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Canada's 1st: John A MacDonald Mystery Cache

Hidden : 1/4/2003
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
2.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:

"When fortune empties her chamberpot on your head, smile -- and say ‘we are going to have a summer shower.’ "

-- Sir John A. Macdonald, ca. 1875


This is the third in a series of caches related to Canada's Prime Ministers. To find the cache, you'll need to do some exploring and some research on Canada's first Prime Minister.

N 45 ab.cde

substitute the letters for the numbers in the answers to the following:

a - Last digit in the year his family left Scotland for North America

b - Number of children Macdonald had

c - Visit his statue on Parliament Hill (co-ordinates above). With which foot does he put forward? (4=left 8=right)

d - Number of times the letter "A" appears in the name of the place he is buried "_______ Cemetery" plus 1

e - While at the Parliament Hill statue, take note of which hand he holds his spectacles (3=left 6=right)

W 75 fg.hij

f - Number of letters in the month during which he was conferred with Knighthood

g - The third digit in the year that the city of Hamilton placed his sculpture at the corner of King/Hughson streets

h - The final digit of the year in which he created Canada's first national park (and then subtract 1 from this digit)

i - The third digit of the year he created the North West Mounted Police

j - The sum of the first and fourth digits of the year that the last spike was driven into the trans-Canada railway (in Cragellachie by Donald Smith)

There are a growing number of caches to complete while in this area and trail system, and will add to your enjoyment of the time invested in this cache. In the winter, the trails are prime for cross country skiing and snowshoeing. In the summer, the trails are great for biking and hiking. Bring bug spray!

There are trails that will take you very close to the cache, with only a small amount of bushwacking at the end.

The trails are also dog-friendly, but in the winter there are cross country skiiers, and some snow mobiles.

Have fun!

Cheers,

5Newfs

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Sbe vasbezngvba nobhg gur nern, purpx bhg Vahxfuhx'f Gernfher. Sbe vasbezngvba nobhg Fve Znpqbanyq, lbh pna trg fgnegrq ng uggc://jjj.pbyyrpgvbafpnanqn.tp.pn/cevzrzvavfgref/u4-3025-r.ugzy; uggc://pbyyrpgvbaf.vp.tp.pn/jragjbegu/znp.ugz; naq uggc://jjj.cneyvnzraguvyy.tp.pn/ Unccl rkcybevat!

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)