Who: All Geocachers in Central Michigan at the moment of the event are invited
What: An Alaskan GeoFest in Michigan
When: 2:00pm sharp Saturday Dec 23 - running until at least 2:30pm
Where: Inside a certain well-known restaurant at the listed coordinates
Why: To celebrate the joy of the holiday season (briefly) with fellow geocachers.
Join an Alaskan who has found himself in Central Michigan for the holidays at this fine restaurant location for a brief meet'n'greet right in the middle of the last shopping days before Christmas!
My caching handle is NorthWes, and my home is Anchorage, Alaska. I'm back in Mount Pleasant to give my dad a hand with some things, and my trip has extended across the holiday season. I'll be missing the big GeoFest celebration held in Anchorage (GC7EVH6), so my caching friends there sent along some Alaskan trackable tags to hand out as prizes to attendees at little holiday party of my own right here in the middle of the Mitten. (see photo gallery for prize photos)
The event is free, the food is Dutch Treat (and tasty too! No obligation to buy anything, of course), and the atmosphere is low-key and mellow. This is an opportunity for me to 'give-back' a little bit to the geocaching community here in Michigan, who've provided me with lots of outside entertainment in between the help I'm providing my dad. You may have seen the 'Found By' image on this event page's photo gallery showing up on a geocache near you!
Look for a guy with gray hair, a big smile, and a nametag. I'll have one of the front corners of the restaurant staked out for the event (please log a will-attend so the kind manager knows how many to expect), and most likely I'll have some kind of ice cream treat in front of me at 2pm (did you know that Alaskans are America's #1 per-capita consumers of ice cream? Did you know that Culvers makes some pretty good ice cream treats, too? Yup... now you know another reason why we're here today!)
Here's some nuggets of information about Alaska:
- Alaska is the largest state in the United States in terms of land area at 570,380 square miles, over twice (roughly 2.47 times) as large as Texas, the next largest state. It is larger than all but 16 sovereign nations. Measuring from north to south the state is approximately 1,400 miles long and measuring from east to west it is 2,700 miles wide. Alaska has 6,640 miles of coastline and, including islands, has 33,904 miles of shoreline. Alaska boasts the northernmost (Point Barrow), the easternmost (Pochnoi Point on Semisopochnoi Island in the Aleutians), and the westernmost (Amatignak Island in the Aleutians) points in the United States.
- 17 of the 20 highest peaks in the United States are in Alaska. Denali, the highest peak in North America, is 20,320 ft. above sea level. Denali, the Indian name for the peak, means "The Great One."
- The state motto is North to the Future.
- Jade is the official state gemstone.
- Gold is the official state mineral. .
- The four-spot skimmer dragonfly is the official state insect.
(Everyone thinks it's the mosquito - but dragonflies eat mosquitos!)
- The wild forget-me-not is the official state flower. .
- The willow ptarmigan is the official state bird.
- The Sitka spruce is the official state tree.
- The Tongass National Forest is the largest national forest in the United States. The Tongass National Forest is the largest national forest in the United States.
- Dog mushing is the official state sport.
- The fishing and seafood industry is the state's largest private industry employer.
- Alaska accounts for 25% of the oil produced in the United States.
- Nearly one-third of Alaska lies within the Arctic Circle.
- The record high temperature in Alaska was 100 degrees Fahrenheit at Fort Yukon; the record low temperature was -80 degrees Fahrenheit at Prospect Creek Camp in 1971.
- On March 27, 1964, North America's strongest recorded earthquake, with a moment magnitude of 9.2, rocked central Alaska. Each year Alaska has approximately 5,000 earthquakes, including 1,000 that measure above 3.5 on the Richter scale. Of the ten strongest earthquakes ever recorded in the world, three have occurred in Alaska.
- Alaska sits on the Pacific 'Ring of Fire,' and four active volcanoes are visible from Anchorage.
I'm a charter member (and current president) of Alaska's statewide geocaching organization, GeocacheAlaska! Inc., a nonprofit corporation founded in 2009 to promote the game across a state whose land mass is 16% of the total size of the United States. The purposes of GeocacheAlaska! Inc. are to:
- Promote geocaching as an exciting, family-oriented outdoor activity that increases awareness and use of Alaska's public parks and trail systems.
- Provide opportunities for the geocaching community to enjoy geocaching in Alaska and to meet and socialize with other geocachers.
- Increase awareness of geocaching issues in Alaska through interaction with other outdoor activity groups, clubs, organizations, and the public.
- Educate geocachers on proper geocaching methods and promote stewardship of our natural resources through low impact geocaching activities.
- Educate other outdoor enthusiasts and user groups about geocaching.
- Represent geocaching interests in public forums and to recreation land managers.
- Actively promote the "Cache In - Trash Out" (CITO) program to help in the maintenance of public parks and trail systems and foster good working relationships with land managers.