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AADL's Summer Game Geocache

by skcramer

The Ann Arbor District Library is pleased to announce its Summer Game Geocache! Use a GPS-enabled devise to visit coordinates at four library locations and collect clues to calculate the final location of the geocache. A game code and a small treasure are yours if you find it. You can sign up for a free account at www.geocaching.com and learn more with their Geocaching 101 guide.

If you’re new to geocaching, we’ll also be hosting an Introduction to Geocaching event on July 13th where you can learn more about this popular activity. You can check out the geocaching resources in our collection, and kids may also be interested to learn more about geocaching through The Boxcar Children mystery, The Box That Watch Found.

Comments

Submitted by pk on Tue, 06/25/2013 - 2:33pm

Sounds great. Maybe next time, set up a Letterbox for those who don't have a GPS - it's a great treasure hunt similar to a geocache only without the tech (and usually no trinket, but the library could take liberties there). Check out letterboxing.org to learn more

Submitted by skcramer on Tue, 06/25/2013 - 10:16pm

@Zhengyang Geocaching is traditionally done with a GPS or GPS-enabled device. For example, many cell phones now have GPS capabilities.

@Bookbird The library will not be supplying GPS devices, but if you would like us to consider adding them to our collection, you can let us know through our "Contact Us" form.

@Zhengyang1022, the geocache with library code is available to be found now. There is also a geochaching event on July 13, according to the original post, so your confusion is understandable.

If everyone who finds it is actually writing in the logbook as instructed, then I was the third person to find the library geocache.

If you read through the full geocache long description, you will likely be able to figure out where to look even if you don't want to go through the full process. I needed to decrypt the final hint before I found the exact location, mostly because I wasn't sure what I was looking for, but with that hint is was pretty easy to figure out. I will say that if you follow the full procedure as laid out on the geocaching.com page, as I did, you will visit multiple library locations without doubling back.

@ Zhengyang1022 You will find clues in areas like the secret garden that will help you to calculate the coordinates of the cache. The code will be found in the cache.

Submitted by smv on Fri, 06/28/2013 - 12:42pm

@Zhengyang1022-

I figured out where the cache is just now by gleaning some info from the geocaching.com site associated with the cache. I don't know the exact coordinates, but I know where to look. Good luck!
WARNING: finding the cache without a gps will probably require some knowledge of the branch in question

@Zhengyang1022, the device itself must have GPS capability, which I think iPhones do and iPods do not but I am not 100% sure about that. If it has the capability, you can use any of a variety of apps. Check your device specs to see if you have GPS.

Submitted by SBrandt on Thu, 06/27/2013 - 1:31am

This looks like fun, but I'm confused. How do you start? I get the idea of signing up for an account, but how do you know which cache to look for the library? I'll admit, it may just be that it is late and I am tired.

I used the free/open application c:geo on my android phone, though I couldn't figure out how to enter in the coordinates for the last stop directly. I ended up plugging the final coordinates into google maps (yes, you can use longitude and latitude in google maps directly) to confirm the last location that I was pretty sure of already.

Submitted by cherylo on Thu, 06/27/2013 - 9:44am

A suggestion for this and other geocache quests: make sure there is some way for players to confirm they have the right sign. The description of the one for the plan of green gables stop had plenty of confirmation, but I spent a while hanging around the twood location trying to confirm I had the sign referred to in the directions. Standing right next to the sign I figured the clue must be referring to, the closest I got per my GPS was 5 meters away. GPS is not all that precise, so some confirmation of the correct sign would have helped me not lurk in the lane for as long.

Submitted by gxl on Thu, 06/27/2013 - 9:48am

I don't know if someone commented about this already, but what if you don't have a GPS?

the forum basically says that it's possible to find a catche with out a GPS. A GPS basically gives you ground zero. Since everything is on library property it shouldn't be impossible to do (without a GPS).

Submitted by Juliettie on Mon, 07/01/2013 - 7:12pm

I geocache exclusively with my iPhone and do pretty well that way. I spent a couple hours doing the library cache last weekend. The second part (the street sign part) did give us trouble, even using Google maps. If the library's cache is your first attempt, don't get frustrated! This one is pretty complicated, but lots of fun to play with. Most caches are just one step. I'm going to help out with the event and will be able to show how to use your iPhone to find hundreds of caches right in this area! :)

@Bookbird You can enter the coordinates into Google Maps to get a general sense of where the locations will be, though it may require some searching once you get there to find the exact location.

@Morgsush For the library's geocache, you travel to the coordinates where you can collect clues that will help you to calculate the coordinates of the final cache (a container filled with small treasures). Since we released the geocache as part of the Summer Game, we have also hidden a Summer Game code inside the cache.

@Zhengyang1022 It won't be quite like glass gazing because there are not codes at any of the locations where you will be collecting clues. Instead, you will need to find numbers on signs (like a date on a plaque) or count things in order to find the clue.

Submitted by skcramer on Wed, 07/03/2013 - 12:14pm

@Bookbird The numbers you will be looking for are part of the signs themselves. They should be conveniently displayed. Just keep in mind that you're looking for a number that is already part of the sign as opposed to a number that was added by the library.

The street sign one actually didn't give me that much trouble, except for my own brain not recognizing the number on it. Hehe. I haven't made it out to the final spot, but have the rest of the stuff. Will have to do that after I get back from the holiday weekend. :)

Submitted by cherylo on Thu, 07/04/2013 - 4:27pm

I just figured out I will not be able to come to the geocaching 101 event on the 13th; I'll be out of town for a board game convention (Michicon at Oakland University). Darn. I'll be interested to hear about it after the event, though!

I, too, will be interested in hearing about it afterwards! I have a baby shower for a friend that afternoon so won't be able to come to the event. I get the concept and have managed to find all the clues - haven't made it out to the final location to find the cache itself yet, but that's on the agenda for later in the week. Trying to use some of the apps on my phone have frustrated me a bit tho' - might just stick to good old pencil/paper and the basic gps tool on my phone. :P

I hope a lot of people are able to go to the program though. :)

Submitted by Akkitaset on Thu, 07/11/2013 - 5:22pm

Cool!

Submitted by Bookbird on Mon, 07/15/2013 - 10:23am

I just visited the downtown library yesterday and forgot about the geocatching... What a wasted opportunity..

'course not. You're in the Traverwood area. Good news is this will be one for a little after summer game, so I assume that we can get one last code after summer. There's a month...

I collected all the numbers and visited the "fifth library location" yesterday. I went to the coordinates and even checked all of the locations indicated by the hint at the branch, but I did not see anything that looked like a cache. Is the cache still there?

I can tell you the cache was still there before this past weekend; I was with my daughter when she found it last Thursday evening. You have to be right up close to it to find it, and if you're not very tall to see over certain vegetation it can be quite a challenge to see where it is. Make sure you look at the hint at the very end of the geocache description page!

@SarahRose I checked the cache tonight, and it was still there, but as cherylo suggested, you might need to look around the vegetation. Best of luck finding it!

@SarahRose - It was still there as of Sunday night as well. I went after work and found it Sunday night, though I don't know if I would've found it if it hadn't been for the extra hint. Where my GPS stated the coordinates were and where the actual box is varied just enough that I'm not sure I would've found it without the hint! I don't know that I would've "cast my net" in that wide of a circle from the coordinates. Now, I'll be the first to admit that perhaps I don't quite know what I'm doing with my GPS feature on my phone as I happen to like good old fashioned maps so I don't use GPS much. Therefore, perhaps it was user error on my part, but I highly suggest looking at the hint again and searching the corresponding places near the coordinates you have for the last site. Hope that helps!

Submitted by chrisp35aa on Thu, 08/29/2013 - 3:12pm

We had so much fun completing this multi-step geocaching. I'm wondering why it wasn't listed on the summer game badge list though. We would not have learned about it if we hadn't met some other summer game players at one of the Ann Arbor parks who told us about it.

@chrisp35 So glad you enjoyed the geocache! The badge was released during Week 8, but you're right, it does not appear on the badge list. Thanks for pointing this out, and we'll see if we can correct the oversight.

Graphic for blog posts

Blog Post

Attachments
An Introduction to Geocaching.pdf

Subjects
Summer Game