Kwaaymii High Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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A short walk from a superb vista point, this cache is dedicated to the Kwaaymii band of Kumeyaay people.
Updated 9/2/207
Confirmed the original container has gone missing even though it was in an unlikely spot to be muggled. Coordinates have been updated to reflect new location 50+ feet NNE from original location. You will find 6" x 9" clear Lock & Lock hidden in rock outcrop with a better view to the desert below. Please rehide it well as this area sees quite a few visitors year-round. Thanks for visiting.
Original post:
One sad result of the 2003 Cedar Fire was destruction of the home of Carmen Lucas, on the nearby Lucas Ranch, also known as the Laguna Reservation. Tom Lucas, her father and last "official" member of the Kwaaymii village. As a tribe of one, he single handedly fought for 25 years to gain property rights for this small, 320-acre piece of land, the traditional home of his people. In 1949, he became the only Indian in the country to successfully have a reservation deeded as private property.
Although she grew up in Pacific Beach and served and retired from the Marine Corps, Carmen eventually returned to her father's land. The Cedar Fire destroyed Carmen's house but somehow left Tom's circa 1920s cabin intact.
The cache is a conventional ammo box placed near the namesake Kwaaymii Point, about a mile north of the Lucas Ranch. The parking area is a convenient access point for the Pacific Crest Trail. The PCT proceeds south from here following an abandoned pre-1975 section of Sunrise Highway. It passes the Pioneer Mail Picnic Area before ascending toward Garnet Peak and Mount Laguna and eventually, Mexico. A hang glider club operates off the bluffs just to the north.
Original contents include:
Plush chameleon
Two Klutz juggling cubes
Expanding lizard in a traveling case
Heavy gold plate bracelet
Squeaking frog
Disney figure
San Diego Gulls hockey puck
Variety of small lizards
You can learn more about Carmen and Tom Lucas and the Laguna Reservation/Lucas Ranch at
(visit link)
and see an old photo of the original Sunrise Highway at
(visit link)
Enjoy your visit.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Arj uvag 9/2/2007: Purfg-uvtu jrfg-snpvat phool haqre ynetr ebpx.