If you've ever driven around
Southington and Meriden or along 691 you'll know West
Peak. It's the big rock with all the
communication antennas
on the top. The cache will get you right up close and
personal with that area.
West peak is accessed via the same road that
gets you to Castle Craig.
The Co-ordinates for the
start of the road up are N 41 32.961 W072 49.772 (inside Hubbard
Park, Meriden)
The road is open from April
through to the end of October.
On the way up the road splits. To the
left is Castle Craig, to the right is West Peak. The road up
usually has wooden barricades across it (unless people are working
at the communications towers). You can park near the barriers
and walk up. It's about 1/2 a mile. If you're feeling
brave you can move the barrier and drive up. It is not
private property and there aren't any no trespassing signs, the
barriers are to guide people up to the left to the Castle Craig
side of the mountain. It does feel naughty for some reason
:)
The split and barrier is
at N41°33.624 W72°50.381
There are also many trails that lead up to
the top of the peak and following the Blue
Trail from most points will get you to where the cache
is. You can also hike over from East Peak (Castle Craig) or
simply walk the road up.
There is a large hardly used parking area at
the top of the road. The Blue
Trailruns directly through the middle of the parking lot. If
you drive to the far end of the parking lot and follow the trail in
and then take an immediate right, you'll come out to an observation
point that will not be rivaled in the area. At 1040 feet it's
higher than the top of Castle Craig and has a completely different
view. As you hunt for the cache, there will be many vantage
points; looking North you'll be able to see hills in Springfield
and into Vermont. Once you've taken in the view, walk back to
the parking lot and follow the Blue
Trailin the other direction to the first stage of the
cache.
This is a 3 stage multi cache. The
first two are 35mm film canisters, the final stage is an ammo
box. The caches are hidden within 100ft of the trail and very
little if any bushwhacking will be required.
Caution! The
first stage of this hike will put you close to the edge of the
cliff. The cache is not hidden over the edge, do not jump
off just because your GPS is telling you to. The cache is
at least 10 feet from the edge.
There are two other places to park for this cache, they
both offer longer hikes than just driving up, but nothing is over 3
miles. The are: longer hike but better parking area and the shorter
hike (only by a little bit) and tricky parking conditions, perhaps
only space for one car...
|
Longer
Hike:
Parking and trail head: N 41 33.031 W72
50.113
Slightly Shorter
Hike:
Parking and trail head are N41 33.195 W072
50.707 |
Follow the white
trail over the pedestrian bridge, go over the bridge next foot
bridge and head towards the intersection of the Blue Trail and the trail you're on.
The Co-ords for this intersection are N 41
33.425 W72 50.468
Be careful here! -
The Blue Trail loops at this point,
the trail therefore goes in two directions, The trail you want
heads off at 270° (that's to the left if your standing there
looking up the hill). Just stick to the Blue Trail and you'll be ok.
