Big Steele Cache Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(micro)
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I only use micros in special areas and this is one of them. The area doesn’t lend itself well to a large cache because the prairie is burned on occasion. Should be a quick find. No need to enter the prairie but it is allowed. Please take time to enjoy the view. This is quite likely what the early settlers encountered when they first came to Iowa. Thanks to the Cherokee County Conservation Board for allowing the placement of this cache.The following description is from the Cherokeecountyparks.com website. This is the larger of the two tracts and is approximately 160 acres:
“T.H. Steele Prairie consists of 200 acres of native tallgrass prairie in two tracts, both of which are located northwest of Larrabee, Iowa. This undeveloped land is owned by the IDNR, which purchased the site with assistance from The Nature Conservancy in 1986. The land is managed by the Cherokee County Conservation Board. Hunting is permitted. Vegetation ranges from upland mesic prairie to wet prairie communities. Steele Prairie is classified as a biological and geological state preserve due to the diversity of tallgrass prairie plants and wildlife present, as well as the undisturbed nature of its rolling terrain, shaped by glaciers 20,000 to 30,000 years ago. Iowa’s tallgrass prairie is considered by many as one of the most endangered ecosystems on the planet. Others feel that due to its current fragmented nature, the tallgrass prairie is truly extinct. A visit to Steele Prairie is a step into history!”
What to See: Plants
Plant life at Steel Prairie includes the butterfly milkweed, the purple prairie clover and the prairie phlox among many others. This is an exceptionally diverse black soil prairie with hundreds of different plant species, which reveal themselves at different times during the season and respond to different management techniques, including prescribed fire.
What to See: Animals
The diverse landscape at Steele Prairie supports a wide variety of animal life, from the short-tailed shrew and the meadow jumping mouse to birds like the upland sandpiper and the swamp sparrow. Butterflies are also in abundance, especially the mulberry marsh skipper and the Aphrodite and regal fritillaries.
Accessibility:
Winter: To say a cache is winter accessible can be misleading. Suffice to say that it would be very difficult with anything other than a light dusting of snow.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Abar Arrqrq
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
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