80 Bucks for the Powder Keg
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Another in the Powder Keg Series. Terrain and general difficulty levels can change from day to day, season to season. No legal way to drive to this one, plan on a walk.
Powder Keg Recreational Wilderness.
If you are looking for a park and grab, please don't stop here!
The Badd Companie started this series, so I'll steal some text from him, after all it is the same general location! (Thanks in advance, Badd Companie)
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A long hike between a ditch and a river
Thanks to Baron Driver for showing me how to access this area. This is a single stage cache with a substantial hike to the final. How can you find a place that requires a 3 mile round trip in the city? Consider that the Arkansas River blocks access from the west and the Big Ditch blocks access from the east. K-96 blocks access from the north; the only access is from the southeast.
You got it by now that the area is isolated. It is popular for ATV's and dirt bikes. At the recommended entrance there is a sign that says no vehicles allowed. Perhaps the motorized vehicles have another access point far to the north. The Badd One stepped over the cable and began walking.
First, the best parking spot is near 25th street, perhaps at N37 43.811 W97 22.676. This adds a little to the hike, but is much safer since this will take well over an hour.
Follow 25th street up and over I-235 and turn southwest toward the "Big Ditch." You will see the cable across the road. Follow the road downhill to a sand-bar crossing of the Big Ditch at N37 43.821 W97 23.084.
Although this adds over a quarter of a mile to the trip, it keeps your feet dry and you get to see where the Big Ditch joins the River.
If water is running in the Big Ditch be careful. Could be quicksand. If the Big Ditch is running very fast and deep, don't even consider continuing; you'll be dealing with lots of mud and bigger safety issues.
Once across the Big Ditch, head for the cache. It will be easier to follow the ATV trails, it may be more pleasant to stay in the shade near the river when the trails split.
After following the trails for a mile, I began looking for a hiding spot. On the way, you may see waterfowl, deer, snakes and lizards in a mixture of grassland and riparian woodlands. There is a lot of walking on sand and sandy trails but once you reach the shaded part of the trail, the worst is behind you.
The final is an ammo box.
The terrain is open enough to run to the cache, only the last 80 feet or so are off-trail in grassland. Cache is appropriate for older children with adequate endurance. If you take a small child along, consider how far you want to carry them. In warm weather, you may want to consider carrying water as well.
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[I drank a liter on this trip]
So, where did this cache name come from? The cache started out with a Travel Bug, that was reportedly worth around 80 bucks. As much as I'd like for the Travel bug to stay forever, that is not fair to the travel bug owner.
After the travel bug is taken, no one will know the story behind this cache.
Oh, by the way...I :might: have an excuse for hiding a micro in the woods.. Carrying a ammo can in the woods might be a reason... no, not an excuse, just a reason.. I planned to walk past all of the other caches here, but... well look at a map, you can figure it out.
I must pay homage to Badd Companie, one of the area's most prolific cachers, without him, this series would have never happened. We are lucky to have Badd Compaine in our area. :) (Insert a lot of smiley’s here, Badd would!)
Now, about the cache, it is a true ammo can, no lock n locks, but a the real deal. It should be an easy find, once you get to the area, I didn’t hide it as well as I would have, if this would have been a more centralized hide.
With that said, muggles are everywhere, just look at the tracks. Plus, someone mows this, at least once in the past year.
No one likes to walk a significant distance to find that the cache they were after has been mugged, so please hide as well if not better as you found it. We would prefer that you don’t make the cache site an unnatural pile of logs, stick and twigs, just try to make it blend in.
Ohh.. Enjoy the area, the wildlife, etc. You might not see another person while you are on this journey, if you can block out the hi-way traffic, you might just have a very relaxing trip to this cache.
Hopefully, this will make me a charter member of the Powder Keg Recreational Wilderness area, I know I'm late to the party, but it did start out worth 80 bucks!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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