To log this earthcache you will need a camera, pH paper or a
thermometer. I have rated it a 1.5 terrain, but it is very possible
to do this cache in a wheelchair. pH paper is available at
laboratory supply stored or pool supply stores.
Natureland Park is located in the southwestern most region of
the Kettle Moraine. This particular area is the southernmost point
where the Green Bay lobe met with the Lake Michigan lobe of the
Wisconsin glacier approximately 20,000 years ago. Large chunks of
ice broke off both lobes pushing ice and the rock the ice carried
into a ridge of jumbled of material. The ice melted leaving the
lakes amidst the debris and places where till doesn’t
completely cover the gravel deposits resulting in springs that flow
out of the hills and down into Whitewater Lake.
You will not have to wander far to take in the springs, they are
near the parking area, but the park is full of delightful trails to
follow and access to Whitewater Lake.
Rain and snow falls on the surrounding ridges and flow down into
the ground. It filters through the till and outwash left behind
from the meeting of the two glaciers. The layers of till are clay
rich creating lenses of resistant material amidst layers of sands
and gravels that were deposited along the edges of the ice. When
water flowing downhill hits one of these resistant layers the
pressure will force water up and through the gravel resulting in a
spring as you see above. Well not quite as above. See the spring
here near the posted coordinate has been modified and lined with
rock. If you look carefully you can see water coming up through the
gravel and seeping between the rocks in the wall.
This particular spring is more or less in its natural state.In
order to log this earthcache you must do the following:
1) Take a pH reading of the water and email the results to the
cache owner.
2) Take a temperature reading of the water also email the
results of this to the cache owner.
Do not post the pH or the water temperature in your logs or
your log will be deleted and you will have to post it
again.