Warm, Hot, Hotter Traditional Cache
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This cache was hidden in 2009 at Meagher Creek Hot Springs in the most geologically active area in Canada. This was proven in the summer of 2010 when the Capricorn Mountain and glacier collapsed into Meagher Creek and the Pemberton Valley in a massive landslide. The slide wiped out much of the access to the hot springs but word is the springs themselves were untouched although now virtually inaccessible so I have upped the terrain difficulty to 5.
Prior to the landslide, a drive up the beautiful Pemberton Valley to km 37 took you to a lefthand fork that went over a bridge over the Pemberton River, there was a gate on the road up the Meagher Creek valley.. The trail to the hot spring heads up Meagher Creek just across a new bridge over the creek. The trail was good and it is about 600 meters in to the springs. There is a good size bathing pool with change house, picnic tables and trails around the hot spring terrace.
The cache is a little further up the creek from the main pool but still on an established path. The container is a small lock 'n lock with only a log book, pencils and a mini-sharpie key chain as a trading item.
A lot of this changed with the landslide and the following is an excerpt from a report on the status of the area in August 2010 by Glenn Wordsworth (author of Hotsprings of Western Canada):
• Both Meager Cr Hotsprings and Upper Lillooet recreation sites are intact. The Upper Lillooet site sustained some flooding, campers were air-lifted out, some vehicles left stranded. No known deaths or injuries.
• Gate house for the attendant was under water and had the attendant been there, there likely would have been fatalities.
• Experts have observed tension cracks in the main slide area and expect another million cubic metres to come down (an estimated 40 million in the current slide) • Three major bridges destroyed.
• Five kms of Meager Cr Forest Service Road gone, along with logging equipment that was parked on/near it.
• An excavator and dump truck have been isolated on the Meager Hotsprings side of the slide.
• 2-3 kms of the Lillooet Forest Service Road gone (Upper Lillooet site is isolated) • Capricorn Creek bridge is unlikely to be rebuilt, so Meager Creek Hotsprings will not have road access.
• Upper Lillooet rec Site is now more susceptible to damage from future debris flows as the valley floor is about 7 – 8 metres higher.
• There is talk that the MoFR will investigate the option of accessing the upper Meager Valley from an adjacent watershed. If this is the case the hotspring may be accessible by road in the future.
So, for now access is by helicopter or on foot and a pretty ambitious hike. I will be impressed with anyone who makes it in there!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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