The cache is located near the fire lookout tower on top of the peak. The lookout is the tallest of three fire lookout towers in the Pinaleno Mountains. Visit the following link to firetower.org for more information on Heliograph Peak Lookout and other lookouts, Nation wide.
This cache contains two stages. The first is to find a Forest Service plaque which is located at the above coordinates. The second stage is a physical cache which is located near the lookout. To reach the lookout take the Heliograph Peak Lookout Trail. The trailhead begins at the end of Shannon Campground; the coordinates for the trailhead are N32 39.518 W109 51.429. The trail is well marked and is about 2 miles long. It should be an easy hike for most people. Our 6-year old made it up and back with out too much trouble and I comfortably carried our two-year old on my back.
Excerpt from the Forest Service plaque located directly beneath the lookout tower:
The Heliograph Lookout Tower, along with the nearby log cabin and wood frame barn, were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in (1)_____. The steal tower, (2)_____ ft in height, is the tallest lookout on the Coronado National Forest. It is an Aermoter MC-40 with steel cab.
Heliograph Peak has long been known for the commanding views it provides of the surrounding forest and valley. Its name is derived from a heliograph signal station placed here by the United States Army about (3)_____. The Station was part of a widespread communication system using mirrors and shutter to direct beams of sunlight. With the dots and dashes of the Morse code, Army personnel could rapidly transmit information among military posts and field troops regarding Apache movements in southern Arizona and New Mexico.
The first Forest Service fire towers were trees cleared of branches with a simple platform on top. They were constructed in prominent places, which provided an open view of the surrounding forest. The first wooden tower was built about (4)_____. Numerous wooden towers were erected during the (5)____'s, along with the establishment of telephone lines for reporting fire condition.
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees stationed at camps on the Coronado National Forest during the (6)_____'s provided personnel for fire prevention work and additional fire tower construction. Architectural plans were developed throughout the Southwest Region for standard lookout towers make of wood and steel at this time. Few fire towers were built after World War II because of increasing dependence on air surveillance. Today, (7)_____ permanent lookout towers remain on the forest of Arizona. Most are used seasonally, throughout the dry, wind spring months and during the first rains of summer.
This Lookout Tower is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Please help us protect it.
To calculate the coordinates of the cache you must first calculate the offset from the location of the plaque below the tower. Use the following algorithm and the information gathered from the plaque to calculated the following offsets:
Latitude offset = (2) minus the last two digits of (6), minus the last two digits of (5), minus the last two digits of (4), minus the first digit of (7), plus the second to last digit of (1).
Longitude offset = The last two digits of (3), minus the last two digits of (4), plus the last digit of (1), plus the first digit of (1).
After you have the offsets, divide them by 1000 and add them to the plaque coordinates. This is the location of the cache. The cache container is made of 2 X 8 inch PVC pipe, it is painted tan and is sturdy enough to survive the elements. Please rehide the cache as well or better than you found it.