Sand Gulch Fire Traditional Cache
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(regular)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
This is a hiker's cache. You will be bushwhacking through the burned area of the Sand Gulch Fire, April 2011. Expect to get soot on your clothes. Park at the Lewis Creek Trail parking area off Colorado 96. Parking lot coordinates N 38° 11.759; W. 105° 06.599. Entrance road is rough dirt — high-clearance vehicle recommended.
BACKGROUND: After a dry spring, a squall with lightning and sleet moved through this area on Tuesday, April 26, 2011. A lightning strike started a small fire on a ridge southwest of the cache that afternoon.
When the fire was spotted, the Wetmore Volunteer Fire Dept. responded. Firefighters judged that because the fire was small, high up on national forest, and not threatening structures, it did not require immediate response. In addition, the weather was foggy and drizzling — the fire was unlikely to spread.
U.S. Forest Service firefighters arrived on Wed., April 27. They built a hand line on the northeast side of the fire and “burned out” (set backfires) to reinforce this containment line. Following its policy, the Forest Service decided to let the fire continue to burn to the west to reduce fuels and to provide open grazing areas for bighorn sheep that live in the area.
At a meeting Thursday night at the Wetmore VFD fire house, Forest Service representatives assured residents that the fire would remain contained—even though high winds were forecast for Friday.
Strong wind, gusting up to 50 mph, did arrive on Friday. Early Friday afternoon the fire “blew up,” jumping in size from 20 acres to more than 500 acres. Residents in the Greenwood area across Colorado 96 were advised to evacuate.
Fire departments from Wetmore, Florence, Rye, Westcliffe, and other towns fought the fire. Federal resources included three Hot Shot crews, a number of Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management engines, two heli-tankers, and one single-engine air tanker.
FTF: Hartsdale, April 28, 2012.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
N angheny cvyr bs fgvpxf.
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
Loading Treasures