The Great Copper Rush - BC's largest GeoCaching Event is coming to Princeton

July 30th - Aug 1st, 2010!

We recently heard a saying from a new cacher, "Geocaching & 4x4ing go together like chocolate & peanut butter." We couldn't agree more. It's a never ending adventure of new places to see and go - places you never would find without geocaching. For those that are unfamiliar with geocaching, we invite you to visit www.geocaching.com , basically it's a treasure hunting game where you use your GPS to take you to a hidden location using the longitude & latitude coordinates.

We discovered how addicting geocaching could be a little over two years ago, and found it was a perfect way to show people the places of history that we love & amazing locations we discover along the way.

This year we are holding our 2nd annual "Rush" event, but the event is anything but rushed, it's more of a 3 day choose your own adventure style virtual history tour. Last year saw over 150 geocachers come together to discover the beautiful Tulameen & historic Blakeburn areas. They saw more than just a hidden container in the forest; they saw the stories of the men and woman that lived here. They were shown the sight of BC's 5th biggest mining disaster in a way that brought it back to life. Imagine reading the stories of those who witnessed it; while standing at their door step of the mine bosses cabin, looking into his living room and taken back almost 80 years in time.

This year's event we will lead you on an adventure exploring the Princeton Area, including the Whipsaw Trail, Copper Mountain, Placer Mountain & Hedley. We will be bringing you to the areas that have "hidden" treasures that are amazing to see, including long forgotten tram lines, abandoned cabins & the remains of the mining camps that brought up the gold, copper & other ore's so long ago that made this area famous. This year we will be offering up several different "geocaching" runs for those that attend, including Car friendly, hiking, stock 4x4 & modified 4x4's (Whipsaw Run). But the event is about more than just "exploring", it's also about family & community. Other activities will include Movie Nights under the stars, a pancake breakfast, horseshoes, panning for gold & a GeoCoin Texas Hold'em Tournament.

The Princeton Fairgrounds will be our home for the weekend, and we even have arranged for a "Root"-Beer Garden! At the Rootbeer Garden the kids can have a free Rootbeer Float, as long as they have found the "Rootbeer Cache". This is a very family friendly event! We work with the local historians & museum curator to discover the histories of the area and bring you the stories of those that pioneered the area. Some of the amazing locations that you'll get to see and learn about include Spirit Rocks along the Placer Mountain FSR, Huff's mine along Whipsaw, an abandoned Tramline in Hedley, Frenchey's Mine, Voight's Camp & Cemetery and many other places that will allow you to step back in time to a reflective moment.

So please if you're ready to try out geocaching & are interested in seeing history & exploring the backroads of Princeton in a whole new way- join us in Princeton for the August Long weekend for a weekend you'll never forget!

• Geocaching.Com
• Turtle Pet Projects

If you have questions please contact Kris Wheeler at MrsTurtle@Shaw.ca or Jordy Neilson at Jordy240@shaw.ca.