There has been a community-wide hide-and-seek game happening in Fort Langley since the tail end of the summer and it’s only getting bigger.
While Brittany Wristen, 34, was visiting family in Medicine Hat, Alta. last summer, her sister introduced her to rock hunting. She was so moved by the idea that she brought the hunt back to Langley.
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“It’s basically a giant game of hide-and-seek with the intention of just sharing smiles and joys to everyone throughout our community,” she explained.
So how does it work?
“You paint rocks, it can be something as easy as a smiley face or you can get as detailed as you want… [then] you go out into the community and you hide all your rocks and other people find the rocks… and they post a photo of them with the rock to the [Facebook] page,” Wristen explained.
The page, Fort Langley Rocks, was created by Wristen in August to document the hunt and it now has nearly 250 members.
After discovering a painted masterpiece the hunter then shares a photo of their find to the Facebook page and then re-hides it – but not always.
“With Fort Langley being a tourist destination we often have people take the rocks and then they’ll post the rock in different places in the world,” said Wristen.
One posts shows a picture of a rock painted with a shade of orange and blue to depict the beach. The post reads, “Found in Fort Langley, on its way to Whistler, B.C.”
Wristen said photos have even popped up of the Fort Langley rocks in Alberta and Florida.
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“It brings such joy to everybody who has involved themselves in playing,” she said.
More recently, Wristen’s daughter Laurel, with the help of her friends, painted 100 rocks for Pink Shirt Day to help promote kindness.
The rock hunt has also been a proven method to get people outdoors, Wristen said.
“I felt like was a great activity to also get children and people in the community more active… all the kids get really excited about going out together and going rock hunting and then they don’t realize they are exercising, getting fresh air and walking around the community,” she added.
@JotiGrewal_
joti.grewal@blackpress.ca
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