Inspired by the nicely warped and incredibly devious caches in recent months such as STUMPED and STUMPED AGAIN, I felt that I could at least TRY to rise to such levels. The result is this cache. The initial prize of a GPS unit has been claimed and the plastic tube that contained in the middle of a miasmic (sp) mass of pickleweed (perhaps a clue?) has been removed. But the Cache locationis still valid and the log book cache remains. Additional items will be placed with the log book and it will now serve as a regular multi-cache.
This is a multi cache consisting of three stations. The first two are in urban/commercial areas of heavy pedestrian and related traffic (yeah, a little clue buried in that line too), while the third is somewhat off the beaten path but easy to get to. There you will enjoy egrets, geese, jack rabbits, hawks, owls, and other assorted flying things. All of the stations are in Oakland, Calif.; and two of them are within short and easy walking distance of each other. For those of you with dogs.. bring a leash and a towel...
In each case, the station or container is in plain sight. You can easily see it although you may have to work just a weeeee bit to read it. Typically, the Northing and Westing for the next station are stamped on a Brass Disk about the size of a fifty cent piece (remember those?). Please see the updates below.
SAFETY: You do not have to do ANYTHING that is unsafe or illegal to solve the puzzles, so please don't try. Simple and common tools are the obvious answers. Sometimes you can simply ask for assistance from a passerby (more clues/hints)
You can complete the sequence in about a half day if you are lucky and rush. Sure, you can run and solve the minor puzzles, read the disks, and then can get to the last leg. But, for safety and fun, allow an easy day and then you can stop and shop, walk, or just enjoy the areas. Bring lunch if you want.. there are good places to simply sit and eat. Those are the REAL prizes in this Cache.
The final cache contains the usual log book, pens, camera and a geocache note. Take something, leave something - you know the drill.. but remember to stop and enjoy the sights.
And lastly, for those that get there and can't find the third station, there are two or three caches within 5 minutes drive of the final location. These caches have not been placed by someone with as twisted a concept of "fun" as me (grin), so everybody goes home a winner - ok?
So, good hunting, but above all have fun. Keep your eyes open and imagine the possibilities of something that is just sitting there in IN PLAIN SIGHT.
gil
UPDATES A few things that need to be changed/corrected/added/etc..
1) April 2, '02: There is some blue striped surveyors tape obscuring the last two numbers of the Westing. I have not been able to remove it so... when you find it and read all but those, here are the last two numbers for: Northing: "69" and Westing: "93".
2) YEP.. as CHUBBS pointed out it is a WESTING not an EASTING that is stamped on the Station 1 Disk... sorry.. as a surveyor I deal in N and E (not West) and reflex took over as I made up the disks. It should be pretty obvious as the value as an easting would put you closer to Europe then Station 2.
I won't be able to fix this, however, as you will realize when you find it.
3) I have included direct hints in the spoiler now.. before it simply told you to go to the website for them (and others).
4) May 28, 02: As noted in the logs and above, the main prize has been claimed. The remaining log cache is easier to find then the prize cache, so the difficulty has been notched down by 1/2. Hopefully it is still fun.
ok.. get back to work..it really isn't THAT hard.
g