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Cetacean (whale) cache Traditional Cache

Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
4 out of 5

Size: Size:   regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:

This "whale" of a cache is close to an alpine lake, near Whale Peak, Colorado. Our route was to take hwy 285 to "Webster" (near Grant) onto County Road 60 (Forest Road 120), past a campground or two, to the Gibson Lake trailhead - the last 2 miles to the trailhead is for high clearance (probably 4WD) vehicles ONLY. The hike to Gibson lake is about 2 miles. The cache itself is at ~12,350', and is within 1/4 mile of the continental divide.

The cache is an ammo box and contains (some) whale related themes: A porpoise soap, a slinky, a beany-baby critter, a copy of Moby Dick, a CDR of ancient Bob Marley and the Wailers (get it?), a hand-generator flashlight, a picture of a whale, a coffee cup, a rubber ball that looks like a world-globe, a package of go-fish playing cards, large candles, and a box of bandaids with an aquatic theme. Please consider continuing the cetacean theme!

There is also a disposable camera and a notebook and pencils for you to log your visit. Photos taken of mermaids and sailors are OK!

We will be posting names and photos on our cetacean website.

Oh yeah - some of us think it would be cool if you read a randomly selected paragraph or two from Moby Dick while you are there. Be conscious!

We think it is well worth it to continue climbing (huff puff) to the 13,000' Whale peak on the divide - lots of great views from up there. From the lake, you can see a cross just under the peak. We suppose that this is associated with a plaque near there, marking a death that had occurred.

Update 6/13/2003: We just got back from visiting the cache. We replaced the camera with a fresh one. Still a lot of snow there as of this date, and a lot of snow fields to cross, but the cache location itself is clear. The cache was in great shape (thanks, finders!). It bears repeating: Get a map to know where you are going. This hike itself is short (about 2 miles) but remember you at 12,300' - we had a couple of cold sleet storms while visiting.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Ybbx sbe na boivbhf cvyr bs ...

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)