The Brooker Creek Preserve, the 8,500-acre wilderness area located in the northeastern corner of Pinellas County, is a beautiful place…and, rest assured, you absolutely WILL NOT find a physical cache of ANY kind here. However, through the wonders of Whereigo technology, you will have the unique opportunity to explore this wilderness island, surrounded on all sides by urban development. Upon completing the cartridge, there will be a physical cache to find within driving distance of the Preserve.
This cartridge is designed as an introduction to Brooker Creek Preserve. You will be hiking the Education Center trail with some minor diversions at some point. Total walking distance is just under a mile and is family-friendly. There is no need to leave the trail at anytime, and for understandingly environmental reasons, the Pinellas County Department of Environmental Management would not appreciate if you did so. So please don't try to straight- line bushwhack, just follow the trail around.
The Preserve opens at 7:00am daily, including weekends & holidays. Trail closing times are different from the Education Center and preserve hours. Please check for trail conditions closing times which are posted at the trail head, or by calling (727) 453-6800.
Note: Education Center hours remain the same - Wednesday, 9:00 am to 8:30 pm, Thursday through Sunday, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm Closed Mondays, Tuesdays, and holidays.
The final cache is located off of the preserve property and you probably will want to drive to that location.
Due to the sometimes unstable nature of the Wherigo format, depending upon the equipment used, it is recommended that you save your game periodically as you are progressing.
The necessary Wherigo cartridge will not come with a download of this cache - you must visit http://www.wherigo.com to download it.
The cartridge is designed such that you cannot complete the game from emulator play. The game is designed where you must input info into a text box or answer a multiple choice question in order to see the next screen or "zone". If you aren't actually at that place, you won't have that information. Good mapping and research might allow you to discover the necessary information from home.
If you don't have a device that will play a Wherigo cartridge, here are a couple of options. 1) Play on the emulator as far as you can - generate some coords for the spot (mapping is your friend) go get the info (or perhaps research for it), then go home and continue the game; or from the location, call a friend at a PC with the emulator and cartridge with the info to continue the game - you'll get the next screen.
Some notes on how this Wherigo Geocache cartridge works. The cartridge has 9 zones (akin to 9 stages in a multi-cache). The first zone, Entry Zone, will be active and visible from anywhere. The next zone will become visible and active when you're in the Entry Zone. "Active" means that your device is calculating a bearing and distance from your current location; "visible" means it shows on your map screen. You'll see it on your locations screen when it is active. If you select it, it will show like a waypoint "go to" - with distance and direction arrow. Once you arrive in a zone, there may be a question to answer before the next zone becomes active and visible. Again, you have to select it from the locations screen to become your next "go to". Zones become inactive as you exit them, to save CPU power; too many "active" zones slows the Pocket PC or Garmin as they calculate distances and bearings to each active location. The geocache location becomes active and visible only after you've correctly entered some data. Coordinates are provided for the geocache. Zones are approx 100' by 100' in this cartridge and are this large to allow for error due to tree cover. Specific information is given for each zone to allow you to complete any question. Once you've entered the cache zone (and completed the Wherigo game) you might need to exit Wherigo and use your GPS, having loaded it with the coordinates provided. The back button will not scroll you back through screens! it takes you back to the main screen, a listing of available locations, tasks etc. If you want to retain data (coords, completion code) you should write it down.
