Fun hunt in Park Challenge
Jennifer Perry and her two children do a yoga pose in one of the Santa Clara County Parks to fulfill Adventure # 173 "Strike a Pose" in last fall/ winter's Parks for Life Challenge. Registration is now open for this spring/ summer challenge.
Beginning May 1, teams of adventurers will be planting their flags in parks across the county in a competition that may have them searching for banana slugs or running a three- legged race.
The point of the Parks For Life Challenge is to get friends and family out enjoying all that Santa Clara County Parks have to offer, and particularly for teams to discover aspects of the parks they hadn’t known about and share them on social media. And it doesn’t hurt that there are prizes for the teams that complete and document the most adventures by the end of the challenge on July 31.
“We won a great car camping package with all sorts of REI gear,” said Sam Chang, who along with wife Lesley made up last fall’s winning Team Yay!.
That challenge, the first local derivation of the statewide Capture California competition, attracted 284 teams that completed a total of 8,300 adventures throughout the county’s 29- park system. Registration for the second challenge began on April 1, and within a day, more than 60 teams had already signed up.
“This is going to take off,” said Carrie Grisenti, outdoor recreation coordinator for County Parks. “A lot of teams are repeats.”
The Changs, who hail from San Jose, say they plan to be among the repeat adventurers.
The adventures to be had in the spring/ summer parks challenge are secret until the competition begins on May 1. Once the challenge is underway, Team Yay! and others who are back for a second round will be eligible for grand prizes from REI and County Parks .