This Virtual Rewards cache will take you on a short walking tour of the Arena Green section of the Guadalupe River Park in San José, CA. This is a pretty little park area directly across the street from the SAP Center, where the San Jose Sharks (NHL) and San Jose Barracuda (AHL) play their home games. The park is situated between the arena to the west and the Guadalupe River to the east.
This is a walking virtual, so put on some comfortable shoes and be prepared to spend 15-30 minutes walking on mostly level ground to visit all the waypoints, with some gentle uphills and downhills included at no extra charge. There are seven (7) primary waypoints, and two (2) currently active "extra credit" waypoints. (The "extra credit" waypoints involve a street crossing, so be safe.) You do not need to visit the waypoints in any specific order, but in the listing I've tried to minimize the walking distance.
At each waypoint, you will be asked to view some information available at that location and answer a question or two about it. Then, when you have collected all the needed information, send me an email or a message containing your responses to all seven questions through the Geocaching web site. Also, while it is not a requirement, I'd love to see non-spoily pictures of your visit, so please feel free to add them to your log entry!
You may substitute one "extra credit" response in place of one of the seven primary waypoints. (That is, as an alternative, you may visit any six of the primary waypoints plus one extra credit waypoint to qualify.) But you really ought to visit both of the extra credit sites if you can - they're worth seeing.
If you are an "armchair cacher" and you think you can find this information online without visiting the site, good luck! I will not disqualify you on the basis of that alone. But I have deliberately made the questions very easy to answer if you visit the sites, and hopefully quite difficult to answer if you don't. And be warned - incorrect or unsubmitted responses will result in deleted log entries. (Plus, you would be cheating yourself out of an excuse to take a nice stroll through the park!)
One note: At any time while there is an event at the arena, the posted parking area will most likely be blocked off and parking (especially free parking) in the area may be extremely scarce or non-existent. I recommend planning ahead.
Please note also that there are, at the time of this cache's publication, two other caches in this same general area - one traditional ("CHOMP!!" - GC26KAG GC9D5A6) and one multicache ("The Great Lockout" - GC44F7V). You can make their CO happy and visit them also, if you haven't already.
Now that that is all out of the way, on to the virtual cache!
Stage 1 - Five Skaters, part 1:
(N 37 19.951 W 121 54.006) At this location, you will find five large pillars with mosaic images of five Bay Area ice skaters who have won medals at the Olympic Games: Peggy Fleming, Debi Thomas, Brian Boitano, Kristi Yamaguchi, and Rudy Galindo. The pillar closest to the intersection of Autumn and Santa Clara is the one we're interested in for this cache. If you are standing on the sidewalk near this pillar, you will see a large number "1" about two feet off the ground.
Question: Starting at the "1", circle the pillar in a clockwise direction (go to your left). In the order you pass them, what other numbers, if any, are displayed on the pillar below the trophy?
Stage 2 - Five Skaters, part 2:
(N 37 19.961 W 121 54.002) You should now be standing inside a "rink" of stone. Along the ground, you should see a number of patterns of words and several round panels. The panels used to be clear, but they have since been covered up as of late 2022 or early 2023. As you stand at these coordinates, you should be able to see a bright green rimmed plaque on the ground just outside the stone rink, along with three round pillars just past the plaque.
Question: Position yourself so that you are able to read the green plaque. What is the date (month and year) that the artists created this work? (Hint: it's near the top.)
Stage 3 - Round Platform:
(N 37 19.967 W 121 53.976) This location sports an odd round granite platform, about 1.5' high and maybe 8 to 10 feet across, and crisscrossed with grooves. (It appears in the background image for this listing as well.) It's the perfect height for sitting on, but other than that I am not sure what the purpose of this strange little platform is. Might it be some sort of stage?
Question: At the center of this platform is a smaller granite panel with a hole in the middle. What large text, if any, is inscribed on this panel?
Stage 4 - Children's Carousel:
(N 37 19.990 W 121 53.990) Opened in 1998, the carousel has 33 animals, including two teal and black sharks, as well as a seat for disabled children. The merry-go-round, which sits across the street from the SAP Center, was closed back in the early 2010s, when the city was struggling financially. Efforts have been made to secure the funding to restore it to operation, but so far the carousel still sits idle today.
Question: What was the minimum height requirement, if any, to ride the carousel when it was in operation?
Stage 5 - Two benches:
(N 37 20.010 W 121 53.956) There's nothing fancy to see here, just two benches set at an angle to each other and the trail. You can get a pretty good view of the Guadalupe River from here, and it's a pleasant place to sit and enjoy the day.
Question: Near the benches, there is a square mile marker post maybe 3' high, reading "______ Mile 0.00" What goes in the blank, based on the wording on the post?
Stage 6 - The Weavers' Gifts:
(N 37 19.990 W 121 53.931) The creation of artist Alan Counihan, The Weavers’ Gifts commemorates and celebrates the Costanoan-Ohlone Peoples, especially the Tamien Ohlone Indians who inhabited the land along the Guadalupe River where the sculpture is located.
Question: As part of this display, there are two halves of a huge broken "mortar" that are now configured as seats. On the ground between them is an arc containing the following description: "They also had acorns to eat which they ground in stone mortars called __________". What goes in the blank?
Stage 7 - Sons of San José Vietnam War Memorial:
(N 37 19.953 W 121 53.928) This monument was placed by the San José "Vietnam War" Memorial Foundation, Inc., and unveiled in 2013 to honor and remember the "Sons of San José" who were killed in action during the Vietnam War. For more information, you may visit their official website.
Question: What does the monument show for the number of Sons of San José who were killed in the Vietnam War? (Hint: the number is shown toward the top of the monument, on the side facing away from the street.)
Extra Credit Stage XC1 - Shirley Lewis Rotary Sculpture Walk / Pool of Genes:
(N 37 20.158 W 121 53.963) The Rotary Children at Play Sculpture Walk was a collaboration between the Rotary Club of San Jose, the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy, and the San Jose State University Foundry. The Sculpture Walk was launched by, and updated in honor of, Shirley Lewis (1933-2017), a civic leader who launched the Rotary Sculpture Walk during her term as Rotary President. The Children at Play sculptures provide the reminder Shirley wanted for people to appreciate their surroundings and remember the excitement of childhood.
Question (for "extra credit"): At the waypoint's coordinates, there is an informational sign with a large metal silhouette forming its back. What type of animal is depicted in this silhouette? (Hint: a smaller depiction of the same silhouetted animal is printed at the lower right corner of the same sign, along with the answer to this question below it.)
Extra Credit Stage XC2 - No Swimming:
(N 37 19.930 W 121 54.124) Last but not least, these coordinates take you to the site of a rather unique sculpture by artist Oleg Lobykin, entitled "No Swimming". The reason for the placement of this sculpture should be evident to any San Jose resident, especially if you follow NHL Hockey as I do. This sculpture is placed here thanks to the Paseo artwork project between the City of San Jose's Office of Cultural Affairs and Burning Man Project. It should remain in place at least through the end of the San Jose Sharks' 2019/20 regular season, and hopefully beyond then, but just in case, you may want to see it now before it's gone!
Question (for "extra credit"): Around the base of this sculpture, there are a number of sturdy metal flanges that can be used to secure the structure to the ground. How many of these flanges are there? (And for extra extra credit, how many of them are in use?) (Hint: the answer will be an even number since the two sides are mirror images of each other.)
Note: On 25-July-2020, I confirmed a cacher's report that the sculpture at XC2 is not there any more. Bummer! All you will find at that location at present is some rust stains on the ground. I do not know where the statue was moved to, but if I find out I will post it here. Meanwhile, I'm leaving this text here for historical purposes. I have added a new waypoint, XC3, to provide some additional incentive to visit this area of the park!
Update, 15-Sept-2020: The sculpture formerly at this location has been spotted in a vacant lot in Sunnyvale or Mountain View at roughly El Camino and Rengstorff. This may be temporary - I do not know.
Extra Credit Stage XC3 - Mike Ricci's Little Italy Banner:
(N 37 20.126 W 121 53.965) Recently, the Little Italy organization installed several street banners throughout the parks of Little Italy honoring South Bay Italians. Their stated goal is to help visitors remember these people for their historical achievements. The banners are available for viewing while walking Guadalupe Park Trail, including the part of the park where these coordinates are located.
Question (for "extra credit"): At the waypoint's coordinates, there is a banner featuring former San Jose Sharks player Mike Ricci, who played for the team from 1997 to 2004, after winning the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 1996. What sport did his father play in Italy before they emigrated to Canada? (Hint: it wasn't hockey.)
Please email or message your responses to me (beerslayer2000) via the Geocaching website as soon as reasonably possible following your log entry. You may claim the find immediately - you do not need to wait for a response from me, although I will usually reply anyway. If there is a problem with your responses (or if I do not receive any within a week or so of your log entry), I will contact you if possible, or take whatever other action is required.
* * * Congratulations to FTF endloop, 2TF Chet13, and all other first weekend finders! * * *
For the safety of all involved, I've added a Handicaching.com rating of H32212:
Background image(s) courtesy of Ronald Horii:
http://www.rhorii.com/GRPG/GRPG1.html
Virtual Rewards 2.0 - 2019/2020
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between June 4, 2019 and June 4, 2020. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 2.0 on the Geocaching Blog.