A Bear Creek Urban Trail cache by Team Barn Owls.
We've lived in the Coachella Valley all our lives, but did not know this “trail” existed until we were drawn here by a geocache. The original portion of the Bear Creek Ridge Trail has a trailhead that begins where the paved urban one ends. We're told that the first short leg to the oasis is a short “easy” hike through a sandy wash, and the remaining eight-mile hike is quite strenuous. While there are caches along that trail, the Urban Trail caches are along a level trail with only the slightest elevation gain. We tried to make the caches as varied and different as the surroundings would allow.
Having physical limitations ourselves, we are well aware of the large number of adventurous sorts out there who will never be able to tackle a T4 again. Our goal was to use the striking scenery of the urban portion of this trail to provide a not-too-strenuous adventure for those sorts.
With bad knees and sciatica, we were able to hide the caches without undue stress, so we know they are accessible to the physically challenged. You can walk the roughly five-mile round trip if you wish. You can also drive up the cove, and park-as-you-go, as we did when planting some of the caches. The path that runs along the flood control channel is open from dawn to 10:00 pm, and the scenery is awesome. As always, keep an eye out for creepy crawlies when caching in the desert. Convenient, trail-side parking is available for every cache. Do pay attention to the bike lanes. Parking is allowed on the east side of the street only.
There are 13 caches in this series, with nary a nano among them. We spend a fair amount of time keeping all of our caches in tip-top shape, so please email us with any issues we should know about BEFORE you alter the cache in any way. We have hopes to add a couple more to the mix, but that could be a bit down the line.
In reverse order, from north to south, the caches are:
GC6581B – BEAR IN MIND
GC6581Q – Palo Verde Creek
GC7Z9TB – BABY BEAR
GC65815 – BEAR CONE
GC6581D – BEARLY A SPRINKLE
GC6C77C - Serpentine Creek
GC6C3DQ - FROG CREEK POND
GC6C3DX - BEAR-IED TREASURE
GC6C77P - Creek Crossing
GC6C3E7 - BEAR STINGER
GC6C3EC - ROCKY CREEK
GC6C77Y - SUN-RISE Creek
GC6FDV6 - Bear Spring
The minute I saw this container I knew it belonged in this series. Fortunately, we were able to find the tiniest sweet spot tucked in-between our other caches. Of all the caches in this series, this one is the easiest to reach. It is, admittedly, not quite ON the Bear Creek Trail, but you can reach either Bear in Mind or Palo Verde Creek from your parking spot for this one.
Well, the tiny baby bear container was a great idea, and cuter than cute – muggle eye-candy, for sure. An entire den of baby bears found their way into muggle hands, or unscrupulous fellow geocachers. We've sadly given in, and made adjustments that will admittedly be minus the cute factor, but still fun to find. We also moved the spot a bit, hoping it will be a bit more muggle-proof. You can't see this cache without moving something. That's on purpose - so, as the very old Broadway song goes: "put it back, put it back, put it back the way it was"!
There is only one reason that this little guy keeps going awol - geocachers are NOT putting him back exactly as they found him. That includes the items that keep his cave from being seen. Please take good care of our substitute baby bear. Hint: if you have to move something to find the cache, you must put that something back where it was before you leave. Tuck him in good and snug, and leave his cave EXACTLY as you found it, so the big, bad muggles don't hurt him. Log only. BYOP.