Benjamin Franklin was an important cog to our nation's early development. He was a philosopher, a leader, and a scientist, but, most importantly, he was a magician.* He crafted a circle that has defied explanation for centuries. Each radius and annulus, including the center entry, sums to 360! He also noted 20 "eccentric" annuli which, with the center 12, sum to 360! Further there are 28 "half-magic" "half-annuli" whose properties no mathematician has yet pinned down. What does it all mean? I don't know. But I don't know how you can saw a person in half and put her back together either. Some things are better left to the magicians. Interestingly, in Columbus' circle, the diameters 70 and 71 sum to 141. Add 315 and 670 and we top 1,000. Driving the circle that envelops them in one go is said to grant your automobile magic qualities and raise your cache count by 20 or more points.
The Loop was created in part because we loved the idea of "Going in Circles," a group of caches that took the traveler around 270. Unfortunately, by the time we started caching, the series had passed its prime and many of the hides have been archived. To honor that great idea, we decided to reinvigorate the circuit of Columbus. These caches will all be very easy. But for the more adventurous explorer, they will also lead to the completion of a larger puzzle. The series is designed to be an easy way to boost your numbers (if that's your deal), to take a great circular adventure and give you a sense of accomplishment for getting them all (if that's your deal), or to serve as building blocks for a larger mystery (if that's your deal).
Each cache in the series contains a clue needed to solve "The Circuitous Cartographer." If you intend to unlock, that puzzle, make sure you note the clue, the container, and the number of each Loop cache you find. Otherwise you might find yourself revisiting caches you've already discovered!
* It goes with saying that kite-flier ranks second on the list of importance
OTHER CACHES IN THE SERIES
