The Mummy And The Comanche From The Lookout

07/27/2018 By Denali41
As icezebra11 has explained in his found log, we made a scouting trip for his Leader-in-Training hike that included going near my three caches in this area. They are: "Swarmin" Over Miller Fork; Vistas of Miller Fork; and The Mummy and the Comanche from the Lookout. Each is remote, in a superb location, takes a significant effort to reach, and is generally quite "lonely". They were placed 9 to 10 years ago and have few finds to date. Of course I took the opportunity afforded by this hike to check on these caches. Because they had not been found for a long period I was concerned that one or more might be showing signs of age. That was not the case! Each, including this one, was in excellent condition, as if it had been placed only yesterday! I did replace the container with one having greater durabilty, even though the extant container was perfect. A slight relocation was made to place it in its original spot. Before icezebra11 logged the find today, this cache had not been found for more than 4 years. I am making a slight adjustment to the terrain rating because of the hiking effort needed to reach the summit of Lookout Mountain.

As a gauge of effort, the loop hike we took from the location where we parked involved 13 miles of hiking and more than 3,500 feet of cumulative elevation gain. We could have shortened the hike by not making a loop of it, but the saved distance would not have been substantial. So anticipate a long outing if you decide to reach all three caches on a single hike.

07/27/2018 By icezebra11
I am currently going through the process to become a trip leader for the Colorado Mountain Club and part of the training requirements is conducting a Leader-In-Training trip under the supervision of an experienced trip leader. Denali41 has been leading CMC trips for many years and he is the person that introduced me to the club. So it was a no-brainer decision for me that he would be the mentor leader for my trip. I decided Lookout Mountain would be the target for my LIT trip.

Today, Denali41, his puppies Zaba and Chimi, and I did a scouting trip of the route as we had heard reports of many fallen trees making the trails difficult to navigate. Fortunately what we learned today was that the trails had been cleared in the last year and they were in excellent condition. Just a little bit of deadfall navigation necessary on the last pitch up the summit trail.

We started hiking at 7:20 am and set a casual pace for the peak. After stopping and logging "Vistas of Miller Fork" we arrived at the summit at 11:50, 4 1/2 hrs to the top. This is an amazingly beautiful area and I'm really excited to lead the official trip in August. The views are superb!

It took quite a bit of searching but the cottage cheese container was recovered! Denali41 said the container wasn't quite in the spot he had placed it and it had a really large cover rock over it which made the difficulty much higher than when it was originally placed.

After I signed the log, Denali41 replaced the container and re-hid it where it was supposed to be. The next searchers shouldn't have much difficulty locating it. Then we had a leisurely lunch and took in the awesome scenery before heading back down the trail.

Thanks Steve for placing this cache, it is definitely a special one and deserves more visitors!!!

10/23/2017 By Path Pacer
It took us about five hours to hike up from the end of Miller Fork Rd. We had originally intended just to go to Donner Pass, but I persuaded GlenHavenMan to go the extra mile for this special cache. And then we couldn't find it!

We searched for the better part of an hour in the blustery winds between the old log and the summit. It must be practically buried (or muggled). The summit log jar was empty, so I stuffed a geocaching log into it and signed our names.

The view was spectacular. I'll add a panorama I took at the top. The weather couldn't have been nicer (except for the wind). I can see how it got its name.

GlenHavenMan found a kill on the way up from Donner Pass, and he packed that 4-point buck's head all the way back down the mountain. Eight hours from when we left the car at the end of the road, we returned to it. I was wiped out. I don't think I'll be trying for this one again! Still, I've always wanted to hike this mountain, and now I have. Funny, but I had my "Lookout Mt" t-shirt on from when I did Buffalo Bill's grave. Thanks!

05/10/2014 By ArkF
Had the day free, so decided to head up to the mountains for some caching. Had never been in this area before, and thought it looked like a good place to go. Mostly managed to beat the nasty weather rolling in overnight, but got a bit of snow at the summit which derailed my "have lunch and enjoy the view" plans. For a while, the wind was blowing hard enough that the snow was falling up the mountain, which was a new sight for me. Sun came back out as soon as I left the summit.

Had a hard time locating the well-hidden cache, but prevailed eventually. Everything in good shape, signed the log and darkened RDAD's signature, which was mostly faded away. Headed off to attempt a much lonelier cache across the slope.

08/03/2012 By RDAD
After about ten months off due to health, I was finally able to complete a very nice b/c cache again and it sure felt good. First time ever on the summit of Lookout Mtn for me. TNLN and signed in. Thanks!