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Birds of Tahoe #1 LbNA #12222

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:Nov 18, 2004
Location:
City:Spooner Junction
County:Carson City
State:Nevada
Boxes:2
Planted by:artTrekker
Found by: JoySong
Last found:Jun 14, 2021
Status:aFFFFFFFFF
Last edited:May 24, 2017
May 23, 2017: Both boxes alive and well. Spooner Junction is not a city, but your nearest point of reference. To find out where you're headed, solve the following cypher using letter substitution:


RVZT TZRX GZQQ TVMG UMH I QZRRQX CZXJX MY QIAX RIVMX'T


VZTRMEU GVZQX UMH XOLMU ZRT OIRHEIQ: TAHOA VIEWME.


Google the last two words followed by the word hike, and any of the early results will give you directions to parking and trailhead. You can email me if you are unsure.

This is among my favorite walks at the Lake. It is just under 3 miles round trip, has an elevation change of a few hundred feet (so it's downhill to the Lake, uphill on your return), offers tremendous views, is dog-friendly and has a gorgeous cove and beach at the bottom. I discovered it on the day after Thanksgiving several years ago, when quite a few others were using it as well, but I've been there plenty of times when I had it to myself. During the high season, your best bets for solitude are early morning or late afternoon on a weekday.

The trail from the gate is wide and even. When you see a switchback intersecting from the left, stay on the main trail heading 220 towards the Lake. The trail descends, turns to the E, then SW. Wow! Looks like a lumberjack was working here. You may see heavy equipment, stacked logs, cleared brush, in the widest flat area you've come to. Continue not far on the trail towards the Lake and look on your left for a van-sized peach-colored boulder with a vertical crack up the middle. With your back to the crack, look N to Jeffrey in a boulder ring, 72 steps away. Go to it and look just behind, under the large boulder, under sticks and pine debris.

Go back to the trail and continue your descent to the Lake; the trail takes wide switchbacks through dry forest. Almost to the bottom, a wide trail goes to the north. Disregard it, and follow the SE-bound switchback as it goes through wetter territory. You'll see willows and alders (leafless in winter) and cross a stream. (5/23/17 there is a new bridge you can cross to get there.) A roof comes into view. Who lived here? Go around to the beach side and read about them. Go to the beach. Walk (wade? :-) toward the direction from which the builders would have come until boulders stop you near the water's edge. Look up a bit. A nice full Abies concolor perches in the stone just above the high water line. Stair-step up the boulders. From the Abies' sturdy center, the box rests in its own little stone cave, four feet away to 280. **notes 5/23/17: There are now trails through the boulders that weren't there when I planted this box. The box is still in its own little cave, between two Abies, but I think rocks have been removed from above. The Lake is super high right now, so approaching from above is probably the best course of action. Please make sure the box is re-hidden under rocks in its cave, so it's not visible just looking in.**

Thanks in advance for re-hiding these boxes really well, using pine needles and sticks for #1 & stones for #2. Explore the cove & the next one to the north, swim if you like, admire the aqua color of the water, return the way you came.