For local history buffs, the “Old” Orchard Camp Cache was located
at the site of the old dance pavilion. That site is what most
hikers have come to know as Orchard Camp though it only represents
a portion of the camp. The “New” cache is located in an area know
to locals as “The Meadow”. It is said that this was the area of the
orchard from which the camp got it’s name, though I have not seen
any of the apple or orange trees there.
The Old Mt. Wilson Trail to Orchard Camp is in generally good
condition, the recent downpours have not made any parts impassible.
You should plan to take this hike early in the day, large portions
of the trail have no shelter from the sun and can turn what is a
very pleasant hike into a blazing inferno if you hit the trail
late.
A compass is a good thing to have also. Due to tree cover, steep
canyon walls, etc. an accurate reading can be tough sometimes. The
hint below will give you a compass bearing that may be useful.
The cache is under a flat rock with a couple of rocks in front
of it, It is a black plastic tube approximately 8 x 5 inches. When
Parrot Head & I placed this cache it contained:
1 custom Jimmy Buffet CD burned by Parrot Head.
5 Ugly Brothers Raspberry Chipotle recipes.
1 P-38 can opener
4 AA batteries
Camera for your self portrait (please be sure the flash is OFF when
you leave it).
Log book and pencil
and, for the local history buffs:
2 scanned & printed details from a 1941 topo map of the camp
area.
The cool thing about this map is that it also shows the location
of the abandoned trail to Lookout Point. That trail is extremely
hard to follow and should only be attempted by a team of very
experienced hikers who can read a topo. There are rumors that the
trial to Lookout Point will be restored in a year or two. One of
these maps has a hand written description of an interesting site
nearby.
** Current (1990's) TOPO MAP
of the trail (390k).