I recently stumbled into the middle of a scavenger hunt on campus – the old-fashioned type with quality riddles. It was my lucky day because I happen to be a huge fan of scavenger hunts. Not the cheesy kind with all-too-obvious clues, but the ones that require contextual knowledge and cunning problem solving.

I found myself embroiled in the hunt as my dad, an avid geocacher, was searching for a geocache around one of the campus buildings. For those unfamiliar, geocaching involves using GPS and an app to find hidden containers called caches scattered abundantly around the world. As Dad and I scoured the area around the designated GPS coordinates, we stumbled across this small plaque.



The destination of this clue is obvious, but finding the plaque is not as easy, especially in certain seasons, though thousands walk by it every day. Such was the case with the clue we found; it was VERY well hidden. I’ve included a picture of its location if you care to look for it using this as your clue.



I found clue 9 and know the location of 10 but haven’t been able to look for the next plate when foot traffic is low. The hunt’s organizers seemed to relish placing them in inconspicuous spots, ensuring that participants looked rather odd scouring the area while others went about their daily routines.

One concern lingers: how to find where the hunt starts. Online searches lent no help. My only hope is that the 12th stop will loop me back to the beginning. (I think it’s safe to assume there are 12 stops.) Wherever it ends, I can only hope it will lead me back to the beginning so I can experience the full adventure. Or if know the scavenger hunt’s origin, please share it with me!

My kudos and thanks to the person that designed it.