This past weekend, I hid 4 more caches. All of them are along the Platte River and three of them are in Waterton Canyon. These three plus one that I hid a week before make up a series devoted to Waterton Canyon side trails. These side trails are rarely visited by people who go into the canyon and they are really interesting places. One of them in particular is about 500 feet down one of these trails and the side trail ends up in a really neat mini canyon. I think cachers will find all of this series a lot of fun.
However, they all require a bit of a hike since you can't drive into Waterton Canyon at all. You have to hike or bike. The closest one requires a hike of about 1.75 miles one way and the farthest one requires a trek of about 4 miles one way. This would be easiset by bike and that is what I recommend.
The other cache was also hidden along the Platte but over in the Two Forks area. It is another cache in the Fallen Flag railroad series. The trail along the river is on an old railroad grade. The road up into Waterton Canyon is also on the old railroad grade but after a little over 6 miles, it reaches the Strontia Springs Dam. At the far end of the reservoir behind the dam, the old railroad grade continues and comes out where the Platte River branches into "two forks". It is at this location that you can park and walk the half mile or so to this new cache.
The railroad through the canyon was constructed in 1878. It eventually became part of the Colorado & Southern Railroad. The last train went through there in 1937 and the rails were probably taken up not long after that - probably that year.
There are some interesting railroad-related artifacts along the right of way and you can see them every 100 feet or so on the hillside along the old grade. There were two methods employed for the telegraph line that followed the railroad and you can see the remains of both along the way if you keep a sharp eye out. The more common method was typical wooden poles. Most of these along this grade were sawed off leaving pole stumps about 3 feet high.
The other method is more interesting and this method is in evidence along this route as well as in Waterton Canyon and just about anywhere else along this old railroad grade. You can see one or two vertical metal poles stuck in rock outcroppings fairly high above the grade. This cache is hidden behind a spot where there is only one of these metal poles.
Getting to this cache requires a bit of climbing but it's not that hard. The cache is hidden about 35 feet above the trail and about 25 feet behind one of these metal poles.
These caches are not likely to be snow friendly and they require some effort to get to. They are all meant to be memorable caches. None of them have been found yet - not even the closest one in Waterton. It will be interesting to see how long it takes. It might even be next spring!
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Three New Caches
I hid three new geocaches today. Two of them are part of a series started by a cacher named Grand High Pobah dedicated to fallen flag railroads. Fallen flag railroads no longer exist either through abandonment or corporate takeover. These two new caches are near one of those historical railroads.
The Denver, South Park, and Pacific railroad was a narrow gauge line (3’ between the rails) that started life in Denver in 1874 and was headed to the mining camps in the mountains. The main route of this railroad followed the course of the Platte River through Waterton Canyon and eventually over Kenosha Pass.
There was a branch that split off of the main line just before the line entered Waterton Canyon. By the time the branch line was built, the DSP&P had become part of the Colorado and Southern (C&S) railroad. This branch line was called the Silica Branch and it crossed the river, went back downstream a ways and then headed up into what is now Roxborough. It then ended near the old kiln that was built there about 1904 by the Silicated Brick Company.
Construction of the railroad branch line began in September 1908. It was a narrow gauge line almost 4 miles long terminating at Silica. The brick company lasted less than 10 years but clay and silica was mined in the area until the 1960's. The railroad branch operated intermittently until 1940 when it was abandoned and then dismantled in 1941. All of the remaining brick-related buildings were demolished over time, except for the kiln which you can see even today.
I hid two caches, one at each end of the branch line. They are both camoflaged pastic containers.
The Denver, South Park, and Pacific railroad was a narrow gauge line (3’ between the rails) that started life in Denver in 1874 and was headed to the mining camps in the mountains. The main route of this railroad followed the course of the Platte River through Waterton Canyon and eventually over Kenosha Pass.
There was a branch that split off of the main line just before the line entered Waterton Canyon. By the time the branch line was built, the DSP&P had become part of the Colorado and Southern (C&S) railroad. This branch line was called the Silica Branch and it crossed the river, went back downstream a ways and then headed up into what is now Roxborough. It then ended near the old kiln that was built there about 1904 by the Silicated Brick Company.
Construction of the railroad branch line began in September 1908. It was a narrow gauge line almost 4 miles long terminating at Silica. The brick company lasted less than 10 years but clay and silica was mined in the area until the 1960's. The railroad branch operated intermittently until 1940 when it was abandoned and then dismantled in 1941. All of the remaining brick-related buildings were demolished over time, except for the kiln which you can see even today.
I hid two caches, one at each end of the branch line. They are both camoflaged pastic containers.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
1000 Caches
Actually, 1001 as I write this. I discovered a set of micro caches outside of DIA hidden by Mondou2. They are named after the national parks and I think there is one for just about every park that exists. So I went out there and found a bunch of these caches on consecutive weekends. On the first pass through the area, I found 52 caches most of which were part of the national park series. That beats my old record for one day of 22. And these 52 caches were found in about 4 hours.
The next weekend, I made my way up to Greeley to watch the Northern Colorado Bears lose another football game. I left early to find some more of this series of caches and found a total of 37 in about 3 hours. This put me past the 1000 milestone.
The 1000th cache was a micro in Greeley called Beware of the Bear. It is in the parking lot of the football stadium. Later in the day, I hid one of my own in Greeley on campus. It was published later in the day and found at 6:20 the next morning. A total of 2 people have found it so far.
MY next goal is to be among the top 100 cachers in Colorado. This will be difficult and might take some time. Right now, number 100 has found 1149 caches. My current rank is 113. Mondou2 has the most finds in Colorado with over 15,000. He has hidden more than 500 caches!
The next weekend, I made my way up to Greeley to watch the Northern Colorado Bears lose another football game. I left early to find some more of this series of caches and found a total of 37 in about 3 hours. This put me past the 1000 milestone.
The 1000th cache was a micro in Greeley called Beware of the Bear. It is in the parking lot of the football stadium. Later in the day, I hid one of my own in Greeley on campus. It was published later in the day and found at 6:20 the next morning. A total of 2 people have found it so far.
MY next goal is to be among the top 100 cachers in Colorado. This will be difficult and might take some time. Right now, number 100 has found 1149 caches. My current rank is 113. Mondou2 has the most finds in Colorado with over 15,000. He has hidden more than 500 caches!
Saturday, October 18, 2008
The Planets
We now have 8 planets since Pluto was demoted to a dwarf planet. But did you know that Pluto is not even the largest of the dwarf planets? The knowledge of the Solar System has changed quite a bit in recent decades. When was in high school in the 70’s, I think Jupiter was known to have only 12 moons. Now it has 63.
Here is the order of the planets (8) and dwarf planets (5) along with some interesting facts about each one. By the way, one AU is the distance from the sun to the Earth.
1. Mercury - .38 AU – 4880 km in diameter
2. Venus - .72 AU – 12,100 km
3. Earth – 1 AU – 12,750 km
4. Mars – 1.52 AU – 6800 km
5. Ceres – 2.5-2.9 AU – 950 km
6. Jupiter – 5.2 AU – 143,000 km
7. Saturn – 9.54 AU – 120,500 km
8. Uranus – 19.2 AU – 51,100 km
9. Neptune – 30 AU – 49,500 km
10. Pluto – 29-49 AU – 2274 km in diameter
11. Haumea - 35-51 AU – 1400 km
12. Makemake - 38-53 AU – 1500 km
13. Eris – 96.7 AU – 2450 km in diameter
Not all of the planets have moons and some of the moons have not yet been named.
Earth – 1 – the moon
Mars – 2 – Phobos, Deimos
Jupiter – 63 – Metis, Adrastea, Amalthea, Thebe, Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Themisto, Leda, Himalia, Lysithea, Elara, Carpo, Euporie, Orthosie, Euanthe, Thyone, Mneme, Harpalyke, Hermippe, Praxidike, Thelxinoe, Iocaste, Ananke, Arche, Pasithee, Chaldene, Kale, Isonoe, Aitne, Erinome, Taygete, Carme, Kalyke, Eukelade, Kallichore, Helike, Eurydome, Autonoe, Sponde, Pasiphae, Megaclite, Sinope, Hegemone, Aoede, Callirrhoe, Cyllene, Kore
Saturn – 60 – Pan, Daphnis, Atlas, Prometheus, Pandora, Epimetheus, Janus, Mimas, Methone, Anthe, Pallene, Enceladus, Telesto, Tethys, Calypso, Dione, Helene, Polydeuces, Rhea, Titan, Hyperion, Iapetus, Kiviuq, Ijiraq, Phoebe, Paaliaq, Skathi, Albiorix, Bebhionn, Erriapo, Siarnaq, Skoll, Tarvos, Tarqeq, Greip, Hyrrokkin, Mundilfari, Jarnsaxa, Narvi, Bergelmir, Suttungr, Hati, Bestla, Farbauti, Thrymr, Aegir, Kari, Fenrir, Surtur, Ymir, Loge, Fornjot
Uranus – 27 – Cordelia, Ophelia, Bianca, Cressida, Desdemona, Juliet, Portia, Rosalind, Cupid, Belinda, Perdita, Puck, Mab. Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Oberon, Francisco, Caliban, Stephano, Trinculo, Sycorax, Margaret, Prospero, Setebos, Ferdinand
Neptune – 13 – Naiad, Thalassa, Despina, Galatea, Larissa, Proteus, Triton, Nereid, Halimede, Sao, Laomedeia, Psamathe, Neso
Pluto – 3 – Charon, Nix, Hydra
Haumea – 2 - Hi’iaka, Namaka
Eris – 1 – Dysnomia
Here is the order of the planets (8) and dwarf planets (5) along with some interesting facts about each one. By the way, one AU is the distance from the sun to the Earth.
1. Mercury - .38 AU – 4880 km in diameter
2. Venus - .72 AU – 12,100 km
3. Earth – 1 AU – 12,750 km
4. Mars – 1.52 AU – 6800 km
5. Ceres – 2.5-2.9 AU – 950 km
6. Jupiter – 5.2 AU – 143,000 km
7. Saturn – 9.54 AU – 120,500 km
8. Uranus – 19.2 AU – 51,100 km
9. Neptune – 30 AU – 49,500 km
10. Pluto – 29-49 AU – 2274 km in diameter
11. Haumea - 35-51 AU – 1400 km
12. Makemake - 38-53 AU – 1500 km
13. Eris – 96.7 AU – 2450 km in diameter
Not all of the planets have moons and some of the moons have not yet been named.
Earth – 1 – the moon
Mars – 2 – Phobos, Deimos
Jupiter – 63 – Metis, Adrastea, Amalthea, Thebe, Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Themisto, Leda, Himalia, Lysithea, Elara, Carpo, Euporie, Orthosie, Euanthe, Thyone, Mneme, Harpalyke, Hermippe, Praxidike, Thelxinoe, Iocaste, Ananke, Arche, Pasithee, Chaldene, Kale, Isonoe, Aitne, Erinome, Taygete, Carme, Kalyke, Eukelade, Kallichore, Helike, Eurydome, Autonoe, Sponde, Pasiphae, Megaclite, Sinope, Hegemone, Aoede, Callirrhoe, Cyllene, Kore
Saturn – 60 – Pan, Daphnis, Atlas, Prometheus, Pandora, Epimetheus, Janus, Mimas, Methone, Anthe, Pallene, Enceladus, Telesto, Tethys, Calypso, Dione, Helene, Polydeuces, Rhea, Titan, Hyperion, Iapetus, Kiviuq, Ijiraq, Phoebe, Paaliaq, Skathi, Albiorix, Bebhionn, Erriapo, Siarnaq, Skoll, Tarvos, Tarqeq, Greip, Hyrrokkin, Mundilfari, Jarnsaxa, Narvi, Bergelmir, Suttungr, Hati, Bestla, Farbauti, Thrymr, Aegir, Kari, Fenrir, Surtur, Ymir, Loge, Fornjot
Uranus – 27 – Cordelia, Ophelia, Bianca, Cressida, Desdemona, Juliet, Portia, Rosalind, Cupid, Belinda, Perdita, Puck, Mab. Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Oberon, Francisco, Caliban, Stephano, Trinculo, Sycorax, Margaret, Prospero, Setebos, Ferdinand
Neptune – 13 – Naiad, Thalassa, Despina, Galatea, Larissa, Proteus, Triton, Nereid, Halimede, Sao, Laomedeia, Psamathe, Neso
Pluto – 3 – Charon, Nix, Hydra
Haumea – 2 - Hi’iaka, Namaka
Eris – 1 – Dysnomia
Units of Time Part III
What about units of time that are shorter than one second? This topic enters the realm of physics and some of these units are used as measurements of half-life of elements and the amount of time it takes to do things that people don't ordinarily think about. Here are some definitions:
Centisecond – 1/100 of a second – the length of time a single frame is displayed on a tv
Millisecond – 1/1000 second – a blink of an eye
Microsecond – a millionth of a second
Shake – about 10 nanoseconds – the time it takes a lamb to shake its tail
Nanosecond – a billionth of a second – light travels about a foot in one of these
Picosecond – a trillionth
Femtosecond – a quadrillionth
Attosecond – a quintillionth
Zeptosecond – a sextillionth
Yoctosecond – a septillionth
Planck time – This is the smallest unit. It is the time it would take a photon traveling at the speed of light to go the distance equal to a Planck length. It is the "quantum of time", the smallest measurement of time that has any meaning, and is equal to 10 to the minus 43 seconds. A Planck length is the "quantum of length", the smallest measurement of length with any meaning. It is about 10 to the minus 20 times the size of a proton. It would take a bit of study in physics to understand what this really means.
And a few more second-based time units that are larger than a second. By anyone's reckoning, some of these have not yet happened even once.
Kilosecond – 1000 seconds – 16.7 minutes
Megasecond – 1,000,000 seconds – 11.6 days
Gigasecond – 1 billion seconds – 32 years
Terasecond – 1 trillion seconds – 32,000 years
Petasecond – 1 quadrillion seconds – 32 million years
Exasecond – 1 quintillion seconds - 32 billion years
Zettasecond – 1 sextillion seconds - 32 trillion years
Yottaseonds – 1 septillion seconds - 32 quadrillion years
Centisecond – 1/100 of a second – the length of time a single frame is displayed on a tv
Millisecond – 1/1000 second – a blink of an eye
Microsecond – a millionth of a second
Shake – about 10 nanoseconds – the time it takes a lamb to shake its tail
Nanosecond – a billionth of a second – light travels about a foot in one of these
Picosecond – a trillionth
Femtosecond – a quadrillionth
Attosecond – a quintillionth
Zeptosecond – a sextillionth
Yoctosecond – a septillionth
Planck time – This is the smallest unit. It is the time it would take a photon traveling at the speed of light to go the distance equal to a Planck length. It is the "quantum of time", the smallest measurement of time that has any meaning, and is equal to 10 to the minus 43 seconds. A Planck length is the "quantum of length", the smallest measurement of length with any meaning. It is about 10 to the minus 20 times the size of a proton. It would take a bit of study in physics to understand what this really means.
And a few more second-based time units that are larger than a second. By anyone's reckoning, some of these have not yet happened even once.
Kilosecond – 1000 seconds – 16.7 minutes
Megasecond – 1,000,000 seconds – 11.6 days
Gigasecond – 1 billion seconds – 32 years
Terasecond – 1 trillion seconds – 32,000 years
Petasecond – 1 quadrillion seconds – 32 million years
Exasecond – 1 quintillion seconds - 32 billion years
Zettasecond – 1 sextillion seconds - 32 trillion years
Yottaseonds – 1 septillion seconds - 32 quadrillion years
Monday, October 13, 2008
Units of Time - Part II
And now, continuing some thoughts on this very important matter - units of time. Please read part I first if you haven't already done so.
There are much more interesting units of time that are longer than a second because they are not precise measures ot time.
For instance, there is the "while". "How long will you be"? "Oh, a while". How long is a while? It depends on whether it is a short while, a long while, or just a while. I think a "short while" can be anywhere from a few minutes to about an hour and a half. A long while could be anywhere from several hours to a number of years. A regular while is somewhere inbetween and they no doubt overlap. Whiles are never plural. As in "I'll be away from home for two short whiles". Would two short whiles be equal to one while? How many whiles are in a long while? Do whales care about this at all?
How about a jiffy. This word is not used much today. I have never heard of a short jiffy or a long jiffy, just a jiffy. Like whiles, jiffies aren't plural and therefore can't be combined. "I'll be gone for a while and two jiffies." Oddly, a jiffy in some circles is a precise time interval of .01 seconds and in others, it is a precise 1/50th or 1/60 of a second (someone needs to make up their mind). However, it is more commonly intended to mean a very short but not a precise amount of time. What does a jiffy have to do with peanut butter or popcorn?
It is strange but both "minute" and "second" are sometimes used to refer to an amount of time that is not precise as in "I'll be there in a minute" or "just a second". Oddly, this doesn't bother me.
How about a "coon's age"? How long is that. How long does a raccoon live anyway? Well, it's about 5-7 years but the phrase could simply mean a long time and how long that is depends on the context. "I haven't seen you in a coon's age". Seems like that could be weeks, months or years.
A month of Sundays. Whoa. I suppose this could be 28, 29, 30, or 31 weeks. But it's really just another lengthy and indefinite amount of time - somewhat less than a coon's age. "I haven't seen a raccoon in a month of Sundays".
Speaking of ages, it's been ages since I lived in Chicago. How long is "ages"?
Can you think of any more? Take a short while and add a post to this one that shows your ability to waist a little time (or a lot of time, or a short while or a few jiffies). Once you send your posting, it will be on the blog in a New York minute (the time it takes from when the traffic light turns green, till the guy behind you starts honking his horn").
There are much more interesting units of time that are longer than a second because they are not precise measures ot time.
For instance, there is the "while". "How long will you be"? "Oh, a while". How long is a while? It depends on whether it is a short while, a long while, or just a while. I think a "short while" can be anywhere from a few minutes to about an hour and a half. A long while could be anywhere from several hours to a number of years. A regular while is somewhere inbetween and they no doubt overlap. Whiles are never plural. As in "I'll be away from home for two short whiles". Would two short whiles be equal to one while? How many whiles are in a long while? Do whales care about this at all?
How about a jiffy. This word is not used much today. I have never heard of a short jiffy or a long jiffy, just a jiffy. Like whiles, jiffies aren't plural and therefore can't be combined. "I'll be gone for a while and two jiffies." Oddly, a jiffy in some circles is a precise time interval of .01 seconds and in others, it is a precise 1/50th or 1/60 of a second (someone needs to make up their mind). However, it is more commonly intended to mean a very short but not a precise amount of time. What does a jiffy have to do with peanut butter or popcorn?
It is strange but both "minute" and "second" are sometimes used to refer to an amount of time that is not precise as in "I'll be there in a minute" or "just a second". Oddly, this doesn't bother me.
How about a "coon's age"? How long is that. How long does a raccoon live anyway? Well, it's about 5-7 years but the phrase could simply mean a long time and how long that is depends on the context. "I haven't seen you in a coon's age". Seems like that could be weeks, months or years.
A month of Sundays. Whoa. I suppose this could be 28, 29, 30, or 31 weeks. But it's really just another lengthy and indefinite amount of time - somewhat less than a coon's age. "I haven't seen a raccoon in a month of Sundays".
Speaking of ages, it's been ages since I lived in Chicago. How long is "ages"?
Can you think of any more? Take a short while and add a post to this one that shows your ability to waist a little time (or a lot of time, or a short while or a few jiffies). Once you send your posting, it will be on the blog in a New York minute (the time it takes from when the traffic light turns green, till the guy behind you starts honking his horn").
Units of Time - Part I
And now, on to a very important matter - units of time.
The other day, I got to wondering about this topic and have hereby compiled a list of various units of time that are longer than a second and are almost always the same length.
A minute consists of 60 seconds.
An hour consists of 60 of those.
A day consists of 24 of those.
A week consists of 7 of those.
A fortnight consists of 2 of those.
A month consists of, hmm, not always the same like the others. Sometimes 28 days, sometimes 29, 30, or 31. There was one month that only had 20 - September of 1752.
A quarter consists of 3 months.
A year consists of 12 months.
A decade takes 10 years to go by.
A presidential election cycle seems to fall here somwhere.
A century is ten decades.
A millennium, ten of those.
The other day, I got to wondering about this topic and have hereby compiled a list of various units of time that are longer than a second and are almost always the same length.
A minute consists of 60 seconds.
An hour consists of 60 of those.
A day consists of 24 of those.
A week consists of 7 of those.
A fortnight consists of 2 of those.
A month consists of, hmm, not always the same like the others. Sometimes 28 days, sometimes 29, 30, or 31. There was one month that only had 20 - September of 1752.
A quarter consists of 3 months.
A year consists of 12 months.
A decade takes 10 years to go by.
A presidential election cycle seems to fall here somwhere.
A century is ten decades.
A millennium, ten of those.
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Disgusting
Someone stole our McCain sign from our front yard today. We happen to be sitting by the front window when it happened and Heather heard the guy and ran out and yelled at him. He dropped the sign in the street and kept going. A neighbor's McCain sign was replaced with an Obama one. They weren't home tonight. We called the police and they have been crusing the neighborhood.
No matter who one favors for president, there is just no excuse for this kind of behavior.
No matter who one favors for president, there is just no excuse for this kind of behavior.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Colorado Spirit Quest Caches
I found #1 in the series of Colorado Spirit Quest caches today. I have found #1, #17, #44, #60 and #79. I have a long ways to go since there are over 130 of them in the series so far.
The Colorado Spirit Quest is a series of caches placed near cemeteries in hopes of paying respect to the many pioneer ancestors that have gone before us. This idea is not unique to Colorado. The idea started in 2004 in Indiana and there are now similar series in many states. Indiana has over 650 of them!
The Colorado Spirit Quest is a series of caches placed near cemeteries in hopes of paying respect to the many pioneer ancestors that have gone before us. This idea is not unique to Colorado. The idea started in 2004 in Indiana and there are now similar series in many states. Indiana has over 650 of them!
Caching Sunday
After church today, I set out to have a caching day in Golden, Colorado. As usual, I made an ambitious list of caches to find, this time 33 of them. I failed to find 3 of the ones I ended up looking for. I also skipped quite a few because I didn't like the area or the lack of nearby parking. So, I ended up finding 18 today and did not break my record of 22 in one day. This ties for my second best day.
Almost all of the ones I found today were micros. Lots of pill bottles and quite a few cammoed containers in poine trees which I always have a hard time finding.
The best ones today were these:
Slim Pickens - a cache about 500 feet down a little used trail. Attached to a tree was a nose, two eyes and a mouth. The tiny cache was in the nose!
Ulysses 1.5 - In the cap of a chain link fence post.
A Stream Runs Through It - In the cap of a chain link fence post. I like this kind.
Colorado Spirit Quest #1 - The first in this series of caches. There are over 100 of them now. This one in Golden is in a pine tree right by Edward Berthoud's gravesite.
From the Halls of Montezuma - By the marine memorial in Golden. Nothing special about the cache but the sheriff did drive by while I was there. He didn't stop, though. Would have been fun if he did.
Walborn - Light pole cover caches are common. This one was full of bees. Good thing they were all dead.
Almost all of the ones I found today were micros. Lots of pill bottles and quite a few cammoed containers in poine trees which I always have a hard time finding.
The best ones today were these:
Slim Pickens - a cache about 500 feet down a little used trail. Attached to a tree was a nose, two eyes and a mouth. The tiny cache was in the nose!
Ulysses 1.5 - In the cap of a chain link fence post.
A Stream Runs Through It - In the cap of a chain link fence post. I like this kind.
Colorado Spirit Quest #1 - The first in this series of caches. There are over 100 of them now. This one in Golden is in a pine tree right by Edward Berthoud's gravesite.
From the Halls of Montezuma - By the marine memorial in Golden. Nothing special about the cache but the sheriff did drive by while I was there. He didn't stop, though. Would have been fun if he did.
Walborn - Light pole cover caches are common. This one was full of bees. Good thing they were all dead.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Old Railroad Trestle at Riflesight Notch
Here are some pictures of an old railroad trestle near Rollins Pass at Riflesight Notch in Colorado. It last saw a train way back in the 1920's, I believe.
This first photo shows the trestle and that it is clearly blocked off from traffic. The grade to the left of the bridge is a road easily navigated by automobiles but the road takes a detour to the left.
The next photo shows the same view from a bit farther away. The grade continues to the right around the hill descending in a loop that actually went through a tunnel right below the trestle. The tunnel is completely covered at both ends so no entry is possible. I believe this was Tunnel #33.
Another view of the trestle.
Some of the wood has come off of the surface. You can see how big the timbers were on the bridge. I don't think there are any trees in the area that are large enough to create timbers of this size so I guess that they came from somewhere else. On the other hand, since this bridge if about 100 years old, maybe there were larger trees in the area back then.
Does this look safe enough to cross? Just remember that it is about 13 miles from the nearest main road.
This photo is from well below where the other photos were taken. The tunnel was in the cut in the foreground.
This first photo shows the trestle and that it is clearly blocked off from traffic. The grade to the left of the bridge is a road easily navigated by automobiles but the road takes a detour to the left.
The next photo shows the same view from a bit farther away. The grade continues to the right around the hill descending in a loop that actually went through a tunnel right below the trestle. The tunnel is completely covered at both ends so no entry is possible. I believe this was Tunnel #33.
Another view of the trestle.
Some of the wood has come off of the surface. You can see how big the timbers were on the bridge. I don't think there are any trees in the area that are large enough to create timbers of this size so I guess that they came from somewhere else. On the other hand, since this bridge if about 100 years old, maybe there were larger trees in the area back then.
Does this look safe enough to cross? Just remember that it is about 13 miles from the nearest main road.
This photo is from well below where the other photos were taken. The tunnel was in the cut in the foreground.
Friday, August 08, 2008
Columbines
The state flower of Colorado is featured here. Here are a few that Heather took today along the Rollins Pass road. I saw some smaller dark blue versions earlier this year in Deer Creek Canyon Park. The ones shown here are about 3 inches across. They are interesting and beautiful flowers. If you click on each picture you will see a larger version.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
New Cache Published
My new hidden cache is called Some Cheese. There is no particular significance to the name of the cache. I just thought it would be amusing to see emails coming in that say so-and-so found some cheese! It is hidden in a relatively new open space park called Sharptail Ridge. It is near Roxborough, Colorado.
The container is a large camouflaged plastic peanut butter jar. Right now it has an assortment of the usual stuff in it including a nice travel bug beanie baby for whoever finds it first. It also has 5 identical blue and white whistles that I picked up from various caches. These are the calling card of a prolific cacher who lives somewhere in the Denver area. I am hoping he picks them up from this new cache.
Sharptail Ridge is a lonely and somewhat out of the way place. I have been by there a number of times and have not seen any other people. Perhaps this cache will help people discover the park.
The sign by the trailhead says no bikes and no dogs but there is the potential for rattlesnakes. I didn't see any.
The container is a large camouflaged plastic peanut butter jar. Right now it has an assortment of the usual stuff in it including a nice travel bug beanie baby for whoever finds it first. It also has 5 identical blue and white whistles that I picked up from various caches. These are the calling card of a prolific cacher who lives somewhere in the Denver area. I am hoping he picks them up from this new cache.
Sharptail Ridge is a lonely and somewhat out of the way place. I have been by there a number of times and have not seen any other people. Perhaps this cache will help people discover the park.
The sign by the trailhead says no bikes and no dogs but there is the potential for rattlesnakes. I didn't see any.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Templar Geocoin
Shown above are two of the varieties of Templar Geocoins. These were manufactured in three main varieties: Antique Copper (top), Antique Gold (bottom) and Antique Silver (not shown). They are produced by a company in Germany and can still be bought directly from them for 8 Euros each. People continue to try to sell them on ebay and typically get more for them than the company in Germany gets. It always pays to see if you can get something elsewhere before bidding very high on Ebay.
The front of these coins shows a templar shield and features translucent color so that the metal structure of the coin can be seen. The back depicts the seal of the templars.
Like many geocoin producers, this company also produced some limited quantities of special editiosn of these coins. There were no more than about 30 of each of these varieties produced: Nickel, Foggy Gold, Black Nickel, Two Tone. I haven't seen any of these special ones.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Blarney Geocoin
The Blarney Geocoin was part of a subscription of geocoins in which I get a new coin once a month. This was the coin from this past March and is one of the nicest ones this particular compnay has produced.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Colorado 2008 Geocoins
The above Colorado 2008 geocoins are only two of the varieties of this new coin. These are even better looking than we expected and make great additions to our collection.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Monarch Butterfly Geocoin
This geocoin was found in a cache near Chatfield sometime last week. It has a nice butterfly design and is quite attractive. I will put this one in another cache soon.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Signal Geocoin
We found this geocoin in a cache in Fort Collins on July 4th. It will be placed in another cache very soon. This is the first of this particular type of coin that we have come across. It is part of a series of coins featuring Signal the Frog. Signal is the official geocaching mascot. This coin is part of a series of 19 coins that were released between January, 2006 and July, 2007 - one a month. You can still buy some of them from the people who put them out. This particular one has a Canada theme.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Talon Geocoin
This is a picture of the new Colorado State Park Talon Geocoin. We were lucky enough to get two of these at a state park recently. I suspect that they are relatively rare. I haven't decided for sure if I will put it in a cache for others to grab.
Ups and Downs in 90 Degrees
Yesterday, I went on an adventure with a couple of interesting misadventures along the way. I planned a geocaching bike ride in the area of Red Rocks park. There are 18 or so caches hidden in the area and I wanted to see how many I could get. The path would be about 6 miles long down and up some mountain bike trails that did not appear to be all that challenging. Well, it turned out differently and this bike ride turned out to be the most challenging bike ride I have ever been on.
Having left work early, I got home and got everything ready and headed out with the bike on the back of the car. I arrive at the trailhead near Alameda and C470 about 1:30 and 6065 feet in elevation. I put my camelback on loaded with water and stuffed my geocaching stuff in my bike shirt pockets. The GPS receiver went on the bike mount and off I went.
The first part of the trail is a switchback up the side of North Dinosaur Ridge. It's an elevation gain of about 400 feet to the first trail junction. Turning right and heading uphill another 50 feet on a rocky trail is where the first cache was. I also found a few other caches on this part of the ridge. From the car to the high point was a gain of about 550 feet altogether. I then continued down the hill to the parking lot at Metthews-Winters park where there is another bicycle trailhead and a number of additional geocaches. At this point, I was at 6338 feet.
The trail in Matthew-Winters park is lengthy with mostly a modest slope. It was not as steep overall as the switchback up Dinosaur Ridge but it did have its moments. The highpoint on this trail is at 6800 feet so that made another gain of almost 500 feet!
I rode with 4 teenagers on this part of the trail and they had been up there before. They advised me to lower my bike seat for the trip back down the other side of the trail. This was a very good idea due to the steepness and roughness of the trail. There are lots of exposed rocks and bumps and a lower center of gravity made this a good plan. By the time I reached a road crossing, I was at 6220 feet, an elevation loss of 580 feet and that was in about 1/4 of the trail length as the distance to get up to the high point.
On the way down this hill, there is a cache hidden hanging in a tree. When I approached the area, there was another biker resting in the shade of the tree. I stopped and chatted a while about the trail he was about to go up. He wasn't ready to leave so I told him all about geocaching. He said he would check out the geocaching.com website and he seemed genuinely interested. I showed him the cache when I found it.
At this point, I was in Red Rocks park. I found a couple of caches there. One of the ones I did not find was by a small cemetery that is in the park. It's the old Morrison cemetery. The cache is hidden inside of a hollow square pole. You have to stick your finger in the hole from underneath and the cache can be found there magnetically attached. When I was there, I was not willing to stick my finger in the hole so I did not find the cache. It was a good thing too since when I later read the logs on the cache, I discovered that there is a family of wasps who live in that very same hole! The last person who found the cache got stung on his finger. The cemetery is at 6000 feet.
The next cache I found was not too far away and it is a film canister hidden under a rock. After this find, I was facing the biggest climb of the day...
Did I mention how hot it was? It was well into the 90s. It was not too long after this point that I ran out of water with a couple of difficult miles to go. Not good. The high point on this next climb was 6575 feet - another gain of 575 feet, with no water, rubber legs, and a rocky trail so rough and steep that I walked and pushed the bike more than I rode. I took lots of breaks. When I finally reached the downhill switchbacks, the same ones I rode up at the beginning of the ride, I was quite relieved and really enjoyed that bit of downhill back to the car. I arrived at the car more than 2 hours after I expected to. The ride was almost 12 miles rather than the 6 that I expected.
I found 15 of the 18 geocaches that I went to find so it was a very good day in that respect. I was very exhausted when I got home but did sleep very well last night!
Having left work early, I got home and got everything ready and headed out with the bike on the back of the car. I arrive at the trailhead near Alameda and C470 about 1:30 and 6065 feet in elevation. I put my camelback on loaded with water and stuffed my geocaching stuff in my bike shirt pockets. The GPS receiver went on the bike mount and off I went.
The first part of the trail is a switchback up the side of North Dinosaur Ridge. It's an elevation gain of about 400 feet to the first trail junction. Turning right and heading uphill another 50 feet on a rocky trail is where the first cache was. I also found a few other caches on this part of the ridge. From the car to the high point was a gain of about 550 feet altogether. I then continued down the hill to the parking lot at Metthews-Winters park where there is another bicycle trailhead and a number of additional geocaches. At this point, I was at 6338 feet.
The trail in Matthew-Winters park is lengthy with mostly a modest slope. It was not as steep overall as the switchback up Dinosaur Ridge but it did have its moments. The highpoint on this trail is at 6800 feet so that made another gain of almost 500 feet!
I rode with 4 teenagers on this part of the trail and they had been up there before. They advised me to lower my bike seat for the trip back down the other side of the trail. This was a very good idea due to the steepness and roughness of the trail. There are lots of exposed rocks and bumps and a lower center of gravity made this a good plan. By the time I reached a road crossing, I was at 6220 feet, an elevation loss of 580 feet and that was in about 1/4 of the trail length as the distance to get up to the high point.
On the way down this hill, there is a cache hidden hanging in a tree. When I approached the area, there was another biker resting in the shade of the tree. I stopped and chatted a while about the trail he was about to go up. He wasn't ready to leave so I told him all about geocaching. He said he would check out the geocaching.com website and he seemed genuinely interested. I showed him the cache when I found it.
At this point, I was in Red Rocks park. I found a couple of caches there. One of the ones I did not find was by a small cemetery that is in the park. It's the old Morrison cemetery. The cache is hidden inside of a hollow square pole. You have to stick your finger in the hole from underneath and the cache can be found there magnetically attached. When I was there, I was not willing to stick my finger in the hole so I did not find the cache. It was a good thing too since when I later read the logs on the cache, I discovered that there is a family of wasps who live in that very same hole! The last person who found the cache got stung on his finger. The cemetery is at 6000 feet.
The next cache I found was not too far away and it is a film canister hidden under a rock. After this find, I was facing the biggest climb of the day...
Did I mention how hot it was? It was well into the 90s. It was not too long after this point that I ran out of water with a couple of difficult miles to go. Not good. The high point on this next climb was 6575 feet - another gain of 575 feet, with no water, rubber legs, and a rocky trail so rough and steep that I walked and pushed the bike more than I rode. I took lots of breaks. When I finally reached the downhill switchbacks, the same ones I rode up at the beginning of the ride, I was quite relieved and really enjoyed that bit of downhill back to the car. I arrived at the car more than 2 hours after I expected to. The ride was almost 12 miles rather than the 6 that I expected.
I found 15 of the 18 geocaches that I went to find so it was a very good day in that respect. I was very exhausted when I got home but did sleep very well last night!
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