6 years abandoned

Ever wonder what a geocache looks like when it has been abandoned for 6 years? Well here's your chance to find out! After a nice long day hike in the Slickrock Wilderness, I decided to stop for a cache that has been archived for over 6 years now, called Tail of the Dragon. I learned about the existence of this cache when I found it's sister cache, Head of the Dragon a few months ago, which is still very much active. As I investigated what had become of Tail cache, I noted that the owner had archived the listing due to land management issues with the GSMNP, but no one had ever posted that the cache was in need of maintenance or even missing, and the owner didn't mention retrieving it either. That didn't mean that he hadn't retrieved it, but judging from the cache page, this cache was located in a slightly extreme location that not many people could even reach and I suspected that the ammo can was simply left there.

So after driving down the Dragon Road, I pulled over close to the coordinates for the cache and went about climbing the steep hill (more details about that in my log for the cache). Sure enough, the ammo can was there, mostly buried under pine duff but otherwise in great shape. I don't think the previous finders could have hidden it very well, it seemed to be almost out in the open, but so much the better for me.

A 6-years abandoned cache

I ended up retrieving the container and contacting the CO to see what he wanted to do with it. He wasn't that interested in getting it back to use himself, so I'm going to re-purpose it for one of my next hides, or maybe use it as a door-prize at my next event. The cache was pretty well stocked with goodies, and while slightly stale, nothing was in trash condition.

 It was a pretty awesome finish to my day, finding this old abandoned cache. Makes me want to hunt for more archived caches, I bet there are abandoned caches just waiting to be found.