Schultz Creek Road closes seasonally (and may be closed long-term due to a recent wildfire) so driving right to the trailhead may not be available. If closed, there is large parking area at the split of Schultz Creek Road and Mt. Elden Lookout Road at the "Y". There is a trail from this large parking area that will take you past the retention ponds north to the trailheads.
This geocache is one of a series of 3 tree-themed caches (Juniper, Fir, Pine). Two are located along the Rocky Ridge Trail, this one on the new Big Bang Trail. Walk up Rocky Ridge Trailhead at Schultz, left at Big Bang, there is a trail sign.
The Ponderosa Pine is a common and large coniferous pine tree, one of the most widely distributed pines in western North America. The bark helps to distinguish it from other species: young trees have a blackish color to the bark, called “blackjacks”, mature to over-mature individuals have yellow to orange-red bark in broad plates with black crevices sometimes called a “yellowjack”. Ponderosa Pines can grow very tall. A Pacific Ponderosa Pine in the Rogue River–Siskiyou National Forest in Oregon was measured at 268 ft, now the tallest known pine. Trees often reach ages of 300 to 600 years. The forest stretching from near Flagstaff along the Mogollon Rim to the White Mountains region is the largest continuous stand of Ponderosa Pine on the continent.
BYOP
This particular example is heavily infected with Western Dwarf Mistletoe, a common parasite which occurs in over one-third of the Ponderosa acreage in the region. In response to branch infections, trees often produce "witches' brooms," abnormal proliferations of many small twigs which appear as a mass of twigs and foliage. These vary in appearance from tight clumps to large loose fans. This tree is unusual in that it is so extensively deformed in response to the mistletoe.