| This cache site is high atop a secret hill in the Coso Mountains, with a killer view of Centennial Flat, Malapais Mesa, part of Owens Dry Lake and the southern Inyo Mountains.
You won't find this location in any tourist brochure, but the view easily outdoes others that receive tons more ink and throngs of annoying sightseers.
The cache is called View-of-the-Century cache because it has a view of Centennial Flat. Century ... Centennial, get it? Ho ho ho.
Hooray — no people!!!!
Access is by about five miles of unmaintained dirt road; 4wd should not be needed. Once you park your car, the journey to the cache can be either a strenuous .3 mile hike or an easy half-mile stroll, depending on your route. Although there are no inherently dangerous spots in the hike or on the drive, be aware that this is unpopulated Mojave Desert backcountry — hot in the summer, cold in the winter, no water and no people (Yay!!!). Cell phones do not work here.
The cache is off a little-known dirt road that winds through a beautiful cactus and Joshua Tree forest on the northern flanks of the Coso Mountains. The road across Centennial Flat is plainly marked on the Auto Club Death Valley map; it is a right-angle turn (south) off State Route 190 between Olancha and Darwin, a few miles before the cutoff to Darwin. Coordinates for the road's intersection with SR 190? Funny you should ask: N36 19.842 W117 42.929
The road to this geocache is unmaintained dirt, but it’s in pretty good shape. I wouldn't recommend a Honda or a sportscar on this road, but you shouldn't need four-wheel-drive. Anything with okay clearance — like a truck or SUV or even an old VW bug — should be just fine. There are a couple of rutted areas, but just take 'em slow, and you'll do fine.
Having said this, wash-outs sometimes do occur around here, so use your head and turn around if the road ends at a big cliff. I can't update road conditions in this description every other day.
Cache contains nifty prizes for the connoisseur
The cache has some nifty prizes for the jaded cache-seeker. I wrote every single one of them down in a little notebook, which I conveniently lost. Soooo, you'll just have to believe me when I say that there's neat stuff in the cache, because I honestly can't remember what I put in there. Well, that's not entirely true. I remember that there are at least three rare Vicoprofen drug rep pens. Vicoprofen is the same pain reliever as Vicodin, but with ibuprofen instead of tylenol. Please don't take the last pen without leaving something for people to write in the log.
Geocache is an EZ find
Okay, there is a little bit of effort needed to access this cache, but once you get in the general area, the find itself should be fairly easy. I'm not one for leading you to a field of 10,000 boulders and secreting the cache under one of them.
As for the hike to the cache itself: Once you park your vehicle, you have two choices. You can take the obvious route to the cache — up a somewhat steep hill. If you want to spend a few more minutes in a leisurely walk, simply go around the hill to the left (south) and follow a gently climbing wash to the back of the hill.
Once you're at the top of the hill, you'll notice that a ridge connects the hill with other overlooks along the edge of the Cosos. So explore! There is common opal along and below several of the ridges to the northwest. Don't forget the F-4 jet fighter up one of the canyons to the east. It crashed back in the Vietnam era, but it's so dry out here, it looks like it fell from the sky yesterday.
There are petroglyphs in the canyons at the end of the road and a nifty cabin or two. One has the best equipped outhouse in the Death Valley area. No exaggeration!
If you remember what you found in the cache, drop me an e-mail to refresh my memory.
Have fun and let me know how you made out!
UBeHEbe JeeBEE
Those coordinates again are:
N36 16.445 W117 46.070
Averaged, checked and double checked with a Garmin 60cs.
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