MnGCA

rosebud55112 · Geocacher Joined: 03 May 2008 Posts: 89

Well, it usually is newbies, but in this instance they have an authority specifically telling them to keep those pretty metal disks and stuffed animals they find. It would be better in my mind if tjey didn't address the issue of "trinkets" at all.

Pear Head · Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2012 6:12 pm Post subject:

Andy, is this something that you can advise them on?
_________________
Hmm...

andrewmcc · Past MnGCA Board Joined: 29 Jul 2007 Posts: 979

bflentje · Geocacher Joined: 29 May 2006 Posts: 3649

Yeah, and the final FINAL is at Itasca, which as we all know is THE most central point in the state [HUGE EYEROLL]. Who is it in the DNR that has their head buried up the backside???

CharleneMae · Geocacher Joined: 23 Apr 2009 Posts: 44

Well at least Itasca is enjoyable to visit and well staffed. It's not exactly central but it's not at an extreme end of the state either.

I do have some questions after reviewing the state park webpage.

1. How long does this challenge last? Is there an end date and if so, what is it?

2. Can the MN State Parks make a written list of which parks are in which biomes? That way there is no confusion on what parks I need to have cards from when I arrive at the park with the biome cache. For example, Old Mill and Crow Wing appear on borders so which biome are they in?

3. Do we have to travel to Garden Island if we have visited during a previous challenge?

If someone could clarify the above, I would appreciate it. Thanks!

CharleneMae · Geocacher Joined: 23 Apr 2009 Posts: 44

One other question I thought of. It looks like there are not coins for purchase for this challenge? Just curious.

CharleneMae · Geocacher Joined: 23 Apr 2009 Posts: 44

The MN DNR updated the website with the answer to one of my questions. Apparently, this challenge only lasts 2 years. Based on the timing of the challenge announcement, that seems too short. They just posted how it would work this week with the different biomes, etc. (Meaning there is some strategy to the order you visit the different parks.) It's June so a lot of camping is already booked for this summer. Three years would probably be very attainable for us, but two is going to be too short. That is disappointing.

qwerty2582 · Past MnGCA Board Joined: 03 Apr 2009 Posts: 457

Aha, I see the Garden Island cache.... is at Zippel Bay.

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=56cf94fa-51a3-4801-b678-e8be84f11167

qwerty2582 · Past MnGCA Board Joined: 03 Apr 2009 Posts: 457

... and Afton is a traditional?

northtrekker · Geocacher Joined: 23 Jul 2004 Posts: 115

I just logged a big DNF at Hill Annex. I looked everywhere for stage 2. Hmmm... I'll do another drive by in a little while, but I haven't looked for a cache for that length of time for eons. I'm hoping that they forgot to post stage 2 coords, since I didn't find them. Rolling Eyes

~nt

northtrekker · Geocacher Joined: 23 Jul 2004 Posts: 115

I watched as the 2nd stage coords were posted at Hill Annex - 2:15, then made the find. I think that my DNF woke them up. Earlier in the day, I crawled 150 feet around the 2nd stage coords. Plenty of hornet's nests are in the making ... I'm just sayin'...

~nt

kc9gbo · Geocacher Joined: 26 Jun 2009 Posts: 148

Beaver Creek wasn't posted when we rolled in, caught the guy at the office and got the final from him.

Root River Stage one has the coordinates for stage two is way way off!!! It had us going at least a 100 miles to the north to another state park!! I have emailed them and left a note on the page. Did manage to make the ftf after thinking a bit and then doing some geosleuthing, good thing there was three of us to make the search easier, but still took us a good hour.

essap · Geocacher Joined: 08 Feb 2011 Posts: 8

Upper Sioux Agency was really a mess. The coords brought you to a hollow tree. Looked around, found nothing. Went to the office they said the coords are wrong. Nowhere near the real coords. They handed us a page with coords for all three stages. We went to the second stage and they were off by 75 feet. All three stages were park and grabs. Didn't need to see a tree or touch grass to find all three stages. Didn't take us to anything interesting in the park. I thought it was an embarassment. Talked later in the day to a cacher who found 3 or 4 others in SW Minnesota and said they were all park & grabs. One of them was not put out yet when he asked at the office.

essap · Geocacher Joined: 08 Feb 2011 Posts: 8

In reading through other logs, it appears that many of the new caches had issues. Lake Shetek, La Salle Lake, Hill Mine Annex?, Frontenac?, and Minnesota Valley also apparently had the wrong coords listed on geocaching.com.

Root River State Trail had one stage off by 187 miles.

Lake Maria had second stage posted incorrectly.

Kilen Woods ftf only found one stage. Found ammo bax with bird cards, but no log.

John A. Latsch talked about coords being way, 55-60 ft off.

Greenleaf ftfs did not find stage 1, but found stage 2.

Afton is listed as a traditional, but in fact a multi, and the second stage coords are wrong.

Many of the caches have not been logged yet. Cascade River has a couple logged dnfs. Hopefully the State Park system will be diligent in straightening out these problems.

I know a lot of people don't care, but the State Parks have spelled Vermilion wrong when the published the cache. They spelled it with 2 ls, but every other place on the DNR site has one l. Just seems like evidence of the sloppiness.

bflentje · Geocacher Joined: 29 May 2006 Posts: 3649

More proof that the DNR has their heads buried somewhere. And some of you thought I was being to harsh..