Almost 7 months ago, my father, AC6AA put his brand new Dakota Garmin around my neck with coordinates to a cache that his German Ham radio friend told him about. I had stumbled upon my first geocache hiking in the forest a couple of days before, sort of an accidental entry into the caching world, so he thought I'd like to venture with his brand new GPS to find my real first geocache. I looked right at the arrow and literally followed it. Trail? What trail? I was going by that arrow, through knee high brush, over rock formations, trail, what trail? Oh it was there, but I didn't want to lose my way from the pointer. Common sense kicked in when I noticed the arrow pointed over the edge of a cliff. I sure walked in a lot of circles trying to figure this whole geocaching thing out. It took awhile, but I found the cache with a Travel Bug that came from New Zealand all the way to Prescott. Over 800 caches later, I'd say, I'm hooked, and my dad never got his Garmin back.
So I chose to place this geocache in the nearby vicinity of my first "GPS - geocache" find in honor of my father. I added the Sudoku part because my parents solve a Sudoku a day and I enjoy sharing puzzle time with them. Some of my favorite caches include solving a puzzle, hiking in an area that I rarely go to, discovering unique places, and enjoying breathtaking views. This location is a mini version of some of those features.
The cache container is an inspiration from the WVRdSeries a set of creative caches along Williamson Valley Rd. in Prescott, (a must see if you haven't done any of them yet!). This particular original container is unique. It has no room for SWAG. In fact bringing a TOTT just in case might be helpful. There are several ways to arrive at GZ, but in respect to the posted signs there is no need to go off of the trail as the cache can be reached (literally) from the trail. Please handle with care and hide the cache gently and completely. I'm posting this as a 2 difficulty for the puzzle part and for the slight possibilty of geobounce near GZ.
Update 10/7/22 the original cache was eaten alive. The replacement is a cammo container. It used to be a pig that I spray painted with mud paint that was cheap on clearance because the squeaky part was missing. That’s where I put a micro tube.
After finding the cache, about 300 ft. along the trail there is a special Solstice and Petroglyph display (hence the title). The 360 degree panoramic view alone makes it worthwhile to come up here.
You will find the cache at these coordinates:
N 34. AB.CDE W112 VW.XYZ
A is at B5 V is at A1
B is at J1 W is at F8
C is at H1 X is at G3+E7
D is at E9-H8 Y is at E3
E is at H4 Z is at C5-H6
CONGRATS MGPS FOR BEING FTF!!!!
You can check your answers for this puzzle on GeoChecker.com.