Parks & Rec Traditional Geocache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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Parks and Rec is located on top of Round Mountain in the Ochoco Mountains near Walton Lake, east of Prineville.
Parks and Rec is located on top of Round Mountain in the Ochoco Mountains near Walton Lake, east of Prineville. The trailhead is located at UTM Zone 10, on an NAD 27 north/south line 712,015 meters east of the west edge of Zone 10, at the junction of an east/west line 4,922,694 meters north of the Equator.
There is a paved road up to the trailhead and both the turn off to the trailhead (just beyond the Walton Lake turn off) and the trailhead itself are well marked. A Fee Demo Parking Fee is not required at this time.
The trail to the summit of Round Butte is about 4 miles, 2,924 feet in length and climbs 1,877 feet (including descending a total of 510 feet). It is a single track and well maintained, rising through forests and meadows to a ridge that runs to the summit. It is a National Recreation Trail, one of about 800 in the country!
The cache is offset just off the summit plateau. Note that the coordinates simply locate the general summit plateau. The coordinates are not those of the cache.
The cache is located in the arms of an old mountain mohagany shrub about 18 paces from the edge of the summit plateau at a true bearing of about 310 degrees from the summit. It is not well hidden in the thought that having come so far, one should not be stressed by trying to find a “well hidden” cache. As the saying goes, “getting there is half the fun”!
This is a beautiful hike. Several groups guided by the leaders of the Bend Parks and Recreation Senior Hiking Program do it every year. The view from ‘round the summit is endless on a clear day: find Big Prairie and nearby Lookout Mountain. Take your lunch, essentials and at least two quarts of water. Have a big drink from your third quart that you leave in the rig, before you go, and when you return. Have an R&B root beer soda in Prineville on your way home.
(Do not try to be first finder; friends of mine stumbled on the cache just after I placed it. Just enjoy the hike and pick up this nice cache find.)
(Always print out the Hints at home. The Baron's hints will always help you in your caching adventures.)
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ernq gur qrfpevcgvba jvgu pner! Nf nyjnlf, oevat n pbcl bs gur qrfpevcgvba jvgu lbh, cevag bhg n gbcb znc naq znex lbhe pne (NNN).