Clock On The Wall Virtual Cache
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To find this geocache, you will have to travel to Santa Cruz Island. On this journey you will have the opportunity to observe rare and interesting flora, fauna and historical sites. The difficulty rating is rated at 3.5 because of the required boat trip.
Channel Islands National Park is comprised of five of the eight California Channel Islands ( www.nps.gov/chis ). The park consists of 249,353 acres, half of which are under the ocean, and include the islands of San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Anacapa, and Santa Barbara. Even though the islands seem tantalizingly close to the densely populated, southern California coast, their isolation has left them relatively undeveloped, making them an exciting place for visitors to explore.
Santa Cruz, largest island of the Channel Islands National Park is located between Anacapa and Santa Rosa Islands. It lies from 19-25 miles off the adjacent mainland coast between Ventura and Santa Barbara. Santa Cruz Island is divided between The Nature Conservancy and the National Park Service. The Nature Conservancy owns and manages the western 76% of the island; the eastern 24% is owned and managed by the National Park Service.
Within the National Park areas, historical ranch buildings remain at both Scorpion Canyon and Smugglers Cove. Access to the Santa Cruz park area is via the landing at Scorpion Anchorage. Two overnight campgrounds are available at Scorpion Canyon. Smugglers Cove is approximately 3.7 miles overland, accessible by hiking trails/service roads. Smugglers Ranch operated intermittently between the 1880s and 1920 as part of the sheep ranching operations on East Santa Cruz Island, which were managed from Scorpion Ranch. Smugglers Valley provided access to water for the sheep and a source of fresh produce for the island workers. The ranch house, stone lined well, rock retaining wall, olive, eucalyptus, walnut and other fruit trees that you find here today, form part on the historic ranching landscape of Santa Cruz Island. The geocache is located at the ranch house at Smugglers Cove.
On the wall above the main entrance to the ranch house, is a unique timekeeping device. To claim credit for this geocache, email me the time of your observation, read from the timepiece (note that the timepiece is not adjusted for daylight savings time) and the date painted on the face of the timepiece.
Island Packers is the park's concessionaire for boat travel to all of the islands. A variety of trips, from half-day to multi-day, are offered. For prices, schedules, and reservations, call or write: (805) 642-1393; Island Packers, 1691 Spinnaker Dr. Suite 105 B, Ventura, California 93001.
Additional Hints
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