Can You Cope with
Nature?
Park at N 39 48.146 W 084 58.220 to begin
your Nature Quest.
Jim and Helen Cope had a real love for
nature. In 1992, with the help of their friend, Francis Parks, they
turned their 29 acre farm into an educational facility. A donation
from their long-time friend and neighbor, Gertrude “Lucky” Ward,
ultimately increased the Cope Environmental Center to 102 total
acres.
Interesting Cope
trivia: Jim Fowler, one of the world’s best known naturalists,
earned his zoology and geology degrees at nearby Earlham College
where Jim Cope was a professor, and for a period of time he
actually lived in the Cope’s barn.
The
Cope Environmental Center trails are open and free to the public
for hiking from dawn to dusk, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
By the time you complete this five-stage cache, you will have
walked about 1/2 mile and experienced a sampling of wetlands,
ponds, native Indiana prairie grasslands, hardwood forests and all
the best nature has to offer. The question is can you
cope?
You must stay on the trails during your trek; you won’t need to
leave the pathways to find any of the caches. The caches are placed
so that there is no need to search beyond your reach from the
walkways. Trail maps are available in the boxes west of the
parking area.
Your
quest begins at the coordinates of this cache. There you will find
something you probably wouldn’t expect to find in a place like
this, use it to solve the puzzle and decipher the coordinates for
Stage 2.
Stages
2 thru 4 are all micro containers that hold the coordinates to the
next stage. The fifth and final stage will reward you for
successfully coping with nature. Inside the hidden container you
will find nature themed items to trade. If you can, please continue
to leave similar items. Don’t forget to sign the log book to record
your adventure.
Please
replace each cache container exactly as you found it
to protect it from muggles and so the hunt will be equally as
challenging for the next person as it was for you. Also avoid
posting spoiler photos or information in your logs that might ruin
this hunt for those who like 'em
tough.
Congratulations to the troxells who were the first to complete all
five stages of this very challenging cache on November 5, 2005.
This was only their second FTF after over 120 caches found. Their
reward - The Boys of Ladycacher 2005
geocoin!
Stage 1: Virtual Cache Puzzle (This will make more sense
once you've reached the first set of
coordinates.)
North
(last three digits)=
Poison
Ivy leaflets per stem
Double the number that appears twice in first date
Month in first date
West (last three digits)=
Second digit of second date
Number of seasons
Month of the second date times two