49th Parallel Ladysmith BC Virtual Reward Virtual Cache
49th Parallel Ladysmith BC Virtual Reward
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Welcome to our Town. You are very near the 49th Parallel. That is no big deal, however it could have been. Remember that Canada and the United States of America is divided by THE 49TH PARALLEL. So why does it not divide the town of Ladysmith? Read on to learn more details. Roughly 3,500 kilometres (2,175 mi) of the Canada–United States border was designated to follow the 49th parallel from British Columbia to Manitoba on the Canadian side, and from Washington to Minnesota on the U.S. side, more specifically from the Strait of Georgia to the Lake of the Woods. This international border was specified in the Anglo-American Convention of 1818 and the Oregon Treaty of 1846, however the border as indicated by survey markers placed in the 19th century deviates from the 49th parallel by tens of meters. After the Oregon Treaty of 1846, the western part of America’s northern border was fixed to run from the top of the Rockies to a point in the sea halfway between the mainland and Vancouver Island (thus avoiding the international border’s slicing off the island’s southern tip). In a curious coincidence, both ends of the almost-straight-line border along the 49th parallel are marked — fastened like a clothesline, you could almost say — by two curious border phenomena. Joe Burgess/The New York Times At the border’s western terminus, after it dips into the ocean behind the Peace Arch [5], the line crosses a peninsula before veering south to avoid Vancouver Island — the only place west of Lake of the Woods where Canada extends south of the “49th parallel” border. The last, 2.5-mile-long stretch of land border between the United States and Canada separates Tsawwassen, British Columbia in the north from tiny Point Roberts, an American-administered peninsula in the south. Residents of Point Roberts are Washingtonians, but have to pass through two international border crossings (or travel by water or air) to reach the rest of their state. The Town of Ladysmith recognizes its varied history by placing numerous HISTORICAL ARTIFACTS at Transfer Beach and along First Ave. To claim this cache, identify the TWO historical artifacts near the sign that "proclaims to be the 49th Parallel". Send a message to verify information. Photos would work too. This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between August 24, 2017 and August 24, 2018. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards on the Geocaching Blog.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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