This is not your typical geocache, it is an EarthCache, you will not be looking for a "cache container" rather, an EarthCache is designed to bring you to a geological feature.
This Earthcache is located in Pike's Peak State Park in Iowa.
Please note there is a designated trail to get to this Earthcache.
This EarthCache location will take you on a beautiful hike in Pike's Peak State Park to view Bridal Veil Falls.
As with any geocache you can earn a "find" for this EarthCache if you complete the requirements listed at the bottom of the page.
A waterfall is a place where water flows over a vertical drop in the course of a stream or river. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf.
There are 12 main types of waterfalls: Block, Cascade, Cataract, Chute, Fan, Frozen, Horsetail, Plunge, Punchbowl, Segmented, Tiered, Multi-step. It is the opinion of this author that Bridal Veil Falls is an example of a plunge waterfall.
Plunge waterfall: Water descends vertically, losing contact with the bedrock surface.
Pike’s Peak State Park is located along the bluffs of the Mississippi River in northeastern Iowa. It is contained in the eastern portion of the Paleozoic Plateau Landform Region, commonly known as the “Driftless Area”.
The Platteville Formation, a 45-foot-thick succession of limestone and dolomite strata, is exposed in Pikes Peak State Park. The dolomite layers were originally deposited as lime sediments (made of diverse shelled bottom-dwelling animals) in a shallow tropical sea that covered much of the interior of North America between about 490 and 505 million years ago. The Platteville Formation can be most easily viewed along the park’s boardwalk at Bridal Veil Falls.
Bridal Veil Falls cascades over a resistant ledge of 460-million year-old dolomite in the Platteville Formation. The typical thin wavy-bedded limestone layers are well displayed here. When you look at the limestone, you will see horizontal lines. These lines represent the bedding planes which vary in thickness.
As sea levels fluctuated within the seaway, sediment accumulation varied in response to deepening and shallowing trends. Thin bedding planes indicate periods of less deposition and thicker planes indicate periods of rapid deposition.
Bridal Veil Falls lies in a stunning area in the Pike's Peak State Park. Take time to also take in the view of that which is along the trail and also lies above and below the waterfall.
Take nothing but photos. Leave only footprints behind.
To get to the Earthcache:
There is a parking lot very near the trailhead This is the closest you can park to the EarthCache.
Submission Requirements to log the EarthCache:
**DO NOT ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS IN YOUR LOG**
In order to get credit for this cache you must send an email to us with answers to the below questions.
1. Take a reading from where you are standing, what is the elevation?
2. What feeds this waterfall, a river or stream?
3. Describe the state of the water at the waterfall (ie. rushing, slow, trickling)
4. Is the water flow large or small volume?
5. What evidence do you see that would support the theory that the Platteville Formation was formed in a shallow marine bank environment?
Please do not make any reference to these answers in your log.
Please do not wait on a reply from us to log your visit.
Failure to email the answers to the above questions at the time of logging a "find" will be quietly removed without notice.
Any log containing spoilers (ie. photos of the sign or answers to the above questions) will result in log deletion without notice.
UPDATE 2015: EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY: Earthcaches are not virtual caches. Answers are required per Geocaching.com guidelines. Too many are logging that they visited at the time of their visit using their phones but then never follow through with the required submission of the Earthcache answers. This is even after we message them that their answers still need to be submitted to claim the find--they don't respond, ever. There is no method available on Geocaching.com to track all this and it is extremely time consuming to keep track of who has and hasn't submitted answers. Answers must be submitted at the same time your are logging your find.
(Special circumstances will be allowed on a trial basis to see if it works: if you mention in your log that you will be submitting your answers within the same week of logging your find AND you do follow through and submit your answers, then your log will not be deleted prior to the submission of your answers.)
UPDATE 2021: If people did not submit their EarthCache answers, we had been messaging them requesting their answers be sent (even though the info above has always said logs would be quietly removed). The following has been added to the first lines of the cache description: Too many are ignoring our request for un-submitted answers so we have decided in the interest of time and sanity, we will no longer message you prior to deleting your log if you do not submit the answers at the time of logging your find.
If your log is deleted, you are welcome to submit your EarthCache answers and re-log your find. Thank you.
The Iowa DNR Geocaching Placement Permit has been submitted to and permission for this EarthCache approved by the Pikes Peak State Park Manager.