This cache is dedicated to local geocachers Marky, Woof!, and Robotman, who willingly
came with me on a 7-mile round-trip hike despite being told
there are no caches along the way. Well, NOW there is one, kinda
sorta "along the way"! 
I hiked this trail for the first time back in October 2003, and
I found it very rewarding. I really want geocachers to visit, so I
thought about coming up with some sort of incentive. Since
traditional caches wouldn't be approved in the Peninsula Watershed
(which is also a State Fish and Game Refuge), I considered
submitting a virtual cache. I dropped that idea soon after. There's
more satisfaction in signing a piece of paper placed into a
black hide-a-key box! This offset cache is the end result of my
efforts.
Updated 1/24/04: The cache is now an SD
flash card container hidden very close to the original location,
painted black (it's also MUCH smaller than a
hide-a-key!)
The Fifield-Cahill Ridge Trail is currently open to the public
Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays by reservation only. Go to
www.sfwater.org (click on the Fifield-Cahill Ridge
Trail Reservations) to sign up for a docent-led event. You can sign
up via the internet or by phone. Besides hiking, you can also
experience the trail on horseback or on mountain bike, but BYOHOMB
(Bring Your Own Horse Or Mountain Bike!) The website has plenty of
important information about the trail and surrounding area, so
please take the time to read it. Reservations DO fill up rather
quickly. If you cannot find an availability, try checking the
day before (or even the morning of) an event. There are often
last-minute cancellations.
To complete this multi-cache, bring your printed reservation
confirmation (from SFwater.org) as well as the cache info page (hardcopy or electronic
file). Go to the listed coordinates on the day of your event.
Try to do this BEFORE starting on the trail. If not, don't worry
- you'll also have time after your event. There, you will find a
commemorative plaque on a boulder located to the right of the
Skyline Quarry trailhead. It should be obvious; there is no
other plaque in the area should coords be off a bit. Final
waypoint coords can be determined by figuring out the
following:
A = number of logotypes (identifying symbols) on the entire
plaque
B = number of letters in the first capitalized word on the 4th line
("in the P...")
C = number of SFPUC individuals listed between the two bottom
logotypes (including the GM!)
D = number of letters in the full name of the person whose initials
are "F. M."
E = number of times the phrase 'Crystal Springs' appears on the
plaque.
During your event, pay attention while you are on the ridge
trail. You are looking for signage that indicates a special kind of
"AREA". Nearby you may find something being "RESTORED" (you may see
some irony). There are more than one of these signs. You only need
to study one of them.
Updated 4/16/06: Trail conditions often
change and these signs may not be easy to spot. See Additional
Waypoints for locations (no need to visit more than one, the signs
are identical.) Thanks for grabbing the coords, Shores
Scout!
F = number of times the word "HEALTHY" appears
G = number of upper-case letter N's in the two sentences
H = number of words written in red (not black, teal, or green)
J = number of letters in the first word of the title (centered
text) on the sign. Hint: DOUG's family (order, really)
K = number of letters in the 2nd word (plural noun) of the 2nd
sentence. Hint: they're NEARBY
The final waypoint is located outside of the protected watershed
at N37° AB.CDE W122° FG.HJK.
It's best to figure out the coordinates BEFORE leaving Skyline
Quarry, so that you can immediately find the micro cache AFTER your
trail event. There's a very good reason for this. However, if you
decide to go there on a different day, please mention in your log
the date that you visited Fifield-Cahill Ridge.
The final waypoint is easy to get to, so the difficulty/terrain
is more like a 1.5/1.5 instead of the listed 3/3.5. Again, bring
your own pen/pencil! Please DO NOT reveal any clues or hints in
your log about where the final waypoint is! Participating in a
ridge trail event IS the essence of this multi-cache, so I wouldn't
want to "cheat" anyone out of the experience.
FTF Prize is a set of unactivated Travel Bug tags. Enjoy!
Congrats to Bthomas and TeamAlamo for winning FTF prize!
Email me if you have questions/comments. I'd be more than happy
to help. If you have confirmed reservations, let me know and I may
be able to see you there! Thanks in advance for taking the time and
effort to complete this cache. Hope you enjoy your visit to
the Fifield-Cahill Ridge Trail.
- BpSnake