Hand-Me-Down Cache Traditional Cache

A friend received a big bag of cache containers at the 11-11-11 event and he generously gave us one. Here it is, released for action beside the Guadalupe River trail and suitably camouflaged. It's big enough for a golf pencil and small swag items, or 100 aspirin tablets. There's a FTF pathtag for the first finder, some miscellaneous coins and a lanyard for others.

AND, the FTF is the generous donor of the cache container ... OAKNEST

The east side Guadalupe River Trail goes from downtown San Jose to join the Bay Trail in Alviso. This cache is just off the trail about 0.4 mile (650 m) south of the crossing and trailhead at Montague Expressway. Be careful as the sides of the trail are steep, as indicated by the terrain rating.

The closest public parking spots are at VTA River Oaks and at Rivermark shopping center to the north and at Trimble Road to the south, it's about a mile (1600 m) walk to the cache from either area.

Lunchtime walkers from nearby offices find access to the trail through the gaps in fences behind the industrial buildings along Orchard Drive and Orchard Parkway, but parking near these spots may be restricted. VTA light rail runs parallel to the trail along First St.

The trail is a great route for walking, running, cycling, waterfowl viewing and of course, geocaching. There are numerous caches along the route from downtown, and the airport TB hotel is close to it. Be advised that north of the airport the surface is hard pack dirt; suitable for cruiser, hybrid or mountain bikes but not recommended for skinny tire road bikes.

update 8/26/2012 FYI- the east side trail is being paved and parts of it may be closed at various times.