GCAHBQ1 Orizaba's 11th Birthday Cache
Type: Mystery | Size: Regular | Difficulty: | Terrain:
By: Denali41 @ | Hide Date: 12/14/2023 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N40° 41.300 W105° 18.700 | Last updated: 01/04/2024 | Fav points: 0
                             

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Our yellow Labrador puppy Orizaba turned 11 years old today! She and her younger brother, Chimborazo, a 6-year old black Lab, are my frequent companions on geocaching hikes and have become known to a bunch of NOCO geocachers because they have sometimes attended events with me or have joined in hikes involving some of you.

Zaba is named after the highest peak in Mexico, where Pico de Orizaba (also occasionally called Citlaltepetl and having an English meaning of “the mountain of the stars”) soars to an elevation of 18,491 feet above mean sea level in the eastern end of the Trans-Mexican Volcano Belt. It’s the highest active volcano in North America. The Aztecs believed that the divine fire from Orizaba’s crater consumed a great winged serpent, Quetalcoatl. Orizaba is capped with snow and glaciers and the climb to its summit is exhilarating–at least it was to me!

My wife, Denali50, takes responsibility for naming all of our family pets, and invariably chooses names for our dogs after mountains that I’ve climbed.  Orizaba was a special one for me, and Orizaba our dog is particularly special–she’s truly a sweetheart girl. Ask anyone who has been with her! On this, her eleventh birthday, I took Zaba and her brother on a hike up the main trail in Hewlett Gulch. It's their favorite hiking trail. There is no requirement that dogs be leashed!  And there are always quite a few other dogs for them to meet and greet. I own quite a few caches along the main trail and the loop, and am always alert to new locations that would serve as another cache host. Today I stopped at one that’s always caught my eye and hid the regular-sized container that serves as this cache.

ORIZABA ON HER ELEVENTH BIRTHDAY!

https://www.jigidi.com/solve/4caru7m4/zaba-the-sweetheart-girl/
 

To find the cache you will need to assemble the jig saw puzzle made from the photo. Click on the link and work your way through the Jigidi jig saw. When you put the last piece in, you will be rewarded with a message that provides the cache’s coordinates and details of the hide.  Have fun.  It will take a while to complete the puzzle.  Once you have the information take the hike along the gentle trail to the cache location. Take your version of Orizaba if you have a dog! He or she is guaranteed to have a fun time with you on this trail!  You will need a writing device to sign the cache log.

 Watch for other Jigidis along the Hewlett Gulch Trail that I plan to hide. And go find the jig saw puzzle for Chimborazo's 6th birthday, also in the gulch!

01/01/2024 By Millerite
Nice climb up side of hill. Thanks for the puzzle and cache. First cache of 2024. #8689

12/27/2023 By icezebra11
I was sitting in my recliner half watching some TV and half reading stuff on my tablet last night when I received the email notices that the two Greyrock Profile puzzle caches had been published. I completed the puzzles this morning and discovered they were near this cache, which I'd solved shortly after it was published. Perfect! Today I'd get a "three-fer."

With the coordinates for three caches, my puppy Angel (one of Zaba's hiking buddies) and I set off for Poudre Canyon a little after noon. After arriving at the parking spot we headed up the trail and found the two new caches first before searching for this one on the way back to the vehicle. Angel was having a great time checking out all the new "sniffs" along the way. Thanks to the hint, the find was a quick one. Signed the log, placed everything back as found, and headed for home.

Thanks Denali41 for creating these fun jigsaw caches!!!

12/16/2023 By TamaraNotTamara
Happy birthday, Orizaba!!! ??

I am a huge fan of this kind of puzzle and it took Dud and I trading off for a couple of hours to finish it together! What a sweet face to reward us at the end..

We went out to the trail yesterday but the coordinate gods were playing around with us haha.. but this morning's adventure was much more fruitful! We locked in the location and walked (precariously, I might add) to ground zero.

It was a beautiful morning, a beautiful location, for a beautiful girl's birthday!!!

TFTC - this one gets a fav point from me. ??

12/16/2023 By Dud&Plato
Both myself and TNT woke up this morning with a nagging feeling that we goofed up attempting this one yesterday. A beautiful Saturday morning in December however we decided was perfect for FTF redemption! Had a cup of coffee and armed with better gear and information headed back out to hunt for this one again. Got there somewhat early and had a feeling we were in for a smile . I'm absolutely sure there must be a better way to approach the final than the way I did, however I'm an expert at making things more difficult from time to time. Still found it easier with drier ground today so was happy to see that.

Once at the proper GZ took just a second to come up with the find. It's right where it should be / the hint indicated... I do feel a bit silly missing it previously, but certainly less so still being able to find a blank log! It may have taken a second effort, but we were relieved a bit that we still managed to snag the FTF. Left a limited edition David Bowie pin.

Have seen this puzzle type before but this is the first time I've completed one for a smile. Being able to work on that with TNT and the double effort to claim this one will make it a memorable adventure for sure. Thank you for that Denali41 and of course a big thank you for this cache all around. A real pleasure to sign that first line!

12/15/2023 By Dud&Plato
Well today was a great day for a puzzle for both myself and TNT. We took turns trading off the mouse working on this one till it was complete. Was rather surprised how long it took us honestly, but we enjoyed it for sure. Early afternoon by the time we solved it, we decided it was more than worth the effort to go hunt for this one. In the excitement of the FTF we were pretty silly and forgot this area is no service and didn't grab our actual GPS unit. I blame that mistake for what was to follow....

A very good long hunt in all the wrong locations. Classic story of never being able to get to GZ without a decent GPS unit, and wild swings of 50 to 100 feet was the best we could do. Certainly not Denali41's fault any of that! Normally I'm very sure footed, but bouldering around this area with damp soil, rocks, and dead undergrowth made it crazy slick! Along with my real GPS unit I should have brought my hiking pole and perhaps avoided a few slides that eventually lead to me calling it a DNF. Had a laugh that a 2 terrain has not kicked my butt like that for awhile! Sure all faults here were on this end no questions about it.

It was a fun puzzle and hunt, and want to wish Orizaba a very happy birthday! We sure know that one's smile and texture more now that's for sure. Will likely be back soon to claim a smile on this one, even if it's not the FTF. Thanks for the new hide!

12/15/2023 By IgnotusPeverell
Published