Our Story: We were looking over some guide books looking
for a good place to use those snowshoes we got for Christmas. We
came across the well used route up to Lake Kelcema and that looked
good. Then, looking at another book, we came across another route
up the Coal Creek Valley that looked little used and there were no
caches up this second trail. Today we headed out to see what this
little used trail looked like. We arrived at the trailhead to find
lots of families using this area as a sledding area for the little
ones. We made our way on shoeshoes up the road being careful to
stay out of the way of those going down. After a couple hundred
yards the crowds disappeared but the trail was well packed and the
going easy. In about a mile we spied the secondary trail heading
off to the right. Our plan was to go up this trail at least half a
mile and maybe as much as a mile and a half. Well, once we turned
off the main trail we noticed that there were no snow shoe tracks
to follow. We had to break trail and find our own way around the
fallen trees. Our progress slowed but we were still determined. We
passed a spot that looked across the valley at Hall Peak and Big
Four Mountain, beautiful in the snow. Just a little bit further we
came across a small exposed stream across the trail. Not really
much of a stream but we couldn't find a safe way across. We looked
downhill, nope! Lucy thought she found a way around on the uphill
side, nope! It was then that we decided that this was as far as we
cared to go, in the snow. That's where we placed this cache.
The Trail (in winter): From Granite Falls take the
Mountain Loop Road west to where they stop plowing at the Deer
Creek Bridge. Park alongside the road and head up the well marked
road/trail to the north (N 48 05.073, W 121 33.128). Follow the
road for a mile, when the road veers hard to the west look for the
opening to the right (N 48 05.654, W 121 33.001). From here you are
on your own, 2.5 miles round trip, 450 ft elevation gain.
The Trail (in summer): In summer you will be able to
drive Deer Creek Road to within a quarter mile of the cache so the
going will be much easier. Update July 8th, 2008: This cache
is accessable in the summer. It is only 1/4 mile from the nearest
parking on a well defined trail. There is some blowdown in places
but we negotiated the trees with little trouble. The terrain rating
for the summer should be 2 stars.
The Cache: This cache is placed as winter accessible. The
container is inside a green stuff sack, hanging by a string looped
over a branch twelve feet off the ground. When we placed the cache
there was about three feet of snow on the ground and the cache was
hanging above the snow level. If more snow is present then it will
be necessary to find the string and pull the container up out of
the snow.