On this particular day we decided to drive to the Anthony Lakes area along the Elkhorn Crest Scenic Drive. This area is located in Baker County, Oregon and is a very popular spot for fishing in the summer and skiing in the winter.
We found a number of really neat caches that day but the one that truly stands out for me on this trip was The Lakes by SprocketMan (GCGHNA). The cache was located near where an old Forest Service fire lookout tower once stood. The tower was decomissioned in 1962 and not much of it remained 45 years later.
While I have street maps loaded on my GPS, I was actually pretty lucky to have identified a good way to drive up there. We took winding dirt and gravel roads which weren't in the best shape and got worse the further we drove. When we got to a parking area roughly 0.6 miles from the cache we decided to park and I would hike the rest of the way to the cache. The remaining hike was uphill with a number of switchbacks and took me a little while to complete - with having to catch my breath and let my heart rate slow down.
The weather was perfect for making this hike. It had not rained in a while so the trail was not slick. The temperature was in the mid 60's and there were actually patches of snow on the ground at several places around me where there was some shade.
When I reached the coordinates, I found I had to climb down a little rock overhang to find the cache. It had been there a while and the previous finder signed the log almost a year before me.
After finding the cache and signing the log, I took a few pictures of the surrounding area including a big section of rock face that others had chosen to autograph. I looked around and noticed that I was only a short distance away from the peak. I could see a long metal pole sticking in the ground at the top so I decided to scramble up to it.
Once at the top, I held onto the pole (it was very windy up there) and looked out at the view below. I have seen lots of amazing sights on my travels across the country. This was one of the most awesome views I have ever seen. I snapped a few pictures, none of which adequately captured the beauty of what I was seeing. There are actually 9 lakes in the area, I think I could see most of them.
[ These two pictures were taken near the cache location. The pictures I took from the top didn't turn out as well.]My GPS showed my altitude was roughly 8500 feet. Where we had parked was around 7900 feet. I called my dad to let him know that I had found the cache and was ready to hike back down to the truck.
I literally said "I'm coming back down now" and my phone went dead. I can only imagine what my dad must have thought. Oops! At least he didn't have to worry long since the trip back down wasn't nearly as tough. We hunted a few more caches that day which were hit-and-miss. We both agreed that next time we would have better maps.
There are a lot more pictures taken by others on the cache page!
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