MOXIE: ENERGY, PEP, COURAGE, DETERMINATION, THE ABILITY TO FACE
ADVERSITY WITH SPIRIT.
If you do the entire "Stayin' Alive" series up here you
definitely have it. This is a tough series of caches to do but it's
intentionally that way; by overcoming the steep terrain, long hike,
and incredible bushwhacking you will have proven yourself capable
in this environment and can carry that satisfaction with you
forever. And overcoming these obstacles is the only way you get up
here to really experience this amazing area and scenery.
This cache is placed in commemoration of some hardy cachers who
did just that on Sept 15, 2007 during the Dry Creek High Adventure Event
expertly organized by GR8GPN and wife. It was a fabulous but
tough hike we all did together that day and I remain impressed
by their tenacity and determination. Some pictures of these
adventurers are below. These adventurers were with me when I hid
this cache, using this prepared container instead of upgrading
"Abbey's Rescue" (this by consensus!). I almost named this cache
"Brady Made It!" in honor of the GranPooBah visiting from
Colorado who hung tough the whole way, bad knees and all, and
logged all the caches. My penchant for one word names won out
though.
I recommend hitting this cache on the way down from Wild America
cache as it marks the bottom of the usually dry creek bed that you
can scramble down to make your descent. From Wild America traverse
directly east until your "go-to" to this cache shows a
perpendicular line (don't descend until then). That will take you
to the boulder line of that creek bed for your descent.
**** THE FTF AWAITS ON THIS CACHE. The cachers there definitely
earned the right to log this cache but we agreed only a new cacher
coming up again has the right to the real FTF.
TREKKING AIDS IF YOU DO MY WHOLE DRY CREEK SERIES:
- DRYCREEK TRAILHEAD AND PARKING: N 40° 28.962 W 111°
45.031
- STAY TO THE RIGHT AT THIS POINT ON TRAIL FOR EASIER ACCESS
TO RIVER CROSSING POINT: N 40° 30.159 W 111° 43.380. If you go
left, you're in for a hellacious bushwhack.
- SAFE CROSSING POINT ACROSS THE RIVER TO THIS CACHE: N
40° 30.376 W 111° 43.141. It's a safe 3 foot jump. This will be
less of a player if the spring run-off is not in progress. If it
is, this creek can be a dangerous river.
- CACHE ORDER SUGGESTION: If you do my upper Dry Creek
Trail caches a certain order may help you. After logging Abbey's
Rescue, do Cougar, Stayin' Alive Too, Wild America, then Moxie. You
will double back a bit on this order but the best line to go up is
towards Cougar cache.
- SUGGESTED EQUIPMENT: Long pants, gaitors, pair of good
hiking poles, 1.5 gallons of water, Gatorade or other electrolyte
mix (some in party may need this bad as they didn't hydrate and
this can prevent dizziness or fainting), first aid kit, cell phone
(you'll have coverage), extra batteries (everyone always runs out
up here), good sturdy and broken-in hiking boots (no tennis shoes;
one cacher had them and her feet bottoms got badly bruised and
beaten by the trail rocks).
- DOGS: Your dog will have to be in great shape and
"mountain-qualified" i.e. be able to negotiate and tackle heavy
brush, rock jumping, boulder scrambling, and steep, smooth rock
face climbs with confidence. If they aren't up to it and
experienced in this, I suggest leaving them at home unless you want
to carry them out. Even an in-shape dog will be exhausted after
your hiking day is over. Also your dog should be trained and
well-mannered around horses (i.e. no barking, chasing) as you can
encounter many on the trail.
- TIMING: With a leisurely and enjoyable pace, plan on
being on the trail 11 hours to log all the caches up
there.
CoolCache's Dry Creek Trail Caches: Hitting all of these will
take most of the day... start early! Several other good caches are
in the area too making your visit up here productive. Finally all
my upper caches are rated 5/5 to reflect the effort involved even
though they are all easy finds once there (as it should be!)