Let’s get down and dirty.
Saturday, April 13th, 2013
Clean-Up: 9:00 a.m. to noon (coordinates above)
It's time to join with our fellow cachers around the country and clean up our neighborhoods. Our clean-up day is the same day as the local Creek Week Clean-Up Day in Sacramento County. Creek Week is organized every year by the Sacramento Area Creeks Council. I know geocaching.com was suggesting April 20/21 for the CITO events but since the local clean-up is earlier, it makes sense for us to be early too.
I know that jerryw38 has reserved the Micke Grove Park in Lodi for a RCGDS event. I'm not sure of the details, but one idea is to participate in the clean-up in the morning, cache during the early afternoon, and end up at Micke Grove for the RCGDS event. Micke Grove is about 35 miles south of the clean-up location and I'm sure there are many caches between the two locations.
The president of the Sacramento Area Creeks Council has been very impressed by the clean-up work performed by geocachers in previous years at Gold Creek under the Orangevale Bridge (multiple years, see photo above) and at Fishermans Lake in Natomas (2003) . She knows that geocachers can handle tough terrain and can get a lot done in a short amount of time. For 2013, we have another tough challenge: Beach Lake. As far as I know, it has never been cleaned up before and only because of the geocachers is this location being added to the areas being cleaned in the County.
Beach Lake is the confluence of Morrison Creek and Laguna Creek and the trash that gets into those two creeks tends to stop in Beach Lake because it is a wide flat spot barely above sea level (15 feet) and flows tend to slow down. The prevailing wind from the south tends to push the litter to the north shore which is where we will be deployed. The terrain is a challenge because the slope of the levee is steep and covered with rip-rap. The good news is that there is no poison oak!
Beach Lake is part of the Bufferlands around the Sacramento Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant and has become habitat for a wide variety of wildlife. The area we will be cleaning up is off limits to the public except during organized bird watching events and other tours. (No caches can be hidden in the clean-up area.) More info on the Bufferlands can be found here http://www.srcsd.com/buffer-overview.php
The coordinates above are for the check-in location. The area to clean is very large and there are different groups volunteering. From the check-in spot, you’ll be directed to drive to a clean-up location. The clean-up is from 9:00 a.m to noon.
Driving to the check-in location is not straightforward, but I'm sure navigating won't be difficult for geocachers. The check-in location is at the east end of Stonecrest Avenue and the north end of Beach Lake Road
The coordinates for the clean-up location is:
N38 27.524
W121 28.667
Update on April 10, 2013. The sign-in location has moved. Once you get to the east end of Stonecrest Avenue, there will be signs to two sign-in locations. See my cache note below dated April 10.
Trash bags will be provided. An advantage of being a part of the Creek Week Clean-up is that a dump truck will be available and we just need to get the trash bags and shopping carts and other large items from the shore up to the levee road.
Rules: To log as a find, show up, sign in, and clean from 9 to noon. You will also need to sign the Creek Week sign-in sheet (using a real name).
T-Shirts: If you sign-up in advance on this web page and include your t-shirt size, you will get a Creek Week t-shirt.
Checklist (From Creek Council – I know these will be obvious to geocachers.)
Comfortable, washable clothes
Long pants and long sleeves
Hat and sunscreen
Gloves (work or gardening type)
Shoes that can get wet and muddy
Waterproof boots (optional)
Grabbing tool (optional) (Home Depot usually has these for around $20)
All children must be with a responsible adult. There can be hidden hazards in the debris, plus water and slippery stream banks can be hazards. If you bring a child, your most important job is to supervise and keep them safe. Collecting trash is secondary for adults in charge of children. Thank you for making it possible for them to have this experience.
Here are the links to some of the previous years if you want to look at the photos that were posted (or just to take a quick trip down memory lane): 2011 2007 2006 2005