This month we are pleased to announce that 4WD&SU reader Scott Overby has found the November '06 GeoStash marker! The marker was hidden near Seattle, Washington, and Scott will soon receive four cans of Durabak heavy-duty coating. This stuff is great for vehicle protection or just about any other application. For more information, contact Durabak at (303) 690-7190 or www.durabakcompany.com.
If you are picking up this magazine for the first time, somewhere in the pages of 4 Wheel Drive & Sport Utility each month are hidden GPS coordinates. These coordinates pinpoint a location somewhere in the continental U.S. A stainless steel plate ("marker") laser-cut with the magazine's title and my phone number can be found there. The marker is about the size of a vehicle's license plate. When it is found and redeemed, the lucky enthusiast wins a very cool prize. These prizes will range from products donated by our advertisers and manufacturers to 4WD&SU magazine apparel and subscriptions.
The GPS coordinates in the magazine can be hidden just about anywhere. The coordinates will be divided in two parts - north and west - and hidden in the magazine's text or ghost-imaged somewhere on a photograph. The coordinates will not be hidden in or on any advertising. Finding the marker on the trail will require use of four-wheel drive and some hiking. We'll keep it safe, so don't worry, you won't have to rappel off the sides of any cliffs. The stainless steel marker may be placed behind trees, between rocks, or under something, but it will not be completely buried. If you have a GPS with WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System) it should get you to within 3 to 9 feet of the marker.
"We found November's GeoStash marker at the Walker Valley ORV Park hidden under some horsetails and shrubbery. After I showed my wife the approximate location, we started looking under everything. While I was looking under the horsetails over the edge of the knoll, she found it at the top of a small hill. When we told the people at the park about the contest and the plate, they said that someone had been up there earlier for about a half-hour looking for it.
We have been four-wheeling for several years now. My wife is one of the founding members of the Gettin' Off 4WD Club in California. It was a good friend of ours, Jim Berta (also a founding member of the Gettin' Off 4WD Club), who called and gave us the coordinates for the marker. He called Saturday night, and we ran out the door Sunday morning, picked up a copy of the magazine, and headed for Walker Valley."Respectfully,
Scott & Elissa Overby
Click on the next page for past GeoStash coordinate locations in the magazine and prizes awarded.