-- 2012 North Clackamas County Chamber of Commerce Geocoin Challenge --

Starts: July 22, 2012

Ends: Whenever the geocoins run out!

This series and geocoin challenge are sponsored by:

North Clackamas County Chamber of Commerce
Clackamas County Tourism and Cultural Affairs (CCTCA).

Before North Clackamas Park was here, there were pioneer farms. Yet, still long before that, there was the land. North Clackamas Park is located along creek bottom land that was once territory inhabited by Native Americans if the Chinookan-Clackamas people.

Few, if any, Chinookan villages are thought to have existed in the network of eastside wetlands that once threaded the Willamette River area between Sauvie Island and what is today the City of Milwaukie. Villages of the Chinookan-Clackamas group, however, were abundant along the shores of the Clackamas River where it enter the Willamette.

In 1850, when the U.S. Donation Land Claim Act opened the Oregon Territory to wider settlement, most of the native people in the area had disappeared due to earlier epidemics of smallpox and other diseases or were relocated to the Grand Ronde Valley in the Coast Range. Settlers found the area thickly forested with fir, oak, ash, and alder trees, along with old growth firs that were up to four feet in diameter. Stumps were split with dynamite, then the remaining pieces of stumps and roots were pulled out by hand and horse power.

Elisha Kellogg, one of three brothers who claimed adjoining parcels of county land in 1866, was the first settler to hold deed to the area that North Clackamas Park now occupies. In 1873, John Rusk purchased a portion of Kellogg's claim. Six years later in 1879, Richard S. McLaughlin purchased an adjoining portion of the Kellogg claim.

There, both the McLaughlins and Rusks cleared and farmed the land, grew their families and added much to the early life of the community. Close to ninety years later in 1960, Chester McLaughlin negoiated an option with the Clackamas County Chamber of Commerce to make a portion of the family farm available for a community park, at a nominal price of course.

John Gray, on behalf of Omark Industries, excerised the option and donated the land to the newly formed North Clackamas Central Park Association. Community volunteers then began to set about turning what had once been cow pastures and hay fields into trails and picnic areas. Later, property from the Rusk farm was also added to the acreage of the park.

In 1968, the North Clackamas Central Park Association deeded the park to Clackamas County. In 1977, Clackamas County then deeded the land to the City of Milwaukie.

The final coordinates you need to find the cache are: N 45° AD.DCE W 122° BE.BBD

Checksum total for adding all the answers together: 20

To find the answers online should be fairly easy, if you know where to look. While wikipedia is a great place to start, the answers I have gathered for this puzzle are not from that site. The site I got the information from is official information and all about the park and what it has to offer.

The online questions:

1 - The complex is home to four natural grass softball/baseball fields, outfields. What is the range in distance? Take the first digit in the footage distance. (A)

2 - The North Clackamas Parks & Recreation District includes the North Clackamas Aquatic Park, the Milwaukie Center, more than 60 parks and open spaces, and offers a wide range of recreation and educational offerings. There are 13 different types of activity attributes displayed along the list of all NCPRD parks. How many are NOT available at North Clackamas Park? (D)

3 - Let’s say you would like to rent the Sara Hite Memorial Rose Garden. You would need to contact someone at the Milwaukie Center. You also would like to tour the Rose Garden with one of the staff. How many days can you call to make an appointment after 1pm? (C)

4 - What month opens the North Clackamas Park Complex available for use? Transfer this month to its numerical order. (B)

5 - What year did the North Clackamas Park Complex open? (XXXE)

For those that come across this cache while in the field and do not have access to the internet, here are the questions that you can only find in the park. The letter variables for the questions below, will follow the same coordinate format layout.

For this part, please go to the coordinates listed above. These will be your best parking coordinates. Look to the east towards the entrance. You should see the Sara Hite Memorial Garden. This location will be where you want to start to look for your answers. It does include a little bit of math (sorry), but hopefully it won't be that hard. Also, if there is an event going on in the Rose Garden, please be respectful and come back another time.

1 - There are many benches in the Rose Garden, each dedicated to someone. Look for one dedicated to Henry Larson Jr. and take a minute to read the top saying on the plaque. How many words are in the saying on the plaque? This number should be the same as the last digit of the year. What is this number? (E)

2 - As you approach the gazebo, look down at the bricks in front of it. One brick was dedicated to a couple who were married at the place a year after my wife and I got married. Just find Mike & Paula. What is the first digit in the day they were married? (Ex. - Month, (A)#, Year)

3 - As you make your way out of the Rose Garden, look to your right. You will see a large red structure. On this structure are some small (metal) animals. How many critters are on this structure? (B)

4 - Continue heading west until you are past the baseball diamonds. Up on the rise is a playground. You will also three large old growth trees. Go to the center one. On the ground below you is a plaque that shows information about the time capsule that was buried here. There are two pairs of numbers in triplicate. One set you have already should have as an answer. The other set is the one you need, which is an odd number. What is that number? (D)

5 - Head back toward the baseball diamonds. Look at the tall silver poles with the large stadium lights on top. How many of these tall poles are there in this sports complex? Take the total number and divide by four. Your answer will be an even number. (C)

The final coordinates you need to find the cache are: N 45° AD.DCE W 122° BE.BBD