This cache is placed in Joseph Park, towards the backside.
If you have been caching for any length of time in the area, you probably remember the old "Joseph Park Cache," placed by Firebelly Family. This was actually me when I was caching along with my family. The "Joseph Park Cache" was the very first cache I ever placed. This actually got the attention of the Wallowa County Chieftan, and they wrote a whole article on geocaching and my first cache:
TREASURE HIDDEN IN CITY PARK
Popular game turns players into detectives
"At the start of Aug., the Joseph City Council merrily approved the formal proposal from 11-year-old Alex Wight to hide a Geocache - the object of popular treasure hunts - in the forest near the Wallowa River in the City Park.
Dressed in a suit and tie, Wight submitted his typed letter. The cache was to be stashed in the back of the park, so people in search of it wouldn't disturb the other visitors. Considering the game's appeal across the world, Wight wrote, the city stood to gain.
'I feel that my hiding this cache could draw more visitors to the city of Joseph and bring them out to a nice park,' he said.
Two years ago, the Wight family got caught up in Geocaching. One of Melissa's coworkers suggested they might like it.
Since then, the Wights have made the search a regular part of their travels. Using a Global Positioning Satelite device, they uncover the hidden gem with the lift of a rock or log. In just two years, Alex has found 20-30.
The website, www. geocaching.com, lists countless caches for every zip code. For 97846, a recent reading came up with 20 within 20 miles. The descriptions come with the exact reading from the GPS.
There are also ratings in the searching challenge and the territory, on a star scale (one to five). People setting a cache can make their own grade or answer some questions for the Website to issue a grade.
Alex gave his Joseph Park Cache two stars in both the difficulty and the terrain.
With the descriptions, there are also message boards where hunters recount stories of success.
'I didn't know it was going to be so much fun,' Alex said. 'You're on a treasure hunt. The internet has encrypted hints, with all the letters and numbers scrambled. You're a detective.'
'Anytime we're going someplace, usually we look up the coordinates,' Melissa said. 'We've found them in Idaho, in Montana, in South Dakota.'
Solving the mystery in itself is very rewarding. The traditional cache contains the important logbook. Sometimes, that is it. A micro-cache might be a roll of paper stuffed into a film canister, for people to sign, maybe share a story and then put it back in the same spot for the next hunter to uncover.
The cache might be designed for a certain group. At Wallowa Lake, "Tackle Box" was set up wih fishing mind. It contained various lures and jigs. People were encouraged to replace the originals with new tackle and share fishing stories in the logbook.
Trouble comes when people who aren't into Geocaching accidentally stumble across one. The term "muggle" refers to people who pick up the cache and then throw it out of place.
'Every once in a while, you have to check on the cache you set,' Alex said. 'You have to make sure it's (still) there and muggles haven't gotten it.
'They ruin the fun for everyone else.'
Alex added that an attack from a muggle is rare.
Checking your cache and hunting for new ones also has the possibility of finding a 'travel bug.' Where as the common cache is locked in its specific spot, military-style dog tags can bounce everywhere, by the cache route.
Travel bugs might start with a specific goal. Inserted in different caches, the dog tags might be aimed at a certain state or getting into all 50. Its travel log is available online by looking up the reference number at a link in the Geocaching website.
'We might try to start a travel bug of our own,' Alex said. 'The goal could be coast to coast or all the states. Or maybe another country - that would be a bonus.'"
Wow! Only 20 caches within 20 miles? How Geocaching has grown!
And however rare a "muggle attack" might have been, my cache was eventually muggled. So this new Joseph Park Cache is to commemerate my first cache. Hopefully, it won't be as prone to being spotted by muggles.
Have fun finding it!