Tahoe -- Cave Rock Earthcache EarthCache
Tahoe -- Cave Rock Earthcache
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As an earthcache, there is no “box” or “container” to discover. Rather, with this cache, you discover something about the geology of the area. For more info, consult www.earthcache.org
Logging Requirements:
Send the answers to #1-#5 to me through my geocaching profile. DO NOT post the answers to any logging requirements on this site.
1. List the name “GC25JA8 Tahoe – Castle Rock Earthcache” in the first line of your email. Also, list the number of people in your group.
2. According to the signage, how tall is Cave Rock and how much shoreline does it occupy?
3. Compared to the light gray with “speckles” of the area’s granite, what is the dominate color and texture of Cave Rock and its surrounding “volcanic rocks”?
4. In what year was a road built AROUND Cave Rock to accommodate gold and silver miners? OR What is the elevation at the posted cords, OR post a picture of yourself/ your GPS at this point (POST WITH LOG)
5. Drive to the pulloff “Cave Rock Park” SOUTH of the tunnels and attempt to discover the hole(s) in the rock face that denote the cave. Describe the opening(s) OR post a picture of yourself/your GPS WITH YOUR LOG at this point as well.
Photos are ALWAYS welcome, but with the new GC rules, not required. 
I will only respond if you have incomplete logging requirements. Go ahead and log your cache
Getting There:
Travel on Hwy 50 on east side of Lake Tahoe (Nevada). The location is just NORTH of the tunnels that go through Castle Rock. If traveling from the south, you will want to attempt to view the “cave” high in the south face of the rock BEFORE you travel through the tunnel to the GZ location. If traveling from the North, that logging requirement will be your last stop. The trail is level and graded, and MAY be accessible by wheelchairs during summer months. Both pulloffs are on the west side of the road.
Geology:
Geologists believe that in the last ice age, two giant glaciers drained from the Sierra Nevadas, creating the dam that created Lake Tahoe, and filled that same lake much deeper (up to 600 feet) than it is today.
Thus, the cave that you can view on the southern flank of Castle Rock was created from wave action, even though it is now over 200 feet above the lake!
The Carson Range rises to the southwest; it is the westernmost range in the Basin and Range physiographic province. It consists mainly of granitic intrusive igneous rock that crystallized at depth in the earth’s crust and was later uplifted to its current location The granite is overlain by andesitic volcanic rocks. Another way of putting is that the bedrock on the eastern side of Lake Tahoe is large Sierran Granite, simply because the Carson Range of mountains were once part of the Sierra Nevadas, but have faulted off to their present location. However, there are two exceptions to this – two rock outcroppings of younger volcanic rock – at Glenbrook Bay and an area about seven miles north of Stateline, NV of which Cave Rock is a part. In fact, this HUGE piece of volcanic rock is believed to have been forcefully expelled from a volcano in the region and “dropped” into its present location.
History:
For over 10,000 years, the Washoe have lived at Lake Tahoe. Known as da ow a go, the lake is a sacred place at the center of the universe. Cave Rock, or de’ek wadapush, is an important symbol of this spirituality. Although Cave Rock is a place of extreme power to all in the tribe, only the Washoe shaman, or doctors, were allowed to visit the cave on the rock’s south face. There, the shaman consulted with spirit advisors and effected cures fro the Washoe peole. The practice continues today, although much of the original cave has been altered by development.
Congrads to mkiger for FTF (First to Finish logging requirements) on 9-14-2010.
Resources:
Alt & Hyndman, Roadside Geology of Northern andCentral California. Mountain Press Publishing. Missoula: Montana. 2000.
Information panel at location.
Additional Hints
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Treasures
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