2nd & 3rd Notch Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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After purchasing a Summer Pass to the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, I noticed there were not many caches up here. I was shocked as its beautiful and thought the area needed some geocache love. I emailed an official to make sure they were allowed and was happy to find out they were! This is my 2nd in a series I'm planning to bring you up here into the cool and clean air.
Come enjoy, the fresh air, scenic views and experience this wonderful park land. If you take the Tram up to the Mountain Station, wind your way down to the hiking trails and turn left - onto the Desert View trail. It will bring you to a series of 'Notches' along the trail where there are breath taking panoramic views of the desert below and more of the mountain range. You should be able to see San Jacinto Peak - marked by great upthrusts of weathered granite - rising almost 11,000 feet above sea level. It is the highest peak in the San Jacinto Range. Several other peaks within the park are over 10,000 feet, and much of the rest of the park, standing at more than 6,000 feet in elevation, is cool and comfortable in the summer. I love the smell of the park too - and absolutely love the Jeffrey Pines as I walk among them.
The easiest way to reach the area is by taking the Palm Springs Aerial Tram up to the top and then hiking down to the trails below the Mountain station. You could, if you're a little crazy, hike 10+ strenuous miles over other trails from Idyllwild - I would not recommend this unless you're a seasoned hiker. The Tram is usually $25 for adults...half that for children. However, they do have AAA discounts and also sell season passes that are very cost effective if you are local and like to travel there often. First tram up is at 8AM, last one down is 945PM - don't miss this or you'll be spending a night on the mountain top!
Your GPSr should bring you to this cache in between Notches 2 and 3 near the Desert View trail. Please re-hide the cache as good or better than it was found. I'm not sure what the area will look like during the Winter. The cache may still be accessible, but bring snow type gear during the cold months. I'm a little torn on the terrain rating because I know this particular cache will be MUCH more difficult during winter. PLEASE be careful and make sure you have your winter/safety gear. Taking this into consideration, I think I will bump up the rating a half of point than I normally would. From Notch 3 go up - hop hop hop ;)
My GPSr was showing a radius of error of about 20 feet which could put it over the side of the mtn (not sure) - do NOT go down a cliff - its not there.
There is no phone signal really up there - make sure to store the cache's coords before you come up if you're using a smartphone to find it.
Please be safe along the hike, bring water too, its important! Oh also, some critters are friendly and may come right up to you during your visit, but please don't feed them.
I have a unactivated FTF geo coin for the lucky FTFer in the cache! Gratz to Lucky_Turtle for scoring the FTF!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Xvat bs gur Zbhagnva! Jryy, nyzbfg.
Treasures
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