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An easy walk of 1.5 miles if you do the entire Northern Loop; some slight inclines, but no shade.
Qutulun :
(Warrior Women series)
A tribute to those strong-minded women who beat the odds.
Qutulun Khan (circa 1235 AD)[also: Qutulun Qan, Khutulun Khan, or alternately, Aigiarne, Ay-Yaruq or Aigiaruc] niece of Qubilai (Kublai) , daughter of Qaidu (Khaidhu) and descendant of Chinggus (Genghis, or Timujen) , and Ogedei , was a warrior princess of the Mongol Steppes, and poised alongside her father to help defend the lands between Qublai (China) in the East and Ogedei (Turkey, Europe) to the west.
Considered more a warrior than a princess, it is said she could outshoot, outthink and outride many of her male cohorts; some rumors state that she could grab a prisoner faster than “A falcon can pluck a chicken from the ground”. But her fame is due to her particular views on marriage. Because she helped hold the regions between the Golden Horde and China – there was a debate over which of Chinggus’s descendants was the “true” Khan, and at the time, Qaidu, her father, was the front-runner- there was a great deal of pressure on her to marry for political reasons. But given the difference between unmarried Horde women; who were free to keep their own destiny, fight, own their own horses, etc; and married women; who were virtual slaves to their husbands, what choice would such a free-spirited gal have?
She was one of the most eligible bachelorettes around, and beautiful (her nickname, Aigiarq, means ‘Moonlight’), so she had a long list of princes seeking her hand. Rather than go a more traditional route and have her suitors fight each other over her, she had them fight her. Each one would put up 100 horses as a forfeit, knowing full-well that if they were to win, they would not only marry her, they would get her herd. One Turkish prince went so far as to bet 1,000 horses against her!
The wrestling matches were well attended, with lots of side-bets and supporters. But one-by-one, the suitors were pinned, and Qutulun’s herd grew to 10,000 horses. Some versions of the story add a test of skill -archery, and a test of wits- chess, but it looks as though wrestling was the main draw. Qutulan never married, and continued to fight battles along side her father. What happened to her after Qaidu’s death is lost to history.
Her undefeated story served as inspiration to at least one other woman centuries later.. Wrestling is a national past-time in Mongolia and a woman entered several matches and won her way to the top. The shame the men felt after it was revealed that she was female was so great that they changed the rules. Now, all Mongolian wrestlers must fight shirtless!
Cache is in Columbine Open-Space between Larkspur and Castle Rock. It is a large, plastic container camouflaged to match its surroundings. It is close to the trail, about 300 feet from a bench to rest on or lock your bike. Please make sure the lid is sealed when you put it back. There is no shade on the entire northern loop trail, so bring water.
Please park at the Columbine Open Space Parking Area and stick to the trail. There is no access from the East Frontage Road or I-25! This is a wildlife preservation area; please no dogs, and no harassing or collecting of wildlife. Bighorn sheep, rattle-snakes, deer, hawks and Prebel's meadow jumping mice are all in the area. Please do not descend to Plum creek; the cache is up top.
Original cache contents include a leather key-fob made in Mongolia, some play-doh, and random swag.
***Congrats to ernie66 for FTF!!!******
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Cvar-arrqyrf naq ebpxf