This 40 acre nature
preserve off the North end of Sumas Mountain was made available to
the people of Whatcom County over two decades ago through the
community-minded generosity of Alma, Elinor and Vincent Ostrom.
Today, although the site is under the ultimate authority of the
Whatcom County Parks Department, the site's day-to-day management
is under the auspices of the Nooksack Valley School District. NVHS
student student projects have resulted in the development of a .5
mile interpretive trail looping through the main parcel, and have
published a walking guide to that trail and its 16 station posts
spaced along the route.
Be sure to take full
advantage of the educational opportunity afforded by this cache.
NVHS students have informatively cataloged the sights and sounds of
the trail's natural surroundings; please check out my scan of their
compilation (better yet: print it out and take it on your visit)
for station-by-station insights into our coastal lowland forest
environment. It's entitled the
Ostrom Conservation Site Interpretive Trail. Of course,
the high point of your trip will remain the cache ...
right?
One corner of the property
extends South across South Pass Road; a further design for use of
the Ostrom Conservation Site is that it serve as a trailhead for a
new trail ascending Sumas Mountain from the North. Although not all
permissions are yet in place to cross intervening private property
to get to DNR lands higher on the mountain, and while the DNR still
hasn't signed off on the idea of a new trail, NVHS students have
already constructed several hundred yards of trail, as well as a
bridge over Breckenridge Creek, all in confident anticipation that
everything will [eventually] fall in place. Check out their
efforts!
Special thanks to
bccruiser and Sharp for making available the great cache container
(a 4-snap Navy surplus signal flare container--kinda like a
lock'n'lock on steroids).
 |
I (Teese) am a member of the Washington State
Geocaching Association. If you are a geocacher in this state,
please consider joining the WSGA . . . it's a great way to meet
other cachers, access caching resources, and improve the
sport.
*** Click their icon for more information! *** |