The Nathaniel Trail consists of 17 caches. Because all 17 are part of the geoart, please don't forget to do your homework before setting out to find these caches. For 14 of them, you'll need to enter a simple solution into Certitude in order to receive the actual coordinates for those hides. To find caches 15-17, you'll need to carefully collect information from each of the 14 caches. Some of the trails are used by equestrians, so be prepared to yield to riders. And please pay attention to hunting regulations and schedules. Wearing international orange is never a bad idea. I've never seen one in Carroll County, but a bear was sighted in this area in December 2018, and others have been reported in backyards in Carroll recently. So be careful as you hike these woods. I strongly urge you to solve all the little puzzles BEFORE you head for the trails. All 17 caches could be found in a couple or three hours and three or four miles of relatively easy walking. If you love birds, remember your binocular. And if you don't love ticks, remember your Deet or chemical of choice. As you cache, may you find joy and peace.
In his first two or three years, Nathaniel underwent at least eleven neurosurgeries related to his birth defect, spina bifida (open spine). Click here to read more about spina bifida. Shunts to drain fluid from the ventricles in his brain into his heart cavity were placed and failed, replaced, only to fail again. But eventually he thrived, at least in many respects, though not without much pain, both physical and emotional. And later he would begin his very special education in the public schools. Thankfully Americans choose to support funding for not just public schools, but public schools for children with developmental disabilities, at least until such children reach the age of twenty-one. Nathaniel rode a wheelchair-accessible bus from our home in Owings Mills to Maiden Choice School in Catonsville until we moved to Carroll County in 1987, when he attended Carroll Springs School. Despite his significant dependence on others, Nathaniel began to learn about service to other people and his community. At twenty-one, he of course had to leave his friends and teachers at Carroll Springs; Arc of Carroll County came into our lives then, and Nathaniel learned even more about performing simple tasks that helped others and, incredibly, even brought him a few dollars of income! Arc of Carroll had been founded in 1955 “to support people with developmental disabilities in their individual pursuit of a fulfilling life.” One of Nathaniel’s favorite activities there was helping with the County’s recycling program. After twenty years at Arc, in 2016 Nathaniel decided to see what life might be like at Change, Inc., which “was founded . . . as a Children's Program by a group of parents who realized a program was needed to care for the needs of their children with developmental disabilities.” Coincidentally, Change in 2019 merged with Penn-Mar Human Services, whose CEO, Greg Miller, provided invaluable help to our family when Jordy, Nathaniel’s stepbrother, who was born with Down Syndrome, reached the point at which he needed to blossom in a group home. Click here for information about Down Syndrome
To receive coordinates for this hide, please enter the year Change, Inc. of Westminster was founded.
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.