Wsga Summer Picnic And Campout

[+Right Wing Wacko]

We are still working out the details, so much more information will follow.

 

We are planning a Picnic and Campout at Kanasket-Palmer State park on the weekend of July 9-11. Camping will be the night of the 9th and 10th, with the picnic and other activities Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

 

Wander-lost is working with the Parks department to have us also do a short service project sometime during the weekend.

 

The group camp accommodates up to 80 people. The camp includes restroom, showers, two adirondack (three-sided) sleeping shelters, eight standard tent sites and a picnic shelter. No motorhomes, trailers or tent-trailers allowed in the group camp.

 

Those of you needing RV facilities will need to make your own reservations for a site.

 

Stay tuned as we work out the details.

[+TotemLake]

Fun! There is a significant BM there too!

[+4chin seeker]

Sounds like a good time..... Count me in!

[+Pepper]

Fun! There is a significant BM there too!

TL consider me clueless but what is a BM?

 

Well put it to ya this way I know what came to mind very quickly, but surely that's not what you meant.

 

Pepper

[+TotemLake]

LMAO

 

It's a Benchmark. There is one in that park that commemorates the Center of Population in Washington State in the year 2000. The real 2000 CoP is in the Cedar River Watershed which is mostly off limits to the general public so it was placed there in its stead.

[+Pepper]

LMAO

 

It's a Benchmark. There is one in that park that commemorates the Center of Population in Washington State in the year 2000. The real 2000 CoP is in the Cedar River Watershed which is mostly off limits to the general public so it was placed there in its stead.

Happy to have made you laugh!

Ohhhh..... benchmark i knew that.

 

Pepper

[+leatherman]

Have you driven the route to the park? Is it motorcycle friendly?

[+Seth!]

I'm not sure what constitutes a 'motorcycle friendly' route, but if it means the roads are paved, then it is. This was Adrian's very first campout in August of 2002, just after his fifth birthday. He'll be glad to return, I'm sure. We did some geocaching there.

 

I've tried to block out any memories of anything that might be considered a Significant BM.

 

- Seth!

 

Edited April 27, 2004 by Seth!

[+leatherman]

I'm not sure what constitutes a 'motorcycle friendly' route, but if it means the roads are paved, then it is.

Yes.

The Mountain Loop HWY is paved but there are unpaved wash out areas, and it turns to gravel. Several miles of gravel in order to get to Darrington. I've done it but it's not pleasant.

I wouldn't want to come around a corner at 40mph to find an unpaved spot. In a car someone might not think twice about it.

[+Right Wing Wacko]

I'm not sure what constitutes a 'motorcycle friendly' route, but if it means the roads are paved, then it is.

Yes.

The Mountain Loop HWY is paved but there are unpaved wash out areas, and it turns to gravel. Several miles of gravel in order to get to Darrington. I've done it but it's not pleasant.

I wouldn't want to come around a corner at 40mph to find an unpaved spot. In a car someone might not think twice about it.

In My Day, Motorcycle friendly would have ment dirt roads with lots of hills and jumps

 

There are good roads all the way to the park. The park is just a couple miles off Highway 169, North East of Enumclaw.

 

Edit: Spelling

Edited April 27, 2004 by Right Wing Wacko

[+leatherman]

In My Day, Motorcycle friendly would have ment dirt roads with lots of hills and jumps

My Goldwing doesn't handle jumps very well.

[+GEM's]

July 9...GEM's Birthday!

 

And so close to my house in Graham with some of my all time favorite caches located very near this park...

 

Kanasket Palmer

River Bend

Jellum Park

Pautzke Salmon Ponds ......All by Buffyand Family

 

However, I'll be with Mrs. GEM's & Circuit Rider sailing in the British Virgin Islands!

 

Have Fun!

[+Right Wing Wacko]

July 9...GEM's Birthday!

 

And so close to my house in Graham with some of my all time favorite caches located very near this park...

 

Kanasket Palmer

River Bend

Jellum Park

Pautzke Salmon Ponds ......All by Buffyand Family

 

However, I'll be with Mrs. GEM's & Circuit Rider sailing in the British Virgin Islands!

 

Have Fun!

I'm sorry that we will miss you. By the sounds of things you'll be having fun even if you can't cache on the Cruise Ship

 

This is actually why I posted this announcement once we had a firm date and before we had all the details worked out.

 

It's the time of year that people are planning their summer vacation schedules, and I wanted everyone to be aware of this event should they decide that they would like to come.

 

With the price if gas as high as it is this summer, I beleive an event like this close to home will appeal to a lot of people.

[+Prying Pandora]

Did any ofyou see the TV news last night? Wildlife officials released a nuisance bear yesterday in picnic area inside Kanaskat-Palmer State Park! They harassed it with dogs and shot it with rubber bullets when they released it, to discourage it from visiting public areas of the park. The effectiveness of that remains to be seen. I doubt the effect of the discouragement extends to all the surrounding hiking trails, so caching in groups would be prudent near Kanaskat-Palmer now.

[+evergreenhiker!]

Did any ofyou see the TV news last night? Wildlife officials released a nuisance bear yesterday in picnic area inside Kanaskat-Palmer State Park! They harassed it with dogs and shot it with rubber bullets when they released it, to discourage it from visiting public areas of the park. The effectiveness of that remains to be seen. I doubt the effect of the discouragement extends to all the surrounding hiking trails, so caching in groups would be prudent near Kanaskat-Palmer now.

Thanks for the warning. That sounds like cruel treatment to the animal! I'd just move it far away.

[+Wienerdog]

Did any ofyou see the TV news last night?  Wildlife officials released a nuisance bear yesterday in picnic area inside Kanaskat-Palmer State Park!  They harassed it with dogs and shot it with rubber bullets when they released it, to discourage it from visiting public areas of the park.  The effectiveness of that remains to be seen.  I doubt the effect of the discouragement extends to all the surrounding hiking trails, so caching in groups would be prudent near Kanaskat-Palmer now.

Thanks for the warning. That sounds like cruel treatment to the animal! I'd just move it far away.

Yes! I saw that too! They had some "Bear Expert" on there explaining that this was a "Tough Love" approach to releasing bears back into the wild. The idea being that if they were scared off they wouldn't come back to the same place.

 

It is however, a new theory. Your are right. We will have to see.

 

I used the "Tough Love" approach on one of my kids when they were of age and it was time to leave home. After a certain date I told her that she needed to find herself a place to live. She left. But guess what? She came back!

Never did shoot her with rubber bullets though! Hummm.....?

 

That was some years ago. They now have their own place, a little boy and making it in the world just fine!

 

MS WD

 

PS Lucy (of LucyandRickie) and I saw a bear cub in that neck of the woods on a caching trip last year. It was very close to the road. We never did see the mother and knew she had to be close by.

Edited May 1, 2004 by Wienerdog

[+leatherman]

Never did shoot her with rubber bullets though! Hummm.....?

Well there you go. You used the wrong technique.

[+TotemLake]

Did any ofyou see the TV news last night?  Wildlife officials released a nuisance bear yesterday in picnic area inside Kanaskat-Palmer State Park!  They harassed it with dogs and shot it with rubber bullets when they released it, to discourage it from visiting public areas of the park.  The effectiveness of that remains to be seen.  I doubt the effect of the discouragement extends to all the surrounding hiking trails, so caching in groups would be prudent near Kanaskat-Palmer now.

Thanks for the warning. That sounds like cruel treatment to the animal! I'd just move it far away.

Maybe and maybe not. The technique they used is known as aversion.

 

When we first got Snickers!, we were renting, and he would go after a Japanese Maple in the backyard. He would literally chew the branches right off. I had to force him to stay under the tree and periodically shove his nose at it while yelling bad dog at him. I managed to save that tree with one branch left. He leaves all garden plants alone now. Nothing else worked. Hot pepper type spices just enticed him eat the dirt around it. Any other method just meant when my back was turned he would sneak over to the tree and try to chew off another branch. Now I can trust him completely around the landscaping. He's actually pretty gentle about it.

Edited May 2, 2004 by TotemLake

[+leatherman]

Did any ofyou see the TV news last night?  Wildlife officials released a nuisance bear yesterday in picnic area inside Kanaskat-Palmer State Park!  They harassed it with dogs and shot it with rubber bullets when they released it, to discourage it from visiting public areas of the park.  The effectiveness of that remains to be seen.  I doubt the effect of the discouragement extends to all the surrounding hiking trails, so caching in groups would be prudent near Kanaskat-Palmer now.

Thanks for the warning. That sounds like cruel treatment to the animal! I'd just move it far away.

Maybe and maybe not. The technique they used is known as aversion.

 

When we first got Snickers!, we were renting, and he would go after a Japanese Maple in the backyard. He would literally chew the branches right off. I had to force him to stay under the tree and periodically shove his nose at it while yelling bad dog at him. I managed to save that tree with one branch left. He leaves all garden plants alone now. Nothing else worked. Hot pepper type spices just enticed him eat the dirt around it. Any other method just meant when my back was turned he would sneak over to the tree and try to chew off another branch. Now I can trust him completely around the landscaping. He's actually pretty gentle about it.

Wow! What kind of bear is Snickers?

[+TotemLake]

Wow! What kind of bear is Snickers?

Ummmm a miniature?

 

The point being if you associate bad things happen when you do this, then they tend to avoid it. Animals are animals. The level of intelligence determines how quickly they learn. Bears learn very quickly. They learn a cooler means lunch. So does a backpack. If you associate pain, noise, and hard things being thrown at them within reach of those things, they might develop the association this is really not a good and easy food source to deal with. They teach their young what works and doesn't work.

 

I think it's an interesting experiment and one worth trying.

[+TotemLake]

Bump.

 

Looking forward to this event!

[+TotemLake]

Woohoo! I got permission to go! It'll be me and my "miniature bear", Snickers!

 

I have a screen room I can bring along and some other specialized gear like heavy duty expandable 4 1/2' - 9' poles.

[+Right Wing Wacko]

The Cache Page is up! We still need to resolve some things, but decided that we couldn't wait and put up the page with what we have.

 

We will discuss this and answer questions at tonights WSGA meeting in Redmond.

[+WSGA]

This is a statewide WSGA event! (The geocache page will be corrected to indicate that.) Even if you do not live in the Puget Sound area, please plan to join us for this fun weekend.

[+Right Wing Wacko]

We are working on setting up some activities for the Campout, but to make this fun, we need your input! We don't want to setup things that WE would want to do, we want to setup things that YOU want to do.

 

Lets hear your ideas. What would you like to do while camping. It does not have to be caching related.

[+leatherman]

Get Jeremy to set up some of those Rino games he alluded to long ago.

[+TotemLake]

Hey RWW,

 

Do you still have a copy of that watermellon suggestion? I'd post it but I can't seem to find it.

[+4chin seeker]

Right Wing Wacko,

 

Do we have a set date for the camping event?

[+Right Wing Wacko]

Right Wing Wacko,

 

Do we have a set date for the camping event?

Yes, the date has been set for some time. Read the first message in this thread for that, or check out the Event Posting.

 

The weekend of July 9th

[+TotemLake]

Well y'all don't have to worry about that bear in the park anymore...

 

Per KING5:

Bear Lured By Doughnuts Is Killed

 

POSTED: 11:32 am PDT May 28, 2004

 

BELLINGHAM, Wash. -- A bear lured into a trap by doughnuts was shot and killed by state wildlife agents in Whatcom County.

 

Enforcement officer Troy McCormick says the bear was killed because it had become too accustomed to people and threatened homes near Glacier. It had been stripping bird feeders and knocking over barbecues.

 

The bear also had been trapped last month and released along the middle fork of the Nooksack River. When it was released it was shot with beanbags and harassed with a barking dog and shouts in an attempt to make it fear humans. It didn't work.

 

Agents who killed the bear donated the meat to the Nooksack Tribe's food bank. The Fish and Wildlife department kept the pelt, head and claws for presentations about bears.

 

=-=-

 

As a postscript to this story - I'd say the experiment did work. He stayed out of the park where he was harrassed. It just didn't work to keep him in the woods and out of human population. -TL

[+Prying Pandora]

That couldn't possibly be the same bear. The story is an affirmation of the need for caution when hiking the trails near Kanaskat-Palmer, however.

[+TotemLake]

Unfortunately unless it was a huge typo, it is the same bear. It would have been tagged for that statement to be made. Bears in general do have a very large range.

Edited June 1, 2004 by TotemLake

[+BillP3rd]

We are working on setting up some activities for the Campout, but to make this fun, we need your input!  We don't want to setup things that WE would want to do, we want to setup things that YOU want to do. 

 

Lets hear your ideas.  What would you like to do while camping.  It does not have to be caching related.

I'd be happy to set up a multi-cache in a style similar to what I did last year at the WSGA 2003 Summer Picnic.

[+TotemLake]

That was a cool idea even if I got in late on it.

[+Prying Pandora]

There's nothing in the article posted referencing the bear released at Kanaskat-Palmer. My search of King5's website yielded nothing on this incident, but I did find this article from the Bellingham Herald. It says the bear that was killed had been released along the Nooksack River, not the Green River that flows through Kanaskat-Palmer. It also says that the bear traveled only ten miles from where it was released in Whatcom County to where it was raiding BBQs and bird feeders. Although it received hazing similar to the bear released at Kanaskat-Palmer, it could not be the same bear.

[+TotemLake]

You're right. My bad. I read more into it than was there.

[+Right Wing Wacko]

Less than three weeks to go! Lets hope the good weather holds!

 

Just a reminder. The group camp has two adirondack shelters each with room for 8 people. If you want to stay in the shelter instead of a tent, please let us know so we can reserve a spot for you.

[+Right Wing Wacko]

I am posting a 'Cache Machine' style route for the caches around the area of the campout. While I don't expect that everyone will want to go on a Cache Machine during the picnic and campout, it can help those that may want to do some caching and want to find the local caches.

 

Campout Cache Route

 

Does anyone have any other suggestions? Are there any other caches in the area that are Must Do's or that should be added to this list?

 

Note.... the Map image is clickable and each waypoint will take you to that cache on geocaching.com.

[+Wienerdog]

I am posting a 'Cache Machine' style route for the caches around the area of the campout. While I don't expect that everyone will want to go on a Cache Machine during the picnic and campout, it can help those that may want to do some caching and want to find the local caches.

 

Campout Cache Route

 

Does anyone have any other suggestions? Are there any other caches in the area that are Must Do's or that should be added to this list?

 

Note.... the Map image is clickable and each waypoint will take you to that cache on geocaching.com.

Hey Paul! Great job on the map!

 

MR and I won't be there. Going to the Arlington Airshow that weekend in the motorhome. This is a traditon for Mr. WD and he missed it last year because we went to Victoria.

 

Anyone that can go, SHOULD GO to this Event! There are going to be a lot of neat people there. I know you guys are going to have a great time!

[+TotemLake]

That is a cool map RWW!.

 

I am so pumped for this weekend!

 

Sorry the WD's won't be making it though but I'm sure you'll have fun at the airshow! That's my second most favorite thing!

Edited July 3, 2004 by TotemLake

[+Stump]

Any update on the "details and activities" for this weekend?

[+TotemLake]

Hey CurmudgeonlyGal,

 

I got my MeriPlat to work today! So I'm good to go for this weekend! WooHooo! Thanks for offering the use of your Garmin as a backup!

 

As a plus, my sister called and advise me she forgot other commitments on Friday so we won't be doing trees then. So it looks like I'll be getting there on Friday as well! Yeeehaw!

 

Now I'm really stoked!!!

[+shunra]

I am posting a 'Cache Machine' style route for the caches around the area of the campout. While I don't expect that everyone will want to go on a Cache Machine during the picnic and campout, it can help those that may want to do some caching and want to find the local caches.

 

Campout Cache Route

 

Does anyone have any other suggestions? Are there any other caches in the area that are Must Do's or that should be added to this list?

 

Note.... the Map image is clickable and each waypoint will take you to that cache on geocaching.com.

Those of us who do not use MS IE can open that same map via this link

 

[+The Jester]

We probably won't be camping with the group, but we will be there for part of it anyway. Looking forward to some fun.

[+Right Wing Wacko]

I am posting a 'Cache Machine' style route for the caches around the area of the campout.  While I don't expect that everyone will want to go on a Cache Machine during the picnic and campout, it can help those that may want to do some caching and want to find the local caches.

 

Campout Cache Route

 

Does anyone have any other suggestions?  Are there any other caches in the area that are Must Do's or that should be added to this list?

 

Note.... the Map image is clickable and each waypoint will take you to that cache on geocaching.com.

Those of us who do not use MS IE can open that same map via this link

 

Whoops.... I didn't realize that S&T produced IE only code. I guess I should have know.... It's an MS Product.

 

BTW, if you are using the IE link and go to my page, the individual caches are clickable and will take you directly to the GC.COM cache page.

[+The Jester]

Is there a schedule of events? Timeline? Anything?

[+Prying Pandora]

We had some stuff come up at home so won't be camping but would like to come during the day on Saturday. Is there a schedule or any plans for this event? Are you going to be at the group camp area all day?

[+The Jester]

I hope somebody will be there when we arrive. No info on times, events, schedule - nothing. When are people arriving, leaving for caching, eating, is there a picnic time... ??? Any information would have been nice.

[+Stump]

I hope somebody will be there when we arrive. No info on times, events, schedule - nothing. When are people arriving, leaving for caching, eating, is there a picnic time... ??? Any information would have been nice.

Sorry we missed you Jester. We got to the campout Friday afternoon and stayed until this evening. Decided we were too waterlogged so didn't spend the night again. We had a great time though. Very nice group campground and some pretty nice hikes in the area.

 

Thanks RWW, CachinCin, and whoever else helped plan this.

[+TotemLake]

Yah - sorry we missed ya Jester if you showed up! It was a lot of fun even without any really planned activities. Hey guys, I was only kidding when I said it was coming down hard enough! Really!!! The rain add another dimension and topped off another great adventure! Thanks RWW and CachinCin (WSGA) for setting this up!

 

Cheers!

TL