Cave Mountain Challenge Traditional Geocache
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(regular)
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This is a traditional cache placed on top of Cave Mountain, Elevation 3620. It is for serious seasoned hikers only. It is a hike of approximately 1-2 miles over sand dunes, rocky crags and slopes, with an elevation gain of 1200-2000 feet depending on where you park your vehicle.
Gophertrax and I love to hike in the desert not only for the great exercise, but also to admire the scenery and wildlife. We decided to tackle Cave Mountain, as it seemed to call out to us every time we passed it on our way to Nevada. Since Landloper was in town for the holidays and also likes to hike, we decided to make a day of it on the last day of the year 2004. It’s the big slippy-slidy looking mountain on the south side of Route 15 just before the Basin Rd. exit. There is no approach to this cache that will not be a serious hike. There are some approaches that look down right dangerous. We checked our topos and found a relatively safe route to the top, although our route still had a few steep strenuous sections to negotiate. Helicopter recommended for anyone who doesn't like to hike!
Our route was from the southwest side. We exited Route 15 at Afton Road and went south towards Afton Canyon; it’s a dirt road. At N35 03.400 W116 23.320 there is another dirt road that takes off towards the east. It is a smaller dirt road just past the power line road turn off. This dirt road is OK for 2WD vehicles for about a mile. The road will eventually fork and you want to take the left fork. Shortly after the left fork you will be parking your 2WD vehicle at N35 03.121 W116 20.818, Elevation 1890. Depending on your vehicles ground clearance, you may have already parked farther back. To continue beyond our parking spot you need a 4x4 vehicle that does well in soft sand. You could bury a 4x4 in some of the sandy spots along the road in this area; its all blow sand and dunes that have blown up against the southwest side of Cave Mountain over the years. If you have a good sand capable vehicle you can drive about a mile further up the road from where we parked; and then you’ll have to park it and hike like the rest of us.
Take twice the water you think you will need and plan your day very carefully. We do not recommend this one in the summer heat unless you are well prepared. You might want to stash extra water bottles along the way up for your return trip. We did it on Dec. 31st and actually had a few snow flakes fall on us. Burrrr! The cache container is a black ammo box. At the summit we found two US Geological Survey markers, which can also be logged as a Benchmark find. One of the markers is on top of a large rock formation; there's also a summit log in an old tin can on top of that rock that can also be logged.
The 360 degree view from the top is spectacular! Don’t forget your Camera!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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