Priest Lake viewed from the summit of Sundance Mountain
The landscape at the southern end of Priest Lake is dominated by Sundance Mountain. In the late summer of 1967, a forest fire erupted on Sundance and eventually consumed approximately 56,000 acres on the mountain and adjacent areas. The mountain is still recovering from that trauma, which burned away its trees and left only a forest of ghostly fire-scoured snags to cover its slopes. The fire amazingly spared the lookout tower that straddles the 6300-foot peak (the structure has nonetheless since been rebuilt), and if you visit during the fire season, you may be invited up inside for a guided tour by a friendly lookout.
The lack of trees on Sundance has led to spectacular panoramic views from the summit. Priest Lake lies below, the Jack Pine Flats stretch out to the south, and Mount Roothaan, Chimney Rock, Roman Nose, and scores of other majestic peaks along the Selkirk Crest dominate the horizon to the north and east. As befits a TSM cache, parts of Washington, Idaho and Montana are visible from the location, not to mention British Columbia. You can also see Idaho's first cache, the Camels Prairie Stash, from the summit.
The journey up to the summit involves an approximately 8-mile ride on dirt forest roads. The last quarter of the way is steep and rocky and not suitable for most cars lacking 4-wheel drive and/or high ground clearance. Once to the top, though, it is an easy tenth-of-a-mile walk to the cache itself on the open meadow-like summit of the mountain.
The cache container is a drab olive .50-cal. ammo box stenciled with "GEOCACHE" on multiple sides in yellow and an "Official Geocache" sticker affixed.