Holsum Cache by vctc42 (2/1.5)
N25° 41.771 W80° 17.937 (WGS84)
UTM 17R E 570340 N 2842225
Use waypoint: GCZ00V
Size: Small Hidden on 10/21/2006
In Florida, United States
(This cache may contain travel bugs)
Henke der Elch (ref = TB734B)
Dirt Bike TB (ref = TBMQY4)
Difficulty:
Terrain: 
| This is our first attempt at hiding a cache. The cache is a well camouflaged container with that is covered in camo tape. It has a logbook, pen and a few treasures. The area at times can be quite busy. So busy in fact, muggles may not even notice what you're doing. |
Park is named after Holsum Bakery founder and city leader Charles T. Fuchs. It contains the usual South Miami park amenities such as a lake (with a fountain maintained by a snorkeling park employee and a bounty of fish, including bass), tot lot, a gazebo and beach volleyball area. This charming park also displays miniature versions of Miami-Dade's natural environments. Three years ago extensive restoration resulted in urban versions of hardwood hammocks, wetlands, and maritime woodlands. Again, the park's maintenance crew and the South Miami city commission chose wisely by planting native species during the restoration.
Through a South Florida Community Urban Resources Partnership (SFCURP) financial assistance grant, the City was able to remove 13 noxious exotic Australian Pine trees which had infested Fuchs Park and plant new trees native to South Florida. This has greatly improved the environmental quality and health of the park. Native wetland birds such the Great Blue Heron and Anhinga now frequent the park, a rare site in urbanized Miami.
In total, 159 native trees and plants of 44 different species were planted, including 10 endangered and threatened species. Not only are these rare trees now protected within the park, but the City was also careful to group the trees with their natural botanical associates, thereby forming recreations of botanical communities native to Miami-Dade County, such as a tropical hardwood hammock, a freshwater wetland, and a transitional maritime woodland. Besides beautifying, this impressive collection of rare and native plants is intended to provide environmental education by way of a nature trail complete with species information placards.
The ultimate goal was to have representations of all of Miami-Dade County's native botanical communities in this urban park. The topography of the park, which includes a lake, makes this achievable. Certain parts of the terrain are several feet higher than water level in the lake, making these drier areas suitable for pineland or hammock species. And, of course, the lakeshore is a perfect place to plant cypress and other wetland species. Utilizing the topography in this manner eliminates the need for supplemental irrigation or maintenance.
Additional Hints Hints
Current at 12/18/2006
12/10/2006 by Davis5 Miami
Had fun with the baby ducks here. Found a Glades Pin near the cache site and thought this one had been muggled. We were just about to give up on it when the 8 YO found it. Whew!!!
Took Tweety and Jacks Duck TB. Left jewels, alien and Dirt Bike TB.
12/2/2006 by Blueye
I like this little park. Glad to see a cache here again. TNLNSL.
12/1/2006 by dcpowell
We are on a short pre-cruise visit to Miami. Hoped to do several caches, but will only have time for one... so I had to put all three of the Travel Bugs that wanted to go this way in your cache... hope some cachers come and get them! Took two matchbook cars to make room for the TBs. TFTC!
11/25/2006 by doivey
Stopped by while visiting the area. What are those white birds with the long beaks? I saw one picking lizards off shrubbery at a mall. And what are the duck-like larger birds?
Fishercat the travel bug is heading for Michigan. Maybe he can get in on some ice fishing.
11/4/2006 by The 4 F's
We parked at the north side of the park and saw a man lying face down on the grass about 50 feet from the car. Our first impression was that it was a man resting, but as we walked toward the cache, his face-down position seemed very awkward and limp for someone who was just sleeping - we thought he had either passed out or passed away! We continued on to the cache, found it (good hide in a small park!), took a pink ribbon pin and left Chocolat TB. On the way back to the car, we started growing concerned about the guy so we set off the car alarm. There was still no movement from him. We inched closer to see if we could see him breathing. After a couple of minutes, we finally saw a bit of movement indicating that he was breathing, so we headed back to the car. Just as we reached the car, he woke up and changed positions.
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Decoded Hints
| Careful with your footing, the tanglement of the roots can be tricky. |