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(regular)
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This is a standard geocache (ammo. can) near the top of Dry Mtn. The road is usually passable from June through October, sometimes longer. The cache is a short walk on uneven ground from the parking area. The road is a bit rough, but many cars could make it with careful driving.
This is rattlesnake county, so BE CAREFUL. Boots and jeans are good, and I recommend that you use a longish stick to poke about rather than putting your hands into places. For some reason, snakes are more common here than in much of the forest to the north. It is also a grazing allotment, so there may be cattle around. Bear, cougar, coyotes, and wolves have all been seen in the surrounding area. You might see mule deer, elk, porcupine, golden eagle, pygmy owl, kestrel, lizards, mtn. chickadee, stellers jay, jack rabbits, cottontails, pika, and pack rats. You will almost certainly see turkey vultures and golden mantled ground squirrels. The old growth ponderosa pine was logged in 1972.
I lived here for 3 summers, and the lookout work helped pay for my education. The view from the upper part of the tower, just above 6000’, is great, but it may or may not be open for climbing. The lookout was manned and open when I placed the cache.
There is an outhouse. Bring your own water – plenty. It’s called Dry Mtn. for a reason. There are benchmarks on top; look under the steps for the older one.
You might begin your journey at the Hines logging road by the truck stop in Hines, or by following the Silver Creek Rd. that joins Hwy 20 near Riley. Around Egypt Well, near the road junctions that you need to get here, are many roads, some poorly marked, and perhaps some not at all. Most of them you don’t want. So, since you are going to considerable trouble to get here, I have drawn a little map and posted it as a photo with this page. Also, I set out a helper cache called Dry Mtn. Ice Cave. It will be much easier to get on the right road to that one by following your GPS than using Dry Mtn. co-ordinates. The junction to Dry Mtn. is .35 miles NW of Dry Mtn. Ice Cave on the same road.
Now here is a spoiler. I really don’t want you to go to all this trip for nothing, so this spoiler has it’s own little code, and you can take it along and decipher it if you get stuck.
:ppl gpt s tpvl yjsy jsd gtsvyitrf smf yjr yp[ jsd do;f fpem smf yp yjr dofr/
This mountain sees heavy hunting, so please hide the cache really good. We don’t need bullet holes in it. Some hunters’ idea of entertainment is to drink a few beers and then have target practice [L] I didn’t tell the lookout about the cache when I placed it.
Just west of the cache is the big rock where my dog and I surprised the bear. I climbed up on the rock from the uphill side, and the bear was on the downhill side. After my dog tried and failed to follow me, he ran around the rock and surprised the bear just as I got up to where I could look down and see it happen. How that bear did run!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Gur ybbxbhg pna’g frr lbh ng gur pnpur ybpngvba.
[Spoiler code breaker] Zbir bar yrggre gb gur yrsg ba n fgnaqneq xrlobneq.