Prairie Recovery Multi-Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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This cache is located in the Morton Arboretum in the Schulenburg Prairie.
This cache was placed on “Recovery Day”, the day after Thanksgiving when we all recover from the feast. Lots of people shop on Recovery Day. The Cliff_nuts have a long tradition of hiking on this day to work off some of the massive calories consumed the day before.
This cache has been placed in Schulenburg Prairie, a replanted tall grass prairie. This land was first prairie, then farmland, and now prairie again.
The Schulenburg Prairie is in the Morton Arboretum which requires an admission fee.
Admission fees for the Arboretum changed in 2009. The current fees are:
Adults (18-64), $11 ($7 Wednesdays)
Seniors (65+), $10 ($6 Wednesdays)
Youth(2-17), $8 ($5 Wednesdays)
under 2 - free.
Members are always free!
No pets.
The Morton Arboretum strongly requests that hikers stay on trails. This cache is accessible via well established trails and requires no bushwhacking. Please respect the rules of the Morton Arboretum and do not cut through the prairie at any time. Any complaints from the staff at the Arboretum will result in the immediate archiving and removal of this cache.
This cache is a two step cache with a structure borrowed from Eagle Son’s “East Meets West” cache. The first stop, on the prairie loop trail, at N 41 48.741' W 88 05.391' will provide a clue to help you construct the address of the actual cache site. Find the year that this prairie restoration began and add it (y.yyy) to the minute portion of the following latitude and longitude to get the cache location:
N 41 46.858' W 88 03.650'
____+y.yyy _____+y.yyy
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= Location of cache (near by)
Continue to follow the path through the prairie reading the signs about the history and makeup of the prairie.
My GPSr was having a bit of trouble making up its mind when we placed this cache so I could be off a few years one way or the other but once you get in the area, you should have no problems finding the cache (remember – no excursions into the actual prairie other than on well established paths).
Please do not collect seeds from the prairie. Several of the plants are on the endangered list and we want them to propagate on their own.
The goodies are hidden in a .50 cal ammo can. Standard geocache stuff (including of course several vials of prairie seeds). After you find the cache, return via the path you came and finish the prairie loop trail (there’s more to learn on your way out). Please be discrete in removing and placing the cache.
This hike will be about 1.5 miles if you found optimal parking. Spend some more time hiking on the many paths of the Morton Arboretum (heck you paid to get in right? Get your money’s worth!). It’s a wonderful place to visit any time of the year. Our personal favorites are the Daffodil’s and the redbuds when they bloom in the spring. There is plenty of wildlife to see as well (we saw 2 deer on Thanksgiving day when we were there scoping for a cache site). There is a visitors center on the East side and a new Prairie Visitor Station at Parking Lot 25.
We hope you develop a deeper appreciation for the prairie.
Good luck recovering this cache.
Note: If you are interested in placing additional caches in the Morton Arboretum, please contact jsavage@mortonarb.org
Cliff_nuts.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Xrrc gur Bnx gerr ba lbhe evtug.
Treasures
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