Beneath Them All -- Utah's Lowest Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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Finding this cache will take you to the lowest spot in Utah -- elevation approximately 2,175 feet.
I’ve been to Utah’s highest spot (King’s Peak, elevation 13,528’, which doesn't and can't have a cache because it's in a Wilderness Area) and have long wanted to visit Utah’s lowest spot (Beaver Dam Wash, elevation approximately 2,175’). Now I have. If you have similar aspirations, this cache is for you.
The terrain rating assumes you are hiking in (as I did) in moderate weather and not using an off-road ATV. If you have an ATV the terrain is more like 1.5.
You can get here by a few different routes, but I think the best one is to head north from Littlefield, Arizona (or south from Shivwits, Utah) on old Highway 91 (a nice paved highway). Turn SW onto a dirt road at N37-00.673 and W113-54.705, which is the route of the old Mormon Wagon Trail, as indicated by a small metal sign there. Head SW on this dirt road about 5 miles to the “Historic Mormon Well on Old Mormon Trail” cache, GCT8MF. (There are also a few other caches on the way in to the Mormon Well cache.) Any car should be able to make it to the Mormon Well cache if the ground is dry, but from there you will likely have to hike or use an ATV, to go north up Beaver Dam Wash. The wash, which is a wide flood plain, is very sandy and is muddy in places most of the time, and you could get stuck pretty good in a normal truck. I suppose it might be dry enough for a normal truck in the summer, but it’s only about a 1.5 mile hike up the wash so I wouldn’t suggest risking it. I was unable to get any cell phone service and it would be a long walk out. The hike is flat, but sandy and a little rocky in places. There isn’t much of a defined road or trail and you may have to cross through water and mud, so don’t wear your good shoes. Take plenty of drinking water; the stream is pretty to look at, but you won’t want to drink it! And the “Mormon Well” is no more; it reportedly was washed away in the monster flood of 2005.
From the end of the dirt road near the Mormon Well cache, hike north up Beaver Dam Wash about 1.5 miles until you get to N37.0 degrees, which is the southern boundary of Utah and the northern boundary of Arizona. At present, there is a wire fence there (with a gate in case you want to pass through with an ATV). Once you hit the fence at N37.0 degrees, head due east or west along the fence to the stream channel to reach the lowest point in Utah. On the day this cache was hidden, the low point was at N37-00.000 and W113-59.816, but it changes over time as the runoff alters the terrain of the stream channel.
To claim an honest find, you must not only sign the log book, but also go to the edge of the stream, on the Utah side of the fence, of course, so that you can say you have been to the lowest spot in Utah. Post a picture of yourself there if you can, although a picture is NOT required to claim a find.
Note that THE CACHE IS NOT HIDDEN AT THE LOW SPOT because the occasional runoff would wash away any cache there. Instead, it is offset from the low spot (as of the date the cache was hidden) about 0.11 miles (580’) DUE EAST, on the Utah side, at the coordinates posted for this cache, out of the wide flood plain. This cache is meant to be a challenge, so you may have to look around a bit for it. The cache is hidden in a way that is in keeping with the name of the cache, and in a container suitable for that theme. PLEASE BE CAREFUL OPENING IT, ESPECIALLY THE FIRST FINDER, AND TRY TO KEEP IT SECURELY IN PLACE. The container won’t hold anything larger than about 4 inches. I’ve given a hint so that no one should get skunked after traveling to the cache location. PLEASE DON’T POST ANYTHING IN YOUR LOGS THAT WILL GIVE AWAY THE METHOD OF HIDING.
My GPS doesn’t do elevations, so I took the elevation from the USGS 7.5’ topo map (Castle Cliff, Utah-Arizona). Anyway, the elevation changes some every year from erosion in the wash. If your GPS does elevations, post your low spot reading for others to enjoy.
Be careful and have fun!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Nobhg gjragl srrg qhr abegu bs gur ehfgl fvta