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Geocaching and the Zoo part 1

Good morning everyone.  This week's fun fact plays off of a question that Cache Canada asked on their FB page Cache Canada's FB page this week.  What is your highest elevation cache found?  The highest in Canada is Mount Temple (GC1607) in Alberta with an elevation of 11,476ft.  A DT rating of 4.5/5, it has been found 11 times since 2001 with the last find being in 2017.  My highest elevation cache found is Sulphur Mountain (GC134E), also in Alberta with an elevation of 7,215ft.  It is the 428th highest cache in Canada.  I also took to gondola up.

Every year for the past nine years, there has been an event at our local zoo.  The geocaches that are hidden inside are archived to make way for new ones for the next event at the end of September.  I haven't been to a zoo event.  For one reason or another, I'm not available on the day the event is being held.  That was the case again last year.  Knowing that the caches inside were about to be archived, I made it a plan during the September Labor Day weekend to go to the zoo and find these caches before it's too late.

I was in conversation with Auntie Mo that morning and I had stated that I was leaving NOW (for reasons that I don't want to get into, I needed to get out of my living space).  Auntie Mo needed to get out as well and decided to join me for a day at the zoo and Assiniboine Park (the zoo is located in the park).  I picked up Auntie Mo and off we went.

The caches are hidden with the cooperation of the zoo staff.  These are not your typical film cannister in a tree type hides.  They are very creative and sometimes, very challenging.  There were traditional caches, multi-stage caches, and a puzzle cache.  I totally forgot to take pictures of the caches we were finding.  The first one we tried had to be one of the harder ones as well.  There is a hint that had us scratching our heads.  All caches are within reach and no need to cross over a fence.  After about ten minutes or so, I finally find the fake bolt in the wall of the building.

Off we go to the next cache and to enjoy the zoo as well.  The zoo itself has been undergoing major renovations over the years.  It's not really the same zoo that I remember visiting when I was just a wee lad.  The monkey enclosure was always a highlight when I would go to the zoo.  Those monkeys are gone.  The main attraction now is a polar bear enclosure called Journey to Churchill.  It really is a cool spot to visit and worthy of being the new main attraction.


We made our way around, gathering information to solve two puzzles and the multi.  One cache that had us totally stumped.  I used the PAF option for help.  I called on MarcoIslandGirl who had found it not that long ago with her husband MarcoIslandGuy.  Auntie Mo finally made the find on this one and it was worthy of the many favorite points it was getting.  I don't think we would have ever found it without their help.

Every year, the zoo has a special attraction.  This year it's giant automated insects.  We made our way around this before moving on to the next cache. 

That would be our only DNF of the day.  Soon we had found all the caches in the zoo (except for that one) and we carried on to find the finals for the puzzles and multi.  One of the finals had me doing more bushwhacking than needed.  The coordinates were a little bouncy.  Once again, MarcoIslandGirl came to our rescue and the final was quickly found.  Our very last find of the day also had us scratching our heads.  There were muggles nearby, but they left shortly after we arrived (I hope it wasn't something we said/did.  LOL).  After reading previous logs and doing more head scratching, I was able to make the find soon after.

We wrapped up the day by stopping for some well earned/deserved food.  All the caches inside the zoo were archived two days after we had found them.  Just in time.  It looks like that I'll be able to attend my very first zoo event this year.  I'm looking forward to seeing what unique caches will be waiting for us to find.

Until next week, be safe, peace out, have fun, and enjoy.

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