SPELEOTHEM! Traditional Geocache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(micro)
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A fairly easy cache on the trace of the San Andreas Fault as it passes through Stevens Creek County Park. NOTE: Stay between the Guard Rail and the Creek to find this cache. DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS CACHE AT NIGHT AND DO NOT WANDER IN THE ROADWAY. The cache can be grabbed from behind the guardrail. The view of the Speleothem is the best from the cache location
This Speleothem is a massive specimen. It is a large Calcium Carbonate deposit that is growing from a crack fed by a spring. Normally these structures grow in Limestone Caverns as Stalactites and Stalagmites. This one decided to grow on the surface as limestone caverns are not usual around here due to tectonic subduction. Sometimes these structures are called "frozen waterfalls". On the surface you will see typical formations normally seen in caves such as cave drapery a small cave column and a cave pond about halfway up. The mineral being deposited is called Travertine (alabaster). There is a short steep path to the top of this behemoth on its north side, but there is poison oak on each side of the short path which can be easily avoided. If you go to the top you will find a karst growing in the Speleothem, that’s funny because Speleothems normally grow in a karst HA HA! (Geology Joke, I digress..)The container is a film can wrapped in duct tape. The cache is across the road about 300ft from the parking area so be extremely careful crossing the road. The deep canyon with the limited view of the satellites is the reason for the difficulty of 2. If you cannot maintain a good signal in this spot the spoiler will provide guidance, but my Garmin 60CS was reading 4 satellites when I placed it.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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