Tomb Raider

Where do I begin with this one? I suppose an explanation of the geocache rating system is in order.

A cache is rated (by the owner) on difficulty and terrain using a scale that goes from 1 to 5. An ammo can under a bush would receive a low difficulty rating, say a 1 or 2. A cleverly disguised cache, or one that requires you to solve a puzzle, might be a 4 or 5. Terrain is rated on how difficult it is to actually get to the cache. A rating of 1 means it’s wheelchair accessible. A 5 generally means you need special equipment, such as a boat or climbing gear, to retrieve the cache.

This cache was rated 5/5 – and rightfully so. A crazy hard puzzle that required deciphering a secret message to get the coordinates, then a three hour drive to the desert (the last 45 minutes of which was off-road), followed by a trip through a cave, then a climb to daylight, another climb to the top of the ridge, and finally, a short walk to the cache.

Did I mention the temperature was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit? Yeah, that added to the terrain difficulty a bit. Not that I’m complaining. We had a great time. We’re strange like that.

So here are some photos to give you an idea of what the experience was like.

Someone actually installed a street sign in the Anza-Borrego Desert.

That’s right, folks. We headed for the desert, only to end up at Hollywood and Vine.

We parked right in front of the entrance to the cave. I was extremely grateful for that by the time we came out.

Eugene the Jeep looks right at home here, doesn’t he?

The cave is actually called “Carey’s Big Mud Cave.” The lower entrance requires you to crawl for a short distance, the upper requires you to climb down about 5 feet once you’re inside. We took the upper route.

Here’s the entrance from inside the cave.

Don’t let these wide open spaces fool you. Some parts of the cave were quite cramped. I didn’t bother taking pictures of them, because all you’d see would be rock. By the way, we did turn our lights off at one point, just to see what it looked like. It was dark.

This is a map of the cave. The entrance is at the far right of the map and the exit is almost all the way to the left. Click on the picture to see a larger version.

At the end of the tunnel (a little over a third of a mile) was the only exit – a skylight.

This is a view of that skylight from the outside. This is also what Rick looks like after he conquers something. Click on the image to get a better look.

This is what I look like when I can’t decide if I want to leave the cave.

After exiting the cave we were faced with what Rick wanted me to describe as a “steep cliff.” I told him that the word “cliff” kind of implies that it’s steep. He insisted that I include the word “steep,” so there you go. I always try to respect my elders.

After we summited, it was a short walk to the cache and a triumphant signing ceremony (such as it was). Then, of course, we had to do it all over again to get back to the Jeep. And climbing down a “steep cliff” is much harder than climbing up. But we didn’t die, so I count the trip a total success.