Well, well, well. The winter of '07 will be remembered for quite
some time. The nearby cache (GCK269) was first found May 8th, 2005.
Well, have fun trying to dig it out of the snow by June 8th this
year!
We hiked up from the 5200' level and all told we climbed 1900'
in just under 3 miles. It was fun salvaging things we could use as
sleds for the return trip. It definitely sped up our downhill trip
back to the car. There are still several drifts over 4' and even a
3' drift INSIDE the lookout tower! Who left that door open
anyway?
Getting there: I-84 Durkee exit. Head northeast a very short
distance and turn right on Manning Basin road. Take this road appr.
17 miles to the tower. The first 13.5 miles are very well
maintained. The last 3.5? You're probably going to want a high
clearance vehicle. And expect to walk a little if the gate is
closed to the top.
The present structure is staffed in the summertime. The
observation deck is marked "private", but you may be able to coax
the watchman into allowing you entry. You don't need to climb the
10' tower to enjoy the breathtaking view, however.
The cache is located a short distance below the tower in some
rocks. There was a glass bottle nearby that I tried to clean up as
best I could, but you might watch out for shards just in case.
You'll be searching out an ammo box wrapped in camo-tape.
This cache qualifies for the Oregon Fire Lookout Challenge; this is
a section 8 cache.