Hike route to cacheCache Found: If You Dare Drive by Baad Daata

Saturday, 30 April 2011 - 2:00 PM MDT (-0600)

On this cool, windy last day of April, I went hiking with my brother. We parked down by the stream at the base of the hill near Harrisburg. We then proceeded up the road toward the cache site.

The hike is uphill nearly the entire way, ascending about 580 feet in altitude from the stream bottom to the point above the cache overlooking Quail Creek Reservoir. Although the distance is only about nine tenths of a mile one way, because the trail is continually climbing, it takes more time to hike it.

Originally, I'd intended to find this cache, then continue on to my Quail Creek East Overlook cache further southeast along the ridge, but due to time constraints, and the fact that up on top, the breeze was more of a wind and I was beginning to feel the cold, this trip became a one-cache-only hunt. There were several caches close to the bottom where I parked my vehicle that I would have visited too, had there been more time. (I'll definitely be back.)

The desert was in bloom. All over the hillside, bushes and shrubs were blooming, some bedecked in yellow flowers, others white, and the prickly pear cacti sporting pink petals a-plenty. I love hiking in the desert in springtime.

About the wind. At the bottom, it was mostly a gusty, hearty cool breeze occasionally blowing hard enough for me to classify it as a wind. But as we ascended the hillside, the wind decided to breeze no more and just blow. But it was nice having the air as we hiked, keeping us cool. It was only when we stopped at the top to survey the vistas around and hunt for the cache that we felt the chill.

The cache was nicely hidden in an excellent spot. I made a brief log entry in the notebook. Wow, it appeared we were the first visitors since October 2010. Then I traded a couple of gold dollar coins for a carabiner with key ring.

Did I mention the view? The view was superb! Quail Creek Reservoir was below us, a few brave jetskiers braving the wind, the wind pushing moving patches of scaly-looking waves and ripples across the surface. Sand Hollow Reservoir was also visible in the distance, as were the sewage evaporation ponds across the Virgin River.

Of course all the mountains and hills around us were visible too. Pine Valley Mountain, still with snow patches accenting the cliffs, with those stunning red sandstone cliffs below, was most prominent. The sky was mostly blue with patches of white, fluffy clouds scudding around the mountain top. It was gorgeous! Stunning! Beautiful! What a beautiful area southwestern Utah is!

Thank you for a great cache!

TO DO: Add pictures from the hike...