Grampians Secrets series
The challenge is set. A series of 5 caches has been hidden by
the HGCore group within these mountains. Each shows a unique
location unmarked on any maps you can buy today (or for the past 10
years). The caches are relatively easy to find once at the
coordinates - the challenge is getting there. There is only 1 cache
on (or near) a marked track - the rest are more difficult to get
to.
Spectacular peaks, caves, rocky outcrops, difficult climbs and
off trail hiking all await the adventurous geocacher, along with a
couple of travel bugs (for the first to find) and a surprise in one
of the caches (again, for the first to find only!).
The HGCore group has been exploring these mountains since 1999,
back when legends of hidden trails, secret peaks and nearly
unchartered territories were fresh. Over the years many of these
have been abandoned and overgrown due to bushfires, safety
concerns, and lack of maintenance by the authorities. These
locations may thus have been lost forever.
These are the Grampians Secrets locations.
Each cache container is a 1 litre Sistema box and the cache
contains a short paragraph on how the HGCore group stumbled upon
the place, along with references to old markers and trails in the
vicinity, and other items of interest.
Consider these a challenge. Some of the caches in these
locations have been placed after years of exploring the area.
Certainly a must see for anyone serious about their Grampians
experience. Be warned, however, that many of these locations
involve exposed edges, cliff faces, and uneven rocks. All of these
caches require some extent of off-trail scampering and some even
require a little rock climbing. These are not suitable locations
for children. In all cases ensure you have plenty of daylight, food
and water before embarking on your journey.
Should you make it to these caches, please sign the log, and
leave comments here. We are always interested to know when someone
has been able to find our hides.
The Wind Tunnel
This is the third cache hidden in this series of 5, and is the
third in difficulty. There are another 4 spotted throughout the
Grampians. Follow the Hollow Mountain trail most of the way to the
top to get to the "wind tunnel" and make your own way from there.
If you came from Mt Stapylton (as you would if you just did our
Forgotten Track cache) then we suggest you first find the the
official trail with the red arrows pointing both ways. From there
you should easily see (and feel!) what we call "The Wind
Tunnel".
When you reach the right spot the cache should be plainly
obvious. It does get somewhat dangerous towards the end, so please
take great care if you choose to look for this one! Definitely not
one for the kids.
Update: It appears that this is the cache that people
have the most trouble with out of the whole series, so we've
updated the instructions slightly and also increased the difficulty
from 2/4 to 3/4.5. As mentioned above, there is some element of
danger involved, but if it looks like you need to do something
really dangerous then you're going the wrong way. Climbing
equipment is not required to get to the cache in the
intended way, although it certainly could be used if you
wanted to take an even more adventurous route!