What's this? A nearly-empty walking trail? This looks like a good place for a challenge trail. I'll get the challenge party started, and hopefully others will add to it!
The hills and mountains surrounding the bay provide some of the best caching the Bay Area has to offer. We have the Santa Cruz Mountains, the Diablo Range, the Marin Headlands, and more. What could be better than a day of caching in these beautiful hills enjoying the fresh air and the magnificent views? Not much, in my opinion.
How much of the Bay Area hills and mountains have you explored? This challenge is for altitude-seeking cachers who love the heights!
For purposes of this challenge, the Bay Area counties include the following 10. County high points (in feet) are included for reference: Marin (2,577), Sonoma (4,495), Napa (4,221), Solano (2,822), Contra Costa (3,848), Alameda (3,854), Santa Clara (4,385), Santa Cruz (3,236), San Mateo (2,622), and San Francisco (932).
Minimum challenge requirements (all include all cache types excluding Adventure Labs):
- 1 or more cache finds >4,000 feet elevation in at least 1 Bay Area county
- 1 or more cache finds >3,000 feet elevation in at least 3 Bay Area counties
- 1 or more cache finds >2,000 feet elevation in at least 5 Bay Area counties
No actual peakbagging is required for this challenge. You can get some of these requirements as drive-ups. But where's the fun in that?
Check your qualifications here:
You're looking for a bison that can be reached easily from the trail without violating the instructions on the nearby sign. The terrain rating is for the challenge. The actual terrain rating of the cache is between a T1 and T1.5.
Joe's Trail has no posted hours and plenty of free public parking at various points. Happy hunting!