I've even tried to get there before, but always ran out of time.
Today it was my destination, and at 3 trail miles from the fire
station it's out there! The area around the cache is steep and
rocky - don't try this at night! There's also wood with nails (most
are bent, but be careful) right at the cache site.
The cache is next to an opening in what would have been the
foundation for the dam, and after arriving I was quite surprised to
see that I could have walked right into the mountain (was this a
mine, or was it made by the dam builders?)! The tunnel goes back
about 150', and the floor is cement, with a gully for water on one
side, the walls and ceiling are sprayed gunite all the way back,
and the end is a flat, vertical cement wall. Not natural at all,
which leads me to believe there's more tunnel beyond it...
The difficulty is a little high because I'm not sure how to
recommend the best approach. There are many, and I came in one way,
and left by another. Let's just say my hands and rear-end were both
(all three?) used. Have fun, and bring a camera with a full battery
charge. Mine wasn't. 
.
This cache is one in a series of caches dedicated to showing
where the shore for the Auburn Lake would be if the dam were built.
The surface of the lake would be 1,100 ft in elevation, from the
overlook in Auburn to many miles up both the middle and north forks
of the American River canyon.
Needless to say, there are MANY areas caches in this series can
be placed. Which is why I'm inviting any cachers who would like, to
join me and place caches in this series. Make sure it's within
The Lake's area, and that it's close to 1,100 ft. I am allowing
myself and others +/- 100 vertical feet due to the fact that good
cache locations can sometimes be hard to find. If you choose to
place one for this series, please email me a day or two in advance
and I'll let you know which number yours will be, which should help
avoid duplicates. Just name your cache "Shoreline #x" where x would
be the next number in the series.
Thanks to Warriorrider, Species, ClipperCreekWanderer and Whoo's
Cool & Timbo, this is the 22nd in the series. 
Congrats to yabetterduk for
FTF!
Milestones Met: #300
for My Dal Leo!