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Peak-A-Boo from the top of Tooele County. 'Tis true…Stockley_true (an old man walking), WeatherGuy and Blizzard (young guys sprinting) placed a cache near the summit of Deseret Peak, the highest point in Tooele County. It is a “honeybee” of a hike. For those not familiar with Utah culture, deseret is a word from the Book of Mormon meaning honeybee. Obviously the “prize” in this geocache is bagging the summit and the views from the top-the dessert is finding the cache.
(Coordinates updated 7/11/04)
Where the heck is Deseret Peak and how does one get there? Deseret Peak (11,031 ft.) is located in the Stansbury mountains southwest of Grantsville. You can approach Deseret on trails from the north or the south. From the south this is a 4+ hour hike for the average geocacher. It is about 8 miles roundtrip. Obtaining map, guidebook or other aids would be a prudent move if you are unfamiliar with the area. If you just follow Mr. Pointer or make intuitive decisions about the trail you may end up exploring unintended peaks and canyons.
Directions to the trailhead taken from High in Utah.:
o Drive west on Interstate 80 from Salt Lake City.
o Take the Grantsville/Tooele exit, Exit 99. Drive 3.5 miles to the junction of Utah Highway 138. Turn right/west and head toward Grantsville.
o Drive 11.2 miles into Grantsville. A sign points to Wasatch National Forest recreation sites. Take a left/south.
o Drive 5.1 miles to a junction. Take a right/west, leading to South Willow Canyon.
o The pavement ends after a little more than 3 miles, at the national forest boundary.
o The trailhead is another 4 miles up the road, at the end of Loop Campground.
Some helps for the hike:
The correct trail is the Mill-D trail. I saw it on a sign along the trail.
The parking lot is at: N40°28.992', W112°36.410'.
The stream crossing is at: N40°28.628', W112°36.811' and is .55 miles from the parking lot as the crow flys.
The sign post at the top of the saddle is at: N40°27423', W112°36.877'. It will make more sense on the hike to 'goto' the saddle waypoint, then after arriving there, 'goto' the cache waypoint. Once you get to the saddle follow the trail to the west.
Note: Immediately after the stream crossing, the route cuts sharply back to the left/east and follows alongside the stream. Then, about 5o feet from the crossing, it forks. Be sure to take the left fork. Two sources we used are High in Utah by Weibel and Miller (1999) and Hiking Utah’s Summits by Huff and Wharton (1997). See attached picture for map images.
Deseret Peak Peak-A-Boo cache has been placed south of the peak along the trail. It is a normal ammo box. Coordinates we used for the summit are: N40° 27.571, W112° 37.580. If you take something please replace it with similar value.
Please leave no trace of your excursion off the trail.
Original cache contents include:
· (Notebook, pencils and sharpener stay in cache)
· Mini First Aid Kit
· Scripto Pocket Lighters, (2)
· Mini-Devil Duckie, Flaming Pink
· Dr. Scholl’s Original Foot Powder
· Spray Repel Insect Repellant, 29% deet
· Garbage Bags, large, for emergency ponchos, (2)
· Deck of Iraqi Most Wanted Playing Cards, in cello wrapper
· "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou" Soundtrack on enhanced CD
· Souvenir Booklet of Historical Postcards of Ogden, Utah
· Official Olympic 2002 Utah Highway Roadmaps (2)
· Ibuprofen Liquid Capsules in sealed pkg, (20)
· Dat’l Do-It Hellish Relish Hot Sauce
· Emergency Mylar Space Blanket
· Stockley_true Geocoin # 98
· Handy Cut Twine, 100’
When you are finished and flush with success, head to your camp for a celebratory dinner or soak your tired feet in one of the nearby streams or lakes or do both or drop down to Grantsville for, well, er, Grantsville.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Rnfg bs genvy nobhg svsgrra srrg ng gur onfr bs n cvar fueho. Cyrnfr yrnir ab genpr bs lbhe rkphefvba bss gur genvy.