West Dundee Troop 32 creates geocache at Schweitzer Woods

On Feb. 21, members of Scouts BSA Troop 32 West Dundee, with help from Scout BSA Troop 2 Elgin, placed a geocache at the Kane County Forest Preserve's Schweitzer Woods, located at 16N690 Sleepy Hollow Road in West Dundee.

A geocache is a “treasure box” hidden along a hiking trail for the public to find using coordinates, a mobile phone, and a GPS app. Many caches contain “treasures,” and the Troop 32 geocache is no exception.

When someone finds a cache and decides to remove a “treasure,” they are also asked to replace it with something of a comparable value. They are also asked to sign either a paper logbook contained in the cache, or to make a digital note in the cache's digital record at www.geocaching.com.

According to Troop Senior Patrol Leader Danyal Sulamanjee, Star Scout, Troop 32 had been on several geocache expeditions of their own, and made the decision to sponsor one, “as a way of giving back to the local community.”

To gain permission for the geocache, the Troop first had to find a place to hide it. In December, Scouts and Leaders spent hours hiking through Schweitzer Woods and found five possible locations for their geocache.

Sulamanjee and Assistant Senior Patrol Leader Josh Pottorff, Life Scout, created a poll with pictures and descriptions of the potential geocache locations. Members of the Troop then voted for their preferred option during a virtual Troop meeting.

After selecting the location for the geocache, the Troop Scouts and Leaders visited the location once more to confirm the geo-coordinates of their preferred cache site.

Troop leaders then submitted an application to the Kane County Forest Preserve District. This application included contact information, a leader signature, and a “treasure map” to help Forest Preserve District employees quickly find the location for verification purposes.

Phil Smith, Senior Ranger for the Kane County Forest Preserve, said that only a few new geocache applications have been submitted in recent years, and that “this one was the first geocache for Schweitzer Woods.”

Members of Troop 32 Scouts hope the community enjoys finding this geocache during their own hikes at Schweitzer Woods, and that they explore the woods and the other exciting things they may find. Coordinates for this geocache (and many others) can be found at www.geocaching.com.

Troop 32, chartered by the First United Methodist Church in West Dundee, has been in the community for over 75 years. It belongs to the Ottawa District of the Three Fires Scouts BSA Council, which serves thousands of Scouts across Northern Illinois.

Troop members have completed countless service and Eagle Scout projects that have also benefitted the wider community during the Troop's existence.

Scouts BSA is a year-round program for youth, age 11 to 17, that provides fun, adventure, learning, challenge, and responsibility to help them become the best version of themselves.

For more information, contact Scoutmaster Tim Pottorff at (847) 921-3113. Visit www.Troop32Dundee.org.