Mt. Gower Open Space Preserve
Ramona, CA
It's Not My Fault Cache - GC1F95
October 11, 2001
Mt. Gower OS Preserve is about six miles south of Ramona near San Diego Country Estates. Interestingly, Mt. Gower itself is not in the preserve but in the adjacent Cleveland National Forest. This hike was yet another great hike that would have gone undiscovered by yours truly if not for Geocaching. The hike starts at the Preserve parking lot at the end of Gunn Stage road off San Vicente Road. Then you go up and down, up and down and then up and down again until you get near the 4.5 mile marker. Then you turn around and go back after you make a side trip to find the Cache. Check out the track for this hike and the profile that shows all those ups and downs by clicking on the 225KB below.
As with most of my hikes I don't start taking photos until I find the Cache, so the sequence may seem backwards. Sometimes I change the photos around to make it look like I was taking photos from the start. I'm not going to do that this time.
On the left is the Cache in its hiding place. You can see the white top in the fissure just below the bush. Do you understand the "It's Not My Fault" thing now? It's not my fault either. I don't think it's anybody's fault; I think it's a crack. But I don't think "It's Not My Crack" would be a very good name for a Geocache. In the middle are the contents of the Cache and on the right is yet another nearly headless Stork holding the Cache.
Many people have asked me about the gourmet lunches I take on my hikes. As a special treat for my devoted readers, I have photographed my classic peanut butter and jelly (strawberry preserves, actually) sandwich nestled in its Ziploc container. On the right, I can be seen enjoying this culinary marvel which I usually wash down with a refreshing Gatorade. Sometimes I even bring an apple and/or a power bar. I know how to live it up!
Here are a couple views from the Cache site.
This shows the area of the Cache from the trail near the 4.5 mile marker.
On the left is a view from the trail westerly toward Mt. Woodson and Iron Mountain. The three boulders on the left of the photo reminded me of the Three Wise men or else a reclining "E". The middle photo overlooks SD Country Estates and on the right is a photo of the parking lot from the trail. I have labeled it to show the location of my car, the only one in the lot. I was on this trail for five hours and saw only two riders on horseback down near the parking lot and no one else the whole time. The weather was good and it was a delightful day.