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Cliff/Wade Lakes LbNA #10954

Owner:Judy
Plant date:Sep 8, 2004
Location:
City:West Yellowstone
County:Madison
State:Montana
Boxes:1
Found by: gollygee
Last found:Jun 25, 2007
Status:FF
Last edited:Sep 8, 2004
This wonderful area is just a short ways off the beaten track - west of Yellowstone NP & north of Island Park/Henry's Lake, Idaho. It is one of Montana's designated wildlife watching sites. While camped there I saw deer, moose, eagles, osprey, grouse & a variety of smaller birds as well as heard owls & coyotes. The night sky was magnificent! Fishing is also good & I enjoyed a pleasant day of paddling on Cliff Lake. There are three Forest Service campgrounds in the area. The letterbox can be reached by trail from any of them.

To find the letterbox you'll need to hike the interpretative trail "Nature Builds & Destroys" that runs between Wade Lake & Hilltop campgrounds. The trail is 0.7 miles long with an elevation change of 400 feet. If you're staying at Cliff Point campground a mile hike up the Fault trail will bring you to the middle of the nature trail. Once on the trail read the 15 or so signs to find the answers to the questions below. The answers will guide you to the letterbox. Questions are NOT in any particular order.

1. Paths made by __ 18 __ __ __ __ 14 __
__ __ 13 __ beetles are called
__ 2 __ 7 __ __ __ __ __.

2. The big spiral scar on a Douglas Fir you’ll see along the trail was caused by
__ __ __ 11 __ __ __ __ __.

3. __ 17 __ __ __ is a very slow motion landslide that can cause leaning trees.

4. Two species of __ 9 __ prefer the cool moist conditions of a north facing
6 __ __ __ __ 3.

5. This tree dwelling lichen is one of the few lichens that has a common name. It’s
called __ __ 8 __ lichen.

6. Ubiquitous lichens are actually made up of two organisms:
a __ __ __ 10 __
and an __ __ 16 __ __.

7. Which tree shouldn’t you shake hands with?
__ 1 __ __ __ __ __ __ 15
__ __ __ 4 __ __

8. The rock strata formed from the ash of the Island Park volcanic eruption is called:
__ __ __ 19 __ __
12 __ __ __

9. The name of the “driller” that you may hear as you hike this trail is:
__ __ __ 5 __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __



Put the letters in numerical order in the following blanks to find the starting point along the trail for your search.

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ (1-7)

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ (8-16)

__ __ __ (17-19)


Standing in front of the object you identified above, take a compass reading that's the same as the age of our friend Doug. At that reading take "z" paces where z = x times y. And "x" is the change in feet in the difference between the Madison mountain range & the Madison river valley before & after the 1959 earthquake in this area. And "y" is the number of people killed at Cliff Lake by that same earthquake.

From that point look at 180 degrees (south) and you should see an upright broken off dead tree. Scramble down to it & look inside to find the letterbox. Please repack & rehide carefully. Winters are tough here.