Columbia's Labyrinth
I was in Tuolumne County, in the Sierra foothills--gold country--this weekend for a GIS/SAR course at Columbia College, outside Sonora and Columbia (see map). Of course I had to see if there were any geocaches nearby, and lo and behold, yes! I found a half-dozen-plus around the area, but this one proved elusive. Mainly because I looked for it on our lunch break (1.25 hours), and just getting to this spot--the start of the hunt--involved traversing a separate labyrinth of forest trails. This particular labyrinth of carved rock was created, as I understand it, by hydraulic mining, in which they shot water at very high pressure through long brass nozzles at the rock to break it up. It's all chasms and caves and spires and really very beautiful. In the end I got within 200 feet of the cache, but I decided to turn around and head back to class--since that's what I was there for. I'll just have to plan a separate trip to Columbia--and allow an entire afternoon, if that's what it takes. Do a little exploring.
Columbia's Labyrinth
I was in Tuolumne County, in the Sierra foothills--gold country--this weekend for a GIS/SAR course at Columbia College, outside Sonora and Columbia (see map). Of course I had to see if there were any geocaches nearby, and lo and behold, yes! I found a half-dozen-plus around the area, but this one proved elusive. Mainly because I looked for it on our lunch break (1.25 hours), and just getting to this spot--the start of the hunt--involved traversing a separate labyrinth of forest trails. This particular labyrinth of carved rock was created, as I understand it, by hydraulic mining, in which they shot water at very high pressure through long brass nozzles at the rock to break it up. It's all chasms and caves and spires and really very beautiful. In the end I got within 200 feet of the cache, but I decided to turn around and head back to class--since that's what I was there for. I'll just have to plan a separate trip to Columbia--and allow an entire afternoon, if that's what it takes. Do a little exploring.