The Particulars:
All geocachers are invited to attend our Carr Bash atop Carr
Mountain, in Reef Township, on Saturday, September 15, 2007. We’re
starting with a hot breakfast for all early arrivals. Breakfast
will be served from 7 a.m. until 10. Geocache events will begin at
10 a.m. and run continuously all day until 2. Prizes to be awarded
around 2:30. If you’d like to donate food to a snack table, you’re
welcome to bring anything up the mountain with you. If you’d like
lunch, please provide your own picnic lunch. There are pit toilets
on the mountain but no water. There are several picnic tables at
our site. You might wish to bring chairs up with you.
The Direction Details:
Carr Mountain is slightly south of Sierra Vista and just west of
Hereford. Take Hwy 90 from I10 (Exit 302) and head south, very
south. Sierra Vista is 28 miles down Hwy 90. From downtown Sierra
Vista it will take you approximately 45 minutes to reach the Carr
Bash site. From the town of Sierra Vista continue south on Hwy 92.
Turn right on Carr Canyon Road (the Mesquite Tree Restaurant is on
the corner). Our geobash site is the group picnic ground in Reef
Township 5 miles up that gnarly mountain road (Gnarly is Mule Ears
word and according to the Dodge commercials it is now a technical
term!).
Road Condition:
About 2 miles in Carr Canyon Road becomes dirt. From the bottom
of the mountain to the very end of the road it is 6 miles. It is
supposed to be graded enough for about any transportation. Our
vanished van and Toyota Matrix (the cachemobile) have made it up
and down this mountain several times. However if Sneakiekittie
tries to bring her Bug up this mountain, I’ll own more than 2 tires
and her oil pan! Please note: There is a 2-mile stretch on this
mountain that have serious 1-way hairpin switchbacks. It is so
signed. Even though we drive a car up this mountain and I’ve seen
cars on this mountain, the most common vehicle up there is a
pick-um-up-truck so be aware of what you are driving. Our last trip
up to plan this event, 2 of the hairpins were so rutted that we had
to back out and take the outside edge around the turn instead of
the usual inside.
Lodging:
Mule Ears lives in Sierra Vista. Woodcutter doesn’t but will be
coming down on Friday, Sept. 14th. She plans to stay in a local
hotel/motel of which there are plenty.
Sierra Vista lodging There are also 2 campgrounds up on Carr
Mountain and 1 at the base of the mountain. Reef Township has 16
sites. The second campground at the end of the 6 miles has 9 sites.
The campground sites are $10 per night and first come. No
reservations.
Geocache Events:
These might change. I doubt if we’ll delete any but we might add
some. Woodcutter likes to cut wood so she is busy making things to
give away at this event however ya’ll will have to work (read
cache) to find them.
Geocache Bash Dash-Temporary caches set up for adults to
find their prizes. This event will begin at 10 am. Details: There
will be 10 caches placed out along a well-defined trail. This is
not, I repeat NOT a timed cache dash. Nor is it caches placed up on
the top of all the peaks surrounding us. This is a leisurely stroll
for you to collect prizes and to be entered in our mega grand prize
give-a-way. Speaking of mega grand prize give-a-ways, we have
prizes donated by the woodcutter, Mule Ears, and backcountry.com.
Many thanks to the very generous folks at Backcountry.com
Where’s the Pink Elephant- Very simple. A pink elephant
will be tied to a pole. Woodcutter’s companion will place elephant
most likely where the GPSr is bouncing all over the place. Your
team decides what the elephant’s coordinates are and writes them on
a card along with your team name. Later, like 1:00 we’ll mix the
cards up. We’ll give a stick with a flag and your coordinates to a
different team and they’ll go find your coordinates. The teams
getting the closest to the elephant wins geocoins. (Yes 2 teams
here; The one writing the coordinates and the one planting the
flag). So obviously, you have 2 chances to win.
Sneakiekittie’s Kid’s Geodash- Sneakiekittie is in charge
of this one although woodcutter is dealing with the prizes.
Sneakiekittie is going to set out some temporary caches for kids to
find (yes, parents can help). When you log in please tell us if
you’ll have kids attending, their names and ages and whether they
can stick in those coordinates in a GPS by themselves. A few of our
younger but more knowledgable cachers will be getting their own
individual cache placements by Sneakiekittie. (This means you
Draven and Wren. And remember what Sneakiekittie’s name means!)
Geocache giveaway-Bring some good geocache swag to be put
in a donated ammo box or two and raffled off. (Ammo boxes donated
by Shadowace)
Travel Bug and Coin Swap-We'll have a box designated for
you to check travel bugs in and later check them out. "It's Alive"
TB is more than welcome, he's requested at the event. However, I
don't think he'll fit in the TB box. Bring your camera to take a
picture with the "It's Alive" TB and a few other TBs.
Other notes:
The Site of our Event is at 7,177 feet in a beautiful pine
forest with great views of Sierra Vista and Hereford. You have good
cell phone reception if you are on that side of the mountain and
can see down to the towns. If you are on the other side…forget it.
No cell phone reception. There is a paved parking area at the base
of the mountain. 31 26.897 and 110 17.010. If you’ll need a ride up
the mountain, this is a good spot to park arrange to meet.
There are several caches up on the mountain. Mr. Mule Ears
(Scott) has made up a book mark list for everyone.
When you are signing up on the event page please RSVP if you’ll
be there for breakfast. Let us know if you have children. Let
others know if you’ll need a ride from the base of the
mountain.
There are plenty of tables to sit around and share your geocoins
and let them be "discovered" by fellow cachers.
Several teams have asked me what they should bring. I'm not
going to make a sign up for food. However, if you would like to
bring food to share think finger food. Doesn't need silverware, nor
water for clean up. I have a friend that always says, "Something
sweet, something salty, and something healthy" for buffets. So
think of that for guidelines. If lots of people bring healthy food,
no one needs to worry about lunch. You might also consider bring
water in coolers. I'll repeat this, there is no water on the
mountain.
On Aug. 12 Trusty Companion and Woodcutter took a drive down to
Sierra Vista and Carr Canyon. You could see the waterfall from hwy
92 and Carr Creek was running! Everything was really green and
quite lovely.
Announcing the Carr Bash T-shirt: Visit Café Press to obtain
your Carr Bash T-shirts, mugs, or stickers!Designed by Scott of the
Mule Ears team.
Latest Road Condition News Scott of Mule Ears checked out
the road on Sept. 9. He reports that the road is in excellent shape
beyond the usual washboardy spots and the occasional avoidable
chuckhole. He found no major trouble spots along the road to
report. He says he spotted a Mustang and a Mitsubishi Gallant on
the road. The temperature at our site was a comfortable 72
degrees!
On the Way Caches Some new caches by the woodcutter
should be popping up entitled On the Way. If you can, try to do
these on the way to the Bash. I can't tell you why but... And yes,
somehow every cache ended up being on the wrong side of the
highway. They should all be quick to find caches.
Email either team if you have any questions, We look forward to
seeing you all again,
The woodcutter and Mule Ears