The San Bernardino County Cities Challenge Mystery Cache
The San Bernardino County Cities Challenge
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(large)
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The County of San Bernardino, population 2,060,950, is the largest county (in land area) in the contiguous United States and is larger than nine states. The county gets its name from the mountain, named by the Fransiscans for Saint Bernardino of Siena. The county is one of only two in California which borders two states, Arizona and Nevada. This geocache is a celebration of its size, therefore I have hidden a large container somewhere within the county.
The cache IS NOT at the posted coordinates. However, going to this location could potentially help you solve this challenge, if you know the correct questions to ask. It is not necessary nor is it required of you to go to this location. This is a challenge, a puzzle, and a bonus cache all at the same time. The cache rating is based on solving for and finding the container associated with this geocache and a worst-case scenario with the local terrain, but will rate lower at other times.
You will need to find multiple specific caches that I have hidden within cities or towns within the border San Bernardino County. Each of these caches is named for their respective cities or towns, and each will have information necessary for you to use in determining the coordinates to the location of the hidden container associated with this challenge/puzzle/bonus geocache.
In each of the hidden cache containers, there is a single clue. The clues will be a single character, letter, or number and will each represent a part of the coordinates to the final location. These clues must be collected and placed in the correct order to find the final location of the cache. It is up to you to figure out which are the correct caches containing the hidden digits. It is up to you to figure out the correct order of the digits. There is no hidden code, there are no mathematical equations to solve, there is no cipher. The coordinates are in standard degrees minutes format and there is an extra digit (as my GPSr indicates to ten thousandths) included in the final coordinates (ie. N12° 34.5678', W123° 45.6789'), so you may need to round up and/or down as necessary for your GPSr and the coordinate checker.
There is an "easy" solution to all of the steps to completing this challenge. It should very easy to determine which are the correct caches hidden within the correct cities. The greatest difficulty will be in going to each of the caches. Even greater will be in completing the challenge in one day, though it can be done with a little planning and problem solving in advance.
I will not list those cities and caches required nor tell you how many there are, as that is part of the challenge and puzzle that you need to figure out, though I may do so at a later date. If you create a public bookmark or create an ongoing list, you will likely be assisting others in this, so please keep your lists and bookmarks private. I do have a bookmark list of all of my geocache hides though, which may help. I will do my best to answer any questions posted that do not give away anything to do with the solution to the challenge or the puzzle and will delete any logs that do. Also, be careful how you pose a question as you may not get the information you are looking for.
In order to log this cache "FOUND," you must complete the following:
1. Find, sign, and log each cache in the San Bernardino County's cities series that I hid (don't forget to jot down the important info!).
2. Determine the correct order to the coordinates of the final location.
3. Go find and sign the log in the container for this geocache.
I will verify that you have posted a found log on each of the city caches necessary. Sending an e-mail listing of all of the city caches required to solve the challenge and the date you found them would facilitate verification, but is not required.
*Your "find" will be deleted if it is discovered that you did not actually sign the log in each of the city caches needed. No armchair geocaching! Any logs or photos that you post that give away the location of the final or bonus coordinates will be deleted.
I have provided a coordinate checker for the final coordinates. You may also try to email me to confirm the solution to the exact final coordinates if you are in the field and unable to access the coordinate checker.
The container is not quite as big as a five gallon bucket, but is a very large ammo can and begins life with: a regular-sized camouflaged ammo can for the FTF (stocked and ready to hide!), a hat, a frisbee, children's gloves, children's Trader Joe's beanie, CPR mask keychain, a brand-new telescoping magnetic grabber, book of John Muir stories (that I picked up from a cache the day I was snake-bit), and of course the log book with a couple of pencils and a pen.
I do take pride in all of my hides. If there are any issues with this cache or it is in need of maintenance, please do let me know. When logging your find, please do not use stickers out of consideration for others; if you've gone through the effort of finding this one, you may as well write something down. Please hide the container at least as well as you found it.
Be sure to share your stories with the rest of us. We'd all love to hear about your (mis)adventures! Enjoy the journey!
Desert Survival Tips
Check your solution here
There are twenty-four caches required to complete the San Bernardino County Cities Challenge
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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