You will be entering Lone Elk Park. On this beautiful land elk,
bison, wild turkey, waterfowl, and deer run free. This park
contains nice picnic tables, some with grills. There are dangers in
the park. Ticks and chiggers can be very heavy at times. A large
elk may weigh over 700 pounds, and a large bison may weigh 2000
pounds. If wild animals are near the cache please return another
day. Even if the animals appear friendly, a cache is not worth
risking your safety based on the actions of a wild animal.
On this adventure it will help if you speak elk, bison, or can
converse with deer. The animals that can talk will help you. They
are very friendly because of a very special boy. You will need your
binoculars and you will want your camera. This is a beautiful park.
Bring a lunch, enjoy the park, grab some caches. Take a moment at
this spot and look around. More than 200 years ago Lewis and Clark
would have traveled near this area, looking west for great
discovery. They wouldn’t have had a car or GPS, but they
probably held binoculars similar to yours, with hopes and dreams of
exploring a new land.
You may notice some markings on the stone, the trees, and the
rocks. We talked with locals at the nearby bird sanctuary, and they
knew of the people who knew of the legend. It seems that, according
to Stewaythian legend, these markings are placed by the animals.
The animals were here long before the US government. You see in the
1940s the U.S. Government acquired Lone Elk Park to test
ammunition.
But the animals and the boy of Stewaythian legend were here long
before that. As the legend goes, a boy and his father were in the
park when they came upon a lone elk. The elk was very young and not
afraid of the boy who was kind to the elk and talked to it. For a
while this was the lone elk that was friendly and came to visit the
man and the boy every day. When the lone elk grew antlers he came
one day and dipped his head before the boy. The boy marveled at the
antlers, and carefully touched them as the lone elk had wanted.
Something about those antlers was magical, and anyone who touched
them instantly became friends with all of the animals in the area.
When the elk shed the antlers he took the boy to them. The boy
collected the antlers and kept them in a safe hiding place, hoping
that people who love animals could touch the antlers and be friends
with all of the animals.
If you choose to look for these antlers you may, since they were
not removed by the U.S. government. The legend says that the
animals have hidden them, and made markings on the wood, stone, and
rock in the park. Who knows what all the animals have done. Perhaps
everything in the park matters. Perhaps the number of steps up the
tower is a clue. Perhaps the points of the Lone Elk Reservoir are
important. Perhaps you can read the marks left by the animals.
Perhaps you can talk to the animals. There is no sign of Art the
Crow here – and probably not at the bird sanctuary either.
The bird sanctuary is very nice, and after touching the lone
elk’s antlers you will find many of the birds at the
sanctuary very friendly. In your search for the antlers, you might
look long and hard, high and low, near and far.
You can do almost all of your searching from this initial spot
of less than nine square feet. How often can you say that about a
geocache? This is the spot where the question mark is on the map.
IGNORE all of the REFERENCES POINTS since they have nothing to do
with finding the cache. Bring a lunch, set out a chair, grab your
binoculars and start hunting. You can look around and see a lot of
the park from here. How many different kinds of animals can you
see? Post this number in your log if you wish, and name the
animals. Can you spot animals that other cachers didn't see? What
kinds of interesting man-made objects can you find? Do you know
what a cell phone tower looks like? Can you find one in this park?
As you sit and enjoy the beautiful view you will be looking for a
particular “picture” in this park. Here is a rough
sketch of what you are looking for.
The Magical Antlers are Hidden Near Here
If you can find this “picture” and travel to the
area your geo-senses will help you locate the cache. The sketch is
not complete, and it only includes the items I consider to be
important. Many items have been omitted. You will be very close to
the cache, approximately 150 to 200 feet. You are searching for a
regular cache that is larger than most in this category. It is a
plastic container in camo colors to match the surroundings.
Because the cache box is big it is slightly offset from the
sketch location. Searching for this offset is supposed to be easy.
The sketch has five or six noteworthy items in the foreground, and
two or three items in the background. Attached to one of the 5-6
items in the foreground is a sturdy "tag." When counting the number
of characters on this "tag" include letters, numbers, and
characters but don’t include spaces. All of these numbers are
simple 1 or 2 digit whole numbers.
The number of characters on the first line of the "tag"
= A.
The number of characters on the second line of the "tag"
= B.
C = A/2 + B + 2 (check sum = 7)
D = A - B (check sum = 1)
Adjust the North coordinates of where you found this
"tag" by SUBTRACTING C from the decimal minutes – the last
three digits of N 38 yy.xxx.
Adjust the West coordinates of where you found this
"tag" by ADDING D to the decimal minutes - the last three digits of
W 090 yy.xxx.
This is a somewhat different caching experience. We hope you
will enjoy the cache, the park, and the animals you see.
Spoilers will be deleted.
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Congratulations and FTF honors to C3GPS and
Family
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This cache is the collective work of Stewy1966
and WalkThisWayWalkThisWay. Each of us is responsible for different
parts of this cache that we want to combine in a good way. Through
our collaborative work we hope to offer you an enjoyable caching
experience in a beautiful park.
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NOTICE: Please be
respectful of the posted park hours. If you enter the park after
hours you are trespassing. If you are stopped you can be ticketed
or arrested and will put the future of geocaching in the parks in
jeopardy. |
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Special permission to
hide caches in St. Louis County parks is NOT needed as long as the
Groundspeak rules are followed. "Blanket Permission" has been
worked out in advance with the park service. DO NOT CALL THE PARK
as they cannot handle the calls. The Groundspeak cache reviewer
does need to know exactly how and where the caches are hidden and
what type of containers are used. The geocaching liaisons will
notify the park service of new caches. Remember NO AMMO BOXES or
PVC PIPE caches. |
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