-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(regular)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
A multi-cache of bison tubes in the City Forest of Midland
There are approximately 500,000 bison in captive commercial populations on about 4000 privately owned ranches. However, commercial herds are not considered in the “Red List” designation of nearly extinct animals which leaves conservation herds of around 30,000 individuals and a mature population of around 20,000. Only 15,000 of these are considered wild bison in the natural range of North America.
I’m not sure, but it’s also rumored that much of the commercial herd is used to make the popular “Bison Tube”. The story goes that, Bison Designs, who first started developing these little critters, took the horn tips of male bison, filed them down, smoothed them out, created caps from dried bison droppings and, voila! The bison tube was born.
While I don’t know if any of that is true or not, I can tell you for sure that…if you shop for a “Bison Tube,” it will cost you five bucks. If you shop for a “pill container,” you can get it for $2.99.
Anyway, it appears that a small herd of free-range bison (tubes) have managed to make their way to the City Forest in Midland. In fact, four have been spotted. Of course, we only have coordinates for the first one. This is actually a five stage multi, but since bison tubes are infuriatingly small, the fifth stage is large enough to have some goodies in there.
Coordinates above are for the first stage. The difficulty rating is because these are small tubes in a big forest. The terrain rating is due to at least a bit of bushwhacking through the trails and ferns and forest.
You should park at N 43 40.176 W 84 14.976.
Don't forget to take your picture at the final...you'll want to be remembered as a Bison-Hunter Extraordinaire!
The third bison hangs out in a very clever spot so PLEASE make sure to put him back exactly where you got him. The fourth bison, on the other hand, is easy to find as a chance for you to catch your breath and prepare for the final. Watch for muggles there.
With some backtracking, most of the trip can be done using the trails. If you chose to try to take a more direct route, please be careful! The City Forest is beautiful, but it is a forest with all the dangers a forest brings (snakes, critters, holes in the ground, hidden pointy sticks about crotch high that can really make your day, etc). Make sure to cache smart for this one. GPSr is always tricky in the forest as well although the coordinates have been triple-checked and should get you close enough.
And, as always, the FTF gets a $5 Gift Card from Lalonde's (while you're there you might actually be able to get...never mind). Happy Caching!
Enjoy the fun!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Fgntr 1: Nyernql? Bx, unatvat va gur yvzo bs na vgfl-ovgfl gerr
Fgntr 2: Va gur gbc bs n qrnq fghzc arne nabgure qrnq fghzc.
Fgntr 3: Gur pyhr vf va gur qrfpevcgvba bs gur pnpur
Fgntr 4: Uvqqra zhpu yvxr Fgntr 2
Svany: Va n jngrecebbs obk gung vf jvqre guna gur qvnzrgre bs gur ybt vg vf haqre.