The view from the Warthog Down Cache

In early May of 2004 we went to Las Vegas. Several of the folks I chat with, have met as I have traveled and cached, and have met as a cache reviewer had been talking about meeting and going caching. As a joke I posted the Warthog Down Cache as a great target. Well, several people thought it was a great idea! Over time a quest was born and we began to pull together the "high mountain adventure cache" trip. I called it the "high mountain insanity cache"!

Just before 9-11-2001, an A-10 Warthog Jet went down here in the mountains. A friend of a cacher witnessed the crash and called his geocaching friend. The military began to remove the plane parts, but after 9-11 they pulled out. The pilot ejected and was safe.

The trip was spectacular! This is my favorite virtual cache ever.
The photo at the top is the view from the cache location.

Click on any photo to see the larger image.

Easy does it down the slippery hill
Leprechaun eases down the hill.

Turning the corner and seeing the tough road ahead
Making the turn, the road ahead.

Leprechauns finds the DANGER signs
Danger Lep! Can't you read?
Too bad the gov't can't spell!

Heading up the lower gully
The group heads up the
lower gully area.

Looking back at the group and the trail behind us
Starting up the first big hill,
looking back at the group below.

From the top of the first hill.
Looking back about halfway up
the first steep hill climb. WOW!

The top of the first steep hill, awesome.
The view from the top of the
first steep hill climb.

Panning right from the top of the first steep hill
Panning right, the geology in the
area is absolutely amazing.

Desert Cactus in bloom.
Desert cactus in bloom, cool!

The top of the first steep hill, awesome.
Making our way down the first hill.

The first piece is finally spotted by Cach-U-Nuts!
The first piece of wreckage!
In the upper center part of the pic.

A more close up version of the piece
A more close up version.
It looks like a wing section.

Me with the cache!
Me at the cache target!

Burned vegitation from the 2001 crash
Burned shrubs from 9-2001.

Cach-U-Nuts with parts of the plane
Cach-U-Nuts with plane parts.

Closeup of the "TIGER SHARKS" section
TIGER SHARKS!

Leprechauns with the cache!
Leprechauns with the cache!

Snapping pictures and you can see how steep the area is
Snapping pics -- note how steep.

MORE pictures!
And MORE pictures!

Success, the money shot.
Posing for the money shot.

The wing close up as we went by it
Closer in on the first found part.

The engine cowling way down below
Engine cowling way down below.

Part of the engine maybe?
Mopar checks out the engine part.

The river crossing, it felt good going back across
The river crossing felt good!

The Group Shot
Mission Accomplished!!!
The group shot after we got finished. What a day.
The file size on the large image is 340 kb.

Please do not use any image on this page without my permission.