The Legendary Race Mystery Cache

*** CACHE IS NOT AT THE LISTED COORDINATES ***

If you’d rather not waste an entire weekend to log a single find, you should certainly look elsewhere. If you think all caches should be simple park-n-grabs, I have an entire series of easy ones that you should focus your efforts upon. If you think The Amazing Moun10Bike Race was too challenging, try a couple of parking lot micros over the weekend.

If, however, you are up to the challenge, this will likely be the best way to spend your weekend. And since everyone knows that it’s all about the bragging rights, not the swag, feel free to pass up the FTF and 2TF Prizes. Yep, the first team to reach the Final Cache Container can choose their favorite prize: an almost-new Garmin eTrex Legend GPSr (you’re on your own when it comes to a cable or mapping software, although the manual is included and I've pre-loaded the unit with Southeast Texas/Southwest Louisiana Maps), or a Rio Nitrus Digital Music Player (capacity of 1.5GB, or about 750 songs). The 2TF (second-to-find) team can select the leftovers. Or everyone can choose bragging rights over goodies and leave things for the next cachers…

THE ELUSIVE FOUR-DIGIT NUMBER

There will come a certain point in the race when you will need a four-digit number (you’ll know the point when you see it). Fortunately, it’s pretty easy to divine the four-digit number. Simply determine the lowest number that is evenly divisible by all digits from one to ten. By evenly divisible, of course, I mean that no matter which of the nine numbers you divide it by, you will be left with a whole number answer, with no fractions or decimals. Make note of this four-digit number so you’ll have it handy when needed.

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR FELLOW CACHERS (AKA YOUR TICKET TO CACHE CONTAINER #1)

Answer the following questions to determine the variables needed to locate Cache Container #1:

1) You’ll need to go way back to find which cache was Mudfrog’s first-ever find. The variable A will be the first digit of the day of the month on which he found this cache. The variable B will be the first digit of Mudfrog’s estimate of the temperature that day.

2) Babslover has hidden many great caches in our area over the years. Go back to her third hide. Who was the second person to log a find on this cache? The variable C will be the first digit of the day of the month on which this cacher logged the find. The variable D will be the second digit of the day of the month on which this cacher logged the find.

3) Vetteman has been around since the early days, as well. His first-ever find was on the first cache hidden in the Golden Triangle. On what day of the month was this cache HIDDEN (not found by Vetteman as the clue originally asked)? The first digit will be the variable E, the second digit will be the variable F.

4) Doc Gilbo logged his first find on a cache near his home. On what day of the month did he make the find? The second digit will be the variable G.

5) Diehard Houston-area cacher MedTexPlacer headed over to Beaumont on two different occasions to snag FTF honors on Chance Encounter hides. The single-digit day of the month of the first of these FTFs will be the variable H. The single-digit day of the month of the second of these FTFs will be the variable I.

6) Somewhere in Chance Encounter’s photo gallery you’ll stumble across a picture captioned “The Concrete Jungle.” He later edited the original log entry. The second digit of the day of the month on which he made this edit will be the variable J.

Now, with all ten variables in hand, it should be a breeze to locate Cache Container #1 at N 30° FG.JHA W 94° CC.AII.

CLUES HIDDEN IN EXISTING CACHES (AKA YOUR TICKET TO CACHE CONTAINER #2)

I will be placing four separate clues that, when combined and massaged, will lead you to Cache Container #2. These four clues will consist of a latitude, a longitude, a bearing, and a distance. The clues are on small slips of paper inside a 2x3 inch Ziploc bag. Please take one clue slip and leave the others behind. Combine all four of these clues to project the coordinates of Cache Container #2. Inside this cache you will find half of the clues leading to the Final Cache Container.

All four clues will be hidden inside existing caches that lie within the city limits of Beaumont. Please allow me this small caveat: if it’s within a few hundred yards of the city limits, go ahead and search there just in case. I have not been able to find any clear definitions of the city limits in a format that allows me to verify this for sure, so allow a little leeway. As a rough guide, I have kept everything within a box formed by Pine Island Bayou on the north, Ford Park on the south, Major Drive on the west, and the Neches River on the east.

These existing caches could be my own hides, or could have been hidden by others. I have obtained blanket permission from all area cachers to use their caches for this purpose, although the cache owners do not for sure whether or not a clue is hidden in their own cache. If it’s a multi-cache, the clues could be in one of the intermediate stages instead of the final cache container.

To spice things up even further, I will include all four individual clues (ie. a “super clue”) inside one other cache within the Beaumont city limits. In essence, if you find this “super clue” you will have everything necessary to deduce the coordinates of Cache Container #2, and you’ll have it all at once. Should you stumble upon this “super clue” cache, you will have a big jump on the competition.

All of the existing caches I have chosen for this purpose are active. Do not waste your time looking for archived or temporarily disabled caches, or ones that have had more than four consecutive DNF logs since their last find.

The four clues will include the latitude of an intermediate waypoint; the longitude of an intermediate waypoint; a distance to project from this intermediate waypoint; and a bearing to project from this intermediate waypoint. Perform the necessary calculation to determine the coordinates of Cache Container #2.

Due to the differences in the way various GPS units calculate long-distance projections, I’m gonna cut you some slack and let you know that you will be looking for a light pole. Your projection may be more than 100 feet away from mine (I use a Garmin eTrex Legend), but the light pole should be in plain site.

FINAL CACHE CONTAINER (AKA YOUR TICKET TO THE GOODIES)

Once you have found both Cache Container #1 and Cache Container #2, you will have the latitude and longitude of the Final Cache Container. You’ll be looking for a camouflaged one-gallon Rubbermaid. If you are amongst the first finders, please be careful when removing the Rio Nitrus, as the software CD is a pretty tight fit. And if you choose the GPS unit as your prize, don’t forget the manual.

Have fun. And you might need to call in sick if you’re scheduled to work on Monday. Or Tuesday.

Not a Lunchtime Cache Poison Plant Alert Thorns No Wheelchair Access Long pants suggested Dangerous area - use caution Snakes Bring a Flashlight Mud! Compass Suggested / Required Beware of Muggles! Life Lines Not Allowed Wear bug repellant! Cache Placed by a Texas Geocacher

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