 Adventure 9: Magellan 2005 Contest Cache
A cache by Markwell Hidden: 6/12/2005
Size:  (Regular) Difficulty:  Terrain:  (1 is easiest, 5 is hardest)
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The leftover cache from the Magellan 2005 Geocaching Adventure.
Container has been placed with permission of the DuPage County
Forest Preserve. Many thanks to Dave and Leslie, and the rangers
who have worked with me for a while to get this historic cache
placed.
PARKING
There are only two legal parking areas for this cache:
N 41° 49.109 W 088° 06.794 or
N 41° 49.603 W 088° 08.745
Do NOT park at the Lucent
building.
What's this about a Magellan Geocache
Contest? Magellan GPS contacted me to place a cache
in the Chicago area, and I knew the DuPage Guidelines had just come
out. So, I worked with both ends (Magellan and DuPage) to get a
placement that I think everyone would be happy with.
This cache was initially listed ONLY on the Magellan site. Not
until the cache had been found by the first finders was I able to
post the cache page to Geocaching.com. The first finders didn't
even know who had placed the cache. You can read the logs from the Magellan
Geocache Adventure Site on a subset of my
Markwell.us page. I've posted it there for posterity.
There is poison ivy on the ground, and the walk is a long one (I
had a great bike ride from the west parking with my 9 year old son
to place this cache on an early Saturday morning on Memorial Day
weekend).
When the Magellan materials are spent, I'll replenish the cache,
but feel free to trade away! Have fun!
Clues from the Magellan Contest
JOURNAL ENTRY 1
Leader of the pack
I am so proud of Anthony. He’s about to turn 13 and has
already become an expert geocacher. He is a credit to his mother,
me and our entire Afetta family and lineage. His
great-great-great-grandfather Benedict would certainly be amazed at
his navigational and research skills, as well as the technology we
have at our disposal here in the 21st century. Anthony took the
lead on this new adventure. He guided us directly to
N42°03.283,W87°49.833, near Golf Mill. There we left a
bit of information about our current quest. Anyone can pick up the
clue at the Customer Kiosk there, and at retail locations across
the country.
“We’d better check the little park,” Anthony
announced as he headed on foot toward the waypoint, which we set
before leaving home on our vacation. I’ve long had suspicions
about this little patch of urban green. When we arrived, we were
surprised to be greeted by a small band of geocachers. There were
13 of them in all. They seemed to have been waiting for us. As we
approached, they stood from where they were seated and crowded
around us like we were movie stars. One man, who seemed to be the
leader of the group, handed me a small scrap of tanned leather as
he introduced himself. “I’m Dutch,” he said
smiling. “We found this note in the park. We figured
you’d be looking for it. Skywiever, here has already
deciphered it,” Dutch continued as he gestured toward a young
gangly member of the band. “I’m afraid it’s not
very helpful.” I examined the note. The scrap of leather was
old, tarnished and scratched, but the words on it are still
perfectly legible. I read the words of gibberish out loud:
“invalid, ask as a kaka.” My wife Alice and I shrugged
at each other and looked at Anthony, who returned a bewildered
stare.
“It’s nothing,” the young Skywiever chimed,
“…just a simple anagram for the original capitol of the
state.”
Dutch interrupted. “At least it confirms that we’re on
the right track. That is, if you allow us to join you in the search
for the forgotten treasure?”
We agreed to meet back here at 7:30 PM, local time, tomorrow
evening.
JOURNAL ENTRY 2
A straight drive from Golf
Yesterday, as our family parted ways with the small band of
geocachers at Golf Mill, the leader turned and said, “by the
way, we believe the second location is much closer to the forgotten
treasure.” The entire meeting was a little bizarre and I
couldn’t think quickly enough to ask what he meant. We will
be seeing the group again tonight. That will give us a chance to
find out.
JOURNAL ENTRY 3
We set out this morning along with the group Anthony has started
calling the “Geo-pack,” the group of geocachers we met
at Golf Mill Park. We spent the day searching many of the preserves
in the area. At one of the locations, Anthony commented that the
place would have been picture perfect a few years ago. The memories
I have of the stories my father told me when I was here as a child
are sketchy at best, but I was told that this place started the
century of progress. It was established by a settler named Ira. I
love the White Oaks; some are over 150 years old.
Daniela, a Latina member of the Geo-pack, tells my wife, who speaks
a little Spanish, that we should be looking for a dark well.
“Thank you,” my wife says – but in Spanish.
“I don’t know where these people are getting their
information, but I trust them.”
JOURNAL ENTRY 4
We met up with the Geo-pack again this morning and took a straight
drive past the second location. Skywiever, of the pack, suggested
that we use some sort of quantum physics equation from the lab to
make a minor course correction, as if the Accelerator were a large
gravitational body. He explained the equation to me, but it was way
over my head. “Don’t you get it, Dad?,” my son
said with a smirk. “Our forward energy is altered by the
force of the Accelerator, curving our trajectory.”
Adenture Summary
The help of the Geo-pack was invaluable in locating my
great-great-grandfather’s cache. We recovered it moments
before it receded again into the past. It was a great family
adventure. Here are some of the details about the area that have
been preserved.
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3 user(s) watching this cache.
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