Sand Gulch Fire 2 Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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You are looking for a cylindrical container, large enough for small swag items. The cache is between the right-of-way fences.
This cache requires a short drive on a narrow, bumpy, dirt Forest Service road. You may pull out at the parking coordinates given. But the easiest way is to drive about 100 yards past the cache to a larger parking area (end of road), turn around, and then walk or drive back to the cache itself. Traffic is usually nonexistent.
Parking in the larger area at the end of the road is recommended if you also plan to find GC3GN24, "Sand Gulch Fire," a walk-in cache.
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, 2011. 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.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Oneorq jver.
Treasures
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