The name for the cache kind of came up in conversation
with el Jim and BirdmanATW. Turns out that el Jim had seen
our famous Governor prior to his notoriety as a famous
bodybuilder. Of course, my thoughts immediately pictured the
old Charles Atlas ads where the 98 lb weakling is getting sand
kicked in his face by the hulking bully. Naturally I pictured
el Jim as the hulking bully, and our Governor as the unfortunate
recipient of his taunts. It was no wonder that our Governor
began an intensive regimen of weightlifting and dieting, and I
believe that to this day he is searching out the beaches looking
for el Jim to "Even the Score".
Not the most extreme hike on the Big Sur Coast, but there is
some moderate elevation gain. Please refer to the Trail
Information below for further enlightenment. The hardest part
may be trying to find the trailhead for the beginning of this
hike. Refer to the Trailhead Waypoint to get enlightenment of
that information. There is ample parking on both the
Northbound and Southbound sides of Hwy 1 at the Trailhead. Please
be careful crossing the highway. Near the cache site is the
namesake of the cache: A strange looking rock, crouched as if
holding up the heavens.
Atlas was one of the second-generation Titans. He personified
the quality of endurance (atlaô).
In one tradition, Atlas led the Titans in a rebellion against Zeus
and was condemned to bear the heavens upon his shoulders.
For much of the 20th century Charles Atlas was America's most
famous muscle man. Atlas immigrated from Italy as a boy, and in his
teens he built up his physique using a system of bodybuilding which
he later dubbed "Dynamic Tension." In 1928 he met businessman
Charles Roman; the two men founded Charles Atlas, Ltd. and began
selling bodybuilding courses by mail. Atlas advertisements appeared
in comic books and magazines and made Atlas into a pop culture
icon; his most famous ad, a cartoon in which a scrawny young man
resolves to bulk up after a bully kicks sand in his face, ran for
years. (Atlas also popularized the phrase "97-pound weakling.") The
company was a great success and continued on after Atlas's death in
1972.
Trail Information:
Mileage: ~7 miles RT
Elevation Gain: ~ 3,000 feet
Trailhead Coordinates: N36 11.918 W121 43.038
From the Trailhead Coordinates you'll find an old coral and
cattle chute adjacent to a locked ranch gate. A space is
provided around the gate to access the old road that leads up the
hillside. The road climbs relatively steeply up a series of
switchbacks for about a mile where you will encounter a
junction. Take the left hand track up the hillside to gain
the ridge. The old road eventually empties out at the Timber
Top Trailcamp. The trailcamp has some various cisterns and a
water tower, but to the best of my knowledge none of it is
potable. Prepare accordingly and bring plenty of water for
the hike. At the Timber Top Camp, you'll want to take the Old
Coast Ridge Road to the North for a few tenths of a mile. The
cache is near the obvious rock feature pictured above.
