Welcome! Don't panic! You’ve located another stop in The Geocacher’s Guide to the Center of Our Universe, also known as the HQ GeoTour. It’s part of why Fremont is so unique. What we have here is a bike-rack-meets-sculpture-installation-meets-geocache called “Within Reach.”
The Fremont Motto: “De Libertas Quirkas” (freedom to be peculiar)
Print your HQ GeoTour passport as a guide.
TO OPEN: The container is within reach. Decode the stones embedded in the concrete onsite to unlock the container. Read the code from the sculpture towards the wall. TO CLOSE: Be sure the numerical code is still in place. Replace contents carefully. Close the lid and scramble the code. Is the lid closed properly?
Fremont loves its bikers. In celebration of Bike to Work Month May 2013, Kilroy Realty Corporation provided this beautiful and functional art piece to the community. The artist Troy Pillow said “As a local artist, it’s an honor to create an installation for this community. Fremont is known for its cycling culture and appreciation of art and “Within Reach” was created in celebration of both.” Geocaching HQ thanks Kilroy and Pillow who assisted significantly in the artful installation of the geocache.
There is a city-sponsored bike counter on the nearby bridge that measures the number of cyclists at one of the busiest cycling locations in the whole city. Fremont welcomes the Summer Solstice with a parade that celebrates all things people-powered; this parade starts with hundreds of body-painted-bikers sans clothes.
About the HQ GeoTour
The Geocaching HQ office is located right here in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle. That makes Fremont the center of our geocaching universe. It just so happens that Fremont is also officially the Center of the Known Universe. Coincidence? We think not.
According to somewhat reliable sources Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood lies in a special geophysical locale. Stay long enough and you might happen to notice the odd gravitational pull, the inability to stay away, the overwhelming urge to return again and again—it’s almost as if you’re in the center of the universe.
In 1991, Fremont Scientists did extensive research at a local Fremont pub. With a few slurs and stumbles, they came to the conclusion that the intersection of N Fremont Ave and 35th St N was, indeed, the Center of the Universe. They supported their statement with the claim that it could not be disproven. It couldn’t be proven either, but that’s beside the fact.
Shortly thereafter, through much politicking and cajoling, the Fremont Scientists convinced the Metropolitan King County Council to officially name Fremont as the Center of the Known Universe. An official proclamation declared Fremont to be an Independent ImagiNation and a mecca for those of independent minds and spirits.
This geocache was hidden with special permission from Geocaching HQ.