Symbol & Seek

Welcome treasure-hunting friends to Symbol & Seek SUMMER 2022 edition!

Symbol & Seek is about using maps to re-discover how great the outdoors are.
AND using your adventure muscles to re-discover how great you are.

Who: if you like to walk, hike, amble or scramble outside + solve puzzles
What: use a map to find hidden caches on 1-2 mile park loops. Challenge your mind and body to search for cache sites at your own pace. Explore one of Minnesota's many parks and enjoy nature along the way. No experience needed. This means you. 😉
Where: parks around south-ish Twin Cities metro
When: Summer 2022
Why: Sometimes we need a reason to get outside
How: Maps and additional details in the Symbol & Seek Orienteering Group page

Happy Friday you curious hikers, adventure families and nature-puzzle amblers! A reminder of what hikes are currently available:

Centennial Lakes Hike & Search🌷. Print the map to search for signs in this beautiful and varied urban garden oasis. Find the signs to spell out a secret message.

Hyland Ski Jump Hike & Solve🗻. LAST WEEKEND! A winding walk to a fun vista. Controls contain riddles. Solve the riddles to find a hidden 10th cache! Check out the riddles👇 to get a sense of the hunt 🙂

Nokomis Tree Walk & Hunt🌳. A mixed park and neighborhood walk - mostly paved & flat with lots of fun trees to figure out. You can also skip the trees and just look for the controls 😂

COMING UP: A gorgeous & fun Bloomington treasure. A place to sooth your soul and to explore & discover so much freely. It'll be an inspiration hike with a mix of signs and painted rocks. Look at the pics below -- recognize it??

TWO Symbol& Seek courses coming up this week:

1- Hiking Trails at Normandale.
Friendly, quiet trails tucked behind the community college. A mini-labyrinth and scenic overlook at the top.

2- Treasure Hunt & Tree Walk at Lake Nokomis.
A fun hunt with lots of different kinds of trees. Mostly flat and paved -- perfect for strollers & wagons or just a lovely stroll.

PLUS a Hike & Solve is still up at Hyland Ski Jump. Catch a fantastic overlook at the top. Hike to hidden controls and solve the riddles to discover a secret cache.

Another map coming out this week! This time it’s at Hyland Park’s ski jump trail. 8 hidden controls, each with a riddle. Put all the riddle answers together to get a clue to a final unmapped control. As always a few nature notes to identify plants along the trail.

Maps posted free in the Symbol & Seek Orienteering Group page (link in comments).

Confused what an orienteering map is or how to read it?

Here's a breakdown of a map with emphasis on reading CONTOURS. Contours describe a 3D landscape on 2D paper.

P.S. Just added this map to the Symbol& Seek Orienteering group https://www.facebook.com/groups/141391021245741

"Time spent amongst the trees is never wasted time" ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

We set out the controls for the Izaak Walton MN River Valley course today. Join the Symbol & Seek Orienteering Group for the map and scorecard (free, no strings) https://www.facebook.com/groups/141391021245741

This out-of-the-way spot is fun to explore. Birds, beavers, abandoned railroad tracks, sinkholes, log bridges, creeks. We found a fox, but the littles were more impressed by a passing mountain biker. What's not to love?!

FAQ
What is Symbol & Seek?
-->A weekly treasure hunt! SYMBOLs are icons on a specialized detailed map. Then you SEEK them. Navigate to hidden caches (called 'controls') using the landmarks and trails on the map. Find the exact location using a detailed scorecard.

How do I start?
-->Print map (in color) and scorecard and familiarize yourself before starting.
-->Drive to park, then orient yourself on the map and start hiking and searching.

Course overviews
-->Courses are trail-based loops around 0.5-1 mile long, meaning follow an existing trail. Ultimately end back at the start.
-->8-12 controls hidden close to each trail.
-->Courses are a mixture of paved and unpaved trails and often on uneven and/or muddy ground.
-->Maps are attached to EVENTS. Out of respect for keeping our natural spaces clean, I will retrieve controls after 2-3 weeks. (see event dates)

Who can participate?
-->Anyone interested! I hoping kids K-12 will find fun adventure. Must be able to walk over rough terrain and know your own and your families physical abilities and limits.

Driving Directions and Parking
-->Course address and parking suggestions (as needed) are in each course event.

Where are the maps and scorecards?
-->Maps and scorecards are at the Symbol & Seek Orienteering Group.
-->Maps are attached to EVENTS. Out of respect for keeping our natural spaces clean, I will retrieve controls after 2-3 weeks. (see event dates)

4 Orienteering Extension Activities (or for any nature excursion)

Map-Maker
Use the course map as a base for making your own map-making. All you need is the map and a colored pencil or two. Walk paces to roughly measure distances. Use the key or invent your own symbols to add in your own findings.

Use Tools
Magnifying glass. Specimen jars. Compass. Binoculars. Camera. Crayons.
Nothing like a good fallen log ripe with moss and hollows for examining, climbing and balancing on. Look for termite trails under bark and count rings. Bring a couple of jars or baggies to collect samples for a microscope. Take rubbings of interesting textures – leaves, bark, rocks. Practice navigating with a compass or taking nature photographs.

Nature Journal
Log entries of plants and animals you spot. You don't have to know names – just identify one feature about them, like purple blossoms or a bird call (like a rat-tat-tat). Keep a competitive count of birds or downed trees. If you like to recognize species, start with the cottonwoods, oaks, maples and ashes along trails; or since this is spring the small songbirds – chickadees, robins, goldfinches, cardinals.

Be a kid
My kids are really small. Puddles for stomping, dirt piles for climbing, sticks for …. whatever sticks do. Personally I want to keep clean. I LOVE clean. But when I make peace with the dirt I love to see kiddos being thoroughly, gleefully, carefreefully, muddily happy.