Geocaching and the St. Vital Park AL

 Good morning everyone.  Today we're stopping in Wisconsin for the oldest and most favorite.  The oldest is 'Geocache'  GC3D.  Hidden in August, 2000, it was never found and eventually archived in 2001.  The oldest active cache is 'Pike Powder Hike'  GC3B1.  Hidden in March, 2001, it has been found 1,758 times and has 529 favorite points.  The cache with the most found logs isn't a cache per say.  It's an event.  The "Highway 100, 100"  GCPJEH was an event that took place August 20, 2005.  It has 3,450 attended logs.  For an actual geocache, 'Wash Day Blues' GC11Z06 has been found 2,106 times.  This cache was hidden in May, 2007 and has 30 favorite points so far.

It's late on a Saturday night and I haven't even started writing anything yet to be published for tomorrow (Sunday) morning.  That usually means a 'Random Thoughts' blog, but I'll save that for another week.  I do have about six Adventure Labs that I've done and haven't written about.  Let's look at one that I did just before Christmas.

'The Case of the Missing Nut' by local geocacher ruylopez takes us around St. Vital Park.  The park itself is about 100 acres in size and was first developed in 1929.  It is located in the southern part of Winnipeg and is the third largest park in the city.  There are many walking paths that go through the wooded areas, a boat launch, picnic shelters, play structures, toboggan slide, and a duck pond that doubles as a skating rink in the Winter.

The Adventure Lab itself follows the tale of Coconut the Squirrel and his missing nut.  Coming to the rescue is an unlikely hero.  A cat.  Yes, a cat decides to sniff out the clues to solve this case.

Our first stop is at a junction of two of the many paths in the park.  Did I mention that there's a bonus cache at the end of this Adventure Lab?  With this particular AL, you get a picture clue after each successful stage.

 This is the clue after stage one.  The remaining clues get you a little closer to where the bonus cache is hidden.  This is the only one I'll be showing.  If you haven't done this particular AL, then you'll have to come and do it to see the remaining clues.

Our second stop takes us to the boat launch.  No boats were launching today.  Not when the river is frozen.  This is a busy spot in the summer.

Stop number three takes us to the duck pond/skating rink.  There is a pavilion to change into your skates, fire pits and a path that goes around the entire pond.  This is a popular location not only for geese and ducks, but also for Pokémon Go players.  There is a small island in the middle of the duck pond where this totem pole is situated.  The island is also home to a seasonal geocache.  'THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO!  GC48AXT.  It's only available during the Winter months when the pond is frozen.  As I write this, the cache is still disabled with Spring soon approaching.

Our next stop is at the toboggan slides.  These slides are a fairly new edition, complete with a warming shack under the slides.  Due to the pandemic, the slides were closed when I did this AL.  That didn't stop people from sliding down the adjacent hill.

The final stop is one of the play structures.  This structure is large enough to accommodate many children that need to burn off plenty of energy.

It was getting late, plus I didn't have my boots with me (it's automatic that I put my runners on instead of boots), so I didn't opt for the bonus cache on this day.  I did find it in January when I was doing another Adventure Lab.  

There is so much more to see in St. Vital Park.  These few pictures barely scratch the surface as to what the park looks like.  There's over a dozen geocaches hidden around the park as well.  We can add this AL that is entirely inside the park.  I know of one other AL that does make a stop inside the park.  

That's all for this week.  Next week I'll look at the Adventure Lab that does have a stop in St. Vital Park.  Until then, be happy, stay safe, wash your hands and wear a mask, hug your furry critters, and most importantly, have fun.  To quote Sheryl Crow, "All I wanna do, is have some fun".  Peace out.

These two are so cute when they're not getting into mischief.  That happens when they're awake.