The cache is located on your way to
Mary’s Peak, the highest mountain in Oregon’s coast range. The
drive up is scenic with waterfalls and great views. There is a
good, paved parking area at N 44 28.881, W 123 32.136, elevation
2,700 feet, to start your hunt. After a short walk on a mostly
level, gravel road, you will see your destination, a steep gravely
hill below an outcropping of rocks. From the road to the top is 100
feet in elevation. Standing on those rocks (2,760 feet), on a nice
day, the view is magnificent. The new cache container, an ammo can,
would not fit in the same place as before but it is very close. The
total hike to the top and back to the parking area is 0.7 miles.
(Although the road is closed at milepost 5.5 from Dec through
March, you can still get to the parking area all winter.)
The terrain rating is as high as before and based on previous
cachers comments. They have recommended wearing good shoes for this
climb. Many cachers wrote that they had fun slipping on the rocks
on the way up and/or slid on their behinds on the way down. Some
people were a little scarred at first but felt in worthwhile and
reasonable to get to in the end. Children were not recommended on
the original cache but a 6 your old was able to make it just fine.
Certainly, toddlers and preschoolers should not go but I am sure
the older elementary school kids will have a blast. My middle
schooler had no trouble at all. Use common sense and please be very
careful.
We have placed a small satellite cache near by, in a more easily
accessible area at N 44 28.810, W 123 32.357. This satellite (an
old 2 inch round Film container) is only for those who can not
climb the steep part of the hill but still want to log the cache
and see the fabulous view. Sometimes, as in our case, you find some
in your caching party can go but others cannot. Rather than wait
for the others to come back you all can have that great caching
experience. Although there are 2 caches here you can only log it
once. Log the one you are most comfortable finding and tell us
about your experience. Cachers that have been here before are
welcomed to log it again.