RSS 2.0 FeedThe Return of the ET Highway!
You may have heard rumors that the ET highway series was making a comeback. Those rumors are now confirmed! We got the opportunity recently to interview Clay and Gus, the COs of the original and the new ET highway series. Here is that interview:
wherethecacheis: What caused the NDOT to change their mind and decide to let the ET Highway series reopen?
Gus & Clay: First let me start off by saying that from what we were told, it seems that the archival of the original trail was a misunderstanding between NDOT and Groundspeak. But for the most part, NDOT's PIO (Public Info. Officer) stated that they never wanted the whole trail removed, just a short, dangerous stretch, which we did archive immediately, but not before they contacted Groundspeak as well. In our opinion, Groundspeak misunderstood NDOT's request for the shutdown of that stretch to mean the entire stretch of highway.
NDOT expressed their wishes for the trail's return due to pressure from the local businesses and mistreatment of their employees at those establishments. We are now working to build a new trail with NDOT's blessing. They have expressed to us where they would not want to see caches placed and have also worked with us in allowing us to place the caches within a reasonable distance to the road and not beyond the 200' easement mark.
wherethecacheis: I have read stories that many business saw a sharp drop in business when the original series was shut down. Have you spoken with any of these business owners? If so, how much business did the original series bring to them and what was the impact when it went away?
Gus & Clay: We have mainly been in regular contact with the owners of the Little A'Le'Inn, Pat and Connie. We can not speculate on their profits but we do know that last winter was the first since they had opened in 1990 that they were able to keep a full staff employed due to the regular flow of cachers through the area. In the past they had laid off maids and kitchen help through the slower months.
wherethecacheis: What made you guys want to do the original series in the first place?
Gus & Clay: We came up with the idea when we took a trip to Salt Lake City, Utah back in October of 2009 for GeocoinFest. We did a power trail that was near the event, which at the time, was about 140 caches located just west of Provo, Utah. We had so much fun with this PT, we started planning our own. It was all we talked about on the 8 hour drive back home. One Thousand was the goal... but where could we put 1000 caches and make it a true power trail?? E.T. Highwayjust happened to be 98 miles long and an interesting place to visit plus it was an area almost everyone has heard of and knows something about it giving us a good theme to base the trail on. Several months later, after countless trips to all our local film processing counters, and making countless log sheets, we started placing caches. We put the caches down in a series of trips, placing anywhere from 150 to 350 a trip, and putting down about 40 caches an hour. 8-9 trips later, we had the whole trail and the Alien Head caches on the ground. We spent countless hours inputting all the coords and getting the pages ready.
wherethecacheis: I have seen that you have announced an event to launch the new series. Does this mean the series will be available at that time?
Gus & Clay: What premier would be complete without an event? :) The Alien Search Party - The 2nd Invasion! Event WILL be the official release of the new trail. However, the caches will most likely be published days ahead of time so attendees can have their queries ran ahead of the weekend.
wherethecacheis: What can you tell us about the new series? Are there any differences between it and the original one? What are the major differences?
Gus & Clay: The most obvious difference will be the size of the trail. Yes, like the Geocoin in production, it will be BIGGER!
Other differences cachers will see are none of the caches will be on the highway markers as before, and there will be no caches hidden through the mountain passes.
wherethecacheis: Will the original caches be reactivated, or will these all be new caches?
Gus & Clay: These will ALL be new hides for two reasons.
First: Because we have to abide by our agreement for placements with NDOT, it will be much easier for us to just mark new coordinates as we go. About one third of the trail was on the aforementioned highway markers or in the mountain passes.
Second: We are viewing this as a new beginning. We would rather leave the past behind and move forward!
wherethecacheis: What are the most important things that Geocachers need to know about the new series? What must we do to make sure that it stays this time?
Gus & Clay: The number one thing would be to drive safely.
Pull completely off the roadway (all four tires to the right of the white line).
Be careful when merging back onto the roadway. Use your mirrors and always look first. Use turn signals or even Hazard lights (Flashers).
Do not stop in active work zones (if any) to retrieve caches. You can come back for those when work is not active.
It is Open Range. That means cows on the roadway. BE CAREFUL! Cow strikes are an unfortunately common sight.
wherethecacheis: Are you guys going to be setting the new hides out on your own, or will you enlist others to help?
Gus & Clay: Call us perfectionists or control freaks, but we want to make sure every cache is exactly where we want it to be. So yes, we are hiding every one on our own!
wherethecacheis: I saw you post a picture of the new Geocoin on facebook. Love the design. How does one obtain one of these? What can you share with us about the Geocoin and the pathtags that will accompany them?
Gus & Clay: Right now they will not be available until the Alien Search Party event. Those attending will be given the first opportunity to own these. After that time we will start accepting orders. There is a link to an Additional Info Document on the event page and it will eventually be on every cache page as well. That document will have info on how to order coins or tags as well as any other information you could possibly need about the trail. The New Geocoin will be 33% larger than the original and thicker as well. As for the Pathtags, right now the plan is to have 4 to 6 different designs to choose from.
wherethecacheis: For the original series, you had an email that you shared that gave helpful tips and pointers for Geocachers to know when they traveled there to do the series. Is that list still accurate? If not, will there be another list available?
Gus & Clay: As I just mentioned, there is a link to an Additional Info Document on the event page and it will eventually be on every cache page as well. Here is a direct link to it: Clay4 & whtwolfden’s ET Highway Info
wherethecacheis: Where can we go to get the most up-to-date information about the progress of the new series?
Gus & Clay: Just know it will be complete and ready to go by the event date. :)
wherethecacheis: Is there anything you guys need from others to help get the new series set up? If so, who would we need to contact to help?
Gus & Clay: We have already been fortunate enough to have great people helping to gather all the needed containers. They have been coming in from all around the country. The rest is up to us.
wherethecacheis: Is there anything more that you would like to add?
Gus & Clay: We would like to close by saying that our reward for all this work is the enjoyment of the trail by everyone. We know there are those out there who do not care for them and we try to take their feelings into account by adding the Scuba Attribute to all the caches so they can easily be filtered out of searches by those cachers. All we ask in return from those cachers is they just accept that Power Trails are now part of the game and try to find a way to just coexist without constantly fighting the trails or bashing those who enjoy them in the forums.
Also, remember to keep it safe. It's not a race to complete the trail. Those who claim "Records" are most likely the reckless ones who are endangering their lives and the lives of others, as well as the future of the trail for everyone else.
Take it slow, pack lots of water and snacks. Extra fuel is recommended as well.
We have been given a special second chance and we should all be careful not to make the same mistakes twice.