The Chimp's Tale by GeeMack
Your GPS will find a mark
Along the road, a place to park.
But don't forget, the cache will not
Be found around the parking lot.
Use numbers from the clues below
To fill this chart before you go.
N _ _ ° _ _ . _ _ _ ' W _ _ _ ° _ _ . _ _ _ '
You may wonder where to start
With fifteen spaces on the chart.
From left to right, solve space one.
Simple math will get it done.
Just two squared will serve your need
To fill the first space. Please proceed.
Now you have to fill space two
With nothing paid and nothing due,
A number smaller than the small,
No quantity of things at all.
Go ahead, fill "nothing" in
Space two, then move along again.
Need some help to solve space three?
Refer to Homer's Odyssey.
A fact well known by all the wise
Is the number of a Cyclops' eyes.
That, plus four more added to it,
Fills space three. That should do it.
Space four is next. Don't just guess
Or estimate it more or less.
The answer written here must be
The number of tails on a chimpanzee.
Check it twice. If this is wrong
You'll get an error a mile long.
Space five is trickiest of all.
Use any number large or small.
Subtract it from itself to get
The tally, total, sum, or net.
The answer at which you arrive
Fits very neatly in space five.
Next space, sixth along the line.
Your calculating skills refine.
Three yards short of a nine foot pole
Exactly equals the weight of a hole.
And either number you can tell
Will work in space six just as well.
Something for space seven, too.
Need a number? Here's a clue.
Start with ounces in a pound.
Subtract thirteen and you have found
The answer for space seven. See?
You'd write that down if you were me.
Space eight is no mystery.
It depends on additivity.
Count all the shoes in an empty box,
Or count two less than a pair of socks.
Add all the goose eggs you can count,
And fill space eight with that amount.
Science helps you fill space nine,
A question about bug design.
An insect has six legs not four.
A spider has a couple more.
Space nine must be filled and begs
For the number of a spider's legs.
Space ten. Compass in your hand,
Moving over sea or land,
What's your heading if you go
Due east from anywhere, you know?
Use one tenth of that to make
A number for space ten to take.
Start your quest for space eleven
With half a dozen less than seven.
Two baker's dozen you add on top.
Divide it all by nine then stop.
That result should be employed
To fill the space eleven void.
The twelfth is one more space to fill.
It asks for mathematics skill.
Start with a fortnight and add two days.
Subtract a week and keep what stays.
The days remaining, I suggest,
Answer space twelve's kind request.
The thirteenth space will challenge you.
Take a gross plus four and then add two.
Take away from that fourscore.
Next remove five dozen more.
Just half of what remains you need
To fill space thirteen. Yes, indeed.
An idol, talisman, or charm
Can bring you luck, protect from harm.
Pluck one leaf from a lucky clover,
And count the leaves you have left over.
That's the number that should go
In space fourteen. Thought you should know.
And now for space fifteen, the last.
You made it through the others fast.
Think of arithmetic once more,
And write the square root of four.
Fifteen spaces, a daunting feat.
No more blanks, the chart complete.
Trust you have the answers right,
And go out to the hunting site.
Full of faith, or nonbeliever,
Take your GPSr.
And now, just one more hint to read,
Some good advice for you to heed...
Use secret parking to walk the least.
A trail from there goes north or east.
While either trail may bring you out,
I'd enter by the polar route.
Select your favorite path, and then
Let this geocache hunt begin!
The cache is somewhere within the Kickapoo Creek Recreation Area, a tract of restored native prairie set aside for hiking and walk-in camping. The area contains a maze of nice trails, and connects to the Rock Island State Trail near the two mile marker. The cache location is a two and a half mile hike from the listed coordinates at the Alta trailhead. Enter from "secret parking" for a half mile walk to the cache.
This cache was placed with permission from the Rock Island State Trail administration. Please follow these IDNR rules: 1. Do not place the following items in the Geocache: food items, inappropriate, offensive, or hazardous materials. 2. It is the visitor's responsibility to orient themselves with policies and rules pertaining to this Department managed site.
Some of the riddles may be a challenge, so read each part carefully. It might be helpful to use a dictionary, search engine, or calculator for some answers. No spoilers in the logs, please. Give everyone a chance. And as always, Cache In Trash Out.
First to Find - February 7, 2003: Jeepster