Lick Skillet Virtual Cache Virtual Cache
Lick Skillet Virtual Cache
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A quick jaunt for great views overlooking historic Gold Hill and the majestic Continental Divide.
This virtual cache, just down the road from the Scared History cache, marks the location of a peculiar little monument and some spectacular views. The cache is named for the road and gulch it overlooks, which in turn, derives its name from the miners of Gold Hill, one of Colorado’s first permanent mining settlements, who would leave out their cookware and allow the local wildlife to lick it clean.
From the site, you can see a lengthy stretch of the Continental Divide, with peaks in the Indian Peaks Wilderness as well as the southern portion of Rocky Mountain National Park. The tallest peak is Longs Peak at 14,255 ft. above sea level. It is the northernmost 14er in Colorado and is the only 14er visible. Most of the other major peaks hover near 13,200 ft.
Several small cirque glaciers are visible among the peaks. They are only a fraction of the size they once were, but are glaciers none-the-less. The most prominent glacier is Arapahoe Glacier, which supplies a portion of Boulder’s water supply. Because of the glacier’s water-supply status, hiking is not permitted. The individuals responsible for patrolling the glacier have often been affectionately termed the “Boulder Glacier Cops.”
Below the cache site, tailings and other remnants can be seen of the abandoned Alamakee Mine doting the area’s surroundings. This may have been a gold mine; however, it is likely that it is a tellurium mine. The discovery of tellurium caused Gold Hill’s second boom in 1872, and is a mineral used to improve the machineablitly of copper and stainless steel, as well as being a basic ingredient in blasting caps.
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