like summit. Signs of oil industry activity are apparent on the ascent, probably a heli portable 3D seismic survey. I noticed this activity earlier in the year in this area as well as the Sibbald / Jumpingpound areas. I suspect that this was the same group which apparently did in the “Kenobi 11 - Cobble the Beaver Cache.” I have uploaded a few photos but need more as my view shots suck. You hill climbing cachers with good cameras need to add to the gallery. The climb took me about 40 minutes at a fairly leisurely pace.

------------------------------------------------------------
ROUTE UPDATE: During his journey to the cache, reastick discovered a climbers’ trail that offers a better and more interesting access route to the top of Gun Sight Hill. This route was also used by j2d2 who has shared some navigational information in his log. Based on his information, head west on the Powderface trail for approximately 1.2 kms to the co-ordinate I have added as a waypoint (WP001) were you should see a trail heading up the hill in a northerly direction. Part way up the trail you should pass some well used climbing crags.
------------------------------------------------------------

The cache is a small camouflaged nalgene screw top 2.5” by 4.5” container initially containing the following;

- a small cresent wrench,
- some small lucky polished rocks,
- an Alberta lapel pin,
- PPCLI patch,
- a FTF fridge magnet photo of Gun Sight Hill plus $5.00 for the FTF,
- fridge magnet photos of Gun Sight Hill for the next 4 cachers.

The cache is well protected and above any normal snow accumulations. GPS accuracy was +/- 3 meters.

Additional Hints ( Decrypt ) 

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)

Unatvat nebhaq. (Decrypted Hints)

Find...

• ...other caches hidden or found by this user
• ...hotels near Cochrane

Cool boulders near summit - Gun Sight Hill

Gun Sight Hill - Near Elbow Falls

Hiking Buddy #1 on Gun Sight Hill

Spoiler - in that tree!

Summit of Gun Sight Hill - Final Approach

The Summit - Gun Sight Hill

Logged Visits ( 22 total. Visit the Gallery (43 images) )

15

2

3

1

1

Cache Logs

August 2 by Firesong (384 found) I have to say that this cache was amazing. Tinsel and I were up here to do some climbing at white buddha. After a good hike and a great afternoon of climbing I left Tinsel at the climbing area to relax and I had to go for this one. It was hard :) Shale and altitude and lots of sweat. It sure made it worth while. Thanks tons! Firesong [view this log] cache? in there? ;) Beautiful Views Watch out for this slippery stuff on the way up! We were hanging around here anyway!

November 30, 2008 by The Last Spike (339 found) Tough hike, but the view was the reward. Took a TB (Alberta wild Rose Country). Took the "short cut" over the top to Prairie Link trail, but lost the trail part way down and had to bushwack part of the way to the river, which was frozen (thank you, it made for easier crossing). TFTC [view this log]

November 29, 2008 by RUMBLE 101 (45 found) A tough hike up the hill. A well disguised cache that took some time to find. I really enjoyed the late November sunshine and had a great day looking for four other caches in the area [view this log]

November 26, 2008 by imgoin2 (123 found) This was the second find today (five finds in total today). It took us a while to locate the cache. It was camouflaged very well. Powderface Trail was very icy but once we started up the hill to find this and other caches, the ground was bare of snow and ice. Thanks for the hint about Climbers trail. [view this log]

July 12, 2008 by Everhollow (2574 found) This little side hike was a bit more than we were anticipating today, but oh, so worth the effort. The rock formation along the top is gorgeous and provided welcome shade from the sun. The views from the top were magnificent! Thank you for bringing us here. Dropped off an Alberta Wild Rose coin. [view this log] Looking Down on Prairie Creek Trail Rocks at the Top Which Way is Up?

Current time: 11/22/2009 9:51:23 AM
Last Updated: 8/4/2009 4:05:37 AM
Rendered: From Database
Coordinates are in the WGS84 datum