Arkansas State Parks - ParkCache

[flannelman]

Good job guys!! I haven't even sated yet. I was thinking of trying to get them all in 2 days. Can it be done??

[searcykid]

WOW!!
Congratulations to GRZZ51 for your accomplishment in completing all the StatePark Caches and the Grande Finale.

WW9 just barely beat you guys for FTF.

Both of your feats just amaze me. That is some traveling.

My wife and I have talked about visiting all the Arkansas State Parks but have only been to about 10 total. When the State Parks Challenge was published we decided that we needed no better reason to try to visit all the parks this year and try to log each cache.
We felt that it would be a stretch for us to do in 5 months. But WW9 did it in 14 days and you guys doing it so quickly. Maybe our 5 month plan is doable after all.

Tomorrow we start on the ParksCache adventure starting with Jacksonport and on to Mammoth Springs and some of the other caches in the north east and east part of the state.

CONGRATULATIONS AGAIN YOU GUYS.

[oenavigator]

Congratulations Hot Rod Ford and grzz51 on finding the finale!
Uh........Pat. Our county judge wants to speak with you. Something about a sonic boom and shattered glass. Also a mysteriously torn up stretch of Hwy 71 through Waldron. Just thought I'd pass along the info. Congratulations!

[AR-HICK]

I have this cache on my watchlist.

netinator found The Grand Finale (Multi-cache) at 8/8/2008
Log Date: 8/8/2008
It’s the eighth hour and the eighth minute of the eighth day in the eighth month of the eighth year, as I sign my final log, sharing the 3rd to find with LtFightr, I search for words to describe my experiences with the Arkansas State Park Geocaching Challenge. At times like this, words come hard that adequately describe the incredible feelings that swell within me for the state, the parks, the people, and the experiences I encountered on my journeys. One of the codes of honor followed by geocachers ”When you take something, you must replace it with an object of equal or greater value”. Arkansas is like a geocaching treasure chest, which I opened and took many wonderful memories from, now I sit and ponder what I can trade in return. I am a Minnesota girl who lives in Memphis and wakes to the sight of Arkansas across the river everyday. Because of this connection, I have come to love the State. If there are any regrets, it would be that it ended to quickly. If I could change one thing, I would have used my motorcycle in the Northwest Region. My very first cache taught me that Arkansas is the friendliest place on earth. My first search came up empty as the cache had not been placed yet and the Ranger had me wait in his office while he made the hide. When I was searching and learning ABIECTIO's caches introduced me to Arkansas caching, when I was discouraged and ready to give up GRZZ51 provided encouraging words, when I was confused and lost WOODWALKER’S logs gave me direction, when I was huffin and puffin B62GTAWK offered me friendship, when I was giving up and headed back to the car BUZZARD SKANLY shared his light, when I was solo and needed to talk KJW0169 always answered her phone, when I was tired and finished LIFHTFITER helped me complete the task, and share a find, and when I am old and poor I will always remember this:
3,488 miles - $568.002
oil changes - $78.003
hotel rooms - $348.0018
Sonic stops - $88.00
15cases water – $48.00
88 caching hours – Very Expensive
Arkansas State Park Memories – Priceless So in return, I encourage others to take up the challenge to experience Arkansas and enjoy the journey. Remember there is no finish line, memories can be created as long as the parks exist. I left an unactivated Cache Me If You Can and took one Arkansas State Park Coin.

Great Log. I will have to meet her one day. I hope soon.
Just thought I would share it with everyone.

[searcykid]

Congrtulations to netinator on finishing the Arkansas Parkscache challenge.

Sounds like Netinator enjoyed the Traveling Arkansas adventure. Someday maybe I too will be able to sign the grande finale log but not for a while.

In the few Parks that I have visited I have found the Parks staff to be very informative, helpful and willing to discuss anything you want to talk about.
I have also found the other geocachers to be the same. I hope to meet this Memphis cacher along the trail and I would like to Invite them to come to the Searcy's Second Annual Meet & Greet on September 27th, 2008

[ExtremeTrek]

I can't believe this hasn't been posted yet:

http://www.thedailycitizen.com/articles ... /top01.txt

Gold at the end of the e-rainbow

Geocacher solves state park challenge

By Warren Watkins

The Daily Citizen

Geocachers across the state, including Searcy's own Pat Vaughn, are putting their skills to the test in a contest sponsored by the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism.

The retired electric utility lineman visited all 52 state parks in the Arkansas State Parks ParkCache Challenge. Vaughn got interested in geocaching in May 2003 when his global positioning unit (GPS) caught his attention again.

“I had a GPS before geocaching and after I retired I just threw it in a drawer and forgot about it,” Vaughn said. “One day I pulled it out and said, ‘I'm going to do something with this.'”

A search of the Internet led Vaughn to Geocaching.com, where those interested in the hobby can find clues to locations of caches hidden around the world.

“It's been a whirlwind ever since,” Vaughn said.

The Arkansas State Parks ParkCache Challenge features cache pages for all 52 state parks, with a clue in each cache that gives the coordinates for the grand finale.

“The difficulty of actually finding each cache was not that hard, but some of the terrain was really tough,” Vaughn said. “Daisy State Park, southwest of Hot Springs, involved walking almost a mile and a half in 100-degree weather and several elevation changes. It was the most difficult one for me. But once you got in there, there was a fantastic view, well worth the effort of getting in there.”

After the challenge was announced and placed online a month ago, Vaughn found 20 caches, located a few at a time.

“For the last 32, I took three days and just went after them. It was extremely fun,” Vaughn said. “Something I promised myself I would do for some time was to visit all the state parks in Arkansas, and this gave me an incentive to do it. Now I want to go back and take my time and revisit some of those great areas.”

The response to the Arkansas State Parks' ParkCache Challenge has far exceeded expectations, according to Joe Jacobs, manager of marketing and revenue for the Arkansas State Parks.

“The challenge went live on July 14 and in four weeks we have had 550 finds, which is an average of more than 10 per park,” Jacobs said. “We have had four ‘finishers' who found all the clues in the 52 ParkCaches and were able to locate the 53rd and final cache.”

For information on geocaching in an Arkansas State Park and the ParkCache Challenge, go to ArkansasStateParks.com/things-to-do/geocaching/. For information on the Arkansas Geocachers Association visit ArkGeocaching.org.

Vaughn was impressed by the quality of Arkansas' state parks compared to those in other states, especially in maintenance and diversity.

“We've got ‘em blown away. Our state parks are far above any other state park I've been in, and I've been in state parks in Texas, Oklahoma and Mississippi,” Vaughn said. “From Queen Wilhelmena State Park to Mt. Magazine State Park, where they have beautiful views, over to Hampson Archeological Museum in Wilson, where it's flat but they have some of the biggest cypress trees you'll ever see in your life, the staff went out of their way to help us in any way they could.”

Vaughn said he drove over 1,000 miles in his quest, and that his favorite state parks were Mount Magazine, Lake Ouachita, Devil's Den and Withrow Springs.

Part of an informal local geocaching group, Vaughn is working with others to plan the second annual geocaching “Meet and Greet” event at Riverside Park in Searcy, to be held Saturday, Sept. 27 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event will feature contests, prizes and classes on software used in geocaching. Last year geocachers drove from as far away as Memphis to participate.

[ExtremeTrek]

Just wanted to take a second and let everyone know that I presented an update on the ParkCache Challenge to the Parks and Tourism Commission last week. I read a few of the comments from the cache sites. I let them know that we have had over 650 finds in the past 6 weeks. This is a success because of the help and patience that the members of the Arkansas Geocachers Association have shown. We still have work to do. I think some of the containers will need to be replaced, I need to work with some of the parks on making sure the caches stay full and I will continue to put out more cons in the final cache.

One thing that has come out of all this is we have some parks that are getting more into it. Look for some really cool hides at Cane Creek State Park soon.

So far 3 of the geocoins have been recorded as picked up and one has made it to a new cache outside the state. I believe we have had 4 finishers but only 3 coins picked up? That's odd. Please record them and send them on their ways. I can't wait to see how far they go.

Thanks again and I'll see you out there (unless you think I'm a muggle and you go into stealth mode.)

[cachemates]

ExtremeTrek---AKA Arkansas State Parks
You mentioned some of the containers needed to be replaced in the Park Caches! I can get you 50 cal ammo cans for $1.00 each. They do have some rust on them but are like new inside. They make great cache containers.
If interested let me know.
Jerry

[ExtremeTrek]

Thanks. Let me talk to the parks about it.

[ExtremeTrek]

Congrats to Buzzard Skanly! The latest to find the Grand Finale!