Presque Isle is a 3,200-acre sandy peninsula that arches lakeward into Lake Erie. The neck of the peninsula is attached to the mainland about four miles west of downtown Erie. The park creates Presque Isle Bay, an important Great Lakes shipping port. Presque Isle is also a National Natural Landmark. Because of the many unique habitats, the peninsula contains a greater number of the state's endangered, threatened and rare species than any other area of comparable size in Pennsylvania. Presque Isle also is a major recreational landmark for about four million visitors a year. For more info on Presque Isle try DCNR PA State Parks or Preque Isle.org.
Now onto the cache information...
This is the first officially approved cache on Presque Isle through the Pennsylvania State Park Regulations begun in 2003. The coordinate above is just for the 1st parking lot. You will need to bike, roller blade, or run/walk along the entire path to get the coordinates for the actual hidden cache. You can't use a car since some of the areas do not have parking nearby. Besides, you really do want some exercise, don't you? You can rent bikes near the park entrance if needed. Otherwise, Park your car at either of the first 3 parking lots you find on the right side as you enter the park. The coordinates in order are...
Lot 1 - N42 07.154 W80 08.978
Lot 2 - N42 07.363 W80 08.867
Lot 3 - N42 07.488 W80 08.817
The entire search will be about 13 miles from the 1st parking lot so be prepared for a long haul, this ain't no quickie. The coordinate for the actual cache is in the box below. You will need to replace the red letters with numbers that you get from the 10 areas you see listed below the box. The cache container is a gold ammo box and is hid within 50 feet of the trail so be careful not to let other people see you once you find it.
The initial contents are... A Calculator, Ratchet Screwdriver, Tape Measure, various small toys, and a dozen Presque Isle GeoCacher pins that I made.
Actual Cache Coordinate...
N 42° AB.CDEW 80° FG.HIJ
Replace the above red letters with numbers from the questions below.
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Here are the 10 stops (In sequence as you travel) along the path that will give you the numbers that you need for the actual cache...
A -N42 07.612 W80 08.706
Count the total amount of letters in the round table at the end of the "Feather" and subtract 4.
Replace A above.
B -N42 08.437 W80 08.252
Count the number of letters of the first word on the side of the Charcoal Pit in this picnic area and add 6.
Replace B above.
C -N42 09.572 W80 07.150
Add 2 to the mile marker at this coordinate.
Replace C above.
D -N42 09.185 W80 06.643
Add the numbers together found on the two orange Channel Navigational Markers near the water, then subtract 5.
Replace D above.
E -N42 09.300 W80 05.377
Add 5 to the 4th digit of the year found on the main structure here (no Roman numerals).
Replace E above.
F - N42 09.568 W80 05.595
Count the number of letters in the word on the top line of the picnic area sign found here and subtract 6.
Replace F above.
G - N42 09.981 W80 05.031
Add 4 to the third digit of the date on the large rock found here.
Replace G above.
H - N42 10.227 W80 05.904
Subtract 4 from the total number of letters found on the trail sign here.
Replace H above.
I - N42 10.107 W80 06.296
Count the number of round wooden posts in the immediate area that you pass between here and subtract 10.
Replace I above.
J - N42 09.950 W80 06.844
Count the number of upright posts found on the structure at this coordinate and subtract 4.
Replace J above.
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Now head for the actual final cache using the coordinate that these 10 previous stops have given you. There is a slightly tricky part on your way to the actual cache, but I'll leave it up to you to figure it out.
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You can check your answers for this puzzle on Geochecker.com.
