We have been asked to find every geocache in the park!
Mark looked on the geocaching website he uses and found that
there are about 50! That’s a lot for a
state park. Hummm.... maybe we should have
started this quest a little earlier.
One of our special projects is to work on the new
Educational Backpack Loaner Program.
There will be 6-7 different themes such as birding, geocaching, hiking,
etc.
The way the loaner program works is a family will check
out a themed backpack while they are staying in the park, do the activities
that are in the backpack, then the kids will receive a Jr. Ranger badge. The backpacks will be geared toward 8-12 year
olds.
We haven’t had a lot of time to work on this project but
after our interpretation programs wrap up next weekend we’ll get going on it
full time.
A medium size cache in an easy to find location.
We’ll work with the volunteer coordinator (Errin) to
decide what items to purchase for each theme.
The park received a small grant for this program so we’ll have to put a
lot of thought into each purchase.
For the geocaching backpack, Errin was hoping we could
use geocache’s already in place here in the park. After finding several geocaches, we’ve
decided it would be better to place about 4 geocaches, and pre-load the GPS
with the coordinates.
A micro cache hidden next to a high voltage box.
When we go geocaching, we typically don’t bother with the
“micro” caches. They are usually very
hard to find and we just don’t enjoy searching and searching for something that
is only about an inch in length.
Unfortunately, a lot of the geocaches here in the park are micro and
would be very discouraging for children to find.
A micro. That tiny little gold dot next to Mark's right leg is the container!
So, we’ll get 4 large waterproof containers, fill them
with fun trinkets and hide them in interesting spots in the park.
A typical cache, easy to find right off a trail.
With the decision to place our own geocaches, we no long
have to go looking for all the other caches.
Although, I’m sure we’ll find a few more before we leave.
Another micro. Attached to the underside of a plastic snake!
Teri
Well, I really like the plastic snake cache... I'd probably have it as a "favorite"... but it's probably not appropriate for your project. Aroostook NWR has backpacks available to loan out... as well as using them for group events. They were quite expensive (got a grant) as they include a GPS and an IPad. Two Friends members created a great program for different ages... scavenger hunts, geocaching etc... But back to the caching... I'm jealous that you have 50 you can find... I'd be hunting every one of them!
ReplyDeleteIt is convenient to have that many in the park. We're not going to find them all - we'll save some for the next time we come here!
DeleteWe found a geocache at Farragut once that was a tree with a smiling face attachment. We have a picture of me climbing the tree and then next to the smile. Did you find that one?
ReplyDeleteI totally get what you mean in caches for younger kids need to be more findable and contain a cache trinket. As an adult, I like the micros. We have found some in unique containers. All the best! Serene
I like the clever ones too. We've found them in drilled out rocks and tree branches that were cut in half, drilled out, then put back together. Someone put a lot of thought and time making those.
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