Truckee River Route - The Deep Sand Swales

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N/S ? ??.??? W/E ??? ??.???  [] In Nevada, United States

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Loads of soft sand in this area...Four-wheel drive recommended, but probably not necessary if you're careful and stay on established roads. Some ground clearance is advisable. The area surrounding the cache is a popular location for target shooters, "plinkers", dirt bikes and off-road vehicles. Stay aware of your surroundings, and as always, please respect the historical significance of the area (you'll see lots of evidence left by people who don't).

My favorite series of caches is the Traveling Naugahyde Hunters "Forty-Mile Desert" series. I've decided to do a series following the "other" emigrant trail across the western edge of the Forty-Mile Desert, the Truckee River Route. As time and research permit, I hope to place caches at or near most of the trail markers, from Trinity Junction to Reno.

The California Trail followed the north bank of the Humboldt River through present-day northeastern Nevada, to the Humboldt Sink. At Humboldt Bar, the trail diverged, with the Truckee River Route crossing the western edge of the Forty-Mile Desert to the Truckee River at Wadsworth, roughly the same route followed by Interstate 80 today. In all, some 250,000 people would use this trail from the early 1840's until the introduction of the railroads in the late 1860's.

Marker T-12 ~Act Of Mercy~

Of the entire route to California, the crossing of the Forty-Mile Desert was the most dreaded section of the journey. Isolated, rimmed in mountains and covering an area of about 200,000 square miles, it formed a cauldron in which white salt sands, baked clay wastes and circling mountains reflected the sun like parabolic mirrors. In this stark, shimmering landscape west of the Humboldt River, a stricken sojourner was "obliged to swallow dust all day in place of water," and summed up her experience in one flat statement: "I have suffered more this afternoon than all my sufferings put together".
The final eight miles of the desert crossing were particularily difficult. The alkali flats gave way to soft, deep sand. Draft animals, already weakened by the long journey and lack of substantial food and water, would frequently collapse in this area. Many pioneers would unyoke their teams and leave their wagons along the trail to drive their stock to the Truckee River for water and feed. Those that were unfortunate enough to lose their stock prior to reaching this point were forced to abandon their wagons and possessions along the trail.
Today, this area is referred to as "The Deep Sand Swales". The volume of emigrants using the trail actually created a depression (or "swale") in the sand that is still visible to this day. These are the ONLY examples of deep sand swales on the entire California Trail. This area is now protected from future development by a 130 acre historic preservation easement.
Three more trail markers are located nearby...GC11H6Q (The Gooseneck), and GC1D3QV (Road side) to the east, and GC1GM1T (Truckee River Route - Truckee River) to the west.

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)

Trr...xvaqn fznyy (Decrypted Hints)

Find...

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

Looking west from the center of the trail

This photo doesn't show it too well, but the "swale" is very evident in this area. Maybe you stood in the footprints of one of the Donner Party as you accessed the cache!
The nearby trail Marker

Logged Visits ( 41 total. Visit the Gallery (5 images) )

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Cache Logs

October 4 by Paria Kid (43 found) lots of sand. glad i stayed on the road. tftc [view this log]

September 12 by juddster82 (907 found) enjoy the history and all the pioneers went through, thought about it for a monent and then climbed in my air conditioned tundra grabbed a cold one and kept on searching, enjoy this series of California trail markers it just kept getting worse the further west they went, tough people sltn [view this log]

September 11 by redneckfive (22 found) Very sneaky hiding spot [view this log]

August 18 by captnken (686 found) HOW DID THEY DO IT! IT WAS HOT AND WINDY WHEN DENMEN AND I LOOKED FOR THIS CACHE. HARD TO GET AROUND, STICKERS AND SAND IN MY SHOES! NEED A COLD BEER AND SOMETHING TO EAT! HOW CAN I CRY ABOUT THESE THINGS? JUST THINK WHAT THEY WERE GOING THROUGH TRAVELING THESE TRAILS!!!! CAN NOT GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS...........FINDING A CACHE AND TRAIL MARKER AT THE SAME TIME. LOVE IT! [view this log]

August 18 by denmen (571 found) Had a hard time even walking in this area with all the sand. Could not imagine leading oxen over this part of the desert. The caches are some of my all time favorite to do and I do hope you do more. Thanks for bringing me to the very historical sight. Cache on!! [view this log]

Current time: 11/21/2009 5:58:16 AM
Last Updated: 10/5/2009 11:24:00 PM
Rendered: From Database
Coordinates are in the WGS84 datum