The cache is located on the slopes of Folding Mountain immediately south of Highway 16 west of the town of Hinton. Parking is available at the Folding Mountain rest stop off the west bound lanes of Hwy 16. The trail head is at N 53º 14.448 W 117º 47.217' on the south side of the highway and is well marked with a yellow hiker sign. Be careful crossing the highway!
The trail is well maintained by local users and is marked at regular intervals. It ascends through heavy tree cover up the west side of the ridge from the highway. Grades are moderate to steep so be prepared for a bit of a workout and be sure to bring water. If you're looking for an excuse for a rest break on the way up stop and look for the HTEG, First Views, That'll put a SPRING in your step!!, Folding Mountain, Folding Ridge View, Crown Royal On The 'Rocks', YE OLDE WINE CELLAR and Jumble caches.
Eventually the trail crests the ridge and breaks out into the open offering some terrific views of the Athabasca River valley and Jasper National Park to the west. A relatively flat hike along the ridge follows until a final ascent to the cache.
The cache is approximately 750 metres in elevation above and 6.9km (trail length) from the highway and offers panoramic views to the east and of the valley below. The lid of the cache is anchored so it's best to unscrew the canister and leave the lid in place. There's a pencil sharpener in the base of the container which also unscrews.
If you have the time the summit of the mountain is another 1.2km and 240 metres higher. On the way there is the Almost There cache and nearby is the Folding Summit cache.
If you do go to the summit you can bag a find for the Brass Cap Cache. You'll be looking for a "Brass Cap" survey benchmark at N 53° 12.760 W 117° 42.286. This cache is a roving virtual so don't be surprised that the coordinates on the cache page don't match but logging of previous caps is permitted.
Here's a list of all my caches in the Hinton area.
EXPECT DEEP SNOW DURING THE WINTER MONTHS
Click To Rate This Cache