This will be an interesting interpretive cache, based on a soil sample taken here in summer of 2013.
The Eggshell Trail and Rustbelt Amphitheater of Snowy River Passage lie directly below you. Dr. Diana Northup, a geomicrobiologist at the University of New Mexico asked Fort Stanton Cave Study Project members Wayne Walker and Pete Lindsley to get her a soil sample from this location summer of 2013. Dr. Northup will analyze the soil sample to see how it relates to any biological processes 600 feet below in Snowy. The Rustbelt Amphitheater we think is not mineralogical but biological. See the photo in the gallery.
The results are not in yet but when they are, we'll be discussing those here!
Take a look at Dr. Northup's website to see why she's so interested in these potential relationships: http://www.caveslime.org/ The cache is not at the sample site but parking is. When you walk to the cache, avoid stepping on the cryptobiotic soil or biological crust - the dark grey, green or black layers - they may have a relationship to what is below. Crytobiotic soil is a complete ecosystem of cyano-bacteria the provides nutrients to higher-order plants.