As I was preparing this new cache for publishing, I wanted to
get some help to verify the coordinates. Accurate coordinates are
very important for these tricky hides. So I sent a note in the
middle of the night to three accomplished cachers in the area,
asking them to go find the cache and verify the coordinates for
me.
The first person to act on my request was of course g-o-$RS. He
received my email on his wireless PDA and headed right out from his
home town of Andover. His custom software automatically downloaded
a street map, topo map, and satellite photo for immediate
reference. He parked his car in a legal spot, then donned his night
vision goggles with integrated heads-up display. The display showed
the maps and GPS routing results right in front of him, quickly
leading him to the cache area. g-o-$RS had no trouble finding the
cache.
The next cacher to head out was ThePetersGang, who started his
search at first light. He wanted to make sure he could find the
cache, to keep his radius clear, since the cache was so close to
his home in the 01843 section of Lawrence. He had no trouble
getting to the area, but after searching for a while he decided to
phone a friend. He assumed correctly that g-o-$RS had already found
it, so that's who he called. "Hey, how about a hint?" he said.
ThePetersGang got the hint, found the cache, and continued the
conversation.
"This cache is pretty close to the home coordinates of both of
us," ThePetersGang noted.
"Yes," replied g-o-$RS, "but it's even closer to yours than it
is to mine. The distance from the cache to my home coordinates is
1.7713 times the distance from the cache to your home
coordinates."
Just then BushwhackBill appeared at the cache site, coming in
through the woods from the direction of his home in Boxford. "Good
morning, Mr. Peters," he said.
"Hi Bill. This is a tricky hide, It will take you a while,"
predicted ThePetersGang.
"Nonsense," proclaimed Bill. "These New England hides are much
easier than the caches in Raleigh." So Bill searched, and searched,
and finally found the cache right at the given coordinates, all the
while maintaining how much more devious the Raleigh caches are. "I
would have been here sooner, but I had further to come than you
did. Who's on the phone?"
"It's g-o-$RS. He says you had to come 2.7582 times the distance
he did, assuming you both started at your home coordinates." Then
they all agreed the coordinates I gave them for the cache were
accurate, and started talking about getting together to find some
more caches.
So I got the confirmation I wanted, and they told me all about
their conversation about the relative distances. I found it
interesting, in a geometrical sort of way, which is why I told you
all about it too. All these cachers are big fans of the
Ground Zero series of caches, so they all use their home town
zip code ground zero coordinates as their home coordinates.
Note: Geocaching.com has again
changed the way in which the Ground Zero coordinates for a town are
determined. So rather than searching for them, please just use the
following coordinates:
Andover: N 42° 38.874 W 71° 09.714
Lawrence: N 42° 41.376 W 71° 09.744
Boxford: N 42° 40.548 W 71° 00.270
Check your solution with
Geochecker.
Credits:
Puzzle by:
mrducky (Contact him for coordinate verification, or if you
have questions about the puzzle. Please don't send email through
the TNC profile page.)
Container by:
hermit crab M