Geocache Just For You

Are you up for a treasure hunt?  I knew you were.

Unlike previous versions, this one is not virtual.  It is real and you'll need to be here to do it.  Hopefully it will survive for a few years at least so anyone who is interested will eventually have the chance to find it.  It will not be listed anywhere but here so it is basically just for those who read this.

It is a two part adventure (well maybe adventure is an extreme exaggeration) diversion.  The first part will take you to the temple grounds where you will find the answers to questions which will give you the complete coordinates of the treasure's hiding place which is out at the second location, Woolford Provincial Park.

Here are the coordinates of the hiding place with letters representing the single digit answers to the questions.  (You will need a GPS to find the treasure, you can borrow mine if you like.)

N 49°AB.CDE'
W 113°FG.HIJ'

Now for the questions.

A. How many spheres sit on the top of the temple?

B. How many "historic sites" plaques are there on the SOUTH visitor's center building?

C. How many long strips of dark stone are there just inside the entrance gates? (just count across where there are the most)

D. Walk around to the north side of the temple and count the layers of stone in the outer wall from top to bottom including the thinner layer on top.

E. On the northeast corner of the grounds there is a plaque telling about the Alberta Stake Tabernacle. On the plaque there is a logo. How many letters are in the first word inside that logo?

F. How many fire hydrants are on the east lawn near the baptistry sign?

G. How many benches are there on the southeast corner of the grounds?

H. Back at the main entrance again, in the sidewalk concrete around the temple there are many "tiles" which contain a pattern. Subtract 5 from the number of shapes inside each square tile. (They are all the same but check a few to make sure you have the correct total number as some of them are less clear than others.)

I. How many flagpoles stand just across the street from the main entrance?

J. The manhole cover in the sidewalk near the main entrance has the year 198_ on it.

After answering each of the questions you now have the complete coordinates for the treasure.  A fifteen minute drive will get you to Woolford park and then about a ten minute stroll will have you at the hiding place.  When you're there the nearby surroundings will look something like this.

The treasure chest is a clear plastic bottle (about 4L) with a 4 inch diameter lid.  Unfortunately my gold brick supply is running a little low right now so I filled it with dollar store junk treasure instead (sigh).  Please have each person choose an item of swag and replace it with something else for the next hunters to find.  In order to protect the treasure from animals, bugs and freezing temperatures please don't put any food, liquid or odorous things into the container. 

There is a log book inside the container as well so if you'd like to you can leave a short note  about when you found it, what you took and left, any animals you saw etc.

Also, I would welcome any comments here as well from anyone who finds it.
Happy hunting!

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Starting this year Woolford Provincial Park has become "day use only". I guess that basically means they figured it wasn't worth keeping up anymore and instead of just letting people camp for free they decided that no one can camp at all.  The place is definitely looking even more abandoned and overgrown than it did before and THAT is saying something. There is such a ghost towny, Blair Witchy feel to the place now. You can almost hear the lonely playground equipment crying to be played on as the surrounding vegetation creeps in closer and closer.

I also made a stop at the nearby Woolford Cemetery.

I hadn't really noticed before and the location did seem quite random but once I actually stopped, got out and looked around the reason why that spot was chosen became clear.  It is subtly but definitely the highest spot around in all directions for miles and miles.  The section of Rocky mountains (length) which can be viewed from there may be unsurpassed.  It's just a bit farther away than Cardston is but it seems like you can see a much longer section of the mountains from there.  It is a wonderful place indeed.  Despite it's now ghost town origins I was not surprised to find a few fairly recent additions.  It is just a great spot and I can completely understand why people still choose to be buried there.

Of course most of the graves were made in the late 1800s and early 1900s.  It was sad to see that many of them were for babies and small children.  Anyway, I'm glad I stopped and got a new perspective.

P.S. When you head out to Woolford from Cardston there is no need to go all the way to the Woolford turnoff sign on Hwy 5.  Just take your first right after you cross the St. Mary river onto road 503 and it will take you straight there. It's a much shorter route.