MSPCGT:Palms-Book SP Multi-Cache

Michigan State Parks Centennial GeoTour (GT93)

UPDATE: 3/1/2024:

2019 was the 100^th Anniversary of Michigan State Parks and we're still celebrating!. Join the Michigan Geocaching Organization (MiGO), the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Geocaching.com for the first official GeoTour in Michigan.

This tour was originally scheduled to run for three years, kicking off on Friday of Memorial Weekend in 2019 and continue through May 31, 2022. The success of this awesome tour has not gone unnoticed. On February 2, 2022, The DNR announced the extension of the GeoTour through September 24, 2024! Join us in making a final push to complete this very popular and very successful GeoTour before the sun sets on it.

Each geocache is in one of Michigan's state parks. The geocaches are arranged by MiGO Region, with twenty-five geocaches per region. The Ticket to Celebrate 100 is available for download from the DNR's Geocaching page. It explains how to qualify for prizes in each of the four regions and for the GeoTour as a whole.

Day use areas of state parks are open from 8AM to 10PM. Geocaching is limited to those hours. Entry into Michigan's State Parks requires a Michigan Recreation Passport. See the Resources section below for more information.

The sun will set on the MSPCGT at midnight Tuesday, September 24, 2024. The MSPCGT will go off the air as a GeoTour and the caches will disappear from the map. There is a lot of construction going on in our State Parks in 2024. Some of the GeoTour caches will have to be pulled earlier. The remaining geocaches in the tour will be archived October 1, 2024. Players will have until December 31, 2024 to claim any prize they have earned. Hiders will be contacted to request removal of the geocaches they hid unless they have made arrangements with park managers and have their own permit in place to keep the geocache in play, with a new GC Code.

Now for some good news: MiGO and the DNR are busy working on a new project that will kick off in the Spring of 2025, code named MSPGT 2.0. Are you interested in helping? Keep your MiGO Membership up to date and stay tuned to the website.

Cache:

This cache was hidden as part of the Michigan State Parks Centennial GeoTour, presented by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the Michigan Geocaching Organization. Record the codeword printed on the log book and on a label inside the cache container to the appropriate box on the Ticket to Celebrate 100 form. See the instructions on the form to claim prizes. This park is open daily mid-May to mid-October.

This is a multi-cache with a field puzzle and is not at the posted coordinates. To determine the location of the cache, go to the posted coordinates and answer the following questions with information there.

• You will find the cache at N46° 00.ABC, W86° 22.XYZ. Begin your walk toward the spring at the posted coordinates. When you reach the signs entitled, Palms Book State Park...the Early Years and Kitch-iti-kipi... a Photo History, stop and gather the following information:
  
  
• Nearby lumber camp (Camp AY) threw rubbish into the spring.
• Follow the ringed telephone poles along M-1BC. .
• The deal transferred almost X0 acres to the State for $1.
• Members of the Civilian Conservation Corps earned $Z0/month.
  
  
• Checksum: A+B+C+X+Y+Z = 29

You are looking for a Regular size container. Please return everything as good or better than you found it.

Thank you CCSquire for creating, hiding and maintaining this MSPC GeoTour cache.

^{Photo courtesy Robb Lamer Photography © 2018, used with permission}
Raft on the Water

Palms Book State Park:

Palms Book State Park is a 388 acre park in the eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It features a unique attraction, Kitch-iti-kipi, the "Big Spring" of the Upper Peninsula.

Kitch-iti-kipi is a spring flowing over 10,000 gpm from the bottom of a very clear pool of water roughly 400 feet by 250 feet and 40 feet deep. Take the raft to the center of pool to see the bubbling sand. The raft is on a cable and you turn a wheel to move the raft along the cable. The center of the raft is open and under a canopy. The canopy blocks the sun and allows you to see the bottom of the pool. Look for fish. Some of the trout are more than 3 feet long. The water is never frozen and the raft is available all year, even in the winter. The Anishinaabe people saw Kitch-iti-kipi as a place of mystery and wonder.

You might recognize that Palms Book is featured in the banner for the Michigan State Parks Centennial GeoTour cache pages.

^{Photo courtesy Robb Lamer Photography © 2018, used with permission}
Looking in to the Big Spring

History:

The park was created in 1926 when John I. Bellaire arranged for the sale of a 90-acre parcel from the Palms Book Land Company to the State of Michigan for $1. The stipulation was a park formed and named after the land company. During the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps constructed an observation raft, dock, and ranger′s quarters for the park. The park webpage (see Information) has the complete story of John Bellaire and the park.

^{Map courtesy of Michigan Department of Natural Resources}

Activities:

Besides the obvious attraction of the clarity of the spring, paddling and snowmobiling are popular attractions of this park.

Information:

For more information, reservations and a calendar of events, follow this link to Palms Book State Park.

Special thanks to A2QueenCacher for help with this geocache.

Special thanks to Cherry Capital Cachers for the Upper Peninsula regional prize.

Resources:

• State Parks Centennial GeoTour - Download the Ticket to Celebrate 100
• Michigan.gov/StateParks100
• Michigan DNR Recreation Passport
• When were Michigan state parks and recreation areas established?
• Michigan Geocaching Organization (MiGO)