Back in the summer of 1999, I would take Chauncy (my neighbor's
Golden Retriever) for a swim nearly every day in Bear Creek, just
south of Red Rocks in Morrison, Colorado. In July, I noticed a
black lab was hanging out there nearly every day. After a few more
visits to the park that month, I realized the dog was by himself
and obviously was a stray. One day, he followed Chauncy and me on a
5 mile hike up Mt. Falcon and then back to our house in Morrison.
He decided to hang out in my backyard for a week, hiding in the
bushes. Eventually we welcomed him into our home. We named him
Midnight since his coat was as dark as the night. He was a good boy
who hiked thousands of miles with me over the years. In the summer
months, he sometimes got hot in the sun and would take a break in
the shade of the trees along the trail. Once he cooled off a bit,
we could continue on. If he was a good boy, he would receive a
special "Midnight Snack" as a reward. He loved dog biscuits, cheese
and especially peanut butter! On September 29, 2009, I was home
sick and Midnight stayed by my side all day. Later in the day, I
realized Midnight wasn't feeling so well himself so I had a
neighbor help me rush him to the vet. The vet examined him and gave
him some pain reliever and an IV. They decided to do an ultrasound
the following day. Unfortunately, early the next morning, Midnight
left us. He had slipped away during the night due to internal
hemorrhaging. :'-( I've placed this cache at this location since
it's close to the spot where I first saw Midnight playing in
Morrison Park back in 1999. If you go to the view waypoint listed,
you can look southeast and see Morrison Park down below Highway 74.
Bear Creek flows along the park and you'll also see what used to be
the CCC camp. This camp is where workers lived while Red Rocks
Amphitheater was being constructed back in the 1930s. Today it is
the headquarters for Denver Mountain Parks.
The cache initially contains the Midnight! Travel Bug (ready to
begin his journey around the world), a log book, a
compass/thermometer keychain (FTF?) and some other trinkets.
NOTE: If there's a concert at Red Rocks, the entrance closest to
the cache might be closed. Mt. Morrison hikers will sometimes park
outside the gate (and you don't really have to go past the gate for
this cache) but parking there on concert nights might be
discouraged..
Congrats to sepfind for the FTF!