This moderately difficult mystery cache commemorates the travels of
The Old Leatherman. The Leatherman roamed SW
Connecticut and SE New York from 1858 to 1889 and traveled a
365-mile loop between the Connecticut and Hudson rivers. He dressed
in a crudely stitched leather suit that weighed about sixty pounds,
and he slept outside year-round, primarily in caves.
You begin by finding the coordinates above and one waypoint
where trail signs, nailed to trees, direct you to one of the caves
the Leatherman was known to have slept in on the Ward Pound Ridge
Reservation. Please stay on the trails; you will not need
to bushwack. The information on these signs at these
waypoints will provide you with a series of numbers. After
obtaining the information and making the calculations you will know
the waypoint of the Final.
The Leatherman was so precise in his timing that people put out
food for him and kept their schedules by his. The final sits in
front of a house whose inhabitants, had they lived in the
19th century, would have been just such people. But
please do not bother the inhabitants of the house—geocachers
move to a different rhythm. And don’t worry about the barking
dog.
Here are the details: the coordinates above will lead you to a
tree with signs (which here have been digitally "scrubbed" clean)
on both front:
And back:
At the waypoint (41° 14.490'N 073° 36.181W), which lies up the
hill and just outside the Leatherman's cave, you will find another
tree with signs on one side:
Using the actual symbols and texts on these 10 small signs, make
a note of the total number of arrows, the total number of e's, and
the total number of l's. Use the number of arrows for the hundreds
place, the number of e's for 10's place, and the number of l's for
the ones place. You will now have a three digit number. Add this
number to the three digit numbers after the decimal point in each
of the following coordinates to get the coordinates of the
final:
41° 14.223'N
073° 32.166'W.
For example, if on these signs you find 5 arrows, 6 e's, and 6
l's, you would have the three digit number 566. Add this to 41°
14.223'N 073° 32.166'W and you get 41° 14.789'N 073° 32.732'W.
Very near the final you should see this:
Important Update: as of 12.16.2010 one of the 10 signs is
now missing. Where you see three white square signs in one of the
images above, you will only see two. The missing words: "Park" and
"Westchester County." Add these e's to your total.