The Twelve Labors of Hercules: Labor Six Traditional Geocache
The Twelve Labors of Hercules: Labor Six
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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This cache is a singular cache that can be done on its own or as
part of a larger series of caches that make up "The Twelve Labors
of Hercules"
Hercules is the Roman name for greatest hero in Greek mythology.
Like most authentic heroes, Hercules had a god as one of his
parents. Hercules was the son of the supreme deity Zeus and a
mortal woman. As Hercules was growing up he was a victim of a
number jealous attacks and antagonisms that eventually led him to
kill his own children. To atone for his crime, he was sentenced to
perform a series of tasks, or "Labors", for his cousin Eurystheus,
the king of Tiryns and Mycenae.
Labor Six: the Stymphalian
Birds
The sixth Labor pitted Heracles against the Stymphalian birds, who
inhabited a marsh near Lake Stymphalus in Arcadia. The sources
differ as to whether these birds feasted on human flesh, killed men
by shooting them with feathers of brass or merely constituted a
nuisance because of their number. Heracles could not approach the
birds to fight them - the ground was too swampy to bear his weight
and too mucky to wade through. Finally he resorted to some
castanets given to him by the goddess Athena. By making a racket
with these, he caused the birds to take wing. And once they were in
the air, he brought them down by the dozens with his arrows.
... and now onto the cache
The cache is located near the top of one of the two summits of
Florida Peak. The trek to the summit area involves a long stretch
of off-trail hiking on steep rocky slopes, but the views and sense
of accomplishment are well worth the effort!
Let's get going...
There are probably many ways to get to the top of the Florida
Mountains, but we started our hike from Windmill Canyon. The trail
follows an old road that is now closed to vehicular traffic (brown
signs alert the hiker to this). Along the way you'll see a couple
of old water tanks, an old well, and some ancient alligator juniper
trees like the one shown below.
You can see your eventual goal in the upper right corner of the
above picture, and displayed more prominently in the picture shown
below. It is a quite an imposing summit!
As you continue up the canyon you'll occasionally catch glimpses
of a small arch that is along the ridgeline a short distance from
the actual cache location.
As you continue to make your way up the canyon you should be aiming
for a saddle between Florida Peak (as shown on USGS topo maps) and
it's twin summit located ~0.2 miles from the labeled point. The two
summits are nearly identical in elevation and they both offer
spectacular views of the countryside. Here is a view of Florida
Peak (note, you are not heading to this summit)
... but rather to the summit to the right in the picture shown
below!
It's a difficult hike to the saddle, but the most difficult part of
getting to this cache is still ahead of you. Once you reach the
saddle head towards the cache and continue up the gully between the
two large rock outcroppings. Eventually you'll get to a point where
you can go no further and you'll be encountered by the short rock
wall shown below.
I would consider this section to be Class 4. Please be extremely
careful when going up and coming down. DO NOT do anything outside
of you ability level. Remember, getting up is optional, but getting
down is mandatory! The hike is probably a little easier than the
hike up Cookes Peak (Labor One), but this section is definitely
harder than anything on Cookes.
On your hike down enjoy the views, watch your footing, and enjoy
the rest of your day. On our way down we caught this photo of the
twin summits of Florida casting a shadow over the surrounding
lowlands.
*** When you find the cache be sure to write down the three digit
code inside the front cover of the log book. That code will be
needed to find the final cache in the series. ***
Additional information about the route and driving directions can
be found at www.summitpost.org
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Pnpur vf ybpngrq whfg orybj gur cynag va gur "pnpur pybfr" cvpgher. Gur pnpur ybpngvba vf nyfb whfg ba gur bgure fvqr bs gur ynetr cynag va gur "pnpur sne" cvpgher. Lbh jvyy arrq gb ernpu gur fhzzvg bs gur ebpxl rfpneczrag gb ergevrir gur pnpur.