MSPCGT: By The Numbers

100 Michigan State Park Caches found on 21 days of caching during 12 separate adventures

204 days between our first and last MSPCGT caches

Logging 6,070 miles driving and approximately 225,405 steps (almost a 1/4 of a million!) walking

$2,316 in hotels, $585 in gas plus countless dollars in food, souvenirs, and snacks.

83 Michigan counties completed

4 MSPCGT pathtags and 2 geocoins earned

1 MSPCGT GeoTour souvenir awarded

1 MiGO calendar cover, 1 completed journal and 1 FTF for Scrapcat

And 3 very happy geocachers and 1 stuffed frog, too!

MSPCGT: It's a Centennial Wrap!

To complete the Michigan State Park CENTENNIAL GeoTour during the CENTENNIAL year, TaGeez, ShelleyJean and I made two last cache runs in December.

But first... we needed to dress appropriately. This is what every geocacher is wearing this season.

Early December found us at Fort Custer and Lake Hudson State Parks for a letterbox and two more Traditionals. The ground is hard and the ponds almost frozen over. We spied 3 Tundra swans overhead.

 *** This post is riddled with spoilers! ***

Fort Custer - Letterbox

Fort Custer - Gadget Cache

The water looks so frigid but the seagulls and one excitable Golden Retriever thought this was heaven.

Fort Custer Lake

With a late start and an early sunset, we had to end our adventure early and leave the remaining 4 parks for another day.  We were anxious to get out of the woods as the roads were lined with Hunter's trucks and that wind off the lake numbed our toes. Ah, caching in Michigan.

Lake Hudson

One week later we headed out in snow flurries to tackle.. er... enjoy the last four parks! FOUR LEFT!

First stop of the day, and we faced snow flurries when leaving the Detroit area. Luckily, this was the shortest walk today. Quick find and sign & then we continued down the path to see the frozen lake. 

WJ Hayes State Park

Afterwards, since we were in the Irish Hills, we stopped to see the trabejo rustico at St Joseph’s Cemetery.

Do you see that "fencing" in the above and below pictures? They're made of cement! 

"The trabajo rustico (rustic work)—or faux bois (imitation wood) technique used natural elements as inspiration for cement creations."

There is a another magical version of trabajo rustico less then a mile down the road at McCourtie Park.

Next up was Watkins State Park. One thing you need to know about this park... there is no restroom facilities or places of concealment.  Just wanted to point that out. In case you are asking... for a friend.

Fascinating to see the hundreds of Canadian geese on the almost-frozen lake on the way in.  This was the first time I've experienced a Natural Beauty Road in a state park.

This was a lovely, gradual walk up the hill to the cache.  It was worth the cold wind off the slope, and I'm grateful we didn't do this in the direct summer sun.

Watkins Lake State Park

*** DID I MENTION SPOILERS? ***

Do you see it?

How about now? 

Brighton Recreation was unremarkable except for two things: First, we didn't get shot, and, second, it was state park #99. Luckily, as a quicky near home, that gave us plenty of time at Michigan State Park #100: Meridian-Baseline State Park!

You could feel the change in the air, and we knew it was going to be a good party when Signal found a disco ball at the first cache!

Squirrel Night Club GC84JH2

As we were getting down to the single digits, we looked at the remaining caches and decided this would be our final MSPCGT cache to wrap our fabulous 6 month journey! Meridian-Baseline had the highest favorite points among the remaining with a new Virtual as a bonus. This was the right choice.

When we hit ground zero, there was no surprise where the final was hid. Even with the icy slopes and frozen river, we gingerly made our ways down to GZ.... 

... where the monster under the bridge screamed and warned us to go back. What a hoot!

WE DID IT!

Team SST completed the Michigan State Park Centennial GeoTour!

100 Michigan State Parks discovered, explored and enjoyed!

We kept to our mission: To visit and enjoy all the 100 Michigan State Parks on the tour, and we completed it within the Centennial year! 

Honestly, this was like no other experience, and our state is so ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! 

Sand Dunes! So otherworldly! Swamps and coastlines and old-growth forests. Beaches made of Petoskey stones, ankle-breakers, and silty sand. Lighthouses! Flatland and hills and a mountain, to boot. Waterfalls and rapids and lakes in the clouds with ridges that were oh so high! Historic forts, mining towns, logging encampments, and CCC sites, too.

We sagged under the sun, tunneled under trees, cached in the bitter rains and were pelted by ice. We experienced our state in all four seasons (I'm counting 'construction season', too).  Pasties and Danish pastries and a bakery run by monks! American Bald Eagles, Tundra swans, and, oh, so many Sandhill cranes! A coyote!

Gadget caches and birdhouses and that amazing raft at Kitch-iti-kipi! Letterboxes on Lake Michigan, ammo cans along Lake Superior, bugs on Lake Huron, and one lonely cache on Lake Erie. We wandered along sand dunes for wherigos and watched amazing wind surfers and plovers at our Earth Cache.  

    

Thank you to the Michigan DNR and Michigan Geocaching Organization for creating such an amazing adventure!

*

To celebrate this accomplishment, we continued down this path for the new Virtual, Meridian-Baseline State Historical Park GC7B70X.  I think I shared enough spoilers in this post so I'll let the final images do the talking.

And thank you to everyone who followed along on our adventure.

Happy New Year!

MSPCGT: Gluttons for Punishment

What were we thinking?!?

2019 is ticking down, and the team had hoped to finish the Michigan State Parks Centennial GeoTour (MSPCGT) during the centennial year. So that means finding caches in all season - including the unseasonable weather that has rolled in.

Starting at Holland State Park (time to get the "sand dune" wherigos over with), we began on the beach where the water was frigid and the the wind carried ice pellets! BRRRR!

The MSPCGT: Holland State Park cache is an 18-stage tour of the beach area, nearby town, up 200 steps, along the top of a sand dune, and, eventually, to a cache final. We've been dreading it all year, but we're determined to finish all 100 caches in the series. 

Waiting until Fall, we hoped to avoid the heat on the sand, the EEE mosquitoes in the woods, and the Muggles on the beach. It did that, but we weren't accounting for the freezing wet feet and chapped cheeks. 

Up! Up! Up, we go! Summer crowds are so numerous there are signs that the stairs must be taken single-file and NO STOPPING! 

Look! Atop the dune and heading down!

I won't spoil the final. So, instead. here's a lion. After making the find, we headed downtown to see the new Wizard of Oz statues outside the library and for a little shopping downtown. If you get a chance, the art made from recycled materials along the main road are fun!

Holland State Park

Reprieve over... time to tackle another dune.

MSPCGT: Saugatuck SP is down the road from Holland.  This is another lengthy wherigo. This time touring the Felt Mansion....

... along the property into the nearby state park....

... and taking trails up the side of hills, along ridges, and over the dunes.

Yet another view of the beautiful and frigid Lake Michigan. The final was just a few hundred feet further on the trail. It was purported "so hard to find", but I think all three of us tripped on it almost immediately. WOW! Two multi-mile wherigos involving steps, trails & sand dunes -- I felt it for days afterwards.

Last find of the day was MSPCGT: Van Buren SP. I gave the letterbox container & special stamps a favorite point, but, if I'm being honest, the short walk to the cache was a major influence.

Our reward for our perseverance was an amazing sunset in South Haven and then dinner at Clementines! Look at these amazing photos! It's one of my favorite places in Michigan <3 

Thank you, ShelleyJean, for this favorite photo!

Sadly, we turned away from Lake Michigan Sunday morning and started heading home. Our next three MSPCGT caches were ammo cans on the pole.

MSPCGT: Grand Mere

MSPCGT: Warren Dunes

You would'a thought the word "dunes" in the state park name (Warren Dunes) would've clued me into the possibility of more sand and sandy heights. Oi! Luckily SJ and TaGeez powered on!

We pulled up to the gates of MSPCGT: Warren Woods and found a surprise - a locked gate with a sign stating "Closed until April".  Not deterred (we came so far) we hefted our packs and headed a half mile down the road. Nearing the final, we spied a group looking as guilty as we were. 

Team Stone's Throw was a group of muggles we hopefully converted. They were fascinated by the cache and the idea of caching. They are a beautiful group of women who actually hike for fun! I hope we see them on the trails again.

And now... off to my favorite road, U.S. Route 12 in Michigan. I swear, one day I'm going to drive it from Detroit to its final in Aberdeen, Washington. In Michigan, U.S. 12 takes you through quaint town squares and along the railroad. We visited historic cemeteries, stopping at several Virtuals.

Hero's was one of my favorite Virtuals on the trip. It's in a little downtown park filled with many, many, many ducks! Excitedly we paid out our quarters and fed the ducks until they stormed us! A single-minded flock of feathery evil! Luckily, I saved enough feed to make it to the Virtual and back. I distracted the swarm with the last of the bird food and raced to my team, pinned in the car! Adventure!

Last stop of our tour was MSPCGT: Coldwater Lake SP. We were warned that it was an undeveloped slight of land with no amenities. To gain the cache you had to wade through waist-high grass. Ok, let's get this over with before it gets dark. 

Amish speeding by

93 caches completed - 6 weeks to complete 7 more!

Update on my state park journal - I've kept on this. I have seven pages for seven parks to go! 

MSPCGT: Muskegon to Home

**WARNING - SPOILER IMAGES**

As you can see, the weather changed Sunday morning. This was a first in all our geotour days.

It not only rained - it rained so hard we found out later they closed the coastal road several months early due to flooding.

It's hard to see here, but it continued to pour at Muskegon State Park's Blockhouse. Located at the highest point in the county, this is a reproduction. The original was burned down by kids (who were forced to rebuild it as punishment). 

Luck did not hold out for us here at Hoffmaster State Park, also. There are two versions of this cache - the fun Summer one inside the Visitor Center and the less exciting Winter one outside. I'll let you guess which TaGeez found.

And then we arrived in Grand Haven and the Heavens were beautiful & the waves high.  Kite surfers!

And Grand Haven's lighthouse is beautiful! So amazing to see how high the waves are! 

This was a rarity in the GeoTour - the site of an Earth Cache. Here's the obligatory group picture. #besthairday

Like Ludington yesterday, we spent a considerable amount of time here, too. Amazing view, kite surfers riding the waves, and (best of all) no hoards of tourists! After getting our thrills from the thrill-seekers, we made it to downtown in no time flat -- front row parking, immediate seating at Dee-Lite Bar & Grill, clear sidewalks up and down the main drag. Perfect for lunch and shopping for stickers (and Irwin Chocolates - TaGeez & ShelleyJean had some fun there).

Back on the road, and we're heading away from Lake Michigan. The rain ceased for a bit, but now Mother Nature is spitting on us. 

Yankee Springs involved Hunter's orange, mushrooms, a cemetery, and one of the best caches in the tour yet!

And, with that, ShelleyJean, TaGeez and I have completed 86 parks! It's like a good book -- it'll be a great sense of completion and a little bit of sadness when it's all over.