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the Degree Confluence Project
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United States : Arizona

9.7 miles (15.6 km) NE of New River, Maricopa, AZ, USA
Approx. altitude: 1119 m (3671 ft)
([?] maps: Google MapQuest OpenStreetMap topo aerial ConfluenceNavigator)
Antipode: 34°S 68°E

Quality: good

Click on any of the images for the full-sized picture.

#2: Looking north #3: Looking south and a bit east #4: Checking out the contents of the cache - a first aid merit badge book. #5: Jerry on the ridge south #6: The needed GPS pic #7: Topo with route taken #8: Picture by Jerry #9: Picture by Jerry

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  34°N 112°W (visit #5)  

#1: Looking south

(visited by Steven Stringham and Jerry Griffus)

24-Feb-2007 -- Steven: I have been thinking about the second oldest Geocache (T824) in Arizona for some time now. And as such, I finally got a Saturday open that kind of gave me some time to make an attempt at this cache. I have been out on some fun hunts with AZJedi (Jerry) a few times in the past. [On] this lovely Saturday morning, I gave him a call and asked if he was willing to take a shot at this with me. He kindly said he would. So, I got in my new Dodge 2x4 truck (6 months old - 10k miles). And off we went. Although the cache page says to come in from the east via 7 Springs, I had seen some logs saying they came in from the west from I17. So, I thought we would make an attempt from that direction. We got off at the Table Mesa Road. It was rough, and we went slow enough, but my truck handled it just fine. A bit to the west of the parking spot, we had a nice switchback on the road, but not a killer for the truck.

We got to the jumping off point, parked and started up the hill at about 11:10am. The temperature was about 47-50 degrees. Very nice for a hike like this. We wore long pants, very thankfully. We started up the east side of the hill, thinking that going up the stream bed was a good idea for approaching the spot. It was not. The thorns were out in full force. My pants took the brunt of their grasps, but my hands got well abused as well by the end of the day. We then decided to cross the ravine and head directly up the side of the hill to the top where it would flatten out. With a bit of zigzagging back and forth we were at the top of the ridge. Moving on to the cache and the confluence from there was very easy to do, comparatively speaking.

We stopped at the confluence at about 1:15pm, signed the cache log, dropped off a couple of travel bugs, and then took the required pictures.

We decided that to head south to the ridge for the return trip was a good idea. My biggest concern here was a heavy drop off. So, when we got to that area for the last few hundred feet down, we just zigzagged again, and came on down. We got back to the truck about 2:30pm. So, a bit over three hours up and back. Overall, a tough but very enjoyable hike.

We (I) decided that the run to Seven Springs was probably the quickest and easiest way out, so we went that way, and had no problems. 41 is a bit of a rough road, and while I would have wished I had a 4x4, my truck did very well thank you.

Jerry: This was one of the neatest experences that I have ever had during Geocaching.... Would have never even known about this location... it makes me feel that I have accomplished something that most people will never do....


 All pictures
#1: Looking south
#2: Looking north
#3: Looking south and a bit east
#4: Checking out the contents of the cache - a first aid merit badge book.
#5: Jerry on the ridge south
#6: The needed GPS pic
#7: Topo with route taken
#8: Picture by Jerry
#9: Picture by Jerry
ALL: All pictures on one page