Napa Creeks: Carneros Creek Traditional Cache
Nomex: The cache owner is not responding to issues with this geocache, so I must regretfully archive it.
Please note that if geocaches are archived by a reviewer or Geocaching HQ for lack of maintenance, they are not eligible for unarchival.
Napa Creeks: Carneros Creek
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(small)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
Parking is available in the form of a pullout within a short distance of the cache. The tree cover along the creek is quite dense and can wreak havoc on the GPS signal. Please replace the cache as you found it.
Carneros Creek drains roughly nine square miles of land in southwestern Napa County. The creek begins near the Napa-Sonoma border west of Napa and flows southeast along Henry Road through a narrow, oak-studded valley. Once the creek reaches the valley floor, it meanders through vineyards and eventually empties into the Napa River just south of Cutting's Wharf.
The cache site was once a stopping point along a huge foot trail that linked the west side of the upper valley and lower valley much like Silverado Trail does to the east. Camino Real de Sonoma a Napa, as it was known during Spanish occupation, originated as a trail used by Native Americans centuries ago. The trail began north of Yountville and headed south past the mouth of Dry Creek, across Redwood Creek, and traversed the rolling hills of Carneros and Huichica valleys before turning east and toward Sonoma.
Carneros, roughly translated as "sheep" or "ram" in Spanish, gives some view into what this area was once used for. In the early 1800's, the area around the creek in the vicinity of the cache site served as home for as many as 7000 sheep. Known as Corral de Paseo de Abajo, the creek crossing contained a large corral which served as the center for sheep husbandry in the region.
Eventually, sheep gave way to cattle which roamed small ranches up and down the creek. While the rest of the Napa Valley had ditched cattle in favor or agricultural production, cattle remained in parts of the Carneros region until the 1940s. Wild oats, which could be harvested for free and used as cattle feed, once grew shoulder high along the creek and were so prevalent that one could walk for hours through these dense stands. Slowly though, rangelands were converted into agricultural production including the cultivation of hay, grain, orchard crops, and eventually vineyards which dominate the watershed today.
Large steelhead were known to be plentiful throughout the creek during the winter months, often stranding themselves on shoals and bars as the water level dropped in the spring. The section of the creek south of the Henry Road bridge still contains among the best steelhead habitat throughout the entire Napa River Watershed.
Congrats to luvbassn and luvbassn2 for first to find !
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Qbjafgernz fvqr, fbhgujrfg raq.
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
Loading Treasures