Conejos Valley -1st glimps Traditional Geocache
Conejos Valley -1st glimps
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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View of Conejos Valley. Route marked by stacked rocks. Faint to no Trail. Growth about 2-3 feet but not too bad. About 3800 feet elev and 250 feet gain loss. 3/4 mile in and out.
This is a doable hike for kids if they are a little used to cross country, HOWEVER!!!...right now there are A LOT of Rattlesnakes out. More this year than maybe the last 10 combined! If your kids are the bouncy here, there, climby this, looky that, inquisitive type, you might want to wait for cold weather, and stick to wide trails for now. If you see a rattlesnake and back up with feet on ground your chances are 99% he will just get away from you. Kids may not be all that focused on watching out for them. (Lord knows I wasn't!) Bites are really bad for kids and not to mention life - flight is real expensive.
This doesn't stop me one iota from being out there but you need to be able to see every foot step or do a good poke'in with a walking stick. There is a rather large rattle snake 4 yrs old maybe) about 50 paces up from the "Easter Island" rock, on this route (west) and 30 feet to the south (left) among the rocks there. I don't kill snakes in the wild. My theory is that fire begat gofers, which begat aerated soil, which begat more cover, both of which begat snakes which like to eat gofers, which begat more big birds ready to eat snakes, gofers, eggs, and a host of other stuff, foxes and coyotes, that probably eat the eggs too. Cool stuff. Would love to hear from a real ecologist about this theory. Please be careful!!!
NOW for the real write up:
Start at the high point on Boulder Creek Road about 8 miles north of Descanso. The route is marked with cairns (or rock stacks) and begins about 32-55-879 N and 116-38-309 W. Look for a Forest Service gate and road leading about 40 feet to a power line service road. Right there on the west side of the power line road note a dirt pile and look up to see a long “Easter Island” looking rock. Walk towards this and about 30 feet to the left (south) of it and you should pick up the first cairn. (32-55-902N, 116-38-333 W). You’ll go up a hill bearing to the north and west. On top (this is where the view gets really good, because from back on Boulder Creek Road this ridge blocks most of the view.) you’ll see an old yellow triangle forest marker. Go about 20 feet to the south (left ) and continue following the route down (the steepest little stretch) and somewhat to the north. (note the white rocks with tourmaline crystals-cool huh? ) At the next rock outcrop you’ll again go to the North and down. Note to the north west a large rock with a large cairn on it. Follow the cairns to this large rock and get up on it if you can. If you are the first before March 31st (2007) there is a free ticket to one of our major local museums in the cache "near" there. -and something else pretty neat! I reduced the difficulty rating, older kids in shape can probably do this but should stay close. The view from the top of the ridge is an excellent little hike if you decide not to go further. Would like to extend this in the future; there is a natural land feature on the next ridge down that is really coooool!.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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[Some way points of some of the cairns to keep you on the route:
(32-55-903N, 116-38-359W)
(32-56-000N, 116-38-499W)
(32-56-000N, 116,38-529W)
(32-56-031N, 116-38-546W) ]