WaStatePks100: Forks of the Sky - Index Town Wall Traditional Cache
WaStatePks100: Forks of the Sky - Index Town Wall
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(large)
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This cache was originally placed in 2013 as part of the Washington State Parks Centennial GeoTour - "100 caches in 100 parks to celebrate 100 years" - cosponsored by Washington State Geocaching Association (WSGA).
NOTE: Please read hint for directions on best access to cache.
Forks of the Sky State Park is one of those cool places that you may only find through geocaching. This relatively unknown state park of 1378 acres has several points relatively accessible for visitors. They include Raptor Point, just off of US 2; Picnic Bend, just off of the Index-Galena Road; and the Index Town Wall, just to the west of Index along Reiter Road.
The Index Town Wall is composed of two stunningly beautiful cliffs just north of Index and includes the Index Lower Town Wall - a well known rock climbing area. This area was used as a granite quarry from 1904 until May 1932 when the quarry building burned to the ground. In the throes of the depression, the quarry was never rebuilt.
In 1984, the Robbins Company used the Lower Town Wall as a test site for a drilling operation. A 200 foot long tunnel was drilled into the heart of the granite mountain before the company was persuaded to stop by the protest of my an local climbers who used the wall. Later on, the University of Washington Physics Department used the site during their investigations into the force of gravity and the possible existence of a "fifth force" (in addition to gravity, the other three known physical forces are the strong nuclear force responsible for keeping atomic nuclei together, the weak nuclear force responsible for atomic decay, and the force of electromagnetism). The experiments into gravity and the fifth force were completed a number of years ago and the tunnel is now closed off, though you can see the tunnel entrance as you walk to this cache.
While the Index Upper Town Wall is part of the Forks of the Sky State Park, portions of the Lower Index Town Wall remained in private hands. The owners of the property investigated resuming quarry operations at the site a few years ago. A coalition of climbers and organizations have banded together to purchase the property with the intention of giving it to the state park to remain as the state's top rock climbing destination.
If you look closely at the picture above, you can see a red-shirted person starting their ascent up the Lower Town Wall. The cache is placed on land that is already part of the state park and is used as an access trail to the Upper Index Town Wall.
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- This geocache has an approved Permit to be placed at this location on property managed by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission. Visitors are responsible for acquainting themselves with policies and rules pertaining to State Parks areas.
- The following items may not be placed in the geocache: food, illegal substances, medications, personal hygiene products, pornographic materials, hazardous materials, or weapons of any type.
- By searching for the cache, visitors agree that they are responsible for their own actions, and acknowledge that neither the State of Washington nor the cache owner is responsible for any loss or injury that may occur in relation to such search.
- Report any incident, problem, or violation to State Parks staff.
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Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
[Follow the two-lane track on the far side of the RR tracks towards the NE until the road that accesses the tunnel area. From there the trail takes off to the right from near the base of the cliff. Cache is an ammo can hidden on the right hand side of the large boulder at the end of the switchback.]