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Posted on: 8/17/2017

by: Amberel

TC4SB Gunsight Peak

In September a couple of us are coming from the UK to the north west of USA for a 3 week caching holiday, hiring a motorhome. My friend was browsing caches on GC and came across one that hasn't been found for about 6 years and brought it to my attention. And when I looked into it I found there was also a TerraCache on the same peak. Having looked more closely, my friend has decided that it is well beyond his fitness levels, but told me to go for it if I fancied it, and he would find something else to do.
The cache is TC4SB Gunsight Peak, and, well, I would love to do it. But I'm very aware that it is nothing like anything I've done before, and there is a huge amount for me to learn if I am to do it.

I'm 70 years old, pretty fit and active for my age, but still 70. I climb trees, go underground, go canoeing etc. But everything in the UK is on a much smaller scale - we just don't have anything that is as high or as wild as this.

Reading through the logs I realise that even getting the motorhome to the start point may be outside my experience - we don't have anything as remote as this. Our whole country is mapped to the highest quality, and it seems clear that the roads leading to this cache may not be as easy to find as I'm used to.

And the same mapping extends to route finding when walking - we don't rely on Google satellite maps, we have 2.5 inch to the mile maps that pretty much show every pebble, and rely on this when route finding - I don't know how I would manage with less detailed maps.

And any equipment I need I will have to bring over on the plane. No camping gear, so it would have to be done in a day.

So what I'd like you guys to do, if you wouldn't mind, is just talk about what it is like. Help to give me a feel for it. And if you say that this is not a good location for someone with so little experience to tackle alone, I would understand and not take offence.

Thanks for any help,

Rgds, Andy



Comments [5]

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  • Bon Echo  Hamilton 8/17/2017 

    I recommend you contact longtime TC member Terradactyl. He's been to the cache  (although that was in 2008) and I think lives not too far from there (far being a relative term).

    http://play.terracaching.com/User/PublicProfile/10

    Any plans to visit Canada while in the area? You'll be pretty close to the border, and I can make some recommendations for places to see in southeast British Columbia.
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  • Yukon Jack  Noxon 8/17/2017 

    I would not advise climbing Gunsight Peak by yourself at age 70.  I climbed it from Hunt Lake which is the end of the trail and from there it is about 1/2 mile and 1500 feet of elevation gain as an off trail scramble.  I assume you are camping on the Priest Lake side of the Selkirks, so from that side I would recommend Roothann (TC74P) or The Wigwams (TCH7A).  These are both trail hikes but go to spectacular vistas.  If you do them and want more then try Gunsight or better yet 7th  Heaven Peak.

    On the east side of the Selkirks there are several great hikes from the Pack River area.  (Roman Nose, Bottleneck, and several more)

    Yukon Jack
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  • Amberel  Location Unknown 8/18/2017 

    Thanks guys, I can't say I'm altogether surprised at the advice to not do Gunsight solo as a first climb in the area.

    The person I am travelling with is a little less active than I am, and for the most part I'm sure we will be sticking together as we have only the motorhome for transport. So I don't see myself able to do lots of remote mountain walking. It will be nice if we can pick some that will be within his compass though, it would be a shame to travel all that way and not see these wild places.

    It was clear from some of the logs that road navigation in some of these remote places is not necessarily straightforward. As I mentioned, our little country is mapped in the finest detail, even the SatNavs have small tracks on them that barely count as roads. But I get the impression that I can't give the SatNav some co-ords and expect it to take me all the way to the trailhead. Should I be buying any maps locally?

    Canada. We are starting and finishing in Seattle, so not, I think, a huge distance from Canada. But I'm not sure if the motorhome hire permits us to cross the border. Also we would quite like to go to Yosemite, and if we do that it is the wrong direction for Canada :-) I have found one cache in Canada, while ski-ing a few years ago, but nearer the east coast than the west.

    You can tell from this that our planning is still at a very early stage :-)

    Rgds, Andy
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  • Terradactyl  Spokane 8/18/2017 

    Andy,

    When I think of all the difficult hikes I've done to log Terracaches two are foremost on that list.  The first is a little number up in the Cabinets called Alaska Peak - True.  On that hike I ended up having to bivouac (not altogether an unpleasant experience) because of the toughness of the hike.  The second was/is Gunsight Peak.  I did it from the east side from Fault Lake and it was extremely difficult.  The trail up to Fault Lake was very nice - but from Fault Lake up was all off trail work and very tough.  I was a spritely 61 years old at the time.  Hunt Peak is nearby and comes off the same trail; as I recall the off trail work while physically demanding did not entail a lot of bushwhacking, etc.  

    I would be happy to accompany you to a remote summit if I'm not out of pocket.  My wife has me set up for a trip to Glacier National Park area in the first two weeks and also to Priest Lake but I'm not sure of the exact dates.  When will you be arriving in the great Pacific Northwest?  I would be happy to provide transportation to a trailhead if we can mate up our schedules.  

     
    10 Points  1   
  • Amberel  Location Unknown 8/23/2017 

    Very many thanks for that :-) I'm so glad I asked here and didn't just set off by myself :-)

    Other than starting and ending in Seattle, from 11th Sep to 4th Oct, and possibly going down to Yosemite, we haven't really done any planning at all yet! The reason Gunsight came up was that my friend was browsing caches and noticed a Groundspeak cache that hadn't been found for 6 years, which is a very remarkable time for a cache in the UK. He mentioned it and then I spotted a TC there too, and the combination piqued my interest.

    Many thanks for your kind offer, and it would be great to have met you, but my friend is not a TerraCacher (I'm a GC cacher, a TerraCacher and run the UK OpenCache site). He is a little less active, so would probably not wish to visit a too remote location, and the logistics of splitting up and rejoining probably make it too awkward. I'm sure I'll get him onto some mountain trails, but we will find easier ones :-)

    Thanks again everyone for your advice,

    Rgds, Andy
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