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Geocaching at Mary Jane Falls
5 out of 5, Woohoo!
Yesterday we planned on making our first cache trip to Lake Mead, but plans changed. I looked up the weather before leaving and found out Lake Mead was a good 105+ degrees, which quickly turned us off. Within 10 minutes I created a new route for Mount Charleston at Mary Jane Falls, loaded the coordinates onto the GPSr and we were off!
On the drive we passed by Fletcher Canyon Trail and soon hit Mary Jane Falls trailhead. We got packed up, checked the coordinates and walked in the opposite direction of the trail, but to pick up a cache of course! We walked down the gravel road to a spot of freshly cut trees. The GPSr was pointing in the direction of the cut trees so we continued. After a bit of hiking my Dad spotted the cache, as I walked right by it looking down at the GPSr. The cache was a micro so I just signed the log and continued on.
After actually making it to the real beginning of the trail, we started the hike! There were many muggles on the trail, because it is one of the highly hiked trails in Mount Charleston. Once about 30 min passed we found the first cache which was a regular size, signed the log, took a quick video and continued on our way.
The entire trail seemed to increase in elevation ever so slightly with each step. This made a “moderate” hike a bit more difficult. Not much time passed until we were on the GZ of the next cache. Apparently my GPSr was confused by the high trees again, because I wasted 15 minutes digging under a tree stump when the actual cache was just behind a few rocks under an adjacent tree. This area was covered with other families who were taking a break in the shade, so we had to wait everyone out. Once we were the only ones left, we grabbed the cache, signed it, and quickly put it back before anyone else arrived.
We continued on the trail and were already less than 525 feet from the next cache. The description stated to “watch your footing” so I knew I’d have some climbing. The clue also stated it was at eye level, so we figured it was hanging. After some upward climbing in broken branches and leaves, I was directly on the coordinates but couldn’t see the cache. My parents stayed where the coordinates said to, because it was too difficult for them to go any higher. A good 10 feet upward, I walked into the cache, literally. Cache was well hid and a successful find to add to my log! Signed the log, and with some swift steps made it back on ground level.
From this point we had already snatched 4 out of 5 caches, without even making it to the Mary Jane Falls! My book, which has worked amazingly so far, said that once we make it to the switchbacks to take the switchbacks and continue on. However my GPSr was telling us to continue on away from the switchbacks for the last cache. We decided we would do the switchbacks first and make it to the falls and then on the descent pick up the last cache. We started the switchbacks not knowing what we got ourselves into. A switchback is a series of levels used to get up a steep hill or mountain. You walk in one direction, then at some point it turns upward and you walk in that direction, and then switch and so on. We saw many families and hikers on this trail taking breaks because the incline was so steep. You could literally miss one step and be sliding down the mountain, and it wouldn’t be fun.
After an extremely intense hike constantly going up on the switchbacks, we finally caught a glimpse of the falls. Due to the season and weather, the falls were not gushing water, but it was a better sight to see than another switchback! The switchbacks alone took a good hour to hour and a half but it was worth it. Once we made it to the base of the falls we enjoyed the view, ate some lunch, and relaxed. Some families even went in the water, not quite sure how because the mist alone hitting us was freezing!
From where we were sitting, I could see two people making their way to this big cave. Of course I had to make my way over there and see what it was. After lunch I put my backpack on and turned the walkie talkie on because my parents weren’t coming. The cave seemed far away, but within a matter of minutes I was already there. It was quite a view inside and out the cave. After spending some time in the cave, I made it back to my parents, and then the descent began.
The descent was somewhat worse than the ascent because once you got going it was difficult to stop, so you had to walk very slowly down the switchbacks. We passed many, many families that had no idea how high the Falls actually were and didn’t seem too happy to say the least. After a tiresome descent, we were finally back on the floor level of the trail. We continued passed the switchbacks onto the fifth and final cache. By this time of the day we all were tired but couldn’t leave knowing the last cache was less than .2 miles away. The last stretch towards the final cache had an incline that was too great for my parents so I went on and found the cache myself and took it to my parents who “hid” themselves off the trail on a downed tree. My Dad and I scrounged through the cache, signed the log, placed it back, and were officially done!
We successfully found 5 out of 5 caches that were planned. These 5 caches make my grand total 34!