UPDATE: 8 April 2013 - Due to the effects of 9 years of weathering on the intermediate waypoint, I have converted this to a straight traditional cache. It's still a neat little area, but I know the fading waypoint was causing frustration - it was never EASY to read, but nearly a decade of fine Ottawa weather is causing a level of grief that was not really intended.
Therefore, as of now, THE CACHE IS LOCATED AT N 45° 21.032 W 075° 41.694. The coordinates listed on the top of the cache page are not correct. These coordinates in red are correct.
For historical purposes, the original cache description is included below
The coordinates listed are NOT the coordinates of the cache. They are the coordinates of waypoint 1.
At Waypoint 1 you will see a large sign. There are two words and a 4-digit number on the sign. The number of letters in the first word is X. The number of letters in the second word is Y. Remember this for later. You may want to drive to waypoint 2, but if you like the walk, it's a pleasant trip.
To calculate the location of the second waypoint divide the number on the sign by 1000 so you have a number of the form a.bcd.
The degrees of Waypoint 2 are N 45 and W 75. To get the minutes, add the number (a.bcd) to 17.200 to get the minutes of the North coordinate, and add it to 37.891 to get the minutes of the west coordinate.
At Waypoint 2 you will see a hydro pole with a transformer on top. The transformer has a bunch of numbers on it, but you are interested in the top number which looks like: ijkl-mn. ** You will need good eyes for this one. Opera glasses or binoculars might help, particularly for the first digit (i). If you get this number wrong, it seems you end up in someone's back yard.
To calculate the location of the cache, you need to do the following:
First, create a number X.ijk (X is the number of letters in the first word of the sign at waypoint 1, and ijk are the first 3 numbers of the serial number on the transformer) Add this number to 15.257 to get the minutes of the North coordinate. The latitude is still North 45 degrees.
Second, create a number Y.lmn (Y is the number of letters in the second word of the sign at waypoint 1, and lmn are the last 3 numbers of the serial number of the transformer). Add this number to 37.246 to get the minutes of the West coordinate. The longitude is still West 75 degrees.
The cache container is a 3 gallon blue Rubbermaid. At the time of placement it contained the following
- A mini-Slinky
- A balsa wood flying model plane
- A set of D&D dice
- A green mini-football
- A bag of golf tees
- A genuine copy of SimCity 2000 on floppy disks
- 2 tokens for Tech World at Famous Players
- A blank DVD+R
- A log book, mechanical pencil and extra leads
The theme of this cache is Toys and Games. Try to keep trades in the spirit of the cache theme.
The container is probably not super well camouflaged, but I have made a considerable effort to hide it against casual observers. Finders are welcome to improve upon the camouflage.
** EDIT: 16 June 06 **Based on reports from recent searchers/finders, I have upgraded the terrain rating. Please note that most of the terrain for doing this cache is 1-star (wheelchair accessible) but the last few metres is in pretty much jungle-quality, heavy overgrowth (probably terrain 3, maybe even 4) when the world is green. In winter, it's easier with respect to the growth, but the snow makes the cache harder to find :) There are no elevation changes, however - it's basically all flat.