The cache is along the Sequoia Audubon Trail in Pescadero Marsh.
Best parking is south of Pescadero Creek, and there is a pedestrian
walkway across the bridge. Access from either side of the north end
of the bridge - walk underneath the bridge if beginning from the
seaward side. Follow the edge of the creek to N 37 15.912 W 122
24.538, or follow the trail on the levee from N 37 16.000 W 122
24.620 if the water is high, both trailheads lead to the same
place. Ticks and poison oak can be found along this trail, so wear
long pants. The cache can be retrieved without encountering P.O.
You should see plenty of small dinos on the way to the cache
from late fall through spring,and you might bring field glasses to
observe the dino rookeries at about N 37 16.054 W 122 24.479. See
the extra waypoints for a great climbing tree that kids will enjoy,
and the location of a bench at trail's end.
You may be wondering why a nearly level walk of less than a mile
gets a 2.5 star terrain rating. That's the second unique feature of
this cache. Being right on the coast, on a levee, in the fog zone,
the vegetation here gets water year-round. And it keeps growing -
the annuals get big, and the perennials like blackberry and willow
never stop. If they aren't pruned back regularly, this trail starts
to disappear. As of August, 2007, it's not quite a two terrain as
the trail has just had a visit by Trail Center maintenance
volunteers. The difficulty is for signal conditions under trees and
lots of potential hides, but it's not an evil hide.
Finally, do you ever get tired of worrying about geotrails, and
nearly having to tiptoe through the outdoors? Here's your chance to
work that out. Cachers are permitted - indeed encouraged -
by the land manager, to bring along your shears, loppers, hand
pruners and even pruning saws, and have a whack at the encroaching
vegetation as you come and go. Stay off the P.O. unless you know
how to handle it, but otherwise be as aggressive as you like - it
will grow back all too soon. The dino watching crowd have
been doing this for years, and it's still not enough, so cachers
are invited to join in.
Update 8/18/07: Cache once again replaced after muggling. It's
now a small lock&lock with a gc.com logo. It's in a location
that should be less vulnerable to muggling by trail maintenance
crews. There is no poison oak at the hide. If you find yourself
heading into it, you've got the wrong idea or a bad fix.