Burke Mountain is Phenomenal! - Virtual Reward 4.0
3 Waypoints, 3 Photos, 3 Trivia Questions...
I'm a local Tri-Cities resident. But honestly had never known about Pinecone Burke Provincial Park until geocaching. I was scared to head into the area on my own for many years. I came in to get a couple of caches in 2019 and started adding my own to this amazing area! Which spawned a bit of a find/hide phenomenon. Once the official app came out and it's offline lists/maps, this area opened up to me. I was no longer nervous about treading these trails as there are trails to show me how to get home. And a couple of Geopups (Ari, my Jindo-Shiba mix rescue and Noah, my Beagle mix rescue) to enjoy the trails with has been a blessing. I always knew if I was lucky enough to get a virtual, that the trails and their treasures deserved a spotlight. Although I know you adventure seekers have been to all of these locations before, it's now time to return, and get your photos to earn this higher Difficulty-Terrain virtual combination. I know those of you who don't hike will be disappointed that you can't earn this smiley. But those who challenge themselves with filling their Fizzy grids for all their icon types shall be quite elated to earn this treasure!
Your job, to complete this virtual, is simple. There are three waypoints. You must go to ALL THREE. You may only log your smiley after visiting all three after publication. You can absolutely do this over three separate hikes, or all on one crazy day (I know the 6 of you who will do so!). To make it a fair playing field, the 3 photos you must take are very specific. I DO require you to take a photo of YOURSELF at each location to prove you were there (frontal, side photo, back photo - face not necessary). Otherwise, there are some who would have a dear helpful friend hold up keys for them... Sorry, that doesn't work for me. You DO NOT NEED TO POST your own face on your log. You do, have to attach the photos to your log, in a timely manner from your logging date. Again, failure to see your body at each location as indicated will not be accepted. This is to keep it fair for those who do the hike up to each location, that they get the glory they have earned. Please note that there is ALSO a question to answer at each location. Don't forget your Trivia night answer in a email to me...
So where do I need to go? - to these 3 treasures set/left behind.
Location 1) Sawblade Falls trail "Sawblade". Approximately 690 metres elevation. You've been on the trail, you went to the Falls. Did you get to the actual Sawblade trail marker mounted on the trees above you? Go beneath it. Stand in line with the large tree so that "Sawblade" is behind you. Cheese! That's photo #1. Please do not include the trivia information in your photo! Hope you stopped and enjoyed the Falls too.
Trivia question #1: Which 2 people designed and built this trail?
Location 2) The Infamous 1950's Bulldozer. Approximately 790 metres elevation. You huffed and puffed up here on more than one occasion and have been wowed by its' presence in the woods. It's a steep elevation climb. For this virtual, you need to take a photo of yourself sitting or squatting in the Dozer bucket. Peace sign! That's photo #2. So, nope, none of those selfies you already took will work. Thanks dora_mor for the photo (you get to skip this hike!).
Trivia question #2: Who manufactured this bulldozer? Poke around the sides to read it.
Location 3) Burke Mountain Ski Resort - Chalet René. Approximately 970 metres elevation. This area was home to a poorly thought out ski resort. There just wasn't enough consistent snow to make it commercially viable, but some of the structures remain and a few are still in use. Your photo opportunity here is to spot the chalet (it's bright green!) and snap your selfie with the sign in the background... Explore the site - it's really awesome!
Trivia question #3: What is the house # of Chalet René? (3 digits).
Once you have completed the 3 hikes, have taken the appropriate 3 photos, please attach them to your log or send them to me, along with your three trivia answers either through the messenger service, or email them. You do not have to wait for a reply to log your find, if there are problems with the answers or the photos, I will let you know. Thanks for visiting my favourite places and enjoying Phenomenal Pinecone Burke Mountain! Please be aware that these areas are at elevation. Which means a significant hike to them all. There is spotty cell service in these areas (or none) so have your offline maps ready. And the hills are white! I expect there is snow there already at the Chalet, but most definitely at the Bulldozer. All three hikes at once is roughly 15.2 km with 941 m elevation gains!
Be prepared for wildlife, be safe, have fun.
Virtual Rewards 4.0 - 2024-2025
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between January 17, 2024 and January 17, 2025. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 4.0 on the Geocaching Blog.